FROM the 1840s, travellers using the Great Southern Road increasingly complained about its poor state and the threat of bushrangers.

When it became definite in the 1850s that the southern railway would pass through the local district, the expected greater convenience and speed of travel was eagerly anticipated.

In 1867 the Great Southern Railway opened along a route that did not follow the line of the Great Southern Road through Berrima. Instead, a station called Mittagong opened in the Nattai/Fitzroy area around which the town grew. From there the railway went through the centre of the district and created the towns of Bowral and Moss Vale. These centres became the focus of settlement.

The railway was immediately utilised by the travelling public and for transporting goods and livestock. Usage of the Great Southern Road declined, thus lessening the need for improvements. However, the road continued to be used by local residents, particularly those at Berrima not on the railway line.

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With the railway came increased tourism to the district. In areas far from railheads, such as the eastern portion of the Wingecarribee district where Robertson, Burrawang and Kangaloon were established in the 1860s, roads were the only means of communication, with coaches, drays and buggies providing transport.

The commencement of motorised transport in the early 1900s revived the Great Southern Road and brought new prosperity to the district. Petrol-powered cars and trucks gradually became more frequent and replaced bullock teams, horse-drawn drays and coaches. The increase in early model cars attempting to use a public road system built for horse and cart caused major problems. The addition of tarred macadam roads first introduced during the 1880s was gradually extended such that by 1896 the Great Southern Road was macadamised most of the way to Albury.

THE road became a setting for speed trials. In February 1905, 23 entrants started in a Sydney to Melbourne motor car race organised by the Dunlop Rubber Co, with a 100 guinea cup as first prize. Seven actually finished the 572 mile route, the winner being Colonel Harley Tarrant in his two-cylinder Argyle that crossed the line on the fifth day. Setting new speed records between the two capital cities became a popular sport but was abolished by police pressure in the mid-1930s. At that time, the record had dropped to 8 hours and 56 minutes.

Road construction, restricted during the years of World War I, took off from the 1920s. Many deviations were built and road building mechanisation using rollers, tractors, graders and loaders was introduced.

In the NSW Government Gazette of August, 17 1928 the Great Southern Road was proclaimed a State Highway. With the agreement of the Victorian Government, the entire stretch of road between Sydney and Melbourne was named the Hume Highway in honour of Hamilton Hume who had explored the inland route in 1824.

BY 1940 the highway had been provided with a bituminous or other dustless surface over its full 375 miles in NSW and similarly on through Victoria to Melbourne. Ownership of cars capable of faster speeds and distances became more widespread, particularly between Sydney and Canberra. However, as vehicle speeds increased and the volume of traffic intensified, safety issues arose with accidents and fatalities becoming frequent. The following edited reports from the Southern Mail (Bowral) reveal the extent of the problem: April 3, 1937. During the Easter holidays a number of serious motoring accidents occurred in this district. A fatal crash occurred on the Hume Highway south of Berrima when a car ran over an embankment. Two passengers were killed, while the driver was severely shaken. All three were visitors passing through the district. A number of other cars seen passing through the town and along the Hume Highway, in a more or less battered condition, show evidence of a hectic holiday. It was safer to travel by rail.

3 February 3, 1940. When cars collided on the Hume Highway at Tahmoor, one overturned and Mrs Myrtle Thefs, 45, of Peakhurst, was pinned underneath and was killed instantly.

Many local residents living close to the Hume Highway suffered from lack of sleep and nerves owing to the heavy traffic. It became dangerous for pedestrians to cross the highway.

A new line of road to eliminate two dangerous bridges - Drabbles and the Maltings - at the northern approach to Mittagong was constructed in 1947. The northern villages, however, along with Mittagong and Berrima, continued to be dominated by a constant flow of trucks and cars. Traffic problems in the district increased alarmingly during the 1950s.

To be continued

This article compiled by PHILIP MORTON is sourced from the archives of Berrima District Historical & Family History Society, Bowral Rd, Mittagong. Phone 4872 2169.

Email bdhsarchives@gmail.com.

Web: berrimadistricthistoricalsociety.org.au

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