Fremantle has had a number of railway bridges:
- 1880 - the original bridge
- 1897-1940s - nominally the second bridge to make the crossing a double line operation - the bridges were in constant renovation and repair in time of existence - 1926 saw the northern section of both bridges washed away by in the floods of that year
- 1960s - current - third bridge was constructed further upstream of the earlier structures allowing for expansion of the Fremantle Harbour
See also: railways, railway stations.
The first railway bridge was built 1880 and demolished 1965, the second (current) bridge having been available since c. 1963. The first one was further downstream, in what is now part of the harbour. One of the reasons it was removed was to provide room for extensions to the wharves.
The first railway bridge:
Fremantle Library Local History Collection 1903 image #534B, with this caption: 'View of Fremantle from vicinity of Cantonment Hill. Note: [[../hotels/richmond.html|Bridge Hotel]], formerly Richmond Hotel, on far right. The licence for the hotel expired on 31.12.1964 when Mr H. Earley was the licensee. Demolished May 1965 to make way for the new railway bridge and up-river harbour extensions. See: 728.5 Miscellany File. Railway bridge, completed 1880. According to Minchin and Higham Robb's railway, David Law built the bridge and the timber was supplied by Mason, Bird and Co.'
The house at the extreme left of the photo is probably [[../buildings/villamaria.html|Villa Maria]], [[../people/ratazzi.html|Carl Ratazzi]]'s residence. If it is, the house in front of it is on the corner of [[../streets/burt.html|Burt Street]]: as 'Salopia' it was used as a private [[../hospitals/index.html|hospital]] in 1899.
Compare image #534A - perhaps (from the enumeration) taken on the same day from the same location, just a bit to the left.
The current rail bridge crosses the river just to the west of the Stirling Bridge. In a storm in 2014 a large ship was driven from its mooring into the current bridge, resulting in its closure for a number of weeks. The earlier railway bridge, further downstream, collapsed in floods in 1926 but was repaired. My photo above from the top of the Signal Station on [[../cantonmenthill/index.html|Cantonment Hill]].
This inadequate photo, Feb 2016, gives some idea of the defences being constructed to the west of the railway bridge, leaving no doubt that this is not to be moved. The huge crane platform at the right of the photo should have been in the centre, to show the extent of the works being carried out.
In March 2016 the crane is being moved to a different position by two boats.
The bridge in the above photograph is not today's rail bridge, and is not in the same place as the present one. The current bridge comes to the shore further east (to the left). The second, present bridge was built upstream to allow the harbour to be expanded eastwards, following the [[../people/tydeman.html|Tydeman]] Report of 1949. This 1881 rail bridge collapsed in a flood in 1926, raising the question of the eastern extension of the harbour, but it was decided then to repair the old bridge for the time being. The current rail bridge was being built in 1959, so may have been opened c. 1960 (tba) after which the older rail bridge was demolished in 1965. The prominent building on the shore in the middle of the photo is the [[../hotels/portbrewery.html|Port Brewery]] (1892-1963).
Fremantle Library note:
Fremantle Railway Bridge looking from North Fremantle. The reclamation visible on the farther shore was spoil from the building of Dalgety's wool store in the early 1920s. Several homes on both the Beach Street and Queen Victoria Street frontages were demolished for the building of the wool store. George Shenton's barge the Gazelle, built 1864, was buried by the reclamation. For many years it lay abandoned and partly submerged in the river and was used by local children as a diving platform and place to fish from. From c1881-1896 the bridge had a single track. After 1896 the tracks were duplicated. A few years later a narrow four foot wide walkway (eastern side of bridge) was added for cyclists and pedestrians. The [[../hotels/portbrewery.html|Port Brewery]] (in centre) was in Beach Street. Construction began on 15th November 1892, central portion collapsed 4th March 1893. Demolished c1963 to permit relocation of road and rail facilities. Obelisk on Monument Hill erected 1867, demolished 1924. Replaced by Fallen Soldiers and Sailors Memorial 1928. 1976 - the railway embankment occupies the middle scene. Fremantle Library text, and Izzy Orloff photo #468.
The 'same' photo as the one above which is stamped 'La Tosca Studios North Fremantle'. This one is 'signed' A. Orloff: Abraham Orloff, better known as Izzy, whose North Fremantle business rejoiced in the name La Tosca. This photograph is courtesy SLWA # 111629PD, dated 1923?
Izzy Orloff photo 1920s, SLWA 111957PD
Aerial photo showing the current rail bridge, in the middle, immediately before the older one, right, being removed. (The photographer is facing south.)
The bridge collapse of 23 July 1925. That looks like the 1866 road bridge in the distance, so we are looking upstream.
Photo taken 17 March 1968 showing the remains of the earlier railway bridge - since removed, of course - with the current rail bridge in the background, and a train conveniently crossing it. The train is pre-electric - what we used to call 'a diesel'. I'm guessing that the works going on between are extending the harbour eastwards.
Heather Campbell (v. infra) cites David Whiteford as stating that the 'first' railway bridge was preceded by another. Whiteford (2014) writes: "The collapsed bridge was the second rail bridge to cross the Swan River at Fremantle. The first was available for construction traffic on 31 August 1880 as the Fremantle – Perth – Guildford railway was being built. For duplication and heavier locomotives, the second bridge opened on 5 November 1895.'
References
- https://fhs.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/fremantle-railway-bridge-final.pdf (1926 collapse - Heather Campbell North Fremantle Railway Bridge Collapse 1926 - An accident waiting to happen?)
- https://freotopia.org/bridges/railway.html Fremantle Railway Bridges
- https://www.timetable.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/thetimes201411issue.pdf. David Whiteford The 1926 North Fremantle railway bridge collapse – and 88 years on! - pages 14 and 15
Campbell, Heather 2020, 'North Fremantle Railway Bridge Collapse 1926 : An accident waiting to happen?', FHS Newsletter, 8 June.
Hitchcock, J.K. 1929, [[../hitchcock.html|The History of Fremantle]], The Front Gate of Australia, 1829-1929, Fremantle City Council.
Whiteford, David 2014, 'The 1926 North Fremantle railway bridge collapse – and 88 years on!', The Times: a journal of transport timetable history and analysis, November: 14-15.
Wikipedia article on Queen Victoria Street.
Engineering Heritage Panel, Swan & Canning Rivers Bridges: Australian Engineering Week Tour 2009.
See also
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 17 March, 2018 and hosted at freotopia.org/bridges/railway.html (it was last updated on 27 October, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.