As ADrail continues construction of the Alice Springs to Darwin Railway, the dream of a transcontinental link first discussed in 1858 is rapidly becoming a reality. When ADrail finishes construction of the line in 2004, it will complete the work that began in 1883 the introduction of the Palmerston and Pine Creek Bill by the South Australian Government of the day.

The Palmerston to Pine Creek line was completed in 1888 by C&E Millar of Melbourne by thousands of mostly Chines and Indian workers. The back-breaking difficult work still represents an amazing feat of determination and symbolises the very essence of the "frontier" by which the Northern Territory has been known ever since. Three decades later, the line was extended south to Katherine and then to Birdum, south of Larrimah in the 1930s. Although the line was upgraded and used until 1976, it would never reach Alice Springs that is until now.

The North Australian Railway, known as the NAR maintains a long important and complex history to the Northern Territory. Originally constructed to service and supply the northern goldfields around Pine Creek, this line was integral to expansion into the interior that opened up other enterprises such as pastoralism. The NAR also played an important role during the Second World War as a supply line to the military stationed inland.

Even before construction of the historic North Australian Railway, this tract of land maintained a long history of occupation by Aboriginal people. The overland telegraph and NAR closely followed the path surveyed by Stuart, a path that was successfully navigated with the help of Aboriginal people along established routes.

To mitigate the impact of the new railway upon the many layers of history reflected along the path, ADrail employed an archaeologist even before the first bulldozer began work in October 2000. ADrail worked closely with Heritage Conservation Services of the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment to protect heritage sites of Aboriginal, European and Chinese origin. The history will be largely retained through the cooperation and concessions of ADrail.

A total of 60 archaeological sites reflecting Aboriginal histories have been recorded along the railway corridor. These sites include art sites, stone quarries for tool manufacture and many occupational sites. Several of these sites are very significant to the Northern Territory for a number of reasons. All of these sites were able to be preserved, fenced and will remain so after completion of construction. They will be managed by Asia Pacific Transport, in conjunction with the relevant Government Department, to maintain as part of an ongoing commitment to the preservation of Northern Territory heritage places along the new railway.

In cases where disturbance to sites within the corridor was unavoidable, collection, excavation and detailed recording was undertaken to ensure that a record was preserved for Northern Territory history.

In terms of archaeology, the recording and collection of these sites will make a significant contribution to the knowledge of the Northern Territory prior to colonisation by European settlers. Many types of archaeological sites have been recorded in many different landforms and in terms of archaeological knowledge of this, the study will contribute significant information that will benefit our understanding of the Aboriginal past in the Northern Territory.

From a European perspective, the NAR displays some of the Northern Territory's most significant heritage places. They include Burrundie township and explosives magazines, Brocks Creek railway siding and township, Adelaide River Station and railway siding and the less known Howley Siding.

Because the new railway is following the route of the NAR between Katherine and Adelaide River many of these historic places could have been potentially impacted on. ADrail has however risen to the difficult task of constructing the new line through these areas in a very restricted corridor to minimise the impact.

Most of the historic places along the NAR are not protected under any Northern Territory or Commonwealth legislation. ADrail has shown a lot of goodwill in ensuring the preservation of not less than twenty important historic places between Katherine and Darwin alone. They were able to achieve this through concessions in construction to avoid impacting upon these historic remnants.

Other heritage success stories for construction of the railway by ADrail are the reuse of many crossings originally constructed for the NAR. A testament to the original construction is the fact that ADrail is able to re-use many of the original culverts minor bridge abutments and even a major bridge, the Fergusson River.

It will be a fantastic site to watch a train cross the Fergusson River Bridge in virtually the same state as when originally completed in 1918. Other major bridges such as the Edith, Cullen, McKinlay bend near Burrundie, Bridge Creek and Adelaide River will be avoided by the new line.

Whilst it is unavoidable that most of the NAR alignment will be disturbed this should be seen as an upgrade of the railway as it has been many times before. Indeed all of the significant heritage sites will remain to the witness the new railway once again become the backbone of Northern Territory infrastructure and development.

Work on Fergusson River Bridge September 02 Photo by Videocraft	Fergusson River Bridge February 03 Photo by AARC