Eyre Peninsula Railway

Eyre Peninsula Railway

Port Lincoln railway station
Overview
Termini Port Lincoln
Kimba
Kevin
Stations refer EPR stations
Operation
Operator(s) Genesee & Wyoming Australia
Technical
Line length 600 km (370 mi)
Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Route map
0 Port Lincoln
Coomunga
Wanilla
Warunda
Edillilie
Pillana
Cumminsjunction
Mount Hope
Kapinnie
Yeelannajunction
Lock
Kyancutta
Wudinna
Minnipa
Penong
Kowulka
Kevin
Wandana
Penong Junction(Ceduna)
Thevenard
Cockaleechie
Moreenia
Moody
Ungarraproposed junction
Sheep Hill(proposed)
Butler
Mount Hill
Balumbah
Toopoora
Kimba
Buckleboo

The Eyre Peninsula Railway is a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) railway located on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. The system is isolated from the rest of the South Australian railway network.

Overview

The network consists of about 600 kilometres of route and carries mainly wheat and gypsum to ports at Port Lincoln and Thevenard.[1] Genesee & Wyoming Australia operate all traffic on the Eyre Peninsula rail network. The railway is isolated from the main system, and there has never been any justification for a connection to the main system. It is the only remaining 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) track in South Australia.

Lines

History

The railways were built by the government-owned South Australian Railways which was the exclusive operator until 1978. Its successor organisation was the Australian National Railways Commission. The railway infrastructure and services was sold to Genesee & Wyoming Australia (then known as Australian Southern Railroad) in 1997.

Development

As with many other early narrow-gauge railways in South Australia, the Eyre Peninsula lines started out as isolated lines connecting small ports to the inland, opening up the country for settlement and economic life including export of grain and other produce in an environment with few roads and only horse-drawn road vehicles.

The first of these on Eyre Peninsula was authorised in 1905 from Port Lincoln[2][3] to Yeelanna. It was authorised for extension to Minnipa in 1909,[4] with a branch from Yeelanna to Mount Hope authorised in 1912,[5] and opened for traffic in 1914. A proposal to extend it in 1923 north to Talia was not pursued as it would not provide any economic benefit.[6] The line was truncated to Kapinnie in 1966[7] and the last train on it was in October 2002.[8]

In 1912, the Government authorised the construction of a railway from Decres Bay to Minnipa.[9] In 1913, the port terminus was revised to be Cape Thevenard instead of Decres Bay.[10][11] The original line west to Penong from Wandana on that line was authorised by parliament in 1917,[12] with construction eventually completed in 1924. By then, there was already a proposal to add a spur line to a station in the Hundred of Kevin, 6.5 miles (10.5 km) south of the Kowulka siding, to facilitate the export of gypsum from mines at Lake MacDonnell.[13] That proposal finally was acted on in 1948 when the Government authorised building the line, under an agreement with Waratah Gypsum Proprietary Limited.[14][15]

In 1966, a new line was built on a more direct route from Penong Junction near Ceduna to Kevin. This new line plus the spur from Kowulka to Kevin then became the main line to Penong, and the original line was closed from Wandana to Kowulka.[16][17]

The last grain train from Penong operated on 3 March 1997 and the line from Kevin to Penong is now closed. Gypsum continues to be transported from the Lake MacDonnell mine to Thevenard.[16]

In 1984-85 a fleet of former iron ore hoppers from the North Australia Railway replaced the previous SAR 4-wheel wagons in the gypsum traffic.[16]

Iron ore

With the prospective development of iron ore traffic, a new port at Sheep Hill north of Tumby Bay has been mooted. This would require a 27-kilometre branchline from Ungarra and upgrading of the remaining track.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Eyre Peninsula Lines" (PDF). SA Track & Signal. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  2. ↑ The Port Lincoln Railway Act 1905 No. 882, Government Printer, 2011-05-16, retrieved 13 August 2015
  3. ↑ The Port Lincoln Railway Extension Act 1907 No. 932, Government Printer, 2011-05-16, retrieved 13 August 2015
  4. ↑ The Port Lincoln Railway Extension Act 1909 No. 985, Government Printer, 2011-05-16, retrieved 13 August 2015
  5. ↑ The Mount Hope Railway Act 1912 No. 1094, Government Printer, 2011-06-24, retrieved 13 August 2015
  6. ↑ "MOUNT HOPE TO TALIA RAILWAY.". The Advertiser. Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia. 19 September 1923. p. 12. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  7. ↑ Kapinnie and Mount Hope Railway Discontinuance Act, 1966, No. 11, Government Printer, 2011-05-24, retrieved 13 August 2015
  8. ↑ "Railfan Information". Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  9. ↑ The Hundred of Solomon and Decres Bay Railways Act 1912 No. 1080, Government Printer, 2011-06-24, retrieved 12 August 2015
  10. ↑ The Hundred of Solomon and Decres Bay Railways Act 1913 No. 1142, Government Printer, 2011-06-24, retrieved 12 August 2015
  11. ↑ "CAPE THEVENARD.". Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954). Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia. 13 December 1913. p. 74. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  12. ↑ Wandana to Penong Railway Act 1917 No. 1292, Government Printer, 2011-06-24, retrieved 12 August 2015
  13. ↑ "SPUR RAILWAY LINE.". The Register. Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia. 7 November 1923. p. 11. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  14. ↑ Kowulka Branch Railway Act, 1948, No. 37, Government Printer, 2011-05-24, retrieved 13 August 2015
  15. ↑ "KOWULKA RAILWAY TO BE FOR GENERAL USE.". West Coast Sentinel. Streaky Bay, SA: National Library of Australia. 18 May 1949. p. 6. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 "Kevin, South Australia". Railpage Australia. April 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  17. ↑ Thevenard to Kevin Railway Act, 1963, No. 9, Government Printer, 2011-05-24, retrieved 13 August 2015
  18. ↑ Sheep Hill - Eastern Eyre Export Port Facility Regional Development Australia

Further reading

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