Peterborough ……………….Day 25

17 April 2014

This morning was another cool morning until the sun had risen. We decided to do a day trip to Peterborough, about 35 kms away. Peterborough sits on the intersection of the East-West railway linking Port Pirie and Broken Hill, and the North-South railway linking Adelaide eventually to Alice Springs.

We first went to the Information Centre which is inside an old passenger carriage.

Out front is a statue of Bob, the railway dog. Here is an excerpt from a 1895 English newspaper:

Bob’ fame spread to overseas as these letters to the English Newspaper “The Spectator” show.
“I often see interesting letters to the Spectator about dogs, and I thought perhaps your readers might like to hear about the best known dog in Australia. His name is Railway Bob and he passes his whole existence on the train, - his favourite seat being on top of the coal box. In this way he has travelled many thousands of miles, going all over the lines in South Australia. He is well known in Victoria, frequently seen in Sydney and has been up as far as Brisbane! The most curious part of his conduct is that he has no master, but every engine driver is his friend. At night he follows home his engine man of the day never leaving him or letting him out of his sight until they are back on the Railway Station in the morning, when he starts off on another of his ceaseless journeys. I have not seen him on our line for some time, but noticed with regret last time he was in the station he was showing signs of age, and limping as he walked. E Cresswall. Adelaide, August 24th. 1895.

We later went to have a look at Steamtown. Peterborough was the administrative and service centre for the Peterborough Division of the South Australian Railways, employing up to 1,500 people in the workshops during its heyday. The railway workshops covered an extensive area mainly to the west of the township, and it is in these original buildings that the exhibits are displayed. Dogs are allowed so Kurgan & I did the tour together, along with Denise and John.

They have a number of carriages on display which you can enter and have a good look. This is one of the earliest carriages on display.

Peterborough also has one of the best entrance statements to a town that I have seen.

The Federal Hotel:

When I was taking the photo of the Federal Hotel a woman came up to me to tell me this hotel was the last one built in Peterborough. She said she knew this because she had a photo of the white cottage across the road taken in 1895, showing a vacant block where the hotel is now standing. The woman lived in this white cottage. She told me that in the heyday of Peterborough there were 195 trains per day passing through!. Today we saw 2, a train bringing ore from Broken Hill to Port Pirie and the passenger train, the Indian Pacific that travels from Sydney to Perth.

Our sky tonight. The Sulfur Crested Cockatoos have come home again.