Trestle over Houlaghans Ck, looking towards Junee  18th January 2001  Photo 17bw

ARCHIVAL RECORDING No 1 “WHITTON”  type TRESTLE over  HOULAGHANS CREEK at 492.762km JUNEE - NARRANDERA   Recording prepared by: James McInerney Email:  bullack@cia.com.au

1.    John Whitton was the Engineer-in-Chief of the NSW Railways from 1857 till 1890 and was responsible for the adoption of this style of
        timber trestle on the system.  This type of trestle has become known as the “Whitton” type to distinguish it from later styles.
2.     In railway terms an ‘underbridge’ is a bridge that carries a railway line over something.
3.    26ft was the standard span for trestles when this one was constructed, P26 “Bridges Down Under” Don Fraser 1995 ARHS NSW.
4.    RAC. 1999.  Heritage Management Policy Manual (Draft). RAC
5.    SRA. 1993.  Heritage and Conservation Register – Summary. SRA.
6.    “Bridges Down Under” Don Fraser 1995 ARHS NSW.
7.    “The Centenary of the Railway from Junee to Hay” N J Pollard  ARHS Bulletin April, May, June, July 1982 
8.     The ARHS Bulletin is a magazine devoted to the history of Australian railways and is published monthly by the 
        Australian Railway Historical Society
9.     Standard practice of the time this bridge was built was for a “master” plan for this type of bridge to be prepared and the basic design
         adapted locally to suit a particular site.  Individual plans of each structure were not normally prepared.
10.   “How to Prepare Archival Records of Heritage Items” NSW Heritage 1998.
11.   As per “Guidelines for Photographic Recording of Heritage Sites, Buildings, Structures and Moveable Items” NSW Heritage 1998.

PHOTOGRAPHS

THE TRESTLE IN THE LANDSCAPE

Click on the photo number to see the full-size photograph.
 

	Photo 1w	Approaching from the west along the access road, the first view of the trestle shows it through a gap in the trees that line Houlaghans Creek.
	Photo 2w	Climbing onto the formation and looking south we see the reason for this trestle's existence, Houlaghans Creek.  As is typical of Australian climatic conditions, (especially in summer), the creek is dry, but when the rains come, the volume of water that can suddenly appear is more than enough justification for the substantial timber trestle, (and its concrete and steel replacement).
	Photo 3w	Turning around and looking north we see another view of Houlaghans creek.  It passes under the railway just out of picture to the right.
	Photo 1A	Little is visible of the bridge in this view looking west towards Old Junee, though the trees in the middle distance mark the course of Houlaghans Creek in a landscape that consists mainly of cleared paddocks.  The 20km caution marker is a good indication of the operational reasons that have made replacement of life expired timber bridges necessary for the modern railway.  Sections of the replacement steel and concrete bridge are stored to the right.
	Photo 2A	Another distant view of the bridge showing the low impact on the visual environment of timber trestles.  The grey upright structures are the concrete piers of the new bridge.

THE TRESTLE
 
 

	Photo 21	The southern side of the trestle, looking east.  The purpose of the cross timbers jutting out from the lower kerb is not known, and they do not appear on the northern side of the bridge.
	Photo 22	The eastern end of the north side of the trestle, with the piers for the new bridge prominent.
	Photo 23A	A closer view, looking southwest.  The concrete piers for the new  structure stand out in the mid distance.
	Photo 24	The previously mentioned sections of the new bridge provide a convenient vantage point to view most of the northern side of the trestle.

DETAIL VIEWS
 
 

	Photo 20bw	The western abutment and span no 13, looking north.
	Photo 19A	The southwest abutment wingwall showing the km marking (from Sydney Terminal), which normally appears on the left hand Down end wingwall of all NSWR bridges.  Traditionally, the identification number of the Gang responsible for the maintainance of the bridge also appeared here, but with the changes that have occurred in maintainance procedures in recent years this practice appears to have ceased.
	Photo 18A	A close up of the construction details of the spans looking east towards Pier 13.
	Photo 18bw	A veiw of Piers 13 and 12 from the south side of the bridge.  When the creek is flowing it flows throught his area.
	Photo 16bw	The western abutment from the other side, note that the cross pieces that intersect the lower kerb pieces in photo 20bw don't appear on this side of the bridge.  It would appear that the abutment pier has partially collapsed.
	Photo 15bw	Pier 13 has the highest visible concrete footing.
	Photo 14bw	Looking up under the span at Pier 10 we can see details of the construction.
	Photo 13bw	Looking south at Piers 7, 8 and 9.  The major visual difference between the "Whitton" style trestles and the later "Deane" style is prominent here; the depth of the span structure.  The "Deane" style were much less substantial in this area, which caused much adverse comment regarding their safety from those more comfortable with traditional English construction when the American style "Dean" trestles replaced the "Whitton" trestles for new construction in the 1890s.
	Photo13A	A closer view of Pier 8 and the massive construction of the spans.  The piles were originally approx 1ft (600mm) diameter tree trunks, but some have been replaced with 1ft x 1ft rough dressed square section timber, as can be seen here
	Photo 12bw	A view of Pier 1 showing the construction, a simple headstock of timber on a concrete pier.  No 1 is one of the piers added later to strengthen the original 26ft spans, dividing them into two 13ft spans.
	Photo 12A	Pier 2, one of the originals, showing how it has been strengthened by the addition of T shaped timber supports resting directly on the ground.  The purpose of the stenciled numbers is not known, but may be connected with the impending demolition of the bridge.
	Photo 11bw	The eastern abutment and southern wingwall.  The horizontal timbers have disintegrated, allowing ballast to cascade down the slope.  As the bridge is about to be demolished it was obviously regarded as being a waste of time and money to repair the wingwall.  The abutment piers at this end have disappeared and have been replaced with a variety of timber packing.
	Photo 10bw	Piers 2and 3, showing construction of the spans and the shorter piers at the eastern end of the bridge.
	Photo 10A	Pier 3, another of the simple timber on concrete intermediate piers.  The subtle colours of the weathered timber and the concrete are worth noting for those who will use this information for the building of models.
	Photo 9bw	The piers are all numbered in black stencil on a white background, starting from No 1 at the Sydney end.
	Photo 9A	Pier 5, showing construction details of the intermediate piers.  As mentioned previously, The intermediate piers do not have diagonal bracing.
	Photo 8bw	Photo 8bw (left) and 8A (next below), showing construction details and the extra span timber that has been added between the outermost spans on the right between Piers 6 and 8.
	Photo 8A
	Photo 7bw	Pier 4, one of the original piers, showing the substantial diagonal bracing carried on the original piers.  Also visible are details of  the span construction.  Cross reference with the drawings will show that piers 4 and 5 are approximately 2ft (600mm) shorter than  piers 6 to 12.
	Photo 7A	Looking up under the deck near Pier 9 at the details of the massive construction of the spans.
	Photo 6bw	A close up of Pier 10 showing construction of the original piers, with their diagonal bracing, and of the spans, showing some of the transverse transoms.
	Photo 6A	Closeup of the footings to Pier 10.
	Photo 5bw	A view showing the underside of the span structure in the vicinity of Pier 9
	Photo 5A	Looking west from Pier 9, which is one of the intermediate piers without diagonal bracing.  Evidence of scouring around the bottom of the concrete pier foundations is visible.  A variety of steel bolts and plates serve to secure the various parts of the bridge.  The circular concrete and steel girder structure to the right is one of the piers for the new bridge under construction.
	Photo 4A	Piers 10 and 11, allowing comparison between the original piers with their diagonal bracing, (Pier 10) and the intermediate piers (Pier 11) that were added sometime after original construction and do not have diagonal bracing.  The mixture of round and square section piles mentioned above can also be seen.
	Photo 3A	Piers 12 and 13 at the western end of the bridge.

1.   This strange mixture of Imperial and Metric is used for reasons connected with the early days of the hobby in Great Britain and cannot 
       be explained in a short footnote!