Central Australia Railway
- Note that this was a different railway from the current Adelaide-Darwin railway
The Central Australia Railway was a railway between Adelaide and Alice Springs, it was a precursor to the Adelaide-Darwin railway, however it was a different route, and a different gauge.
In the 1890s and into the twentieth century it was sometimes referred to as the Great Northern Railway [1]
It was frequently referred to as The Ghan and also since completing of the newer railway has been referred to as the Old Ghan.[2][3]
Construction in the 1870s was by South Australian Railways as a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge railway.[4][5] The final part of the line closed in 1980 when the standard gauge line opened on a new alignment from Tarcoola to Alice Springs.[6]
Timeline (including the Northern railway)
- 18 January 1878: South: Construction from Port Augusta starts
- 1879: South: Quorn reached
- 1883: South: Marree reached
- 1883: North: Construction of the North Australia Railway from Palmerston (Darwin) starts
- 1888: North: Pine Creek reached
- 1891: South: Oodnadatta reached, and known as the Great Northern Railway
- 1910: First promise by Federal Government to complete the line in the Acceptance Act (but no date given)
- 1926: Line acquired by Commonwealth Railways
- 1926: North: Katherine reached
- 1929: North: Birdum reached, terminus at Larrimah, and known as the North Australia Railway
- 6 August 1929: South: Alice Springs reached, and officially renamed the Central Australia Railway, but popularly known as The Ghan. The northern and southern parts are not connected.
- 1957: South: Standard gauge line from Stirling North (near Port Augusta) to Marree opened replacing line via Quorn
- Some sections of the narrow-gauge line remain in operation as the Pichi Richi Railway
- 1976: North: line closed
- 1980: South: line closed, replaced by Tarcoola-Alice Springs line
List of stations
- Port Augusta
- Stirling North
- Saltia
- Woolshed Flat
- Summit
- Quorn
- Willochra
- Gordon
- Wilson
- Hawker
- Hookina (the siding was actually at the nearby town of Wonoka)
- Mern Merna
- Edeowie
- Brachina
- Meadows
- Parachilna
- Nilpena (Originally Blackfellows Creek)
- Beltana
- Puttapa
- Copley (Originally Leigh Creek)
- Telford
- Lyndhurst
- Farina (Originally Government Gums)
- Wirrawilla
- Mundowdna
- Marree (Originally Hergott Springs)
- Callanna
- Wangianna
- Alberrie Creek
- Bopeechee
- Lake Eyre
- Stuart's Creek
- Margaret Siding
- Coward Springs
- Beresford
- Strangways Springs
- Irrappatana
- William Creek
- Douglas
- Anna Creek
- Box Creek
- Boorthana
- Duff Creek
- Edward's Creek
- Warrina
- Peake Creek
- Algebuckina
- Mount Dutton
- North Creek
- Oodnadatta
- Wire Creek
- Alberga
- Macumba
- Mount Sarah
- Mount Rebecca
- Pedirka
- Mount Emery
- Illbunga
- Bloods Creek
- Abminga
- Wall Creek
- Duffield
- Crown Point
- Finke
- Musgrave
- Rumbalara
- Mount Squire
- Engoordina
- Bundooma
- Maryvale
- Rodinga
- Deep Well
- Ooraminna
- Mount Polhill
- Ewaninga
- Mount Ertiva
- Macdonnell
- Heavitree
- Alice Springs
Conditions
The tortuously curving narrow-gauge line between Marree and Alice Springs was notoriously prone to delays, often caused by flash floods washing away bridges and tracks.[7]
Film
Shortly before the closure of the narrow gauge line in 1980, BBC Television filmed an episode of the television series Great Railway Journeys of the World featuring the original route of the Ghan (and the infamously slow speed of the train).
Communities after closure
One major change with the building of the new line (and resulting closure of the old) was that Oodnadatta and other communities along the route of the original line lost their railway service.
Heritage trail
The old railway route is now a heritage trail [8]
See also
Notes
- ↑ "South Australia Great Northern Railway Impresses Commissioner". The Barrier Miner. Broken Hill: National Library of Australia. 4 December 1922. p. 4. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ↑ Newell, Brian R (2000), Following the Old Ghan railway line 1878-1980 (1st ed.), Brian R Newell, ISBN 978-0-646-39415-2
- ↑ Pearce, Kenn (2011), Riding the 'wire fence' to the Alice : memories of the old Ghan railway, Railmac Publications, ISBN 978-1-86477-079-7
- ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics. "Completion of the Adelaide to Darwin railway line". Year Book Australia, 2005. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
- ↑ Fuller, Basil (2012), The Ghan : the story of the Alice Springs railway, New Holland Publishers, ISBN 978-1-74257-275-8
- ↑ Reid, Graeme (1996), The Demise of the Central Australia Railway, Australian Railway Historical Society, New South Wales Division
- ↑ "Central Australia Railway Floods". Townsville Daily Bulletin. National Library of Australia. 16 March 1939. p. 12. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
- ↑ South Australian Tourism Commission; Northern Territory Department of Lands, Planning & Environment (2001), Discover the outback Port Augusta to Alice Springs : Old Ghan Railway heritage trail, Northern Territory Department of Lands, Planning & Environment, South Australian Tourism Commission, retrieved 8 October 2012
Further reading
- Commonwealth Railways (Australia) (1900), Central Australia railway : historical notes, Melbourne, retrieved 8 October 2012
External links
- History of the Adelaide-Darwin Railway
- Tarcoola to Alice Springs Railway Act 1974
- Weekend Extra film on the last original Ghan Australian Broadcasting Corporation 1980