Rail transport in South Australia

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South Australia was the first colony in Australia to build a railway line. It was a horse-drawn tramway from the port of Goolwa on the Murray River to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot in 1854. It was later extended to a safer harbour at Victor Harbor. This line was used to move freight between the shallow-draft vessels navigating the Murray, and coastal and ocean-going vessels, without either having to traverse the narrow and shallow mouth of the river with unpredictable currents.

The first of the Railways in Adelaide was built in 1856 between the city and the port. The Adelaide railways were all built as broad gauge of 5'3".

Gradually, a network of lines spread out from Adelaide. These were initially built to carry ore, particularly copper, then later freight from the Murray River, and grain from the broadacre lands.

The main line to Melbourne was opened after a bridge was built at Murray Bridge in 1886. It was the first railway line between colony capitals to not have a break-of-gauge. It was also the last of these to be converted to standard gauge in 1995.

The southern lines were all built to broad gauge, except for those south of Wolseley, which were built to narrow gauge. The main line to Melbourne (and the remaining branches off it) are now converted to standard gauge. The lines on Eyre peninsula and the mid north were built to narrow gauge 3'6". Once the standard gauge from Port Pirie to Broken Hill was built, broad gauge extended up to this line, and narrow gauge north of it.

In the first half of the 20th century, most of these lines carried passengers as well as freight. The only remaining passenger trains outside of Adelaide's metropolitan lines are The Overland between Adelaide and Melbourne, the Indian Pacific between Perth and Sydney via Adelaide, and The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin, via Alice Springs.

The country railways were initially owned by South Australian Railways. The main interstate lines were handed over to the Commonwealth Railways in 1926. Commonwealth Railways later merged with S.A.R. to become the Australian National Railways Commission (ANR), and was eventually privatised. The metropolitan railway lines are owned and operated by TransAdelaide.

Contents

[edit] Development of the lines

[edit] Timeline

The first South Australian steam-operated line was built as a broad gauge (1600 mm) line in 1856 between the city and Port Adelaide stopping at Bowden, Woodville and Alberton. This line is now part of the Adelaide suburban network and has been proposed for standardisation and conversion to light rail. It was extended to Outer Harbor in 1908. A branch was built to Grange in 1882. This was extended to Henley Beach in 1894 and closed in 1957.

[edit] Southern Lines

The South Line, through the Adelaide Hills, was opened to Aldgate, Nairne in 1883, Murray Bridge in 1884 and Bordertown and Serviceton, Victoria, connecting with Victorian Railways in 1887. This line was standardised in 1995.

A branch line was built to Marino in 1913, and extended to Willunga in 1915. The section from Hallett Cove to Willunga was closed in 1969. In the 1970s the line was extended south from Hallett Cove, reaching Christie Downs in 1976, and Noarlunga Centre in 1978.

A horse-drawn broad (1600 mm) gauge tramway was built from the port of Goolwa on the Murray River to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot in 1854. This line was used to move freight between the shallow-draft vessels navigating the Murray, and coastal and ocean-going vessels, without either having to traverse the narrow and shallow mouth of the river with unpredictable currents. It was later extended from Port Elliot to Victor Harbor in 1864 and from Goolwa to Strathalbyn in 1869. It was extended to Mount Barker Junction on the South Line in 1884 and strengthened to carry steam trains.

A branch line was built to Monarto and Cambrai in 1886. In was shortened to Appamurra near Palmer before being closed due to the standardisation of the Adelaide - Melbourne line in 1995.

A branch line was built from Tailem Bend to Pinnaroo in 1906. This was connected with the Victorian Railways at the Victorian border and Ouyen in 1915. The South Australian part of this line was standardised in 1998 to reconnect it with the Adelaide - Melbourne line. This has created a break-of-gauge at Pinnaroo, but there are proposals to standardise the line from Geelong to Mildura and the line between Ouyen and Pinnaroo.

After 1906 a branch line was built between Tailem Bend, Karoonda, Alawoona and Loxton. This was standardised in 1998.

A branch line was built from Karoonda to Waikerie. Another branch line was built from Wanbi to Yinkanie (near Moorook). In 1927 a branch line was built from Alawoona to Renmark and Barmera, crossing the Murray River at Paringa. Another branch was built from Karoonda - Peebinga. All these branched have now been abandoned.

[edit] Southern narrow gauge lines

S.A.R. V class No. 9 commenced service on the Kingston-Naracoorte railway (3′6″) in early 1877. Transferred to northern division of S.A.R. in 1888, retired in 1953 (on display in Naracoorte).
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S.A.R. V class No. 9 commenced service on the Kingston-Naracoorte railway (3′6″) in early 1877. Transferred to northern division of S.A.R. in 1888, retired in 1953 (on display in Naracoorte).

In 1876 a narrow (1067 mm) gauge line was built from Kingston SE to Naracoorte. In 1879, a railway was built between Beachport, Millicent and Mount Gambier, with a branch line from Wandilo to Glencoe. A line was later built from Mount Gambier to Naracoorte and Wolseley in 1887, creating a break-of-gauge junction.

A broad gauge branch was opened from Mount Gambier to Heywood near Portland in 1917. From 1953 to 1956, the southeastern lines were converted to broad gauge, with the exception of the Beachport - Millicent and the Wandilo - Glencoe line, which were closed down. The Kingston - Naracoorte was closed in the 1970s. The other southeastern lines, including the line to Heywood, have been out of use since the standardisation of the Adelaide - Melbourne and Maroona - Portland lines in 1995. There are regular calls for their standardisation.

[edit] Northern lines

[edit] Broad gauge lines

In 1857 a 42 km line was built to Gawler station, which was rural at the time, and extended to Roseworthy, Kapunda in 1860 and Morgan in 1878 (now closed beyond Kapunda). The main line left the Kapunda branch at Roseworthy and proceeded to Hamley Bridge, Riverton, Burra in 1870, and Terowie in 1880.

A branch line was built from Gawler junction, north of Gawler station, to Gawler Central Station, Penrice and Angaston in the Barossa Valley in 1911.

A branch line was built from Riverton to Clare in 1919 and Spalding in 1922.[1] This line closed in 1974.

In 1925, a broad gauge line was built from Salisbury to Redhill and in 1937, it was extended to Port Pirie to meet the extension of the standard gauge from Port Augusta. This line was converted to standard gauge in 1982, including a deviation at the northern end to move the rail junction from Port Pirie to Crystal Brook.

[edit] Mid North narrow gauge lines

The lines in the Mid North (generally north of Goyder's Line, which is the limit of reliable rainfall) were built to narrow gauge (1067 mm).

[edit] Upper Yorke Peninsula lines

The first narrow gauge line ran from Port Wakefield to Balaklava, opened in 1870 and extended to Hamley Bridge in 1878, creating Australia's first break-of-gauge on the government railways. [2]

A horse-drawn tramway was built by the Kadina and Wallaroo Railway and Pier Company between Wallaroo and Kadina in 1862 and extended to Moonta in 1866. This was acquired by the South Australian Railways in 1877 and a new narrow gauge line was built along its route and connected to Port Wakefield in about 1878. A line was built from Brinkworth to Snowtown, Bute and Kadina in 1879. These lines were converted to broad gauge in 1927. [3] All the lines west of the Adelaide-Crystal Brook standard gauge line and the line from Snowtown to Brinkworth were closed after the Adelaide - Crystal Brook line was opened in 1982, despite proposals to convert some of them to standard gauge.

It is notable that no narrow lines in South Australia that were converted to broad gauge have yet been converted to standard gauge, although there are calls to convert the Wolseley to Mount Gambier line to standard gauge. This partly relects the lifting of restriction on the road transportation of grain Australia-wide that followed recommendations of the 1986-88 Royal Commission into grain storage, handling and transport. This particularly affected South Australian railways because of the short distances between the growing areas and its various wheat exporting ports.

[edit] North Mount Lofty Ranges lines

A line was built from Balaklava to Brinkworth and Gladstone by 1880 and later extended to Wilmington. The Hamley Bridge - Balaklava - Brinkworth - Gladstone line was converted to broad gauge in 1927, making Gladstone a break-of-gauge junction. In 1969, when the line from Port Pirie to Broken Hill was converted to standard gauge, Gladstone became a three-gauge break-of-gauge junction (together with Peterborough and succeeding Port Pirie, which had been reduced to two gauges). In the 1980s, the broad gauge line north of Balaklava and the narrow gauge line were closed, leaving Gladstone as a purely standard gauge station.

A narrow gauge line was built from Terowie to Peterborough in 1881, creating a break-of-gauge at Terowie, although the enforced train change created an opportunity for General Douglas MacArthur to deliver his famous line "I shall return" at Terowie station on 20 March 1942. The break-of-gauge was not overcome until the Terowie - Peterborough line was converted to broad (1600 mm) gauge in 1970, to meet new the standard gauge from Port Pirie to Broken Hill, but it was abandoned only 10 years later in 1980.

The narrow gauge line was extended to Orroroo also in 1881 and Quorn in 1882, connecting with the new line from Port Augusta. This line has now been abandoned.

A narrow gauge railway was built from Port Pirie to Gladstone, Peterborough and Broken Hill, in 1888 to serve the Broken Hill silver and lead mine, which was becoming the largest and richest of its kind in the world. Since the New South Wales Government would not allow the South Australia railway to cross the border, the last 30 km was built by a private company as a tramway, the Silverton Tramway from Cockburn, South Australia to Silverton, New South Wales and Broken Hill. In 1970 the line was converted to standard gauge, completing the standard transcontinental gauge line from Sydney to Perth.

[edit] The Great Northern Railway

The Great Northern Railway was completed from Port Augusta across the Pichi Richi Pass to Quorn in 1879, Hergott Springs (now known as Marree) in 1883 and Oodnadatta in 1891. It was extended to Alice Springs by Commonwealth Railways in 1929, when it was renamed the Central Australia Railway.

In 1957, a new standard gauge line was built from Stirling North (near Port Augusta) to Marree on a new alignment west of the Flinders Ranges and the narrow gauge line between Hawker and Marree was abandoned. The remainder of the narrow gauge line between Stirling North, Quorn and Hawker was abandoned in 1972, although the Stirling North - Quorn section has been taken over by the Pichi Richi tourist railway. The narrow gauge line from Marree to Alice Springs was abandoned with the opening of the new standard gauge railway from Tarcoola to Alice Springs in 1980. The standard gauge line from Stirling North has since been abandoned north of Leigh Creek.

[edit] Eyre Peninsula lines

The lines on Eyre Peninsula were built to narrow gauge (1067 mm). While located on the mainland, these lines are separated from the main system by semi-desert, and have been isolated as a result.

[edit] Northern Territory railway

The Northern Territory was part of South Australia from 1863 to 1911, when it was transferred to Commonwealth control.

The Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway was a narrow gauge (1067 mm) railway and ran from Darwin, once known as Palmerston, to Pine Creek.

The John Cox Bray Government in South Australian introduced the Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway Bill in 1883. The £959,300 contract went to C & E Millar of Melbourne on the proviso that they could use coolie labour. The line reached Pine Creek in 1888 and was officially opened on 30 September 1889. Singhalese and Indian gangs did the grubbing and earthwork and 3,000 Chinese labourers laid over 1 km of track per day. A total of 310 bridges and flood openings were built.

The Commonwealth Government took over the line in 1911 and renamed it the Northern Territory Railway. The line was extended to Katherine in 1917. Further extensions in the 1920s saw it eventually reach Birdum, just south of Larrimah, in 1929, when it was further renamed the North Australia Railway, to distinguish it from the Central Australia Railway, which reached Alice Springs from the south in the same year.

Although a railway line from Alice Springs to Darwin had been discussed for many years, the North Australia Railway was closed in 1976. However eventually the standard gauge Adelaide to Darwin Railway was finally completed on 17 September 2003 with the line between Alice Springs and Darwin. The first freight train reached Darwin on 17 January 2004.

[edit] Adelaide suburban network

Adelaide's metropolitan rail network is the only one in Australia's five major cities that has not been electrified. However, there has been several attempts by governments during the 20th century to electrify the system.

In Adelaide, concrete sleepers, installed since the 1990s are of a slightly more expensive gauge-convertible type to facilitate any conversion to standard gauge in the future.

[edit] List of country railways in South Australia

[edit] Mid north

[edit] Branches from the Melbourne line

[edit] North

[edit] Eyre Peninsula

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Riesling Trail. The Wilson Vineyard www.wilsonvineyard.com.au. Retrieved on 2006-04-27.
  2. ^ Linking a Nation. Australian Heritage Commission www.ahc.gov.au. Retrieved on 2006-04-27.
  3. ^ Lions Club of Yorke Peninsula Rail. Lions Club of Yorke Peninsula Rail www.ypr.org.au. Retrieved on 2006-04-27.

[edit] External links

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