A Haunting at the National Railway Museum

 Located in Port Adelaide, The National Railway Museum offers a glimpse into South Australia’s railway past. Within its many sheds sit old trains from all eras of our railway past, including Steam Trains, Diesel Engines, old Red Hens and even the old Callington Railway Station, but did you know, there are also claims the site is haunted?

The National Railway Museum started originally on Railway Terrace, Mile End in 1963 and was run entirely by volunteers, who not only restored and preserved old trains but wrote and published books about them too.
 In 1988 the volunteers sought a new site where their trains could be kept undercover to keep them out of the weather, and in pristine condition. After a Government grant and help from the History Trust of SA, a new site was purchased.

 The Port Dock Station Railway Museum was opened in 1988. In 2001 a new facility was opened within the existing one that featured exhibits from the Australian National Railways and the Commonwealth Railways. With the new exhibit came a new name for the site, one that remains today “The National Railway Museum Port Adelaide”.

The original railway station stood where the Port Adelaide Police Station now sits and was opened in 1856. This was one of the first lines in South Australia and the mainline to the ports. The station closed in 1981, but the goods sheds and railway yards remained, which is now the site of the museum.
 Within the complex are a series of sheds containing many displays of railway related items, including a miniature train set and old steam train carriages one can walkthrough. There is also the original 1878 Port Dock Station goods shed on the eastern side of the complex, and the old Callington booking office, which was built in 1951 in the town of Callington, near Murray Bridge. The building was taken from Callington in 1991 and re-erected in Port Adelaide in 1994.
 The museum also has in its collection an original coffin trolley used until 1982 the Adelaide Railway Station to transport coffins by hand through the terminal.

 My father worked in the railways, as did both his parents, so trains were a big part of my life growing up. My wife and I, and my Mother-In-Law had investigated the Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre in 2011, and had some great experiences, so when we were invited to join Lyon Paranormal, Paranormal Spectrum and The Ghosts Within to investigate the National Railway Museum for paranormal activity, my whole team made themselves available for the opportunity!

 There had been ongoing reports of spooky thing happening at the site, including reports of a shadow person, and of phones ringing when they are not plugged into the wall.
 It is thought that one of the trains, the “Y 12” may, in fact, be the very train that was involved in Australia’s first terror attack, at Silverton, near Broken Hill. On New Year’s Day 1915, two Turkish men opened fire into the carriages this locomotive which was hauling, a picnic train, killing a number of passengers. It is believed by some parties that the spirits of those deceased may linger near the locomotive.
 Other deaths onsite include railway workers killed while working in the rail yard shunting trains. There is also an unconfirmed story of a man who fell asleep on the rails whilst very drunk and was run over by a train.

 

We investigated as many carriages and trains as we could enter on the night, but for us, it seemed the spirits did not want to communicate. However, Paranormal Spectrum’s investigators did manage to collect an EVP during their sessions.

The National Railway Museum Port Adelaide is located at 76 Lipson Street Port Adelaide – you can find more information about exhibits and the train via their website at: http://www.natrailmuseum.org.au/

 

Allen Tiller is the Australian star of the international hit television show “Haunting: Australia” and author of “The Haunts of Adelaide – History, Mystery and the Paranormal” as well as being a historian, lecturer, poet, musician, Tour Guide, blogger and podcaster. Allen is also a volunteer for many different associations and groups.

You can find Allen online at:

www.twitter.com/Allen_Tiller

www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia

https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntsOfAdelaide

First published in MEGAscene issue 6 2016

© Allen Tiller

7 Minutes to 3: The Tragic Deaths of Roy Ayling and Eugenie Armstrong

7 Minutes to 3: 

The Tragic Deaths of Roy Ayling and Eugenie Armstrong.

 June 19th, 1919 was just another ordinary day for engine driver and fireman, John James O’Shea and Harold Sutherland. They went to work at the Islington Train Yards. They fired up Engine 88 to pull Goods Train 72 and set off on route from Mile End out to Hamley Bridge, north of Gawler.
 The train passed through Gawler and out onto the Roseworthy line to Hamley Bridge, then back through Roseworthy heading toward Gawler.
 As the train approached the crossing on what is now Redbanks Road between Roseworthy and Gawler, the engine driver sounded his whistle. As the whistle was sounded, he noticed a motorcycle with sidecar speeding along the road.  The train whistle was sounded again as a warning. The motorcycle appeared to slow down, then suddenly as if racing the train to the crossing, sped up.
 O’Shea sounded the train's whistle again and Sutherland applied the tender brake.

  Due to the incline of the rail line, the airbrakes and tender brakes had already been partially applied, so when the train approached the crossing it was already decelerating.
 The train entered the crossing at 20 miles per hour pulling a 300-ton load. It struck the centre of the motorcycle, dragging it under the cowcatcher and under the train.

 Fireman, Harold Sutherland stated of the incident; “I saw the motorcycle, about a chain away, on the driver's side of the engine. Saw nothing further until the bodies flew out from the under wheels of the engine onto the right side of the line.”

 There were many witnesses to the accident. Farmers on properties around the train line had been out in the fields working had seen the whole event as it occurred. Farmer Hugo Twartz, Martin Twartz, Theodore Bartsch, all gave testimony that confirmed the train driver and train fireman’s testimony.

 Roy Ayling was a quiet young man described as quiet and thoughtful, with a gift for motor mechanics. The 20-year-old was well known and liked around Willaston. He was a successful poultry breeder who made his own incubators and breeders. He had been riding a motorcycle for over a year, and many local people knew the sound of his bike as it came and went from Willaston.

 Eugenie Armstrong was a student at the Gawler Technical School. At only 18 and half she had made her mark assisting at various businesses in Gawler’s main street. She was a valued member of the Gawler’s Congregational Church. Her father, Mr A.P, Armstrong was a well-known Labor Party Member in South Australia. Miss Armstrong was described by friends as; “A sterling and reliable companion, who was very popular among her peers.”

 On June 19^th, Roy picked up Eugenie in his sidecar. He had only had the bike for two months and enjoyed showing it off. They headed out toward Roseworthy to catch a late afternoon football match between the Willaston Football Club and the Roseworthy College students’ team.
 It’s not known exactly what happened on that fateful day. The par sped along Redbank’s road toward the crossing, the train blew its whistle, and Roy slowed down but didn’t stop. He sped up, the train blew a second, longer warning whistle, but Roy didn’t stop, he pushed ahead to the crossing, where the bike was hit, and two young adults were flung from the bike under the train.

 Was Roy overconfident his new bike could beat the train? Was he showing off to Eugenie, or perhaps trying to scare her? Or was he distracted by the young woman in the sidecar, not noticing the noise of the trains whistle over the blare of his bike?

 We will never truly know the exact circumstances of the accident that claimed their lives…

 The police attended the scene after the accident. The young adults’ bodies were badly mutilated, so much so that they were buried before their funerals were held.

At the scene, Miss Armstrong’s watch was picked up by Sergeant Adamson. It read 7 minutes to 3, about the time of the accident.

Roy and Eugenie are buried at the historic Willaston Cemetery near Gawler.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2019.

Bibliography

'AWFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.', Bunyip, (27 June 1919), p. 3.
'THE INQUEST.', Bunyip, (27 June 1919), p. 3.
'DETAILS OF THE TRAGEDY.', Chronicle, (28 June 1919), p. 13.
'RUN DOWN BY A TRAIN.', Chronicle, (28 June 1919), p. 13.