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THE RIESLING TRAIL
SEVENHILL TO CLARE
The grade continues downhill from Sevenhill to Clare, for the first half of the way a 1 in 60 grade, then 1 in 84, and finally 1 in 178.
In the Sevenhill station yard are the remnants of the passenger platform (to the west) and the shorter goods platform to the east. There are still a few timbers of the passenger platform, showing that the alignment of the trail is to the east of the mainline.
Immediately over the Sevenhill crossing, is a bridge that has been constructed of used broad-gauge sleepers. The South Australian Railways, for many years used a system of "date-nails" on their sleepers. Date-nails had a large head featuring raised digits to indicate the year the sleeper was installed. There are no date-nails visible on these sleepers because they are upside down. The round drill holes identify the under-surface of the sleeper, whereas the holes of the upper surface are square from the shape of the the dog spike.
Then there's the "Cemetery Cutting" which commences a straight section, along which can be seen in the ballast along the side of the trail, the occasional lump of coal, a dog spike, or a piece of locomotive firebox brick. Near the end of that straight, a small quince tree marks a concrete drainage channel. Here the concrete has cracked badly, and displays the absence of reinforcing. I have collected a few pieces of firebox brick and left them on the top of the drainage channel.
The bridge at the Quarry Road features an impressive set of concrete abutments, and the crossing of both watercourse and roadway is unusual by South Australian standards.
The Annual Reports of the South Australian Railways usually featured photographs of what was new and impressive on the system, and the 1918 Report proudly shows this "Combined underway road, bridge, and culvert at 87 miles 77 chains." Another photograph of this location is held by Clare historian, Bob Noye, and shows the process of pouring the concrete. The mix was all done by men with shovels, working in a large mixing box at the base. The mix was then loaded in barrows connected to a pulley system, with a horse providing the pull to lift the barrow-load to the top of the timber formwork. In contrast to many other abutments along the line, the concrete at this location is well preserved and shows no cracking.
There are a couple more concrete drainage channels on the side of the cutting along the next section. I found a dog spike and a few base plates and have left them on the top of the concrete.
Past the stone wall is another culvert decked with sleepers. This time they are the right way up: there are a couple still with base plates, and one of them has a 1960 date nail.
The Clare Showgrounds had its own platform, and passengers could hail the train here showtime or otherwise. There's not much of the platform left, but there are a few lengths of rail that were used as uprights for the platform face. This rail is bull-head rail, and it was introduced about 1860. We know quite a lot about the early rails used in South Australia thanks to an unfortunate railway accident in 1860, and its subsequent investigation. The rail used for the Port Adelaide and Gawler railways in the 1850s was called "bridge rail" because in cross-section it looked like a bridge. It was responsible for the derailment of South Australia's very first steam train in 1856. In 1860 the vice-regal train set out from Port Adelaide, destined for the city, and on a tight schedule to cross the ordinary down train at Woodville. Approaching Woodville, the Governor's train descended upon track workers replacing the bridge rail with the bull-head rail, causing quite a spectacular wreck, although not associated with serious injury. Bull-head rail was set in cast-iron chairs, and held in place with wooden wedges. When the upper surface became worn, it was turned upside-down for a second go. In South Australia, bull-head rail was used on the lines to Port Adelaide, Kapunda, and the short branchline from Dry Creek to the Stockade. It continued in general use on those lines until about 1920, which corresponds approximately to when the Clare Showgrounds platform was built. One of these sections of rail has some lettering.
A little further is a loading ramp on the east side of the trail. Its purpose is not clear, but we suspect that it may have been for unloading stock for the Clare Showgrounds.
Just past "The Tunnel of Trees" is an accommodation crossing. This is the site of the Donnybrook Halt. Donnybrook is an old name for this part of Clare. In the 1970s the winery now owned by Tim Adams, was developed by one Rick Robertson. In 1978 and 1979, some of Ricko's mates organised jazz trains from Adelaide. The Donnybrook Halt was built to disembark the hundreds on each train. Legend is that not all of those same hundreds found their way back onto the train for the trip home!
Past the Gleeson's Bar and Bistro, is a small grove of poplars, and to the east is an interesting piece of rail presently serving as a fence-post. Much of the rail on the South Australian Railways had identification cast into it, noting the railway for which it was destined. Curiously, most of the fence-posts along the Riesling Trail are "generic rail" devoid of identification. The lettering is BARROW STEEL 1880 T & P R. This was rail made for the Terowie and Petersburg Railway. My search continues along the trail for for similar remnants of other railway routes.
Beyond the skewed crossing of Warenda Road are a couple of matching dwellings. These were railway houses built for employees. The S.A.R. Annual Report of 1922 records the construction of two semi-detached houses for employees. At this point on the trail is a loading ramp. We suspect that this ramp was for the unloading of furniture. The South Australian Railways used its trains to provide a furniture removal service when employees were transferred from one station to another.
A small wooden gazebo marks the trail's Clare terminus, although this location was the southern end of the Clare station yard, and the "Clare" sign erected adjacent to the gazebo is well away from where the station board once stood on the platform. Looking north can be seen the old goods shed and the station crane now used by the recycling depot. A few metres south of the gazebo is clearly evident the concrete formation of the locomotive ash pit, and a little beyond that a small abutment and a hollow mark the site of the turntable.