Classic Railway Stations: Terowie, South Australia

Terowie, a desgnated historic town, was once a thriving railway town, but today is a mere shadow of what it used to be. Terowie was the change of gauge junction for the railway north to Alice Springs, west to Kalgoorlie and east to Broken Hill. Each line had a different gauge so trains of one gauge would pull up on one side of the platform and goods and luggage were manhandled across to a waiting train on a different gauge track on the other side of the platform. It was here, during World War II, that General Douglas MacArthur made his famous promise to the waiting press - "I Will Return".



Back when all this was happening, Terowie was a thriving town with a population of around 500, but that began to change when the Alice Springs train was re-routed in the 1950s, bypassing Terowie. In the 1960s, the Barrier Highway bypassed the town, but the final staw was the standardisation of interstate railway services to standard gauge in 1970 that removed the need for a station where goods and passengers had to be transferred from one gauge line to another. The break of gauge was moved to Peterborough, and Terowie dieed. Today, the town's streets are eerily empty, and all but a handful of businesses are still open, though all the shops remain intact and in much the same condition as when their owners walked away from them, thanks to the foresite of some townfolk who weren't about to give up on the town completely.



What is left of the Railway Yard is a reminder of the town's prosperity. You can see the long platform where goods were transferred across it from trains of different gauges, standing on either side of it. On the platform is a plaque marks the spot where General Douglas MacArthur and his famous 'I shall return' speech in May 1942. Nearby is the stationmaters's office and outbuildings and rusting railway tracks of both gauges around the goods yard.



Re-routing of the Alice Springs railway line in the 1950s, moving the change-of-gauge to Peterborough in 1970 and the bypassing of the town by the Barrier Highway in the 1960s all contributed towards the town's demise. These days, it is only its historic buildings and galleries which occupy them that keep the town alive.



The town of Terowie was founded as a private venture around 1875 by John A. Mitchell (died ca. May 1879), who built a public house (highly profitable due to its proximity to the Inkermann mine on the main road, and sections were taken up by a blacksmith, a medical practitioner (a Dr. Carter), a store and others. This was in flagrant contravention of the terms of Mitchell's lease, but received an imprimatur when he facilitated building of a Wesleyan chapel. By the end of 1875 it consisted of seven houses in a row.



In 1877 an area of "wasteland" to the east across the road was nominated by the Government as the site of a town named "Shebbear". (perhaps named after Shebbear, Devon). This was objected to by interests in Terowie and nearby Yarcowie, which was anxious for any development to be there. Eventually lots were offered for sale at "Shebbear", but the name was scarcely used outside the context of proposed land sales, and all references to the future railway used "Terowie". By 1880 there were two stores, two butchers, a bakery, a saddlery, a bootmaker, three blacksmiths, the hotel and another under construction, two chapels, an Institute (but as yet no Post Office or Police Station) and the railway station. The line south was completed on 11 October 1880.