tarboat's photos with the keyword: silverton

The Silverton Tramway was built to a gauge of 3ft 6ins and ran from Silverton to Cockburn where it linked to the state railway network. When the main line was rebuilt in 1970 to standard gauge by the government between Broken Hill and Cockburn the Silverton Tramway closed with the section from Broken Hill to Silverton completely abandoned. The track remains in places along with this water tank at Silverton. When a friend looked into the tank it contained just a single Western Brown Snake!

Silver-lead deposits were found in this area in 1875 whilst well drilling and the town of Silverton soon developed as exploitation began. By the 1890s the population was around 3,000 but this soon declined as the best ore became depleted and the Broken Hill deposits began to be developed a short distance away and in 1901 was back to 300 people. These days there are around 50 permanent residents and much of the town has disappeared leaving many relics such as this. It does, however, house a museum dedicated to the film Mad Max 2!