On 17 October 1917, the east and west of Australia were finally connected by rail. Over five years, from September 1912 to October 1917, workers laboured to construct the Trans-Australian Railway between Port Augusta in South Australia and Kalgoolie in Western Australia. This was a distance of over 1000 miles (1600 kilometres).
A preliminary survey of a railway line connecting Western Australia to the eastern states had taken place in 1908–09. In 1911 a law was passed to authorise the construction of the line and in 1912, a railway department headed by an Engineer-in-Chief (CA 2106) was created by the Australian Government to carry out the work. The first through-train left Port Augusta with an official party on board on 22 October 1917.
The photograph is taken from a series of photographs, B3104, that depict the construction of the railway between 1913 and 1917. The photographs include images of civil works, buildings, natural disasters, accidents and the locomotives and wagons used. There are also some photographs of the railway after construction was completed. Arranged in four leather-bound albums, the photographs are held in the National Archives' Adelaide office.
More information about this record is available in the National Archives RecordSearch database. The link below takes you into the database.
Where you see this symbol in RecordSearch, a digital copy of the item can be viewed online. Simply click on the 'View digital copy' link.
Do you have information to share about this picture? We are interested in receiving more details about the material in our collection.
We invite you to share your knowledge by filling in our feedback form – remember to include the picture details in your response. Please note that we may not respond to your comment.
Pic of the Week presents a selection of images from the rich collection of the National Archives. Each week a different image is featured on our home page. You can browse the full year's worth of pics.
You can also browse or search for pictures in our image bank, PhotoSearch.