SAR Port Pirie-Broken Hill

Gladstone - Paratoo Section Junction for  Junction for  Symbols: Loco Coal Stage Loco Diesel Fuel Point Loco Water Tank Passenger Stop Loco Shed Loco Turntable Goods Facility Grain Storage or Processing Stockyard Oil and Fuel Terminal Passing Loop Turning Triangle or WYE Wool Bales   Line History: Opened:  1875-1888 Closed:  still in operation Length:  127km (Gladstone to Paratoo) of 390km total length Built as a narrow gauge (3'6" - 1067mm) line from Port Pirie to Gladstone in 1875, it was extended to Cockburn on the South Australia - New South Wales border in stages by 1888 where it joined the Silverton Tramway to Broken Hill. The main purpose of the line was to transport the mineral ores from the mines at Broken Hill to the smelters and port at Port Pirie, a function it still performs today. Several narrow gauge branches were added at Gladstone (to Wilmington), Peterborough (to Quorn and Terowie) and to two mines between Paratoo and Cockburn. A broad gauge (5'3" - 1600mm) line from Adelaide (the state capital) was extended to Gladstone in 1894. A second broad gauge line from Adelaide was extended to Peterborough in 1970. During 1969-1970 the line was converted to standard gauge (4'8.5" - 1435mm) which eventually led to the closure of all the connecting narrow and broad gauge lines and many of the locations along the line. The line is now part of the standard gauge Transcontinental railway from Sydney to Perth.