Hamley Bridge | |||||||||||||
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 Light St in Hamley Bridge | |||||||||||||
  Hamley Bridge | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates:34°21′0″S138°41′0″E / 34.35000°S 138.68333°E /-34.35000; 138.68333 | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | South Australia | ||||||||||||
| LGAs | |||||||||||||
| Location |
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| Established | 1860s | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 615 (UCL2021)[2] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 5401 | ||||||||||||
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Hamley Bridge is a community inSouth Australia located at the junction of theGilbert andLight rivers, as well as the site of a former railway junction.
Named by the government of the day, in honour of the ActingGovernor of South Australia Lieutenant-ColonelFrancis Gilbert Hamley, whose wife, Lady Edith Hamley laid the foundation stone of the River Light Railway Bridge on 25 July 1868. This bridge carries thePeterborough railway line over the Light River.
Other settlements in the area had commenced in the early 1860s, and it was not until 1868 that the junction of the two rivers came under notice as a possible site for a township.
ThePeterborough railway line was built from a new junction atRoseworthy (north of Gawler on what was then theMorgan railway line) toTarlee during 1868. A bridge was required over the River Light. The bridge was 300 feet (91 m) long and 80 feet (24 m) high, in two spans on stone abutments and a cast iron cylindrical pier 6 feet (1.8 m) in diameter.[3] This bridge was replaced in 1925 in conjunction with the works to convert the narrow gauge line to broad gauge, despite this bridge already being broad gauge.[4]
Elevation is 374 feet (114 m).[5]
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The original railway through the town was5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm). In 1880, a junction atBalaklava on the narrow gaugePort Wakefield railway line created theBalaklava railway line throughOwen to meet the broad gauge line at Hamley Bridge.[6] This was built to3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), so Hamley Bridge was abreak of gauge station rather than a junction.[7]
A new railway station was established a few hundred metres north of the original in 1880 and was at first known as Alma Railway Station.[citation needed] The stone building, occupied as a private residence today, represents the fine architecture of the era and is heritage listed along with the signal box and water tanks, and two of the bridges over the River Light.[citation needed]
As Hamley Bridge is only 40 miles (64.4 km) from the capital and major port, this break of gauge soon became a sore point, leading lobbying over decades to extend the narrow gauge all the way to the capital and that port. Trains reaching Hamley Bridge may have travelled 600 miles (965.6 km) fromOodnadatta, thus illustrating the poor design of this break of gauge. The break of gauge at Hamley Bridge was very cramped and poorly sited due to rivers, bridges, gradients and curves, which were difficult to improve upon. There were also shunting delays and a shortage of trucks. A counter proposal to ease congestion at the inadequate facilities at the Hamley Bridge break of gauge was to shift the break of gauge northwards toBalaklava,[8] was strongly opposed.[9] Alternately, the break of gauge may have been moved northwards toOwen[10]
Hamley Bridge ceased to be a break of gauge station in 1927 when narrow gauge lines as far north asGladstone wereconverted to broad gauge, Gladstone becoming a break of gauge station in lieu.[citation needed]
Regular passenger services ceased in December 1986. Freight trains continued to use the line until October 2005.
24-hour per day operation was made possible by the installation offloodlighting in 1908.[11]
Hamley Bridge was home to the short-livedHamley Bridge Express (3-31 October 1908), which was printed in parallel withOwen's Weekly and Dalkey District Courier (3 October – 21 November 1908) by T.W. Broadway. Each was printed in their respective town, and with different mastheads but the same content.[12]
The town also produced theJunction News (16 February 1940 – 3 May 1946), which becameJunction News and Owen Post (10 May 1946 – 28 July 1967). The newspaper's original distribution included: Hamley Bridge, Riverton, Saddleworth, Marrabel, Manoora, Black Springs, Auburn, Waterloo, Tarlee, Stockport, Owen, Alma, Wasleys, and Barabba.[13] After merging with aRiverton newspaper, theGilbert Valley News (1 July 1965 – 27 July 1967), the newspaper's numbering was restarted as theJunction and Gilbert Valley News (4 August 1967 – 30 January 1969).[14] It was then merged intoThe Bunyip, located inGawler.
Hamley Bridge is the Hometown of the band "From Dusk Till Dawn (AU)"
Hamley Bridge had a cricket team named for theBreak-Of-Gauge.[15]
Hamley Bridge Bombers are the local Australian Rules Football team and one of the oldest in the region, dating back to 1907.
Between 1956 and 1969, Hamley Bridge was home to theBell Bay Speedway. The speedway ran a variety of classes includingSpeedcars, TQ's, and Stock Cars. The speedway closed in 1969 due to rising costs and a lack of volunteers able to help run the venue. One local legend about its closure was because the then Mayor of Gawler was a regular competitor and didn't take kindly to rolling his Stock Car at the speedway.[16]
