34-481: The Kakadu Highway is 209 kilometres long and extends from Pine Creek to Jabiru , entering Kakadu National Park as the highway crosses the Mary River . The highway is signed and mapped as State Route 21. [REDACTED] Australian Roads portal This Australian road or road transport-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Northern Territory , Australia article
68-663: A Chinatown was established and the population reached its peak of 900 people. However, this mining boom was short-lived as, by 1882, only 80 miners remained and by 1886 it was virtually inactive. The boom restarted following the completion of the North Australia Railway to the area in 1889 when many of the Chinese laborers who had been employed on its construction, approximately 3,000 in total, settled in Pine Creek; this included Ah Hong who remained there for
102-615: A civilian airfield, was extended between May and July 1942 by the US Army 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion as an emergency landing ground and to serve the military units based in the town. The 43rd Engineer Regiment, of the US Army , with help from the 808th and, later, the Allied Works Council also constructed the nearby MacDonald Airfield (originally known as Burkholder Field). Unlike many Top End towns, Pine Creek
136-529: A drop in the price of iron ore, leading to the departure of many local employees. In April 2020, it was announced that mining would resume in May 2020, after a 5-year hiatus. Also, in 1985, Pine Creek Goldfields Limited opened an open-cut gold mine adjacent to the town, on the site of an old shaft mine . Over a ten-year period, it yielded 764,000 ounces (21,700 kg) of gold. Since closure, its main pit has been filled with water to prevent acid build-up. A lookout
170-402: A railway from Birdum to Bourke, New South Wales in 1932. A railway from Dajarra, Queensland to Birdum was considered in 1952-53 but the federal Cabinet decided not to proceed. Construction of a standard gauge railway to Darwin was first seriously proposed in 1965 when construction of a new standard gauge line to Alice Springs was discussed. In May 1976, the federal government ordered
204-425: A short time. The population of the town in 1894 was 753 Chinese people and 39 'Europeans'. The Chinese migrants, like Aboriginal people, suffered experiences of racism but the traffic of opium, the impact of intensive mining and unequal relationships with Aboriginal women (in which many men did not claim their paternity of children) are methods that parallel with European impacts on Aboriginal people's lives. There
238-669: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Pine Creek, Northern Territory Pine Creek is a small town in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory , Australia and is situated just off the Stuart Highway ; it is 90kms north of Katherine . As at the 2021 Census there were 318 residents of Pine Creek, which is the fourth largest town between Darwin and Alice Springs . The Wagiman , Jawoyn Bolmo , Matjba and Wurrkbarbar groups are
272-434: Is by no means large, but was remarkable for pines growing there, thus the name of Pine Creek.". By 1875 there were two hotels, The Royal Mail and The Standard, competing for business. A public school opened in the town in 1899. By the 1890s, up to 15 mines were operating in the area, and the town's population exceeded 3000 people. The towns population fluctuated significantly in its early years and declined significantly in
306-400: Is located at the south-western end of Moule Street. The first stage of the lightly built narrow-gauge North Australia Railway was built between Port Darwin and Pine Creek, reaching the town in 1889. Additional sidings were added to the rail yards in 1914 in preparation for the extension of the line south to Emungalan ( Katherine ), which opened in 1917. An unsealed road was constructed in
340-696: The Northern Territory Heritage Register . It is in the care of the National Trust Northern Territory, as is the Katherine railway station. Nearly 20 years after the line between Tarcoola and Alice Springs was opened, a consortium was formed to build a standard gauge line between Alice Springs and Darwin. Construction was undertaken with amazing speed and efficiency, lasting 32 months from July 2001 to September 2003. The line broadly followed
374-513: The Northern Territory Heritage Register : North Australia Railway The North Australia Railway was a 509 km (316 mi) 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) narrow gauge railway in the Northern Territory of Australia which ran from the territory capital of Darwin , once known as Palmerston, to Birdum , just south of Larrimah . Initially its name was the Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway . The first section
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#1732772344670408-552: The traditional owners of this area and, since 2019, they have held exclusive Native Title rights over this land. In 2005 a prominent resident of Pine Creek, Edward Ah Toy , was recognised as the Northern Territorian of the year. Pine Creek is one of the oldest towns in the Northern Territory and it is named for the pine trees that once grew by the creek in the centre of the town and although it
442-497: The 1930s, following the same route as the railway from Adelaide River to Larrimah , and passing through Pine Creek. Much of this poorly maintained road would later become the Stuart Highway . The railway closed in 1976. The old Pine Creek railway station (1888) and some rolling stock remained and were preserved as the Pine Creek Railway Precinct ; Commonwealth Railways steam locomotive NF5, built in 1877,
476-556: The Eleanour Reef at Pine Creek by Wentworth D'Arcy Uhr . There is an alternative story in which it was Darwent & Dalwood who found gold while digging holes for the telegraph line and that the government did not wish to publicise the discovery as they did not want the 'distraction' of a gold rush, despite this, the discovery by Uhr is the more widely accepted version. News of this discovery spread quickly and, by January 1873, 23 mining claims had been taken up and resulted in
510-481: The Queensland border, and that a light line be built from Oodnadatta to Alice Springs. Further, when the time arrived for construction of a transcontinental railway, the route that would be in the best interests of Australia should be selected. When the report had been accepted, further delays occurred and it was not until 1926 – 14 years after assuming ownership – that the federal government assumed actual control of
544-660: The closure of the entire North Australia Railway line, mainly as a result of the loss of iron ore traffic originating from the Frances Creek mine. All services ceased on 30 June. Maintenance gangs were withdrawn in December 1977. Heavy floods in 1978 destroyed parts of the railway, effectively eliminating any prospect of the railway re-opening. In 1985, some rails and steel sleepers were lifted and sent for use in Tasmania . The Pine Creek railway precinct has been placed in
578-614: The completion date being specified. Since the federal government did not yet have its own railways department, the railway was leased back to the South Australian Government and worked as part of the South Australian railway system. World War I intervened, although in 1917 the line was extended 90 km (56 mi) to the northern bank of the Katherine River . By 1920, public interest in
612-525: The creation of the township. It was here that the Northern Territory's first stamp battery was constructed in July 1873. Chinese miners, mostly from the Kwangtung Province , began arriving in Pine Creek in 1874 and 176 of these were indentured by the South Australian government. In 1877, following the discovery of substantial alluvial gold deposits they began arriving in great numbers. In 1879
646-525: The early years of its operation under Commonwealth control, traffic was light, which, given its light engineering, was for the best. In 1930, a mixed (i.e., freight and passenger) train, which Territorians had nicknamed Leaping Lena , ran to an established timetable: The leisurely pace was to vanish in 1942. On the outbreak of the Pacific War , the Australian Army surveyed a rail route for
680-491: The existing line at Katherine River. This would involve the Central Australia Railway taking a sharp turn to the east from its established railhead at Oodnadatta for a diversion about 600 km (370 mi) east of the initially intended route through the centre of the continent via Alice Springs. The federal government referred the matter to the parliamentary standing committee on public works to examine
714-400: The gap between Birdum and Alice Springs, on which freight had to be carried by road vehicles, but a line was not constructed. The railway experienced very heavy traffic since it was a strategic route to operations north of Australia. In 1944, as many as 147 trains ran per week. Larrimah , 9 kilometres (5.6 miles) kilometres north of Birdum, was used as the railhead because, unlike Birdum, it
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#1732772344670748-406: The idea of a north–south transcontinental railway had taken hold. However, the legal opinion of the federal attorney-general left open an interpretation that the route could be from anywhere across South Australia's northern border. Queensland interests pressed strongly for a route from the north-east corner of the state, near Birdsville , and north into the pastoral lands of Queensland before joining
782-482: The interwar period; one of the few developments in this period was the establishment of the short lived Pine Creek Home between 1931 - 1933; it was briefly reopened in the early war years 1940 - 1941 as a place were children who were being transferred from government institutions to church missions. Immediately after the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line in 1872 gold was discovered at
816-611: The line and named it the North Australia Railway ; it also took over the Central Australia Railway. In 1929, the Commonwealth Railways extended the North Australia Railway southwards to what was to be its final terminus, Birdum , and extended the Central Australia Railway northwards to its final terminus at Alice Springs . There remained a gap of more than 800 km (500 mi) to be bridged before Australia's ambitions could be fulfilled. In
850-590: The northernmost outpost of the South Australian Railways . Singhalese and Indian gangs did the grubbing and earthwork and 3000 Chinese labourers laid more than a kilometre of track per day. More than 300 bridges and flood openings were built. As a consequence of Federation , the Commonwealth (or federal) government took ownership of the railway in 1911, having undertaken to connect Darwin with Adelaide by rail – but, crucially, without
884-554: The original narrow-gauge route between Adelaide River and Emungalan but about 70 per cent of the whole route was on a new alignment. Modern engineering standards, much higher than those of its 19th century predecessor, resulted in none of the infrastructure on the alignment, such as it was, being retained other than the Fergusson River bridge. The first freight train from Adelaide reached Darwin in January 2004 and
918-497: The town, between 1967 and 1974 where iron ore was mined at Frances Creek, about 25 kilometres north. During this time approximately 6 million tonnes of ore were extracted. In June 2007, Territory Resources (trading under the name Territory Iron) commenced mining iron ore and gold there. In October 2014, the mine was used for filming an episode of the BBC television program Top Gear . The mine ceased operations in January 2015, after
952-570: The whole question. At the same time, it authorised an extension of the line in the Northern Territory southwards to Mataranka . This was in keeping with a changed Commonwealth viewpoint – that the start of the transcontinental railway was to be in the Northern Territory, not South Australia. The committee's report, completed in late 1922, recommended that the Port Darwin to Katherine River railway be extended to Daly Waters and eventually be extended further south to Newcastle Waters before heading to
986-511: Was a cycle of economic growth and decline at Pine Creek but, by 1915. approximately 75,000 ounces (over 2,000 kgs) of gold had been mined there. There is evidence of a thriving Chinese community at Pine Creek until the late 1920s, during The Great Depression which was, soon after, followed by the evacuation of the entire civilian population during World War II and following the Bombing of Darwin and production ceased. Mining began again, near
1020-462: Was not bombed by the Japanese during the war, although Japanese reconnaissance aircraft are reported to have overflown the town on at least one occasion. It was also during the war years that sealed, all weather sections of the Stuart Highway were constructed, providing transport alternatives to the railway. Work on the road was completed in this area by 1944. The following places are listed on
1054-517: Was on the Stuart Highway . Some wartime improvements were made, however, including new locomotive depots, expanded workshops and additional locomotive water supplies. However, personnel, locomotive power and rolling stock were in critically short supply. In desperation, the Commonwealth Railways converted cattle cars (by lining the open-planked sides and installing toilets) to transport troops northwards. A private company proposed
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1088-486: Was opened 1889, the last in 1929. The railway closed in 1976. Between 1863 and 1911 the Northern Territory was administered by the Government of South Australia . In 1883, that government instituted the Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway Act , which resulted in a £959,300 contract being awarded to C. & E. Millar of Melbourne . The line reached Pine Creek in 1888 and officially opened on 30 September 1889 as
1122-403: Was originally and officially called Playford, it was never known by this name and it was officially changed to Pine Creek on 20 September 1973. Of the name SW Herbert wrote: "We setled down in our new camp at Pine Creek, since well known throughout Australia, first on account of its being a rich gold field, and years later as the inland terminus of our only railway on the north coast. This creek
1156-534: Was restored to operational condition in 2001. The North Australia Railway's standard-gauge successor, completed in 2004 between Alice Springs and Darwin – part of the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor – is used by heavy freight trains and the experiential tourism train, The Ghan ; it passes 400 metres (440 yards) east of the town. During World War II , the Australian Army set up 65th Australian Camp Hospital near Pine Creek. The Pine Creek Airfield , initially
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