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08. Abminga siding
Title : 08. Abminga siding 08. Abminga siding
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Creator : Mountford, Charles P., photographer
Date of creation : 1938
Format : Photograph
Dimensions : 60 x 60 mm
Contributor : State Library of South Australia
Catalogue record
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Description :

Abminga railway siding. Taken at 3.30am, 20 August 1938, the siding is illuminated by the light of the train as it stands at the station.


After a journey lasting almost two days, Mountford and the other members of the expedition party arrived at their final stop, the Abminga siding. The guards woke them and they piled off the train. Their luggage and equipment was unloaded, and left by the side of the track.

The train remained at the siding for about an hour and a quarter, during which time Mountford took this photograph. He wrote of it in his diary;
"I took a photograph which if successful will be an unusual scene. The strong head light of the engine was throwing a strong beam down the yard, and everytime anyone walked about, the dust made a rather beautiful haze and light shadows."
The party remained at the siding until after sunrise when they commenced their journey to Mount Dare Station.
Subjects
Coverage year : 1938
Place : Abminga
Region : Flinders Ranges and Far North - Outback
Further reading :
Connell, Gordon. The mystery of Ludwig Leichhardt. Carlton, Vic. : Melbourne University Press, 1980

Lamshed, Max. 'Monty' : the biography of C.P. Mountford, Adelaide : Rigby, 1972, pp. 56-60

Mountford, Charles P. 'Papers relating to the South Australian Government Expedition to search for the remains of explorer Ludwig Leichhardt', PRG 1218/9

Newell, Brian R. Following the Old Ghan railway line 1878-1980, Aldinga Beach, S. Aust. : Brian, R. Newell, 2000

Price, A. Grenfell. The Mystery of Leichhardt : the South Australian government expedition of 1938, South Australia : Royal Geographical Society, 1937-38

Roderick, Colin. Leichhardt, the dauntless explorer, North Ryde, N.S.W. : Angus & Robertson, 1988

Stewien, Ronald. A history of the South Australian Railways. Volume 1, The early years / 1st ed. Melbourne : Australian Railway Historical Society, Victorian Division, 2007
Internet links :
Australian Dictionary of Biography - Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt

Flinders Ranges Research. South Australian railway history

National Museum of Australia. Leichhardt: the man, the mystery, the science, the history [symposium held in 2007]

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