Every effort was made to provide endurable conditions for those who worked on the railroad. The chief engineer and his staff lived on camp trains specially designed for desert use. The trains consisted of seven or eight coaches built with double roofs to give protection from the sun. All the openings were screened against the swarms of flies, mosquitoes, and other insects. There were, besides, a car for stores, a well-equipped hospital car, and cars with living and sleeping quarters for the staff.
The workmen lived in small light huts of canvas and wood, which could be knocked down and moved, as they had to be about every three days. Like the cars, each of the huts used for sleeping quarters had an extra roof. The heat was often so intense that at midday it was sometimes impossible to work, for rails, sleepers, and everything else were too hot to touch. The thermometer frequently registered one hundred and thirty degrees in the shade.
Supplies of clothing and food were brought up from the warehouses at the eastern and western terminals of the road on what were known as “tea and sugar” trains. The men were well fed and their daily menus included not only bread and meat, but even fresh fruit and vegetables.
It cost thirty million dollars to build the Transcontinental, but this sum is not considered unduly great in view of the obstacles overcome. Except for the money spent in supplying water, the expenses were not large. In no part of the route does the track cross a river or climb a steep grade. Comparatively few common labourers were required. Construction was simply a matter of making an even bed for the sleepers, then placing the rails with a track-layer, and bolting and spiking them down. The road moved forward at the rate of a mile a day.
The World War slowed up the work, for many of the construction force enlisted. Nevertheless, at the end of five years eastern and western railheads met, and to-day it is possible to go by train from Perth to Brisbane on a route joining all the capitals of the five mainland states. The Transcontinental may, perhaps, never pay in pounds, shillings, and pence. In time saved, however, it has already proved itself invaluable and, what is more important, it serves to bind all parts of the Commonwealth more closely together.
Discovery of Australia’s artesian water has led to the reclamation of millions of her acres. Artesian bores spouting thousands of gallons solved the water problem in laying the Transcontinental across the desert.
Though the great gold diggings of Ballarat are worked out, thousands of prospectors are still panning the stream beds of Victoria, hoping for one more great strike like those of the gold-fever days.