Over 120 Years to Cross a Continent/ A Long Pause

After 13 years of backbreaking labor, when the rail head was about 290 miles from Alice Springs, funds ran out.  "The sheer scale of such an undertaking . . . simply overwhelmed the colony." says Australian Geographic.  In 1911, the whole town-some 200 people at the time-turned out to celebrate.  The locals marveled at the dining car, but the feature that stirred the most interest was the elegant bathroom.  In those days, to have a bathtub on a train was a novelty and a luxury. Alice Springs remained the railway's northern terminus until 1997.  In that year the state and federal governments agreed to complete the long-awaited Alice Springs-to-Darwin rail extension. Work commenced in 2001. 

Huge automated machines laid the $1.3 billion,  (about $1 billion, U.S.) track at a rate of a mile a day, crossing at least  90 new flood proof bridges along the way.   Billed as "the biggest infrastructure project in Australia," the 880-mile line was completed under budget and ahead of schedule in October 2003.   

Next time: Over 120 Years to Cross a Continent/Allure of the Outback

From the Awake! magazine