Dry Creek Explosives Tramway
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- Welcome back to Outdoorstype! Today we're on a special kind of hunt. We're kayaking up Broad Creek, near Adelaide, searching for the remnants of a forgotten tramway.
This wasn't your average tramway though. From 1904 to 1964, it hauled explosives from lighters and ketches docked on Broad Creek to the Dry Creek Explosives magazine. It was integral in serving South Australian industry, as well as the mines of Broken Hill.
I’m not an expert in this stuff, but I might be by the time I’m finished exploring. Let’s dig a little deeper, and fly a little higher, as we explore the old Dry Creek explosives tramway.
The archive images are courtesy of the NRM and State Library of South Australia and are used with permission.
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Secret History & Natural Beauty
Broad Creek is a fascinating area. It's a recovering mangrove forest, a haven for dolphins and birds, and... well, it used to be one of Adelaide's most polluted industrial sites back when raw sewage was dumped on the tidal flats nearby.
In this video, we'll explore what we can find of the old tramway, dig through historical records and photos, and bring this forgotten piece of Adelaide's history back to life.
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The Rise and Fall of the Explosives Tramway
The South Australian government played a big role in managing explosives for construction, mining, and even fireworks. They needed a safe and secure way to transport them, which is where the Broad Creek tramway comes in.
For a time, explosives arrived by ship and were transferred by ketch to a magazine much closer to Port Adelaide.
The Dry Creek magazine replaced the one at North Arm and a wharf with 2 foot tramway to the magazine was built to replace road transport in 1904. The flow of traffic began as water cargo coming in via Broad Creek, to eventually one of cargo arriving by rail at Dry Creek and being shipped in and out via another lasting symbol of the tramway, ‘The Cut’ at the northern end of Torrens Island. The last explosives were shipped from Broad Creek in 1970, and the jetty itself was demolished around 1976.
Interestingly, there was another tramway in the area! This one hauled shell grit from a point just north of St Kilda, and served the salt fields. Its path even crossed the explosives line at one point, though they never connected.
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Horsepower to Trucks: A Changing Landscape
AT WHARF - This old wharf was built in 1906 using an old hulk and its still here in some way, the jetty is gone…
The tramway faced many challenges. Floods frequently damaged the tracks, requiring constant repairs. But a bigger change was coming.
By the 1930s, road and rail transport became more efficient than water transport. This meant less explosives were shipped through Broad Creek.
By the mid-1940s, all explosives arrived by rail via Dry Creek, and the Broad Creek wharf started falling apart.
Meanwhile, the city of Adelaide was growing, and the tramway faced a new threat from encroaching development.
In 1964, safety concerns due to the encroachment of industry into the area led to the end of the horse-drawn tram. They were replaced by two specially made trucks, and the tramway tracks were pulled up and sold two years later.
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The End of an Era
By the 1970s, the decline of the tramway mirrored the decline of the explosives storage business itself. New technologies meant explosives were stored and prepared on-site, eliminating the need for the Dry Creek magazine.
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Walking the Tramway's Path
Today, we're walking along Henschke Street, the former route of the tramway leaving Dry Creek Station. The area is still industrial, but hopefully a far cry from its early 20th-century state.
The line curved north from here and ran along what is now Magazine Road. Magazine road used to be sewage fields - not exactly the most pleasant place for a tram ride!
These days the area is a reclamation site as the salt fields are now closed and the magazines are on private property. There’s been some redevelopment of wetlands in the area but it’s all still a bit grey, industrial and ugly out here.
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Outro
Thanks for joining me on this exploration of Dry Creek’s forgotten tramway! If you enjoyed the video, give it a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel, and share it with your mates!
See you on the next adventure! Catch ya then.
love local history
Fantastic video on a little known piece of history! I have tried to do a lot of research on this over the years but have not seen any of the NRM photos you have here. I have visited many times and sadly more seems to disappear with each visit. Until recently the rails were still in place through the mangroves to the embankment. The area changed greatly with the construction on the Northern Connector road. Also worth mentioning is the steel hulk of a bucket dredge lying nearby which was originally used as a wharf before the timber wharf was constructed. It's remains can be seen lying parallel to the embankment on Google earth.
We saw that steel hulk - so cool. Thanks for explaining what it was about and thanks for watching.
Sometimes you think there's information you don't want to know, then you see stuff like this.
Thanks! I think... 😊
Back in the day my brother and I did some work on old magazines as they were being turned into houses. Double red brick with deep 6 asbestos roofs if I remember rightly
Still a few around, turned into houses now.
Four of the explosive vans still exist. One is fully restored at the National Railway Museum, one is rotting away at Cobdogla and two are restored and preserved indoors at the Illawarra Light Railway Museum in NSW. The latter were originally at the SA Motor Museum but they gave them to Illawarra fifty years ago. The Milang Railway Museum tried to do a deal with Illawarra to get one back to SA but they want to keep them both.
Thanks for that information! I wonder what the status of Cobdogla is? Seems to be in a hiatus...
My understanding is that they are working with local councils to take over the existing museum from SA water
Fingers crossed for them!
I've always wanted to know more about this but could never find much
Same here! Massive credit belongs to the team at the NRM for helping me with this. Thanks for watching.
Very interesting, thanks for posting
It's my pleasure. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I was kinda hoping something might still remain on that wharf. Good job Mike
Thanks, JK. Same. It looked like there was more left on Google maps.
I wonder if there are UODs still around hehe. Wonderful millpond waters there Mike you had to paddle in. Wonderful history Mike and love your dedication to research 💯.
God I hope not, Drew. Hahahaha. Perfect conditions. With planning, this is a highly recommended explore.
@Outdoorstype yeah you just do wonder sometimes out that way what is laying around given the history aha. Definitely it looked amazing and I caught a bit of your livestream and it looked awesome 💯🛶
As a teenager during the 1980's I would often explore the area near to and surrounding Dry Creek Railway Station. I remember noticing a small dilapidated structure with a warning sign simply saying DANGER EXPLOSIVES. This was somewhere along the track to Port Adelaide. I went back a few years later to have another look but couldn't locate it.
Hopefully I've been able to let you see how it is now. Thanks for watching!
So cool!
Thanks for watching! 🙂
Good video. Very interesting history.
Thank you!
Didn't know about this tramway. There was a similar one in Melbourne. This ran from Altona jetty to a nearby explosives magazine. Was in use until 1960s when the suburb of Altona encroached on the site. The tramway was also 2' gauge, and the explosive vans were a similar design.
That's interesting! Thanks for watching and adding that information.
I always known there was a tramway track there but never knew what is was for. I assume it was an old connection to St. kilda Tram's way track that got ripped out but this is fantastic, thank you for uploading
Thanks for watching and commenting. 😊
Fantastic video Mike and very informative. Well done.
Cheers!
That looks like a fun little paddle!
Thankyou another great video Mike. Learning lots with your videos.
It's my pleasure.Thanks for watching.
Excellent stuff.
Many thanks!
REALLY COOL
Keep up the great work 👍 👏 ❤
Thank you, I will
Dont say rowt...its root. Were not yanks. ❤
Thanks for the feedback.