SAR Peterborough-Quorn

Line History:

Opened:  1881-1882
Closed:  1987-1988
Length:  130km

Built as a narrow gauge (3' 6" - 1067mm) line from Peterborough to Orroroo in 1881, it was extended to Quorn in 1882 where it joined the SAR Main Northern Line (narrow gauge) from Port Augusta to Maree which was transferred to the Commonwealth Railways and became the Central Australia Railway to Alice Springs by the early 1920s. This line was later terminated at Hawker in the 1950s after Quorn had been bypassed by a new Central Australia Railway deviation.

When the standard gauge (4'8.5" - 1435mm) Transcontinental Railway from Port Augusta to Kalgoolie was completed in 1917, the Peterborough-Quorn Line became the route for all Transcontinental and Central Australia rail traffic until 1932 when a more direct line from Port Pirie to Port Augusta was completed.

During the 1940s many of the passing loops on the line were significantly lengthened to handle the longer troop and military freight trains. During the 1950s several passing loops were removed due to declining traffic on the line. The line from Port Pirie to Broken Hill was converted to standard gauge during 1969-1970 which isolated the Peterborough-Quorn line from the rest of the narrow gauge network (by then the Port Augusta to Hawker line had been closed).

The line roughly follows a meteorological line (an Isohyet) that defines the rainfall and thus the types of agriculture that can be conducted in the region. To the west of the line the annual rainfall was sufficient to grow a single grain crop each year. To the east the rainfall was insufficient for crops and was only suitable for raising livestock. Grain and livestock are the two main products of this region.

The line from Eurelia to Quorn was closed in 1987 followed by the closure of the line from Peterborough to Eurelia in 1988. The last scheduled services on the line were grain movements from Orroroo in 1988.

By 2008 most of the line had been lifted with the original track preserved in only a few places of significance.

Passenger Services:

The planners believed that the new line would attract many new settlers, industries and businesses to the region and would generate significant passenger traffic. As a result many of the stations were built in a "grand style". The reality never lived up to the expectations.

In the 1890s 6 return passenger services a week were timetabled - all were mixed services with a passenger car attached to a freight train. The journey time from Peterborough to Quorn was just over 4 hours.

An express passenger service, the East-West Express, ran from Terowie to Port Augusta via the Peterborough-Quorn Line from 1917 to 1932.

In the 1952 timetable only 3 return passenger services were provided each week, again all mixed, and the travel time had increased to nearly 6 hours.