The Blyth Railway Line

The first trial of steam power was made between Hoyleton and Balaklava on 8th March 1876, the same year that saw the extension of the line to Blyth. Until this date, the Railway freight from Hoyleton to Port Wakefield was drawn by horses.

Water for the new steam train engines was stored in a new large railway dam at Blyth.​

The earliest part of the narrow gauge line opened from Balaklava to Blyth on 14 March 1876 as part of the Port Wakefield line. This enabled Clare farmers to cart their wheat to Blyth's Plains, instead of carting further to Hoyleton.

Blyth station (built 1878) was a fine stone gable ended station building and was named after Sir Arthur Blyth who was one time a minister of the Crown and Agent-General, and was Premier of South Australia three times, albeit for short periods of time.

Blyth Railway Station 1971 - Town Collection

There was a daily steam engine service to Port Wakefield (except on Sundays) with the train leaving Blyth at 7:15 am and arriving at Port Wakefield at 10:45 am.

The return service left Port Wakefield at 2:30 pm, with intermediate stops at Saints, Balaklava, and Hoyleton.

Later, much later, a Port Pirie Express ran twice, then three times a week.

The Blyth Hotel also opened in 1876, the year the train service commenced, the school opened in 1878, and a Wesleyan Church also opened in 1878.

In the early years the town had a flour mill as the town was on the Blyth Plains which were known for their wheat growing. It was run by the Deland family.

In the early 1890s, work commenced on the extension of the railway line from Blyth to Gladstone, with a branch line to Snowtown (via Brinkworth).

These lines were opened for traffic on 2nd July 1894.

Rail to Brinkworth

In 1879 Farmer George Brinkworth acquired the property then known as Magpie Creek, which proved to be, on completion of the Blyth and Gladstone railway, the site fixed for the railway junction from Wallaroo and the town of Brinkworth.

 By 1892 the land where Brinkworth now stands was owned by Peter Brinkworth, the son of George Brinkworth the original landowner from 1866. The district was known as Magpie Creek.

Peter Brinkworth subdivided part of his father’s farm in 1892 to create a private town which would sit at the junction of the two newly announced government railway lines from Wallaroo and Blyth. He called his town Brinkworth rather than Magpie Creek.

​When the first train arrived from Adelaide, Brinkworth was described as a tent village with no buildings. But soon it had a large wooden railway station with luggage rooms, waiting rooms, porter’s rooms, residences for the station master and foreman and porters etc.

Above: Barwell Bull In Blyth - first Diesel RailCar To Blyth Town 

In November 1922 SA Premier Sir Henry Barwell appointed a new Chief Railways Commissioner, American William Webb, to rehabilitate the SA Railways over a term of 5 years.

Webb introduced the Type 55 Rail car in 1924, nicknamed the "Barwell Bull", built by the Brill Company. Originally with a petrol engine, they were later converted to run on diesel. 

Steam train passenger services were the most uneconomical possible.

News (Adelaide, SA), Wednesday 4 January 1928, page 2

Blyth Rail Smash

A graphic story of the railway crossing smash one mile from Blyth on December 28 was told at the Inquest today by Andrew J. Congee, railway porter, of Balaklava.

As a result of the accident Messrs. George W. R. Lee and Norman H. Doolette were killed and Mr. A. L. McEwin subsequently died of injuries...

Keep Reading: https://www.claremuseum.com/blyth-railway