Thread: Wire through the heart, the overland telegraph line

Originally Posted by bob10

They were tough in those days, Bob


https://youtu.be/TPFSdX9r_Gk

So now I know who Alice springs is named after , plus the Todd River , and not forgetting Stuart Highway . Yes he and his men were tough alright !!..

A good book called the Singing line tells the amazing story of this feat. Written by the great grand- daughter who came over and followed the remains of the original line if I remember correctly.

Cheers Ean

Ean, while I was in Darwin, a Norforce member took me to the last campsite ,of the builders of the OTL, before Darwin. Not much there of course, then. But good to be actually there. Bob

Rum Jungle near Batchalor got its name from the supply team getting stuck there during a wet season and they sat there and drunk all the rum rations and ate the food supplies, even when they were able to move on.


A lot of history around the roper river is also related to this story.




Cheers Ean

Another book related to the telegraph line is "Alice on the Line" by Doris Blackwell and Douglas Lockwood.

Doris was a young girl there just 30 years after the completion of the line. Her father, Thomas Bradshaw was the officer in charge of the Alice Springs Telegraph Station from 1899 to 1908.

Alice on the Line: The Overland Telegraph, One Family's Story - Doris Blackwell, Douglas Lockwood - Google Books

Originally Posted by vnx205

Another book related to the telegraph line is "Alice on the Line" by Doris Blackwell and Douglas Lockwood.

You beat me to it!

John

Originally Posted by Ean Austral

Rum Jungle near Batchalor got its name from the supply team getting stuck there during a wet season and they sat there and drunk all the rum rations and ate the food supplies, even when they were able to move on.


A lot of history around the roper river is also related to this story.




Cheers Ean

As you do, I've done the same on the banks of the Norman. Raid the freight.