Stop 4

Railway Bridge

In 1926 the Katherine Railway Bridge opened with the first train crossing the river on Australia Day, shifting the town closer to where it is today. 

Katherine’s old rail station, built in 1926, still stands as a cherished heritage site. 

Explore the Railway Bridge, Railway Tce and find some old Relics.  

CHALLENGE:

Railway Tce and the Railway Bridge is full of memorials from the past 100 years,  

Find at least three, photograph or tell us the date and name of them.  

Enter your answers

1926 Railway Station, Cattle Yards, Tank Spur line 

KATHERINE RAILWAY 
In the 1880s, work commenced on a railway line which was intended to eventually link Darwin (then Palmerston) with Port Augusta.  The line reached Pine Creek in 1889 and Katherine in 1926.  It was further extended to Birdum, 8 km south of Larrimah, by 1929, but no further, and was closed in 1976.  For many years, it provided a vital communications link, leading to the establishment and growth of several settlements. George Fomin, one of the Russian families of Katherine, was the last engine driver to pass over the Railway Bridge. The new Ghan Service operated by Great Southern Rail saw the first passenger train, the famous ‘Ghan’, arrive at Katherine’s new railway station west of the town on 3 February 2004. 

RAILWAY STATION - Railway Terrace 
Built in 1926 to replace a very temporary building, the station is unique; it is the only concrete station in northern Australia.  Originally, the central portion was a U-shaped waiting room, with a ticket office and ladies' waiting room to either side.  At some time in the 1940s, a wall enclosed the waiting room, and the building acquired its present façade. The metal work was done by a local blacksmith from Manbulloo, Billy Bray.  The station was reopened as the headquarters of the National Trust in Katherine on 29 June 1986, the tenth anniversary of the last train's run. 

Cattle yards 
Located at the front side of the railway station, a spur line ran from there towards Bovril, west of Katherine, in the area opposite Riverview today.

Railway Relics  
South of Katherine, opposite the town pool, is roughly where the fettlers and married men’s quarters were. Many families lived in the area, and the buildings were built by North Australian Railway carpenter Barney McGinness, an Aboriginal man. They were slightly elevated on concrete piers that are still visible today. It is now known that Barneys brother Jack McGinness was considered Katherines first town Mayor in 1930. Jack was one of those men who could put his hand to anything. He was educated and highly respected in the town. Many years later Henry Scott went on to say, ‘Anyone who knew Jack McGinness was glad to know him’.   

Fun facts! 

The Great Bat Siege: Katherine once fought a war – against bats. After heavy rains in the early 2000s, tens of thousands of little red flying foxes (fruit bats) invaded Katherine South, roosting in every backyard tree. The noise and the smell were beyond description; locals describe it as living in a “screeching, pooping bat blanket” 24/7 The response? All-out mayhem. For days, residents and wildlife officers blasted horns, banged bins, fired birdshot, even chainsawed tree limbs to keep the bats awake and force them to move on. In the end the bats got the message and relocated back to the riverbank, but not before Katherine earned the dubious honor of having a “Flying Fox Festival” in their name. Yes, the town actually celebrates the very creatures it battles – a perfect example of Katherine’s humor and resilience.)