Silverton Rail
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Silverton Rail is an Australian regional rail operator providing rail freight haulage, hook and pull, terminal and shunting services, maintenance and first response/recovery services. It is accredited to operate in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. It started operation in 1886 as the Silverton Tramway Company in 1886 and was formed due to interstate rivalry between NSW and SA; as their railways neared the border, neither would let the other cross the border. Therefore, Silverton (called a Tramway because it was a private railway) took over, and from the 1890s to 1970 it ran from Broken Hill to Cockburn, South Australia via Silverton.
The Silverton Tramway was formed by the mines working the Line of Lode to transport lead and zinc concentrates into South Australia, either for export or smelting at the Broken Hill Associates Smelter at Port Pirie. Of equal importance, Silverton Transported back fuel for the mines and timber to form the timber sets used underground to support the stopes being mined. As South Australian railways from the border to Port Pirie were narrow gauge - the Silverton tramway was narrow gauge.
With the completion of the standard gauge line connecting NSW to South Australia, Silverton were then relegated to shunting in Broken Hill yard and the sidings to the mines. With the decrease in mining activity at Broken Hill, Silverton Rail has moved to Parkes, New South Wales. (1)
In early 2006 it was bought by Western Australian operator South Spur Rail.
