SAR Peterborough-Quorn

Line History:

Opened:  1881-1882
Closed:  1987-1988
Length:  137km

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 Oodnadatta. The Northern Line was transferred to the Commonwealth Railways, was renamed the Central Australia Railway and was extended to Alice Springs in the early 1920s.

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 broad gauge (5'3" - 1600mm) line from Port Pirie to Port Augusta was completed.

During the 1940s many of the passing loops on the line were lengthened to handle the longer troop and military freight trains. During the 1950s the main Central Australia Railway was diverted away from Quorn and the remaining line was truncated at Hawker. This significantly reduced the traffic and led to the removal of several passing loops on the Peterborough-Quorn 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 Quorn line had been closed).

In the 1960s there were 3 weekly return freight services between Peterborough and Quorn.

In January 1970 all steam locos were withdrawn and replaced by two diesel locos based at Peterborough, but one was later withdrawn. Limited regular freight services to Orroroo ran until 1973 when they were replaced by a road vehicle but trains still serviced the grain silos at Orroroo, when needed. By 1979 there was only one weekly return service to Quorn and this usually terminated at Carrieton. The last timetabled return freight service to Quorn ran in 1980. Special steam passenger excursion trains still ran from Peterborough to Quorn upto the mid 1980s.

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 to clear the silos at Orroroo in 1988.

By 2008 most of the line had been lifted with the original track preserved in only a few places of significance (Black Rock and Wallaway).

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 trains, and the travel time had increased to nearly 6 hours. In the 1960s a Brill diesel rail car running from Terowie to Quorn provided 3 return services each week, but this was discontinued in 1969.