Train travel is something that avid journey type people have done at some time to get from point A to B.
In fact, they are often iconic journeys that are on a bucket list, such as the Trans Siberian railway, or the Rocky Mountaineer.
I had a train trip in Morocco that was scheduled to last about 6 hours, but ended up being around the 14 hour mark because of constant breakdowns and the engine not quite working properly. Needless to say, since I had only brought a couple of snacks with me, I was starving by the time I reached Marrakech where I wanted to devour the entire pigeon pie stand!
Some of the cool train related things I’ve come across include women only trains in Japan, the busiest train station in the world (also in Japan), and the funny train station sign in Thailand.
But check out what rail travel was like for some people, way before the time Eurail passes were invented!
And this is in a first world country!
Anyway, this is the story of the old Burdekin River rail bridge, which opened in 1913. It’s located in far North Queensland, Australia, between the towns of Ayr and Home Hill.
Anyone who has travelled from Cairns down to Sydney and Melbourne along the east coast will be able to see the remains of this old bridge in the Burdekin River, of which only the footings remain.
Here is an old school photo of what it looked like when the river wasn’t flooding!
The bridge itself was fine. Back then, the bridge building standards and construction methods limited how high above the waterline this bridge could be built.
But the problem was that because the Burdekin River can often discharge massive volumes of water that often rival the Yangtze River in China during the wet season, this meant that all sorts of crap would become caught up in the structure and damage the bridge and railway, meaning that this caused delays for weeks/months whilst it was being repaired.
The railway line would often buckle, and sometimes, whole parts of the bridge were washed away completely. I’m sure there are parts of it still lying around at the bottom of the Coral Sea!
When the rail bridge was out of action, this was obviously pretty inconvenient for passengers, but it was also an economic impact as freight would be delayed for ages – so supplies would often run short for towns either side of the bridge.
For example here is the damage caused by floods in 1923.
And here are some cattle wagons that were washed off the bridge by rising floodwaters at the exact time when the train was crossing!
But imagine if you were a paying rail passenger and you had to cross the river whilst it was flooding.
Like this!
Train Travel – The Crap Your Pants Version!
I can’t imagine this scenario happening anywhere in the world today!
That’s right, the water level is literally just below the train tracks!
There’s really not much clearance between the water and the carriages!
Would you want to hop on a train that looked like it was venturing into country that resembled the story of Noah’s Ark? Screw that! I’d rather wait a few days for the water to recede a bit!
And this would have been a nostalgic trip – the last passenger train (the Sunlander train service) crossing over the old bridge before the new steel bridge structure in the background opened.
No wonder people were happy to see the new Burdekin Bridge open in 1957!
Looks like it was a big party!
If you’ve ever travelled down the ‘East Coast Route’ in Australia, you will definitely drive over the new, steel bridge.
Have a look into the river and see the stumps of the old bridge. If you do, think of how they used to cross the Burdekin River in the old days!
See more at the World’s Busiest Train Station!
Great photos. Would have been interesting being on that train whilst the river was flooding!
Sensational pics – would have been pretty hairy doing the crossing with the water lapping up against the rails!
I enjoyed your post. I was a small child on that train as it crossed the Burdekin. Dad worked for the railway and I was probably too young to know I should be scared. I wondered where you found the photos as I’d like to be able to use them too. I wrote about this journey in my own blog some time ago. https://cassmobfamilyhistory.com/2013/02/02/fab-feb-photo-collage-2-feb-cats-kittens-maggie-cyclones/
My cousin came across them and emailed them to me – too good not to share!