Travelling by Train

Text : John McGregor

Images: SLSA

One of the obvious consequences of WWII was the scarcity of many vital  commodities, one of which was petrol. I was born in 1940, and when my mother needed to go to Adelaide ,because there was no convenient passenger bus service, the only option was to go by train from Mt Lofty station with me in tow. We lived opposite Crafers School, and so for my short legs the first part of the walk to  the station was easy — down Glenside Road (known locally as Woodbury Hill) into Stirling, up Avenue Road past the Institute then down Longwood Road to the Mt. Lofty Station.

There was an air of expectation as we waited patiently, and then a phone could be heard ringing. It was the Station Master at Aldgate ringing to say that the train was on its way! Levers in the signal box were adjusted and  the suspense mounted. After what seemed to be an age the steam locomotive could be heard chugging up from Heathfield, getting slowly closer.

Suddenly, around the bend and under the bridge came the monster, belching smoke and gliding to a halt for all the new passengers to board, and perhaps some to alight.
The first job was to find a seat and then ensure that the carriage windows were closed, because not far down the track was the first tunnel, and if the windows were open smoke and cinders from the engine were a problem.
A day in Adelaide always included lunch at Balfours, and if shoes were bought you could put your foot into a machine which showed if the shoes were a correct fit
(no thought then that X-rays might be harmful).

Then there was the return journey — on legs that were complaining that they had had enough. There was still some magic in the train ride home, especially when going through the tunnels, but after alighting from the train we still had to walk up Longwood Road, down Avenue Road and up the long unforgiving Woodbury Hill ( which seemed to have lengthened during the day!).
Small wonder that when regular bus services were introduced they found good patronage  from women wanting to spend only a few hours in the city.

Do you have memories of Train Travel or the Railway Stations in the Hills ? Contact us at mldhsgateways@mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au or drop into the History Centre at the Coventry Library, 63 Mount Barker Road, Stirling.