BRUCE RAILWAY: In the Outback Region of South Australia.
As you head up into the Flinders Ranges near Wilmington the signs are everywhere; of pioneers who ventured north to make a new life only to be beaten back by the elements. But back in the 1800's the early colonial administrators had big plans for this open expanse of grazing country set against the majestic ranges.
"Each family coming out from Britain (and a number from Germany as well) were allocated one of these blocks. The proviso of getting a block was you had to have a dwelling built on it within two years. So hundreds of little stone cottages went up all round here. Not a lot of stone and timber of any great order except for redgums along the creek lines and for several years they had great seasons".
The place names tell the story; of high hopes later turned to dust by a succession of droughts.
"So really, the whole thing fell apart and people walked off. They call the Willochra Plain the plain of broken dreams and I think that was the case. You'll see lots of broken dreams around here, see lots of headers you know; the Ridley strippers. You still see them lying around; they wouldn't have been used for a hundred years".
But for a few short years the rain did come. Long enough for several bumper crops and long enough for the railwaymen to build a line to take the grain away and to establish a little town called Bruce with its own station A service town in what must have seemed like the middle of nowhere. Today, you can stay at the Railway Station where the old station master's residence has been converted into stylish Bed & Breakfast Accommodation. Back in the 1980's, former British Army officer and later manager of his own clothing company, Tony Gwynn Jones, fell in love with what was then a shell of its former railway glory.
"In 1987 someone rang me up and said your railway station is up for tender. We put a silly price on it and suddenly we owned a silly railway station".
And so began a two-year restoration program with many of the locals glad that a station which had once seen traffic going north to Alice Springs and west to Perth, would once again open its doors to travellers. The old sign was returned by a train driver who'd souvenired it when the line was closed and the front doors were returned and despite the years, they remained a perfect fit; for a fitting restoration.
"And what is this contraption here?"
"Oh, this is a section car. Where they used to be used by Superintendent's up and down the line, or when taking a work gang out, they'd use these. We've actually bought three of these from the railways. We've got two small ones down the back there and that's just used for taking the troops up and down the line. This one's got a Holden engine in it, luxurious upholstery".
"So this would be for the gangers?"
"This would be for the gangers, the old Kingswood engine".
"And what's the next station?"
"Kingswood; amazing Kingswood country".
And so we went for a quick spin in Tony's Kingswood country, a short one-off tour for Postcards on a piece of railway history across the Plain of Broken Dreams.
"And this is the Willochra Creek; it runs about every year at once if we're lucky".
"And this is the Willochra Plain?"
"All the Willochra Plain - all around".
"The hope was that this would be an agricultural development, producing cereals".
They were certainly determined to make it work, building classic railway bridges to harness the potential of this rugged terrain, even if the country refused to be tamed. But they stayed long enough to build the line and the station and the old Post Office. And as you wander around this ghost town in the Southern Flinders, you can almost hear the raucous laughter from the broken-down old pub which served its last schooner in 1959.
The sign to the Bruce Railway Station is just off the Wilmington to Quorn Road. To book, contact Tony on 8648-6344. Cost is $120.00 per night per person for dinner, bed and breakfast. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards.sa.com.au
