Bridging the Murray : A Study of the Rail Crossings and Branch Lines Into NSW

Elizabeth, South Australia, Australia: Railmac Publications, 2010. 1st Edition . Soft cover. New/No Jacket. 240mm x 175mm x 12mm. 40 pages b/w photos - Bridging the Murray is a study of the rail crossings looking at the railway crossings and the various broad gauge branch lines as they ventured into NSW and also the SA bridges.This B5 40 B&W page book is a pictorial look at river crossings on the Murray river at Albury / Wodonga , Yarrawonga / Oaklands , Strathmerton / Tocumwal, Echuca / Moama / Deniliquin / Balranald , Kerang / Murrabit / Stony Crossing , Robinvale / Euston / Koorakee, Mildura / Yelta / Wentworth , Paringa / Renmark and Murray Bridge. The first railway bridge over the Murray River was built at Echuca in 1876-8, allowing the Bendigo to Echuca line to be joined to the privately-built Moama to Deniliquin Railway : extending the reach of the Victorian Railways system into the southern Riverina of New South Wales. Although the North-East Railway had reached Wodonga by 1871, it was not until 1887 that the New South Wales Government completed its line to Albury and, with a bridge built over the Murray, completed the first inter-colonial rail link between Melbourne and Sydney. Perhaps because of this delay, when further lines were extended across the border lower down the Murray in the 1890s and early 1900s the bridges were all built or upgraded for rail use by the Victorian Railways. Apart from the Albury Bridge, all of the other rail bridges across the Murray provided access for road vehicles when trains were not crossing, and many were to carry a greater volume of road traffic rather than rail traffic over subsequent decades.