Farina | ||||||||||||||||
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General information | ||||||||||||||||
Location | Farina, South Australia | |||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 30°04′S138°17′E / 30.06°S 138.28°E | |||||||||||||||
Operated by | South Australian Railways 1882–1926 Commonwealth Railways 1926–1975 Australian National 1975–1987 | |||||||||||||||
Line(s) | Central Australia Railway, Marree railway line | |||||||||||||||
Distance | 650 kilometres from Adelaide | |||||||||||||||
Platforms | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Construction | ||||||||||||||||
Structure type | Ground | |||||||||||||||
Other information | ||||||||||||||||
Status | Closed | |||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||
Opened | 22 May 1884 | |||||||||||||||
Closed | 10 June 1987 | |||||||||||||||
Rebuilt | 27 July 1957 | |||||||||||||||
Services | ||||||||||||||||
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Farina railway station was located on the Central Australia Railway, and later the Marree railway line serving the small South Australian outback town of Farina.
In the 1860s, planning begun for a railway 200 miles from Port Augusta heading northwards, partly due to mineral discoveries in the Flinders Ranges and good rainfall in the Far North convincing farmers to settle there. [1] Farina (known as Government Gums at the time) was picked as the terminus for the railway, though it was viewed by a lot of the general public as the first section of a railway to Darwin. The railway reached Quorn in 1879, Hawker in 1880, Beltana in 1881, and finally reached Government Gums in 1882. [2] [3] SA Governor Sir William Jervois declared the line to Government Gums open on 22 May 1882, and from then on it was known as Farina as the area was expected to be an agricultural area. [1] However, the unusually good rain concluded after a few years of settlement, putting an end to the belief that crops could be sustained in the region. [4] Despite the lack of crops, the railway helped carry other commodities including sheep, wool, and cattle. Farina remained as the railhead for 2 years until the railway was extended to Marree in 1884, helping to transport more livestock and making Farina a through station. [4] Farina boasted a livestock loading facility that saw thousands of sheep and cattle being loaded onto trains each year. However, the town itself declined after severe droughts and the closure of the nearby mineral mines. [4] A new standard gauge line to Marree replaced the existing narrow gauge one in 1957, and for a short time, the town was one of the few places that the 2 railways crossed over. Livestock continued to be loaded at Farina, though the town was eventually completely abandoned in 1980. [4] Goods trains continued passing through the town until 1987 when the railway closed between Marree and Telford Cut. The last passenger train was a special tour by Train Tour Promotions using a set of Bluebird railcars on 9 May 1987. The railway was officially closed on 10 May 1987, and the line through Farina was removed in 1993. [4]
Today, the Farina Restoration Group continues to conserve the ruins of the town and the railway. [1] Markers have been placed within the town to show where the track once was, including where the SG and NG line once crossed. A SAR narrow gauge open wagon has been placed on a length of track adjacent to the former narrow gauge goods platform, and the sheep and cattle loading ramps on the standard gauge triangle have been rebuilt with SAR sheep and cattle wagons placed next to them. [5] The water tank and a few railway buildings also remain at the site. The Farina Restoration Group eventually plans to rebuild the narrow gauge station building, which was a standard SAR design made out of wood. Planning is also underway to move locomotive NSU63, currently at the Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre in Peterborough, to Farina in the near future. [1]
The Adelaide–Darwin railway line is a railway line in Australia, between the South Australian town of Tarcoola and the Northern Territory city of Darwin. Preceded by a number of other shorter railways, a line through to Darwin was fully realised in 2004 when the final link from Alice Springs to Darwin was opened. Forming the main section of the 2,975 kilometres (1,849 mi) rail corridor between the cities of Adelaide and Darwin, the line is used by The Ghan passenger train and interstate freight trains operated by Aurizon.
Marree is a small town located in the north of South Australia. It lies 589 kilometres (366 mi) North of Adelaide at the junction of the Oodnadatta Track and the Birdsville Track, 49 metres (161 ft) above sea level. Marree is an important service centre for the large sheep and cattle stations in northeast South Australia as well as a stopover destination for tourists traveling along the Birdsville or Oodnadatta Tracks.
Farina, formerly Farina Town, is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia. At the 2006 census, Farina had a population of 55.
Quorn is a small town and railhead in the Flinders Ranges in the north of South Australia, 39 kilometres (24 mi) northeast of Port Augusta.
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The former Central Australia Railway, which was built between 1878 and 1929 and closed in 1980, was a 1241 km (771 mi) 1067 mm narrow gauge railway between Port Augusta and Alice Springs. A standard gauge line duplicated the southern section from Port Augusta to Maree in 1957 on a new nearby alignment. The entire Central Australia Railway was superseded in 1980 after the standard gauge Tarcoola–Alice Springs Railway was opened, using a new route up to 200 km to the west. A small southern section of the original line between Port Augusta and Quorn has been preserved as the Pichi Richi Tourist Railway.
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The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1917 by the Government of Australia with the Commonwealth Railways Act to administer the Trans-Australia and Port Augusta to Darwin railways. In 1975, all assets were acquired by the Australian National Railways Commission, branded as Australian National Railways and subsequently Australian National, trademarked as AN.
Beltana is a town 540 kilometres (336 mi) north of Adelaide, South Australia. Beltana is known for continuing to exist long after the reasons for its existence had ceased. The town's history began in the 1870s with the advent of copper mining in the area, construction of the Australian Overland Telegraph Line and The Ghan railway and began to decline in 1941 with the beginning of coal mining at Leigh Creek. The fortune of the town was sealed by the 1983 realignment of the main road away from the town. The town, adjacent cemetery and railway structures are now part of a designated State Heritage Area declared in 1987.
The Victorian Railways used a variety of railway wagons for the transport of livestock.
The Commonwealth Railways NSU class was a class of diesel-electric locomotives built in 1954 and 1955 by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, England, for the Commonwealth Railways to be deployed on the narrow-gauge Central Australia Railway and North Australia Railway.
Telford Cut was an open-cut coal mine, now closed, in the Leigh Creek Coalfield in South Australia. For the 72 years between its opening in 1943 and its closure, the mine supplied sub-bituminous coal to fire power stations first in Adelaide then, from 1954, Port Augusta. Production ceased in November 2015 but stockpiled product was transported to Port Augusta until the last power station closed down in May 2016.
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Marree railway station was located on the Central Australia Railway, and later the Marree railway line serving the small South Australian outback town of Marree.
The Marree railway line is located in the Australian state of South Australia.
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