I have crossed the Nullabor Plain many times over the last 40 plus years. At least a dozen times I have stopped to have a look at the Eucla Telegraph Station. Like many travellers, I have stood there only to see a chimney sticking out of the sand on the last remaining building. "THE" DICK SMITH wanted to dig the "town" out again, as it is /was an amazing part of out history. It was opened in 1877, and a couple of years later, the staff of the O/T station noticed a lot of rabbits coming from the east, and at the same time, munching up all the growth that was holding the sandhills together. The operaters notified their head offices, (Adelaide and Perth) advising them of the horde heading west. The information was ignored. Finally, after a number of telegraph notices, the "highly intelligent" management, in both cities, sent the O/T staff several containers of cats !!?? Yes, you could get five bob for a tom and a queen. As a result, a lot of pussycats went missing, only to take a sea voyage. Rabbits can be cooked in just so many ways. The O/T staff were shooting up to 100 a week. The cats arrived, and soon took to the rabbits. Soon, even they got sick of catching and eating underground mutton. So the cats multiplied, and started killing out natural wildlife. I have seen decendents of thos cats, measuring a metre from tip to tip, and they ain't scared of anything, or anybody. Recently I took a walk to the O/T station. What a difference. I can only assume that, maybe CALM, or whoever, has got in there with some earth moving gear and cleared a lot of sand away from the O/T station. And, Mother Nature has obviously sent down a lot of rain, because the desert is blooming. Now you are out of your car, take a walk to the Southern Ocean. It's a fifteen minute stroll. You can't miss it. Here you will see what remains of the long wharf. There was a rail line on it, so that the freight from the supply ships could be carried into the "town" So stand there a
Radar said
08:21 PM Dec 17, 2015
Good story there, have read a fair amount about the telegraph line, several good books out there on the subject.
PS. Pipes well into reading your story of trucking, I am enjoying but if I read it of a night I can't sleep, so now just read it for short time after lunch. Great work.
Peter_n_Margaret said
09:49 PM Dec 17, 2015
What you see at Eucla today is not the ruins of the Overland Telegraph Station. It is the ruins of the station master's house. The Overland Telegraph Station itself was dismantled stone by stone to build the new servo etc at the top of the escarpment after the road was re aligned and surfaced (in 1956, from memory, in time for the Melbourne Olympics).
I was there as a kid in 1954 and my father took this photo. It had been abandoned to the sand at that point, but was still largely intact, as you can see. The Building on the left is the manager's residence.
The escarpment is visible in the background.
Cheers,
Peter
-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Thursday 17th of December 2015 09:54:48 PM
Wooow Peter....... Great to see a pic of the original buildings as they were. I was down in the ruins several years ago just checking out the grains of sand I guess. Now I can see what it was like ....... Great stuff
Delta18 said
12:49 AM Dec 18, 2015
Next time you are in the area check out the museum at the western end of the motel. Lots of photos and artefacts from the original village. I was amazed just how many buildings were there.
We drove right to the beach where the remnants of the old jetty are. There are many tracks, no problem to a 4x4.
Bruce and Bev said
11:33 PM Dec 18, 2015
we visit it each time we cross the 'Boor and a lot depends on the wind and sand. Sometimes the buildings are partly exposed and you can walk into what is left and other times they are almost totally covered in sand dunes.
Some govt dept works the area from time to time - not sure whether its an historic thing, but often theres markers in the dunes which suggest it may have something to do with endangered animals. Often there are fresh signs up asking people to stick to the tracks (cant see any because of the sand) - but generally most people stay off the dune tops
I have crossed the Nullabor Plain many times over the last 40 plus years. At least a dozen times I have stopped to have a look at the Eucla Telegraph Station. Like many travellers, I have stood there only to see a chimney sticking out of the sand on the last remaining building. "THE" DICK SMITH wanted to dig the "town" out again, as it is /was an amazing part of out history. It was opened in 1877, and a couple of years later, the staff of the O/T station noticed a lot of rabbits coming from the east, and at the same time, munching up all the growth that was holding the sandhills together. The operaters notified their head offices, (Adelaide and Perth) advising them of the horde heading west. The information was ignored. Finally, after a number of telegraph notices, the "highly intelligent" management, in both cities, sent the O/T staff several containers of cats !!?? Yes, you could get five bob for a tom and a queen. As a result, a lot of pussycats went missing, only to take a sea voyage. Rabbits can be cooked in just so many ways. The O/T staff were shooting up to 100 a week. The cats arrived, and soon took to the rabbits. Soon, even they got sick of catching and eating underground mutton. So the cats multiplied, and started killing out natural wildlife. I have seen decendents of thos cats, measuring a metre from tip to tip, and they ain't scared of anything, or anybody. Recently I took a walk to the O/T station. What a difference. I can only assume that, maybe CALM, or whoever, has got in there with some earth moving gear and cleared a lot of sand away from the O/T station. And, Mother Nature has obviously sent down a lot of rain, because the desert is blooming. Now you are out of your car, take a walk to the Southern Ocean. It's a fifteen minute stroll. You can't miss it. Here you will see what remains of the long wharf. There was a rail line on it, so that the freight from the supply ships could be carried into the "town" So stand there a
Good story there, have read a fair amount about the telegraph line, several good books out there on the subject.
PS. Pipes well into reading your story of trucking, I am enjoying but if I read it of a night I can't sleep, so now just read it for short time after lunch. Great work.
What you see at Eucla today is not the ruins of the Overland Telegraph Station.
It is the ruins of the station master's house.
The Overland Telegraph Station itself was dismantled stone by stone to build the new servo etc at the top of the escarpment after the road was re aligned and surfaced (in 1956, from memory, in time for the Melbourne Olympics).
I was there as a kid in 1954 and my father took this photo. It had been abandoned to the sand at that point, but was still largely intact, as you can see.
The Building on the left is the manager's residence.
The escarpment is visible in the background.
Cheers,
Peter
-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Thursday 17th of December 2015 09:54:48 PM
Next time you are in the area check out the museum at the western end of the motel. Lots of photos and artefacts from the original village. I was amazed just how many buildings were there.
We drove right to the beach where the remnants of the old jetty are. There are many tracks, no problem to a 4x4.
Some govt dept works the area from time to time - not sure whether its an historic thing, but often theres markers in the dunes which suggest it may have something to do with endangered animals. Often there are fresh signs up asking people to stick to the tracks (cant see any because of the sand) - but generally most people stay off the dune tops