Peterborough railway station, South Australia

Peterborough

Station in March 2009
Location Main Street, Peterborough
Australia
Coordinates 32°58′27″S 138°50′11″E / 32.9742°S 138.8364°E / -32.9742; 138.8364Coordinates: 32°58′27″S 138°50′11″E / 32.9742°S 138.8364°E / -32.9742; 138.8364
Operated by Great Southern Rail
Line(s) Crystal Brook-Broken Hill
Distance 247.50 kilometres from Adelaide
Platforms 1
Construction
Structure type Ground
Other information
Status Unstaffed
History
Opened January 1881
Previous names Petersburg
Services
Preceding station   Great Southern Railway   Following station
towards East Perth
Indian Pacific
towards Sydney

Peterborough railway station is located on the Crystal Brook-Broken Hill line in Peterborough, South Australia.[1]

History

Peterborough originally opened in January 1880 as Petersburg when a narrow gauge line opened from Port Pirie to the west. In November 1881, a line arrived from Terowie and the south, in 1882 it was extended north to Quorn. In 1888, a line was built eastwards to Broken Hill.[2][3]

Thus Petersburg became a four-way junction station (all narrow gauge) and the town was the headquarters for the South Australian Railways narrow gauge network, with an extensive locomotive depot. A roundhouse was added in 1927.[3][4] The roundhouse and turntable are listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.[5] The station along with the town, was renamed Peterborough in 1917.

As part of the standardisation project, the line between Port Augusta and Broken Hill was converted to standard gauge in 1970, thus Peterborough became a break of gauge station. As part of the project, the narrow gauge from Terowie was converted to broad gauge to match the rest of the line to Terowie from Adelaide resulting in Peterborough having all three South Australian track gauges.[3]

Following the conversion of the Adelaide to Crystal Brook line to standard gauge in 1982, Peterborough's importance diminished. By 1988, both the narrow gauge line to the north and broad gauge line to the south had closed.[3] Today the former roundhouse is home to the Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre.

Services

The only passenger rail service which stops at the station is Great Southern Rail's weekly Indian Pacific service operating between Sydney and Perth.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Crystal Brook - Broken Hill map SA Track & Signal
  2. ↑ Bromby, Robin (2004). The Railway Age in Australia. South Melbourne: Thomas Lothan. pp. 65–67. ISBN 0 734407 15 7.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Peterborough National Railway Museum
  4. ↑ Peterborough Railway Roundhouse & Turntable Aussie Heritage
  5. ↑ "Peterborough Roundhouse & Turntable". South Australian Heritage Register. Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  6. ↑ Indian Pacific Timetable Great Southern Rail
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