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Goolwa and Port Elliot horse tram
Title : Goolwa and Port Elliot horse tram Goolwa and Port Elliot horse tram
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Creator : Australian Photographic Co., photographer
Date of creation : ca. 1870
Format : Photograph
Dimensions : 56 x 87 mm
Contributor : State Library catalogue
Catalogue record
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Copyright : Reproduction rights are owned by State Library of South Australia. This image may be printed or saved for research or study. Use for any other purpose requires permission from the State Library of South Australia. To request approval, complete the Permission to publish form.
Description :

View of the Goolwa and Port Elliot tram, the first public railway in Australia. The image shows Mr Scarfe, Clerk of Court, at the window of carriage and Eli Hillman with beard and tall hat at left of carriage.

The railway between Goolwa, on the River Murray, and Port Elliot, on the sea coast, was built in 1854 for the purpose of transporting cargo from riverboats to sea-going vessels. It was the first public railway on steel tracks in Australia. The line was extended to the safer harbour at Victor Harbor in 1864, after several shipwrecks at Port Elliot. Horses were used to pull the carriages until steam engines were introduced in 1884.

Subjects
Period : 1852-1883
Region : Fleurieu Peninsula
Further reading :

Bird, Kim. South Coast limited: a history of the Victor Harbor and Milang railway lines in South Australia, Adelaide: Australian Railway Historical Society, South Australian Division, 1972

Linn, Rob. A land abounding: a history of the Port Elliot and Goolwa region, South Australia, Goolwa, SA: Alexandrina Council, 2001

Ramsey, John. The Victor Harbor railway line: pictorial review, Adelaide: Australian Railway Historical Society, c1984

Thompson, Malcolm H. Rails and the river : a history of the southern railway system and the River Murray shipping, 1854-1885, Goolwa, SA : Alexandrina Council, 2004

Internet links :

SteamRanger Enthusiast Website See: Lineside Guides - Goolwa-Victor

Victor Harbor Tourism See: Attractions: Steam Ranger Cockle Train


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