While the Sydney Harbour Bridge requires no introduction, Sydney’s Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge barely rates a mention. Yet, this bridge also has its mysteries.
I’ve caught the train over the bridge many times. While I usually have my nose in a book or am furiously scribbling in my notebook, I’ve often wondered about the row of abandoned sandstone pillars poking out of the water like ghostly headstones…a testimony to engineering defeat.
What went wrong? What is their story? Why are they there?
Yet, that’s where my queries stopped.
That was until we went on a historic Hawkesbury River cruise last weekend and we cruised past the abandoned pylons, underneath the new Hawkesbury River Bridge and found out what happened.
Fortunately, the old bridge was safely replaced before the crumbling bridge gave way and two crowded steam trains crashed into the Hawkesbury River with a catastrophic loss of life.
The original Hawkesbury River Bridge was an engineering catastrophe doomed from the start. Indeed, it could well have been built by Basil Fawlty from Fawlty Towers Engineering!

Steam Train Crossing the Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge.
Yet, it was quite a different story when the bridge opened in 1889 to much fanfare and acclaim:
“The 1889 Hawkesbury River Bridge, Long Island Tunnel, Woy Woy Tunnel and the heavy earthworks and tunnels of the Cowan bank were the key engineering works on the Sydney to Newcastle rail link (The Short North). Together they demonstrate a high degree of engineering achievement in building a railway line in difficult and dangerous terrain. The 1889 Hawkesbury River Bridge in particular was a major technical achievement at the time: it was the fourth largest bridge constructed in the world, one of its caissons reached 49m, had the deepest bridge footing in the world and it was the longest bridge in Australia, pushing bridge design and construction techniques to the limit. The bridge was also the first of the American designed truss bridges that were introduced to Australia in the late 1880s and 1890s and thus the first to utilise the American principles of lightweight bracing, pin joints and eye bar tension members. It was the only steel trussed bridge of its type in Australia when it was built and the first major use of steel for bridges with previous examples being built in wrought iron. Its remains are tangible evidence of the change in engineering technology from British to American at this time and the decline of John Whitton’s British based design influence on the NSW railway system. There is enough extant fabric in the remaining abutments, piers and the Long Island tunnel to demonstrate the engineering achievements of the original Hawkesbury River crossing. www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=4800130
However, cracks soon started to appear in this so-called engineering achievement and the original bridge lasted only 60 years.
So what went wrong?
This newspaper report from 1946 tells the story well.

Steam trains weight testing the new Hawkesbury River Bridge in 1946.

Remaining pylon from the original Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge. Photo: Rowena Curtin.

Cruising Under the Current Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge.
River flow by.

Nice summary of what happened.
However that photo that claims to be from 1889 is actually much later. If you look above the train there are electrical overhead wires for electric trains. They didn’t run to Gosford until 1960 so that is on the new bridge probably around that time.
Thanks so much for letting me know, Jim. I should’ve checked with my husband before I posted that one because I thought it looked ahead of the time.
I’ve actually spent a bit of time today reading further into the construction of the bridge.
I am related to Alexander Johnston who built the Cameray Suspension bridge and he was involved in the construction of the Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge with a man by the surname Angas. A few of their other bridges didn’t go the distance either.
No problems. Yes there were other pointers too, the train was too modern for the 19th century.
I had a friend who worked for the railways a few years ago and he has walked over that bridge many times, inspecting the track on it. Reckons the view is great but I don’t think I feel very comfortable up there :).
The Cameray bridge is a beautiful bridge.
Always fun to go back into history of our homeland…beautiful area….the pictures are great….I can smell the smoke from that train….hard working men on there for sure….kat
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Ooh. I haven’t thought of that until you mentioned it. Not a good thing with our chest infections.
Those pillars are so beautiful, no wonder they remain.