Mount Pleasant railway line

Last updated

Mount Pleasant Line
Overview
StatusClosed and Removed
Locale Adelaide, South Australia
Termini
Stations
Service
System South Australian Railways
Operator(s) South Australian Railways
History
Opened1918
Closed1963
Technical
Line length33.8 km (21.0 mi)
Number of trackssingle track
Route map

Contents

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km to
Adelaide
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45.8
Balhannah
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Balhanna Junction
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BSicon exSTR.svg
BSicon exBHF.svg
48.1
Oakbank
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Mappinga
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Riverview
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53.4
Woodside
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Kayannie
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57.8
Charleston
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Muralappie
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65.4
Mount Torrens
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Milkappa Road
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71
Birdwood
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Crane Road
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Narcoonah
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79.8
Mount Pleasant

The Mount Pleasant railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. It was opened between Balhannah and Mount Pleasant in September 1918 and ran until March 1963 [1] as a freight and passenger service. [2] Part of its trackbed is now the Amy Gillett Bikeway rail trail near to Adelaide. [3]

History

The line opened on 16 September 1918 between Balhannah, 10 kilometres east of Mount Lofty, and Mount Pleasant. [4] It had six stations and a number of halts; typically, the halts were located near level crossings. The six stations were Oakbank, Woodside, Charleston, Mount Torrens, Birdwood, and Mount Pleasant. The seven halts were Mappinga, Riverview, Kayannie, Muralappie, Milkappa Road, Crane Road, and Narcoonah.

The line was closed on 4 March 1963, and the way between Balhannah and Oakbank has mostly returned to private landowners. [3]

Rail trail

This former railway is in the jurisdiction of the Adelaide Hills Council, which in 2003 commissioned a feasibility study into the best use of the land. The report recommended it be converted to a rail trail, with which the council agreed but considered beyond their means to implement. However, since that time, the development of a rail trail led to the opening of the Amy Gillett Bikeway in 2010, named in honour of the late Amy Gillett, a South Australian-born Olympic cyclist who had died in 2005. [3] As of 2015, the conversion had reached from Balhannah to Mount Torrens. The trail is in the process of being extended to Birdwood.

Line guide

StationImageOpenedAdditional information
Mount Pleasant1918Terminus; closed 1963
Birdwood1918Closed 1963
Mount Torrens1918Closed 1963
Charleston1918Closed 1963
Woodside1918Closed 1963
Oakbank1918Closed 1963
Balhannah 1883Former junction station on the Adelaide-Wolseley line. Closed 1963

References

  1. "Balhannah to Mount Pleasant Railway | Mount Pleasant Community". mountpleasant.sa.au. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  2. Adelaide Hills Rail Trail - History Archived 23 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 3 Rail Trails news article Archived 23 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  4. W.H. Callaghan, "The Mount Pleasant Line", Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin , October 1994, pp.274-281.