This presentation, CENTRAL AUSTALIA LINE PT 1, covers passenger freight train operations on both the ‘down’ and the ‘up’ as we move from Adelaide to Port Augusta.
South Australia’s railways have always been an operational nightmare with 3 different main line gauges operating throughout the state. The entity which ultimately became the Australian National Railways inherited standard and narrow gauge from Commonwealth Railways (former Trans Australian and Ghan respectively) and broad, standard and narrow gauge from the South Australian Railways. Some significant efforts have been made to rationalise and move to standard gauge where economical feasible.
The standard gauge track which we are going to travel over between Adelaide and Port Augusta was originally broad gauge SAR track from Adelaide to Port Pirie, (layed between 1857 and 1937 and replaced by standard gauge in 1982/83) and a 1937 Commonwealth Railway extension of the 1917 Trans Australia from Port Pirie to Port Augusta. (The standard gauge line between Broken Hill and Port Pirie, layed in 1970, supplies the track between Crystal Brook and Port Pirie). Prior to 1982/83, Port Pirie was the location for change of gauge (between narrow standard and broad) and featured significant freight, passenger and maintenance facilities to meet this need as we shall see in the presentation. It was also highly important for its smelter and grain export capability.
Locomotives seen in this presentation include ALF, BL, CLF/P, DL, EL, FQ, G,H, GM, NR, PL, SCT, V, TL XR, 422/2200, 80, 81 and 82 class in the liveries of Commonwealth Railways, CFCLA, Freight Australia, Freight Corp, FreightLink, Genessee & Wyoming, National Rail, PacNat and SCT, while passenger equipment includes local Adelaide suburban and Great Southern rolling stock.
Approximate run time: 86 minutes.