Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
In southeastern Australia, a truss bridge crossing the Murrumbidgee River was officially opened to connect the village of Tharwa with the city (and Australia’s present-day capital) of Canberra. The bridge reported the Queanbeyan Observer at the time, “is a stupendous but withal a light and very graceful structure.” As a truss bridge, Tharwa Bridge was... Continue Reading →
Marshall W. "Major" Taylor (1878-1932), the first African-American to become a world-champion cyclist, departed the Australian city of Melbourne via train during the course of his second racing tour in the Land Down Under. (His first tour in Australia took place the previous year.) The Indiana-born Taylor had launched his professional cycling career at New York... Continue Reading →
In the state of South Australia, a new bridge was opened in the town of Paringa. The bridge was built to carry the Brown’s Well railway (later renamed the Barmera railway), which had begun operations in 1913, across the Murray River at Paringa and to the larger South Australia town of Renmark in that grain-growing... Continue Reading →
In Australia, a record-setting passenger ferry began her maiden voyage. MS Empress of Australia, which was built for and operated by the Australian National Line (ANL), departed Sydney in New South Wales for Hobart in Tasmania amid a great deal of fanfare. “Bright lights, streamers, cabin parties and ship-side crowds heralded the beginning of the... Continue Reading →
In Australia, the original Como Rail Bridge was opened in the colony (now state) of New South Wales. The bridge made its debut on Boxing Day – a holiday celebrated the day after Christmas in several regions throughout the world, including Australia – and crosses the Georges River between the Sydney suburbs of Oatley and... Continue Reading →
Construction began on a swing bridge crossing Cockle Bay in Darling Harbour and connecting the community of Pyrmont with Sydney’s central business district in the Australian colony (now state) of New South Wales. This new bridge was built to replace one that had been in existence since 1857. The older structure was a wooden pile... Continue Reading →
The sixth and final section of the Nanango Branch Railway was officially opened in the Australian state of Queensland. This railway had been authorized in 1882 by the Parliament of Queensland after gold and copper were discovered in the region. The first two segments of the line – between the town of Theebine (known at... Continue Reading →
The Lamington Bridge was officially opened to traffic in the British crown colony (and present-day Australian state) of Queensland. The bridge, which is located in Queensland’s Fraser Coast Region, crosses the Mary River between Gympie Road in the town of Tinana and Ferry Street in the port city of Maryborough. The Lamington Bridge was named... Continue Reading →
Image: Turning the first turf for the Sydney Railway, 1850. Lithograph by W. Harris. State Library of NSW collection. In Australia, a company to build one of the first public railway lines in the colony (now state) of New South Wales (NSW) was incorporated. The Sydney Railway Company was put into place to develop a... Continue Reading →
After three years of restoration by the South Australian Maritime Museum, the steam tugboat Yelta was relaunched for use as a floating museum for purposes such as sightseeing cruises. Yelta, which had been built in 1948 at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney, operated in the waters of South Australia from 1949 to 1976. The... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 