Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
Just a few days after Australia entered World War I on the side of the Allied powers, the 350-fooot-long passenger steamship Grantala (an Aboriginal word for “big”) was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) for military service as a hospital ship. Grantala, which had been completed and launched by Armstrong Whitworth Company for the... Continue Reading →
On Australia’s southeastern coast, a new lighthouse made its debut on the headland of Barrenjoey in the colony – and present-day state – of New South Wales (NSW). The first light for the sandstone structure was kerosene-fueled. The Barrenjoey Lighthouse was built in response to longtime demands for stronger safeguards for vessels, particularly the steady... Continue Reading →
The full-rigged sailing ship Netherby, with 413 passengers and 49 crew members on board, ran aground and sank off an island coast in turbulent Australian waters. The shipwreck resulted in ambitious rescue efforts involving several means of transportation. Netherby, a 944-ton vessel of the Black Ball Line, had been built in the British city of... Continue Reading →
The Story Bridge in the state of Queensland in northeastern Australia made its public debut. The 2,549-foot-long structure, spanning the Brisbane River and connecting the northern suburbs of Brisbane with the city’s southern suburbs, is the longest cantilever bridge in Australia. At the time of its grand opening, the Story Bridge – measuring 79 feet... Continue Reading →
Australia’s Tarrawingee Tramway made its formal debut. The Tarrawingee Tramway covered approximately 40 miles between the city of Broken Hill and the town of Tarrawingee in the far western region of the colony (now state) of New South Wales. The primary reason for building the tramway was to facilitate the shipment of high-grade limestone mined at... Continue Reading →
On Australia’s east coast, a foundation stone was laid for a new bridge that would be built across the Georges River in the vicinity of southern Sydney. The bridge, which had been long requested by area residents, was planned as a link between Sydney’s suburbs of Blakehurst and Sylvania. Approximately 2,000 people were on hand... Continue Reading →
Aviation pioneer John Robertson Duigan was born in the town of Terang in the colony (now state) of Victoria in southeast Australia. In 1902, he went to England and enrolled in the City and Guilds of London Technical College in Finsbury. Duigan earned a certificate in electrical engineering from the college in 1904, and the... Continue Reading →
Just three days before her 17th birthday, Australian sailor Jessica Watson – arriving in Sydney Harbour at 1:53 p.m. in her boat Ella’s Pink Lady -- completed a solo non-stop circumnavigation of the Southern Hemisphere. A pink carpet was set out for her and, as she walked on it after getting out of the boat,... Continue Reading →
A ceremony was held to lay the foundation stone for a new railway station in Western Australia’s city of Perth. This Monday afternoon event, however, received a decidedly lackluster review from the region’s Herald newspaper. “There was a very small attendance of the public, there being scarcely any persons present but officials and children,” reported... Continue Reading →
The Australia-based Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge, carrying the Main Northern railway line over the Hawkesbury River on the northern outskirts of Sydney, was officially opened. The seven-span bridge, which would remain in use for more than a half-century before being replaced by the current bridge, was the final link in a railway network connecting Adelaide,... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 