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Construction party B who were working on the line from Port Darwin to Tumbling Waters finished their section on November 8 1870 and moved to join and help Party A, which was building the line to Adelaide River.

So there were now 80 men working south from Tumbling Waters to Adelaide River. They made great progress and by December 9 had poled and wired to a point just a few kilometres south of the river. In 54 days they had built 143 kms of line over very difficult country.

But then the wet came. It rained. And rained. Further north it had turned the country into a swamp. No one had anticipated that the whole of the country would flood, and there was no way round.

So they struggled on south from Adelaide River and teams of horses struggled even more to bring supplies down from Port Darwin. When it didn't rain, it was so humid the food went off and much of it was ruined by the time it reached the construction parties.

The Aboriginals also proved the patience of the working parties. One man had nearly been speared as he drank from a waterhole. But they soon discovered a brutal way of frightening the Aboriginals so they didn't interfere with the line. They gave them electric shocks from the batteries which were to provide the electricity for the line.