| Morgan railway line | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Railway over the Gawler River bridge near the beginning of the route (2012) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Dormant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Termini | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Continues from | Gawler line | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| System | South Australian Railways | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator(s) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 129.0 km (80.2 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Morgan railway line or North-West Bend railway was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network.
The first section of the line opened from Gawler. It was built to service the copper mining at Kapunda, opened on 13 August 1860. [2] It was extended to Morgan on 23 September 1878 [3] to provide a more efficient freight and passenger connection between the Murray paddle steamers and both the city of Adelaide and Port Adelaide for ocean transport. [4] [5]
The Eudunda to Morgan section closed on 2 November 1969, and Morgan residents requested that the line was preserved to Mount Mary. This was rejected, and the line being removed not long after. [6] In 1978, the remaining line to Eudunda and the Robertstown branch came under the ownership of Australian National as part of the SAR's sale to the Federal Government. The Kapunda to Eudunda section was closed on 11 March 1994 by AN, with the deterioration of the River Light bridge at Hansborough being cited as a reason for closure. [4] This section was pulled up the following year. The remaining Gawler to Kapunda section was leased by the South Australian Government to Australian Southern Railroad (later known as ORA) in 1997 as part of AN's SA freight asset sale to Genesee and Wyoming. The line's last documented use was on 21 May 2003 by Australian Railroad Group locomotive CK4, though grain services had ceased years before. [7] In 2015, a short section of the line within Kapunda was repurposed as the Swann Path (also known as the Kapunda Rail Trail,) and it is planned to be extended to the southern end of the town in the future. [8] [9] The lease of the land and ownership of the rail infrastructure passed to Aurizon in 2022, following their purchase of One Rail Australia (the final successor of Australian Southern Railroad).
The line's present owner, Aurizon does not list the line as being open or in use, but it is available for access. [10] The line has fallen into disrepair, being damaged by floods and bushfires. [11] The line has been severed at several points for drainage and road surface improvements. In 2022, the line was blocked off from the Gawler line, and the wider Adelaide metropolitan network after a fence was installed at the Gawler River bridge.
The Kapunda railway was the first extension of the line from Adelaide to Gawler. It passed through Roseworthy from where the Peterborough line later branched. The line headed northeast from Roseworthy to reach Freeling, then the line crossed the River Light just south of Kapunda. The extension continued through Hansborough, running across the River Light once again and Pine Creek before reaching Hampden, then turning south and going through a steep descent into Eudunda. From there, the line curved northwards towards the junction for the Robertstown line, then heading west across the plains adjacent to what is now the Thiele Highway to Morgan. The Robertstown line branch opened in 1914 from Eudunda to Robertstown, passing through Point Pass along the way. [4] [12]
There were proposals to extend the line to connect to Wentworth, New South Wales, [13] and even to Hay to provide a more direct rail route to Sydney. [14]
Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about 40–44 km (25–27 mi) north of the state capital, Adelaide, and is close to the major wine producing district of the Barossa Valley. Topographically, Gawler lies at the confluence of two tributaries of the Gawler River, the North and South Para rivers, where they emerge from a range of low hills.
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.
Light Regional Council is a local government area north of Adelaide in South Australia. It is based in the town of Kapunda, and includes the towns of Freeling, Greenock, Hansborough, Hewett, Roseworthy and Wasleys.
The first railway in colonial South Australia was a line from the port of Goolwa on the River Murray to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot, which first operated in December 1853, before its completion in May 1854.
Roseworthy is a small town in South Australia, about 10 km north of Gawler on the Horrocks Highway. At the 2016 census, Roseworthy had a population of 994.
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.
Eudunda is a town in the Mid North region of South Australia, situated 110 kilometres northeast of Adelaide in the Regional Council of Goyder. As of 2021, Eudunda had a population of 815 people. Eudunda is known as the birthplace of author and educator Colin Thiele.
The Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association, more commonly referred to as the BL&GFA, is an Australian rules football competition based in the Barossa Valley, Gawler Region and Light Region of South Australia, Australia. Just 42 kilometres north of the state capital of Adelaide, the BL&GFA is an affiliated member of the South Australian National Football League. In 2022, Nuriootpa secured the premiership cup for a record equalling eighth time. The current president of the League is Mick Brien and the major sponsor of the league is the Grant Burge Winery.
The Barossa Valley railway line is a railway line with several branches, running from Gawler into and through the Barossa Valley. The original terminus was at Angaston. A branch was built from Nuriootpa via Stockwell to Truro, and a further branch from that to Penrice. The Angaston and Truro branches are closed and removed; the line to Penrice remains but has not been used since 2014.
Robertstown is a town in the Mid North region of South Australia, situated 125 km north of Adelaide, in the Regional Council of Goyder. At the 2021 census, Robertstown had a population of 223 people.
Hansborough is a locality along the former Morgan railway line adjacent to the Thiele Highway, in South Australia's Mid North region. It is situated 9 kilometres south-west of Eudunda and 18 kilometres north-east of Kapunda. The Light River runs through the locality.
Thiele Highway is a road in South Australia connecting the outskirts of Adelaide to the North west bend of the Murray River at Morgan, South Australia. It is named after author Colin Thiele who lived most of his life in towns along the route, and set some of his stories in the area.
The Roseworthy–Peterborough railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. It extended from a junction at Roseworthy on the Morgan railway line through Hamley Bridge, Riverton, initially to Tarlee, then extended in stages to Peterborough.
The District Council of Eudunda was a local government area in South Australia from 1932 to 1997. The central town and council seat was Eudunda. It was established on 12 May 1932 with the amalgamation of the District Council of Julia and the District Council of Neales. By 1936, it was divided up into four wards: Brownlow, Eudunda and Neales and Julia. It met at the District Hall at Eudunda, which had formerly been owned by the Neales council, until 1963. The council existed until 1997, when it amalgamated with the District Council of Burra Burra, the District Council of Hallett and the District Council of Robertstown to form the Regional Council of Goyder.
The District Council of English was a local government area in South Australia from 1878 to 1932.
Robertstown was the terminus of the Robertstown railway line serving the South Australian Mid North town of Robertstown.
Point Pass was a station on the Robertstown railway line serving the South Australian Mid North town of Point Pass.
Roseworthy railway station was located at the junction of the Morgan railway line and the Roseworthy-Peterborough railway line. Situated in the town of Roseworthy, South Australia, it was located 49 kilometres from Adelaide by rail.
