The Pichi Richi Railway has a dramatic past. It is all that now remains of South Australia's never-completed North-South Transcontinental railway. After completion of the 1800 mile Overland Telegraph from Adelaide to Darwin, Adelaide's politicians turned their attention to a narrow (3ft 6in) gauge line to Darwin. But the project was overambitious, underfunded, and was captured by parochial concerns. Diverted to serve newly settled marginal lands near Quorn, the line became an expensive white elephant after crops failed and cultivation was abandoned in the 1880s and 1890s. It never extended beyond Alice Springs and has now been totally bypassed by new lines.
The Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society preserves the last remnant of the old Central Australia Railway and keeps alive the memory of South Australia's northern narrow gauge lines and their connection with Commonwealth Railways. Our video shows ex-WAGR and Silverton Tramway "W" 4-8-2s, ex-SAR "T" 4-8-0 No. 186, ex-Commonwealth Railways "NM" class 4-8-0 No. 25, the tiny "Coffee Pot" steam rail motor, and Brill Type 75 diesel rail motor No. 106 at work between Quorn and Port Augusta during typical weeks in high season. An ex-CR diesel hauls a work train, and historic SAR and CR passenger stock is seen on the "Pichi Richi Explorer," "Afghan Express," and "Wizards Explorer" workings.
The DVD video production was filmed in October 1999 and October 2005. It is a full 120 minutes long, and all digital, with natural sound. Diagrammatic maps are included, and, with many stills, help tell the story of the Pichi Richi Pass.
Approximate run time: 120 minutes.