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Major manned station and junction on the Hawker Line and the Peterborough-Quorn Line and until 1932 a vital part of the Transcontinental Railway from Sydney to Perth.
Multiple Loops and sidings for station, goods, grain and fuel depot plus loco servicing facilities.
Quorn was originally the junction between the Great Northern Line (Port Augusta to Oodnadatta) and the Peterborough-Quorn Line, both operated by the SAR. In the 1920s the Great Northern Line was transferred to the Commonwealth Railways (CR) and was extended to Alice Springs. It then became known as the Central Australia Line .
In the early 1950s the Central Australia Line was converted to standard gauge (4ft 8.5in, 1435mm) on a new alignment to the west of Quorn which significantly reduced the traffic through Quorn. In 1956 most of the rest of the line, except for a section from Quorn to Hawker (the Hawker Line), was closed. This eliminated virtually all remaining through traffic. The CR continued to operate a single weekly freight service on the Hawker Line but in 1972 that line was also closed.
In 1974 Quorn became the operations centre for the Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society, a narrow gauge steam preservation railway.
The Peterborough-Quorn Line closed in 1987. The Pichi Richi Railway is still in operation on the restored line between Quorn and Port Augusta.
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