Eyre Peninsula Railway

Eyre Peninsula Railway
A train of gypsum empties at Thevenard
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
13.25 mi (21.3 km)
 Coomunga
 Wanilla
 Warunda
 Edillilie
36.5 mi (58.7 km)
 Pillana
41.75 mi (67.2 km)
 Cummins
junction
46.5 mi (74.8 km)
 Wildeloo
 Mount Hope
 Kapinnie
Yeelanna
junction
 Tooligie
 Murdinga
 Lock
 Warramboo
 Kyancutta
 Wudinna
Yaninee
157.25 mi (253.1 km)
 Minnipa
 Poochera
 Cungena
 Wirrulla
222 mi (357 km)
 Nunjikompita
 Penong
 Kowulka
Kevin
257.5 mi (414.4 km)
 Wandana
 Penong Junction
(Ceduna)
257.5 mi (414.4 km)
 Ceduna
269.5 mi (433.7 km)
 Thevenard
 Cockaleechie
 Moreenia
 Moody
67 mi (108 km)
 Ungarra
 Butler
 Wharminda
 Rudall
 Kielpa
 Darke Peak
 Waddikee
 Mount Hill
 Balumbah
 Toopoora
 Kimba
 Buckleboo
[1][2]

The Eyre Peninsula Railway is a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge 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.[3] 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

  • Port Lincoln to Wudinna (Seasonal grain trains)
  • Cummins to Kimba (Seasonal grain trains)
  • Thevenard to Kevin (Daily gypsum trains)
  • Wudinna to Penong Junction (Limited use only)
  • Kevin to Penong (Closed)
  • Kimba to Buckleboo (Non-Operational)
  • Yeelanna to Kapinne (Non-Operational)
  • Coffin Bay to Proper Bay (Closed and dismantled)
  • Wandana to Penong (closed and dismantled), replaced by Penong Junction to Kevin.
Map of operational and closed railway lines of Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, in 2017.
Map of the railway lines of Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, in 1953, showing stations and stopping places.

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

Port Lincoln railway station

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[4][5] to Yeelanna. It was authorised for extension to Minnipa in 1909,[6] with a branch from Yeelanna to Mount Hope authorised in 1912,[7] 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.[8] The line was truncated to Kapinnie in 1966[9] and the last train on it was in October 2002.[10]

In 1912, the Government authorised the construction of a railway from Decres Bay to Minnipa.[11] In 1913, the port terminus was revised to be Cape Thevenard instead of Decres Bay.[12][13] The original line west to Penong from Wandana on that line was authorised by parliament in 1917,[14] 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.[15] That proposal finally was acted on in 1948 when the Government authorised building the line, under an agreement with Waratah Gypsum Proprietary Limited.[16][17]

A branch from Kielpa to Mangalo Hall was proposed and authorised by parliament in 1916,[18] but never built, and cancelled in 1929.[19]

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.[20][21]

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.[20]

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.[20]

There was a proposal around 2011 to construct a new spur from Ungarra to Sheep Hill on the coast to support export of iron ore, however this proposal lapsed in 2016.[22]

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.[23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Property Location Browser (Map). Government of South Australia.
  2. ↑ "Viterra storage and handling network" (PDF). Storage & Handling Network. Viterra. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  3. ↑ "Eyre Peninsula Lines" (PDF). SA Track & Signal. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  4. ↑ The Port Lincoln Railway Act 1905 No. 882, Government Printer, 2011-05-16, retrieved 13 August 2015
  5. ↑ The Port Lincoln Railway Extension Act 1907 No. 932, Government Printer, 2011-05-16, retrieved 13 August 2015
  6. ↑ The Port Lincoln Railway Extension Act 1909 No. 985, Government Printer, 2011-05-16, retrieved 13 August 2015
  7. ↑ The Mount Hope Railway Act 1912 No. 1094, Government Printer, 2011-06-24, retrieved 13 August 2015
  8. ↑ "MOUNT HOPE TO TALIA RAILWAY". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 19 September 1923. p. 12. Retrieved 13 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ Kapinnie and Mount Hope Railway Discontinuance Act, 1966, No. 11, Government Printer, 2011-05-24, retrieved 13 August 2015
  10. ↑ "Railfan Information". Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  11. ↑ The Hundred of Solomon and Decres Bay Railways Act 1912 No. 1080, Government Printer, 2011-06-24, retrieved 12 August 2015
  12. ↑ The Hundred of Solomon and Decres Bay Railways Act 1913 No. 1142, Government Printer, 2011-06-24, retrieved 12 August 2015
  13. ↑ "CAPE THEVENARD". The Chronicle. Adelaide. 13 December 1913. p. 74. Retrieved 13 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ↑ Wandana to Penong Railway Act 1917 No. 1292, Government Printer, 2011-06-24, retrieved 12 August 2015
  15. ↑ "SPUR RAILWAY LINE". The Register. Adelaide. 7 November 1923. p. 11. Retrieved 13 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ↑ Kowulka Branch Railway Act, 1948, No. 37, Government Printer, 2011-05-24, retrieved 13 August 2015
  17. ↑ "KOWULKA RAILWAY TO BE FOR GENERAL USE". West Coast Sentinel. Streaky Bay, SA. 18 May 1949. p. 6. Retrieved 13 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ↑ Kielpa to Mangalo Hall Railway Act 1916 No. 1265, Government Printer, 2011-06-24, retrieved 30 June 2017
  19. ↑ "Kielpa-Mangalo Railway Vetoed". Eyre's Peninsula Tribune. XIV, (882). South Australia. 29 August 1929. p. 2. Retrieved 30 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. 1 2 3 "Kevin, South Australia". Railpage Australia. April 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  21. ↑ Thevenard to Kevin Railway Act, 1963, No. 9, Government Printer, 2011-05-24, retrieved 13 August 2015
  22. ↑ Changarathil, Valerina (14 October 2016). "Port Spencer plan sinks as SA-Chinese venture winds up". The Advertiser. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  23. ↑ Sheep Hill - Eastern Eyre Export Port Facility Regional Development Australia

Further reading

  • Domagalski, A. L. (2001). Rail on Eyre. Port Lincoln, SA: Eyre Peninsula Railway Preservation Society. OCLC 222959387.
  • Knife, Peter (2006). Peninsula Pioneer: A history of the railways of Eyre Peninsula and their role in the early settlement and development of the region. Wahroonga, N.S.W.: Peter Knife. ISBN 0975783505.
  • Knife, Peter; Knife, Margaret (2007). Peninsula Memories: Stories of the railwaymen and women of Eyre Peninsula. Port Lincoln, SA: Peter J. Knife for the Eyre Peninsula Railway Preservation Society. ISBN 9780975783511.
  • Knife, Peter (2013). Peninsula Pioneer Revisited: A history of the railways of Eyre Peninsula and their role in the settlement and development of the region. Port Lincoln, SA: Peter Knife. ISBN 9780975783535.

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