Hamley Bridge, South Australia

Hamley Bridge South Australia
File:HamleyBridgeLightStreet.JPG Light St in Hamley Bridge
Hamley Bridge
Coordinates
Population	631 (2006 census)
Established	1860's
Postcode(s)	5401
Location	78 km (48 mi) N of Adelaide
LGA(s)	Wakefield Regional Council Light Regional Council
State electorate(s)	Goyder, Light
Federal Division(s)	Wakefield
Localities around Hamley Bridge: Stockyard Creek, Owen Alma Tarlee Barabba Hamley Bridge Stockport, Linwood Pinkerton Plains Magdala Morn Hill

Hamley Bridge is a community in South Australia located at the junction of the Gilbert and Light rivers, as well as the site of a former railway junction.

Named by the government of the day, in honour of the Acting Governor of South Australia Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Gilbert Hamley, whose wife, Lady Edith Hamley laid the foundation stone of the River Light Railway Bridge on 25 July 1868. This bridge carries the Peterborough railway line over the Light River.

Other settlements in the area had commenced in the early 1860s, and it was not until 1868 that the junction of the two rivers came under notice as a possible site for a township.

Railway

The Peterborough railway line was built from a new junction at Roseworthy (north of Gawler on what was then the Morgan railway line) to Tarlee during 1868. A bridge was required over the River Light. The bridge is 300 feet (91 m) long and 80 feet (24 m) high, in two spans on stone abutments and a cast iron cylindrical pier 6 feet (1.8 m) in diameter. This bridge was replaced in 1925 in conjunction with the works to convert the narrow gauge line to broad gauge, despite this bridge already being broad gauge.

Elevation is 374 feet (114 m).

Break of gauge difficulty

File:Narrow and broad gauge trains at Hamley Bridge on the left an S class loco (broad) and on the right a Y class loco (narrow), State Library of South Australia, B 26200.jpeg

Different gauges at Hamley Bridge: on the left a broad gauge S class locomotive and on the right a narrow gauge Y class locomotive

The original railway through the town was 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm). The Gladstone railway line extends through the towns of Owen and Balaklava from Hamley Bridge and opened in 1880. Initially, this was built to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), so Hamley Bridge was a break of gauge station rather than a junction.

A new railway station was established a few hundred metres north of the original in 1880 and was at first known as Alma Railway Station. The stone building, occupied as a private residence today, represents the fine architecture of the era and is heritage listed along with the signal box and water tanks, and two of the bridges over the River Light.

As Hamley Bridge is only 40 miles (64.4 km) from the capital and major port, this break of gauge soon became a sore point, leading lobbying over decades to extend the narrow gauge all the way to the capital and that port. Trains reaching Hamley Bridge may have travelled 600 miles (965.6 km) from Oodnadatta, thus illustrating the poor design of this break of gauge. The break of gauge at Hamley Bridge was very cramped and poorly sited due to rivers, bridges, gradients and curves, which were difficult to improve upon. There were also shunting delays and a shortage of trucks. A counter proposal to ease congestion at the inadequate facilities at the Hamley Bridge break of gauge was to shift the break of gauge northwards to Balaklava, was strongly opposed. Alternately, the break of gauge may have been moved northwards to Owen

Hamley Bridge ceased to be a break of gauge station in 1927 when narrow gauge lines as far north as Gladstone were converted to broad gauge, Gladstone becoming a break of gauge station in lieu.

24 hour per day operation was made possible by the installation of floodlighting in 1908.

Music

Hamley Bridge is the Hometown of the band "From Dusk Till Dawn (AU)"

Sports

Hamley Bridge had a cricket team named for the Break-Of-Gauge.

Between 1956 and 1969, Hamley Bridge was home to the Bell Bay Speedway. The speedway ran a variety of classes including Speedcars, TQ's, and Stock Cars. The speedway closed in 1969 due to rising costs and a lack of volunteers able to help run the venue. One local legend about its closure was because the then Mayor of Gawler was a regular competitor and didn't take kindly to rolling his Stock Car at the speedway.

Sky Quake

Around 1:30pm on 15 June 2010, a large sonic boom was heard near the town. Residents in the nearby Templers did not report the sound, which was loud enough to knock out windows and is believed to be the result of a supersonic aircraft test.

External links

• Australian Explorer: Hamley Bridge
• Hamley Bridge, South Australia
• MSN Map