Australasian Touring Caravan, Motorhome & Camping Club, Inc.

  With days to spare to travel through the outback from Broken Hill to the AGM at Tanunda, we stopped off at various spots to have a browse around the sites of old settlements along the Adelaide to Sydney railway.

  Many towns along the railways around the country were thrown into disuse following the introduction of diesel locomotives which helped make redundant not only the steam age but the settlements which served the trains along their routes.

  These towns were developed as a base to supply fuel and water to the locos as well as refreshments to the passengers and supported a local workforce to make it happen, along with their families. This all happened in the days when the train was not simply a means to get from Adelaide to Sydney but they provided a service to transport supplies, wool, livestock and grain in either direction to the  townspeople or to the capital city markets.

  One of the settlements we wandered around and which are now almost completely without any residents is O'Lary about mid way between Yunta SA and the NSW border. A town in earlier days of around thirty houses, there is still a pub, although closed for over twelve months and with a "For Sale" sign displayed with some optimism and beside it the remains of a general store.

In a side street is a bake house reportedly sold to a couple as a holiday shack and further up the street is the remains of an engineering business.

  Power lines still seemingly connect to all of the buildings and the power station still stands. The running cost of the power supply must be another of the factors contributing to the town's demise.

  Inside one house could be seen book shelves in the lounge with some books and newspapers on the table and utensils in the kitchen, as if the residents had simply walked out.

  With thirty odd families, there must have been need for sporting facilities and possibly churches and there still stands a public hall in a well kept condition.

  The trains still pass through of course and some railway buildings still stand. A side line allows the slower local goods trains to pull over while faster ones pass.

  A free camp site has been formed across the highway from the pub with shade, picnic tables and toilets.

  A sign on the goods shed reminds staff that they must write up the weight of parcels being shipped, in kilograms.

  Another town with a similar history is Terowrie around 22Kms south east of Peterborough in SA. Not existent in as much isolation as O'Lary and blessed with a population enthusiastic about their town avoiding a similar fate, Terowrie has some businesses still operating and has a number of houses still occupied.

  There was a greater change in Terowrie than O'Lary suffered as Terowrie was originally the terminal for trains of 3 different gauges meeting and where people were continuously changing from one train to another.

  Not only passengers but thousands of tons of freight were changed from train to train each week including livestock, machinery, food stuffs, wool and even ballast for the lines.

  At one stage there were hundreds of people working for the rail system around the area.

  It was decided in Adelaide during the 60s that a standard gauge line should be constructed to enter the Adelaide through Crystal Brook eliminating most of the need for the Terowrie operation. The remaining infrastructure was moved to Peterborough and the staff needs dropped to nil when the line closed later on.

   Although the town seems in decline, the honorary staff at the visitors centre have a will to sell their town to everyone who comes along.

  There is a pleasant large park in the centre of town with shady seats, tables and barbeques and the toilets are just across the road.

  There is a roadhouse and motel operating on the edge of town as well as a B&B and the local Progress Association  who is promoting the town has nominated a number of free camping sites including the railway station site which has a number of notices pointing out various historic features in the area.

  The 4 railway platforms still exist along with a restored building where a light and sound show is planned for the future to tell the story of the town.

   We met two of the more enthusiastic locals in Karl and Karin Liebetrau who man the visitors centre two days a week and also run the B&B. They established their B&B in the old Hospital building and cater for tourists visiting the town. 

   If you are traveling through this area and you are keen on history, it is worth while to drop in and have a look around.   

 John n Stasia Morter

 Karen outside her B & B