Loxton railway line

Last updated

Loxton railway line
Tookayerta grain terminal 1.JPG
Tookayerta grain terminal at the end of the line
Overview
StatusNo trains operating
Locale Murray Mallee
Coordinates 34°58′15″S140°5′30″E / 34.97083°S 140.09167°E / -34.97083; 140.09167 Coordinates: 34°58′15″S140°5′30″E / 34.97083°S 140.09167°E / -34.97083; 140.09167
Termini Tailem Bend
Loxton
History
Opened2 February 1914 (1914-02-02)
Converted to standard gauge1996
Closed20 July 2015 (2015-07-20)
Technical
Line length271 km (168 mi)(Tailem Bend–Tookayerta)
Number of tracks1
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Old gauge5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Route map

Contents

km
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One Rail Australia
Tailem Bend Yard
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120.3
Tailem Bend
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169.0
Karoonda loop
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Peebinga and Waikerie lines
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215.2
Mindarie Mine
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222.2
Wanbi loop
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243.6
Alawoona loop
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271.0
Tookayerta Grain Terminal
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Loxton

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The Loxton railway line is a closed railway line in the northern Murray Mallee region of South Australia. It ran north-east from Tailem Bend to grain silos near Loxton. [1]

History

The first stage of the Brown's Well railway line opened from Tailem Bend to Wanbi on 6 January 1913, [2] and extended to Paruna by the end of April the same year. [3] A branch from Alawoona to Loxton opened on 13 February 1914. [4] The main line to Alawoona and only remaining branch to Loxton closed on 6 January 1996 to be gauge converted from broad gauge to standard gauge to retain connection to the main line from Adelaide to Melbourne after that line was converted. [5] [6] [7] The last grain train left the silos on 20 June 2015, marking the closure of the line.

Route

The railway branched off the main line just south of Tailem Bend, and tracked roughly north-east. The Karoonda Highway from Murray Bridge East paralleled it after about 24 kilometres at Kulde. The railway and highway continued together 100 kilometres north-east through Karoonda to Alawoona, then both turned north for the final 35 kilometres to Loxton.

The line no longer continues to Loxton station, having been curtailed at a bulk grain facility a few kilometres short of the town. The end of the main line became the grain terminal at what was originally the Tookayerta siding. [8] The line closed on 20 July 2015, with all grain traffic now taken by road. [9]

Related Research Articles

Tailem Bend, South Australia Town in South Australia

Tailem Bend is a town on the Murray River in South Australia and the home of The Bend Motorsport Park. It is located less than 100 km south-east of Adelaide. It is located on the cliffs above the east (left) bank of the Murray River close to where the river empties into Lake Alexandrina.

Karoonda, South Australia Town in South Australia

Karoonda is in the middle of the Murray Mallee region of South Australia. Karoonda takes its name from the Aboriginal word for "winter camp". The current boundaries include the former town of Lowaldie, which was the next stop on the railway line away from Adelaide.

The Murray Mallee is the grain-growing and sheep-farming area of South Australia bounded to the north and west by the Murray River, to the east by the Victorian border, and extending about 50 km south of the Mallee Highway.

Rail transport in South Australia

The first railway in colonial South Australia was a horse-drawn tramway from the port of Goolwa on the Murray River to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot in 1854. Today the state has 1,600 mm broad gauge suburban railways in Adelaide, a number of country freight lines, as well as key 1,435 mm standard gauge links to other states.

Loxton, South Australia Town in South Australia

Loxton is a town on the south bank of the River Murray in the Riverland region of South Australia. It is located on the lands of the Erawirung people who occupied the area before European colonisation.

Wynarka, South Australia Town in South Australia

Wynarka is a very small town in South Australia 120 kilometres (75 mi) southeast of Adelaide on the Karoonda Highway (B55) and Loxton railway line in the Murray Mallee. Wynarka lies within the District Council of Karoonda East Murray.

The Adelaide-Wolseley railway line is a 313 kilometre line running from Adelaide to Wolseley on the Australian Rail Track Corporation network. It is the South Australian section of the Melbourne–Adelaide railway.

Alawoona Town in South Australia

Alawoona is a town in the Murray Mallee region of South Australia. At the 2006 census, Alawoona had a population of 250. It lies on the Karoonda Highway and Loxton railway line where they both change direction from easterly to continue northwards for 35 km to Loxton.

Sandalwood, South Australia Town in South Australia

Sandalwood is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia located about 139 kilometres (86 mi) east of the state capital of Adelaide.

Wanbi, South Australia Town in South Australia

Wanbi is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia located about 157 kilometres (98 mi) east of the state capital of Adelaide and about 56 kilometres (35 mi) north-east of the municipal seat of Karoonda.

Paruna, South Australia Town in South Australia

Paruna is a town in eastern South Australia. The town is located on the Browns Well Highway, where it crosses the former Barmera railway line, 237 kilometres (147 mi) east of the state capital, Adelaide.

The Karoonda Highway is a 172-kilometre-long (107 mi) state-controlled highway in South Australia linking the Murray River towns of Murray Bridge and Loxton. It was created after local councils called for the renaming of the B55 road route.

Pinnaroo railway line, South Australia

The Pinnaroo railway line ran east from the Adelaide to Melbourne line at Tailem Bend to Pinnaroo near the South Australia / Victoria state border. The route continues into Victoria via the Victorian Railways line to Ouyen where it joined the Mildura line.

The Barmera railway line was the second railway built to develop the Murray Mallee region of South Australia, in 1913. It followed the success of the Pinnaroo railway line in 1906. Both lines branched east from Tailem Bend to the north of the main Melbourne–Adelaide railway. The Brown's Well line was the more northerly, and extended into country which had not been developed much before the railway, partly due to the absence of any viable transport route for produce. The original terminus of the Brown's Well railway was at Meribah, not far from the Victorian border.

Browns Well Highway

The Browns Well Highway is the road from Loxton, South Australia through the Murray Mallee to Pinnaroo in South Australia. It was named in 2008 after the Browns Well district for areas traversed by the highway.

The Peebinga railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. It opened on 28 December 1914 from a junction with the Barmera line at Karoonda and ran generally eastward through the Murray Mallee terminating at Peebinga, two kilometres from the Victorian state border. It closed on 7 December 1990.

Cameron Highway

The Cameron Highway is an arterial road in South Australia, connecting Alawoona on the Karoonda Highway to Paruna on the Browns Well Highway. It follows part of the former Barmera railway line.

The Waikerie railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network.

Tailem Bend railway station

Tailem Bend railway station is located on the Adelaide-Wolseley line in Tailem Bend, South Australia. It is also the junction point for the Loxton and Pinnaroo lines.

References

  1. Mid North & Murray Mallee Lines Archived 2 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine SA Track & Signal
  2. "BROWNS WELL RAILWAY". The Advertiser . LV (16, 919). South Australia. 7 January 1913. p. 8. Retrieved 28 May 2018 via National Library of Australia.
  3. "TAILEM BEND AND PARUNA (BROWN'S WELL LINE)". The Advertiser . LV (17, 016). South Australia. 30 April 1913. p. 2. Retrieved 28 May 2018 via National Library of Australia.
  4. "LOXTON'S GALA DAY". Observer . LXXI (5, 477). South Australia. 21 February 1914. p. 48. Retrieved 28 May 2018 via National Library of Australia.
  5. Newland, Andrew; Quinlan, Howard (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 - 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 54, 56. ISBN   0-909650-49-7.
  6. "SA Branches to be Standardised" Railway Digest June 1995 page 15
  7. "South Australia" Railway Digest July 1996 page 37
  8. Freight Study & Rail Operations Investigation Archived 16 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine Flywheel Advisory 17 November 2014
  9. Strathearn, Peri (21 May 2015). "End of line for Murraylands, Mallee grain trains". The Murray Valley Standard . Fairfax Regional Media. Retrieved 4 August 2015.