Hamley Bridge, South Australia

Hamley Bridge is a community in South Australia located at the junction of the Gilbert and Light rivers, as well as the site of a former railway junction.Named by the government of the day, in honour of the Acting Governor of South Australia Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Gilbert Hamley, whose wife, Lady Edith Hamley laid the foundation stone of the River Light Railway Bridge on 25 July 1868. This bridge carries the Peterborough railway line over the Light River.Other settlements in the area had commenced in the early 1860s, and it was not until 1868 that the junction of the two rivers came under notice as a possible site for a township.RailwayThe Peterborough railway line was built from a new junction at Roseworthy (north of Gawler on what was then the Morgan railway line) to Tarlee during 1868. A bridge was required over the River Light. The bridge is long and high, in two spans on stone abutments and a cast iron cylindrical pier in diameter. This bridge was replaced in 1925 in conjunction with the works to convert the narrow gauge line to broad gauge, despite this bridge already being broad gauge.Elevation is 374ft.Break of gauge difficultyThe original railway through the town was. The Gladstone railway line extends through the towns of Owen and Balaklava from Hamley Bridge and opened in 1880. Initially, this was built to, so Hamley Bridge was a break of gauge station rather than a junction.