Tailem Bend roundhouse stands testament to 100 years of railway history
The town’s locomotive roundhouse is a century old this week, having changed the course of the community forever when it opened in June 1926.
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Tailem Bend’s locomotive roundhouse and the surrounding railway precinct have reached a remarkable milestone.
This week marks 100 years since it became the heart of South Australia’s country locomotive operations and helped transform the town into one of the state’s most important railway centres.
Murray Bridge News asked Bob Sampson, executive officer of the National Railway Museum at Port Adelaide, why Tailem Bend became such a vital part of the network.
He said the locomotive servicing operations at Murray Bridge had simply outgrown their original facilities.
The Murray Bridge locomotive depot had been built around a 65-foot turntable.
But by the mid-1920s, the arrival of larger, heavier steam locomotives meant there was no longer enough capacity to efficiently turn and service the new engines.
The construction of the new Murray Bridge railway bridge also played a role in the decision to relocate the major servicing depot.
“Tailem Bend offered the room to build a much larger facility,” Mr Sampson said.
“The new depot included an 85-foot turntable, a substantial roundhouse and extensive sidings where locomotives could be serviced, repaired and prepared for their next journeys.”
The news was sprung on the local railway workers at short notice, after more than two years of speculation.
“Railway employees at Murray Bridge were notified on Friday that henceforth their home station would be Tailem Bend,” The Register reported at the time.
“Those concerned were furnished with railway passes to enable them to take up duty at that station from June 27 (the following Monday).
“Although most of the Murray Bridge householders are (averse to) coming to Tailem Bend, most of the men folk seemed not to mind.”
Twenty-eight locomotives, trucks and other rolling stock, including a first aid van and a break-down train, were shifted down the line.
Crowds of townspeople turned out to welcome them to Tailem Bend on the Sunday afternoon, and “the entire works and railway station were flooded with electric light as soon as it became dark”.
“On Monday, although everything was far from settled, the trains appeared to be handled very systematically, and Tailem Bend seemed a very busy town.”
The move marked the beginning of a new chapter for Tailem Bend.
Day and night, steam locomotives rolled into the depot to be refueled, watered, inspected and turned before heading out again across South Australia’s expanding rail network.
Engineers, fitters, boilermakers, firemen and drivers all became part of the town’s daily rhythm, with the railway providing employment for generations of local families.
The Tailem Bend roundhouse is abandoned today, but was a bustling workplace for decades. Photos: Glenn Power.
For decades, the roundhouse was far more than a railway workshop.
It became a symbol of Tailem Bend’s importance to the state’s transport system, connecting country communities with Adelaide and carrying everything from grain and livestock to passengers and mail.
Although steam locomotives have long since disappeared from regular service, the roundhouse remains one of Tailem Bend’s most significant industrial landmarks.
Its centenary provides an opportunity to reflect on the vision that created the complex, the engineering that kept it operating, and the thousands of railway workers whose dedication helped keep South Australia’s railways moving for much of the 20th century.
Tailem Bend’s railway station is a little older than the works area – its centenary was celebrated with much fanfare back in 2013.
