Overview | |
---|---|
Service type | Heritage railway |
Status | Ceased |
Locale | Barossa Valley, South Australia |
First service | 1998 |
Last service | 2003 |
Route | |
Line(s) used | Barossa Valley line |
Technical | |
Rolling stock | Three South Australian Railways Bluebird railcar |
Track gauge | 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) |
The Barossa Wine Train was a tourist railway in the Australian state of South Australia which, from 1998 to 2003, operated with ex - South Australian Railways Bluebird railcars on the Barossa Valley railway line which had been closed to passengers since 1968.
Due to financial and insurance fallout from the 9/11 disaster, it was forced to cease operations in April 2003. [1] [2] [3] The train was then put under storage at the National Railway Museum in Port Adelaide under the ownership of John Geber of Château Tanunda. [4]
In March 2015, it was revealed that a consortium were seeking to resurrect the train and had an option to purchase three Bluebird railcars. [5]
In 2023, the Barossa Wine Train Bluebirds were sold to Aurizon but the interiors were kept for future hope to put them into Adelaide Metro's 3000 class railcars for a new Barossa Wine Train.[ citation needed ]
The Barossa Valley is a valley in South Australia located 60 kilometres (37 mi) northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major wine-producing region and tourist destination.
Adelaide railway station is the central terminus of the Adelaide Metro railway system. All lines approach the station from the west, and it is a terminal station with no through lines, with most of the traffic on the metropolitan network either departing or terminating here. It has nine below-ground platforms, all using broad gauge track. The station is located on the north side of North Terrace, west of Parliament House.
The Adelaide rail network is a metropolitan suburban rail system serving the city of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. It consists of 89 railway stations across 7 lines, which served a patronage of 15.6 million people over the year 2018-19. Keolis Downer under contract from the Government of South Australia operates the Adelaide suburban rail system. The operations are set to be handed back to the hands of the public by January 2025.
Tanunda is a town situated in the Barossa Valley region of South Australia. In the 2021 census, Tanunda recorded a population of 4,710 people.
The Budd Rail Diesel Car (RDC), also known as the Budd car or Buddliner, is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit (DMU) railcar. Between 1949 and 1962, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The cars were primarily adopted for passenger service in rural areas with low traffic density or in short-haul commuter service, and were less expensive to operate in this context than a traditional diesel locomotive-drawn train with coaches. The cars could be used singly or coupled together in train sets and controlled from the cab of the front unit. The RDC was one of the few DMU trains to achieve commercial success in North America. RDC trains were an early example of self-contained diesel multiple unit trains, an arrangement now in common use by railways all over the world.
Rail transport in the Australian state of South Australia is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. The network consists of 1435 mm standard gauge links to other states, the 1600 mm broad gauge suburban railways in Adelaide, a freight-only branch from Dry Creek to Port Adelaide and Pelican Point, a narrow-gauge gypsum haulage line on the Eyre Peninsula, and both copper–gold concentrate and coal on the standard-gauge line in the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor north of Tarcoola.
The 3000 class and 3100 class are a class of diesel railcars that operate on the Adelaide rail network. Built by Comeng and Clyde Engineering between 1987 and 1996, they entered service under the State Transport Authority before later being operated by TransAdelaide and Adelaide Metro. Trains are typically coupled as multiple units, though the 3000 class are also able to run as single units when needed. In total, 70 railcars were built and are expected to be retired between 2030 and 2032.
Port Dock railway station is the terminus of the Port Dock line, located on Baker Street, Port Adelaide. The first station was located in the commercial centre at the corner of St Vincent Street and Lipson Street and served as the original terminus of the railway between Adelaide and Port Adelaide, which opened in 1856.
The Gawler line, also known as the Gawler Central line, is a suburban commuter railway line in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The Gawler Line is the most frequent and heavily patronised line in the Adelaide rail network. It is also the only line to have no other interchange with another line except Adelaide.
Lyndoch is a town in Barossa Valley, located on the Barossa Valley Highway between Gawler and Tanunda, 58 km northeast of Adelaide. The town has an elevation of 175m and an average rainfall of 560.5mm. It is one of the oldest towns in South Australia.
Angaston is a town on the eastern side of the Barossa Valley in South Australia, 77 km northeast of Adelaide. Its elevation is 347 m, one of the highest points in the valley, and has an average rainfall of 561 mm. Angaston was originally known as German Pass, but was later renamed after the politician, banker and pastoralist George Fife Angas, who settled in the area in the 1850s. Angaston is in the Barossa Council local government area, the state electoral district of Schubert and the federal Division of Barker.
The Redhen railcars was the nickname given to the 300 and 400 classes of diesel-hydraulic railcars designed by the South Australian Railways and built at its Islington Railway Workshops between 1955 and 1971. The railcars, which operated in Adelaide suburban service until 1996, remain a nostalgic part of South Australian memory. Some continue to be operated by the SteamRanger Heritage Railway, the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide and other railway preservation entities.
The 2000 class and 2100 class were diesel multiple units that operated on the Adelaide rail network between 1980 and 2015. They were built by Comeng in Granville, New South Wales in 1979–1980. As of 2024, six railcars have been preserved while the rest have been scrapped.
The National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide, South Australia is the largest under-cover railway museum in Australia. More than 100 major exhibits, mainly from the South Australian Railways (SAR) and Commonwealth Railways and their successor, Australian National, are displayed at its 3.5 hectares site. A large archival collection of photographs of those railways and records created by them is also managed by the museum. The museum operates with a large number of volunteers.
The Barossa Valley railway line is a closed railway line in South Australia. It was first opened in 1911, extending from the Gawler line to Angaston with later branches being built to Penrice and Truro. Much of the line from Gawler to Penrice remained open up until June 2014. The section of line from Nuriootpa to Truro was removed in the 1990s. The section of line from Nuriootpa to Angaston was taken up in 2010 and replaced with a rail trail.
The Bluebird railcars were a class of self-propelled diesel-hydraulic railcar built by the South Australian Railways' Islington Railway Workshops between 1954 and 1959.
Two models of the Brill railcar were operated by the South Australian Railways between 1925 and 1971. Introduced to run on country rail services, the "Barwell Bulls" serviced most of the state's railway lines until they were eventually replaced by both the Bluebird and Redhen railcars. The last units were withdrawn in 1971.
The Iron Triangle Limited was a passenger train operated by Australian National between Adelaide, Port Pirie, Port Augusta, and Whyalla.
Mount Gambier railway station was the terminus of the Mount Gambier railway line and the junction for the Beachport and Mount Gambier-Heywood railway lines in the South Australian city of Mount Gambier. It was last used in 2006, and has since been transformed into a public community space.