Great Northern Railway (South Australia)

Central Australia Railway is a redirect to this article. For the Central Australian Railway see there.

Commonwealth Railways NSU class diesel locomotive on display at the Old Ghan Heritage Railway Museum , Alice Springs

Great Northern Railway 1879–1957
Route length:	1219 km
Gauge :	1067 mm ( cape track )
Legend 92 Port Augusta Stirling North Saltia Woolundunga Waukarle Creek Woolshed Flat Summit Pichi Richi Pass Quorn formerly: Pinkerton according to Terowie Pinkerton Creek Willochra Gordon Wirreanda Creek Wilson formerly: Kanyaka Wonoka Creek Hawker formerly: Wonoka Hookina Mernmerna Edeowie 231 Brachina Meadows 254 Prachilna 271 Nilpena Black Fellow's Creek 287 Beltana formerly: Blinman Well Potappa Windy Creek Leigh's Creek 325 Copley to 1917: Leigh's Creek Coal siding 336 Telford 357 Lyndhurst 382 Farina formerly: Government Gums Wirrawilla Mundowdna 435 Marree formerly: Hergott Springs 449 Callana Wangianna 487 Alberrie Creek 503 Bopeechee 536 Curdimurka also: Stuart's Creek Stuart's Creek lowest point ... ... the route: 1 m below sea level 550 Margaret 563 Coward Springs 587 Beresford 599 Strangways Springs The Neales Irrappatana 636 William Creek 662 Anna Creek 678 Box Creek 712 Duff Creek also: Boorthanna 728 Edwards Creek 745 Warrina The Peak 760 Algebuckina The Neales 791 Mount Dutton Cadnowie Springs 832 Oodnadatta formerly: Angle Pole 873 Alberga 903 Mount Sarah 938 Pedirka 970 Ilbunga 991 Bloods Creek 1007 Abminga 1042 Duffield 1075 Finch (Northern Territory) ( Aputula ) 1107 Rumbalara 1121 Mount Squire 1162 Bundooma 1203 Rodinga 1226 Deep Weli 1238 Ooraminna 1271 Ewaninga 1294 Macdonnell 1304 Alice Springs formerly: Stuart

The Great Northern Railway was a railway in the north of South Australia and in the south of the Northern Territory , which in its final state connected Port Augusta with Alice Springs .

Surname

The name Great Northern Railway identifies the railway line as a project of the South Australian Railway . It began under the name Port Augusta & Government Gums Railway (PA & GGR), but there were numerous other names:

• Central Australia Railway - although this does not exist today with the standard gauge Central Australian Railway to be confused. Both railways pursued the goal of connecting Darwin and South Australia. The Great Northern Railway didn't succeed.
• The Ghan
• Oodnadatta Railway
• Alice Springs Railway
• North - South Railway - used by the Commonwealth Railways
• The first phase of construction was also called the Port Augusta and Willochra Railway .

Port Augusta & Government Gums Railway

start of building

Since 1867 there have been several - unsuccessful - attempts on the part of the parliament and the government of South Australia to find investors for a railroad that should open up the northeast of the colony.

In the 1870s, Parliament authorized the government of South Australia to enter into negotiations with potential investors on a railway project to the north with a law on a railway from Port Augusta ( Port Augusta and Overland Railways Act ) . Without really saying it, the destination back then was probably the Australian north coast. The Darwin (then: Palmerston ) target was first addressed in a parliamentary question in August 1873. With the Port Augusta and Government Railways Act (No. 22) of 1876, the legal basis for the construction of the railway was finally created. In October 1877, following a tender, the contract for the construction of the railway to Government Gums in three construction phases was awarded to a private construction company.

The Port Augusta & Government Gums Railway started from the port city of Port Augusta, which at that time had no rail connection to Adelaide . The railway was built as an island operation from 1878 . The aim was primarily to develop the area northeast of Port Augusta, where at that time a wheat growing area was supposed to be developed. Because it had to cross the Flinders Ranges over the Pichi Richi Pass , the route was laid out relatively laboriously. The maximum permissible gradient was set at 1:60 (approx. 17 ‰). The suspected wheat-growing areas soon turned out to be completely unsuitable for this, so that only the route, which was operationally problematic due to the topography, was evidence of this project.

The second goal of the railway, to create a connection to Darwin, was pursued further - interrupted again and again by longer construction breaks.

Construction stages

These construction breaks were noticed again and again by various interested parties to discuss the aim of the railway, to promote it to be connected to the railway network in New South Wales or Queensland . Although this never led to a corresponding result, it kept the decision about further construction sections of the railway on hold. The construction stages are as follows:

• January 18, 1878: Official start of railway construction in Port Augusta. Governor Sir William Jervois breaks the first sod. The work had actually started in November 1877.
• 1879: Quorn (then: Pinkerton ), is reached
• and Hawker in April 1880 . This officially ended the first construction phase.
• Beltana (formerly: Blinman Well) was reached in July 1881 ,
• When it reached Government Gums / Farina in May 1882, the railway was called the "Great Northern Railway" . Originally Farina ( Latin : "flour") was intended as the end point of the railway. The hoped-for rich wheat-growing area in the area turned out to be unsuitable for this. Instead of wheat, the most important mass transport goods were cattle and sheep . These, however, came together via various overland routes ( Birdsville Track , Oodnadatta Track ) most conveniently in Marree (then: Hergott Springs ).
• Also on May 17, 1882, the branch from Quorn via the later railway junction Petersburg (later: Petersborough) to Terowie was completed. The Terowie and Pichi Richi Railway established the connection of the Great Northern Railway to the end of operation of the South Australian broad gauge network. For the continuous traffic from Adelaide inland, Quorn became the southern starting point of the Great Northern Railway . A correspondingly large repair shop was therefore built in Quorn by 1883 , which should be able to look after the entire southern locomotive inventory - it was calculated with around 25 machines - for a central Australian railway.

Opening in sections

On December 15, 1879, the first section of the line between Port Augusta and Quorn was handed over to the State Railways, after the contractor had offered train services since June 19. It followed:

• May 17, 1880 the section to Hawker
• 1st July 1881 the section to Beltana
• On April 18, 1882, the originally intended end point of the line, Government Gums ( Farina ), was first approached by a construction train , and scheduled traffic began on May 17 of the same year. It followed
• 7 February 1884 the section to Hergott Springs (Marree)
• 1st February 1888 the section to Coward Springs
• June 1, 1889 the section to William Creek
• November 1, 1889 the section to Warrina
• January 7, 1891 the section to Oodnadatta

Great Northern Railway

Construction stages

• In 1883 Marree was reached.
• With Act No. 413 of 1887 of the South Australian Parliament, the extension of the railway to "Angle Pole" (Oodnadatta) is decided. At the same time, this law officially designates the railway as the "Great Northern Railway" for the first time .
• In 1888 the line to Coward Springs was completed.
• 1890: Oodnadatta is reached. In the following years there are various attempts to have the route north of Oodnadatta built by private sources, which are to be “paid” for with large areas of land along the route (so-called “land grant system”). But that fails.
• In 1902 the South Australian Parliament passed Law No. 803, which should allow the construction of the railway between Oodnadatta and Pine Creek . That should be done again with the “land grant system”. There was no investor who would have accepted it. South Australia lost interest in a central Australian railway and in the Northern Territory in general, which was handed over to the Australian Confederation in the following years.
• In 1917 Port Augusta became the eastern terminus of the standard-gauge Trans - Australian Railway and was given a new station on this occasion.
• In 1926 the governments of South Australia and the Federation agreed to extend the railway to Alice Springs (then: Stuart ). Work began on April 8, 1926, but the official “first groundbreaking” did not take place until January 21, 1927.
• On August 2, 1929, the line to Alice Springs was completed. The construction towards the peak of operation of the North Australian Railway is no longer carried out.

vehicles

At the start of operation of the railway were seven locomotives of the Class W is available. The contractor had another four for his construction trains. There were also two passenger coaches , both first and second class . The seats were arranged along the outer walls towards the center of the car. There were also 166 freight cars . These all only had hand brakes that had to be operated on the steep stretches in addition to the braking power of the locomotive. There were also brake vans in which train attendants could apply additional brakes. These were used in pairs in heavy freight trains at the end of the train so that they could both be operated by a train attendant. The vehicles were equipped with a central buffer coupling according to Stapleford.

business

The water supply to the locomotives was problematic during the steam operation. As far as possible, holes were drilled because the groundwater was relatively pure. In contrast, the artesian groundwater that escaped in some places was usually rich in minerals and clogged the pipes of the steam boiler in a relatively short time. In Marree even a distillation plant was built for the water to remove the minerals from the water.

Another problem was the cost-saving construction of the route beyond Marree: north of Marree rivers rarely carry water. In order to avoid expensive bridges, the route was laid as a “ ford ” through the riverbeds and traffic was then interrupted for a few days in the event of flooding.

traffic

Freight trains with passenger transport were the normal case of passenger transport on the route, so-called mixed , which stopped at each station. These were also mocked as Oodna Bumber . Allegedly, the train even stopped on the open track after it rained, so that passengers could pick the flowers that would then bloom in the desert ! When traveling from Adelaide to Oodnadatta, the trip included two scheduled hotel nights in Quorn or Port Augusta and Marree. So the trip lasted three days and was offered every 14 days.

Mainly, however, freight trains ran the route . The transport of cattle and sheep from the breeding areas along the route to the greater Adelaide area was a focus.

safety

The route was divided into block sections for operational safety . These could only be used according to the timetable - in the case of unoccupied intersections - and if the train driver drew a block book on display in which the entry time was noted. A following train had to adhere to a specified time interval before it was allowed to follow. This made it possible for the train driver of a broken train in front to warn the following of the obstacle. At block entry points that were manned by staff, the dispatchers were able to coordinate telegraphically at the end points and make parallel entries in their block books, of which the train driver received a copy. Entry and exit signals were installed at the occupied train stations in 1883/84. The railway had its own telegraph lines south of Beltana, and north of Beltana it used the Trans-Australian Telegraph Line . The top speed was 30 miles per hour ( mph ), about 45 km / h , on a few straights at 35 mph (just under 55 km / h).

Construction maintenance crews were stationed every 30 miles along the route, and they were supplied by trains, including water.

Transfer to the Australian Confederation

There was renewed movement in the construction of the line with the transfer of the Northern Territory to the administration of the Australian Confederation in 1911. The construction of the line was enshrined in law in both the South Australian Northern Territory Surrender Act of 1908 and the Northern Territory Acceptance Act of 1910. The railway infrastructure of the Great Northern Railway , as well as the Northern Australian Railway, was transferred to the federal government with a view to connecting the two lines to a central Australian railway. The loading facilities in Port Augusta were not transferred until 1914, the passenger station in Port Augusta in 1918. However, since the Australian Federation did not have its own railway company at that time , the South Australian Railway initially continued to operate rail traffic on the Great Northern Railway . The railway vehicles remained the property of the South Australian Railways for this purpose. From 1923 onwards, there were no overnight breaks for the "Mixed". He now drove through Marree from Port Augusta to Oodnadatta without a break. At the same time, a sleeping car was offered for the first time . This innovation reduced the travel time between Adelaide and Oodnadatta by one day. With this innovation, a new name came up for the train: The Ghan

After the Australian Confederation had created its own railway company with the Commonwealth Railways to build the Trans-Australian Railway, it took over the operation of the Great Northern Railway on January 1, 1926 . Negotiations proved difficult as the parties could not agree on the handover of the vehicles. Ultimately, the South Australian Railways withdrew its vehicles and the Commonwealth Railways procured, new, now all with Westinghouse - air brakes fitted. The Ghan now operated between Port Augusta and Oodnadatta, travelers from Adelaide had to change trains in Quorn, the transfer station between Commonwealth Railways and South Australian Railways. Railway construction continued under the direction of Commonwealth Railways. The following went into operation:

• December 23, 1928 the section from Oodnadatta to Rumbalara and on
• August 2nd, 1929 the rest of the way to Alice Springs.

As a result of the global economic crisis and a lack of financial resources, further construction was stopped in 1929.

The gap in transcontinental traffic between Alice Springs and Larrimah , the operational southern end of the Northern Australian Railroad to Darwin, was closed by truck traffic and later by road trains , a not very effective process that involved two reloading and was not improved by railroad transport has been. Road transport also took place to Queensland , e.g. B. to Mount Isa .

During the Second World War , in addition to civilian traffic, four trains a day were run in each direction for the military. This reached the capacity of the line and also its highest utilization ever.

restructuring

Great Northern Railway - 1957 new line
Route length:	350 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend Trans- Australian Railroad from Perth 85 Port Augusta 92 Stirling North to Port Pirie and Adelaide 106 Emeroo 127 Wilkatana 147 Yadlamalka 167 Neuroodla 185 Cotabena 206 Moralana Moralana Creek 231 Brachina 254 Parachilna 271 Nilpena 287 Beltana 325 Copley 336 Telford Leigh Creek Coal Mine 357 Lyndhurst 382 Farina formerly: Government Gums 435 Marree formerly: Hergott Springs

construction

As early as the 1890s, attempts were made to use the coal reserves in Leigh Creek for the route's steam locomotives . But their calorific value was much too low for that . During the Second World War attempts were made again to mine the coal supplies in Leigh Creek. But it was not until after the war two power plant blocks were built in Port Augusta that were set up precisely for this coal that the dismantling was worthwhile. At the same time, however, the railway was overwhelmed with the transport of coal. The route through the Flinders Ranges , with its steep gradients and tight curves, was not economically viable for heavy coal trains. So, following a recommendation by the Commonwealth Railways in 1948, the plan arose to build a new standard gauge line between Stirling North and Leigh Creek . Now there was a dispute between the federal government and the state of South Australia over the leadership of the new line. The federal government advocated a new, shorter route in more level terrain, South Australia for keeping the old route in order to preserve the railroad offer for the residents. So the construction work began on August 27, 1951 between the coal mine and Brachina for the undisputed section of the railway in terms of the route. In Brachina, the work was completed on May 28, 1955, Telford (Leight Creek) on May 17, 1956. An arbitration commission then spoke in 1952 in favor of the route desired by the federal government, which was subsequently established. By June 29, 1957, the standard gauge from Telford was extended to Marree.

Pickaback

The pickaback trains used during the construction phase were an operational peculiarity . The trains consisted of standard-gauge rolling carriage compositions on which entire narrow-gauge trains could be loaded and were used as long as the line was operated partly standard-gauge, partly narrow-gauge. The loading facility was initially in Brachina, but after the construction work was completed it was moved to Marree, where it was used to load narrow-gauge vehicles that had to be driven to the repair shop in Port Augusta .

Consequences

The old route between Brachina and Hawker was abandoned for regular traffic on August 13, 1955, but was still used for transfer trips for a few years. The crossing of the Pichi Richi Pass between Quorn and Stirling North, which is complex to maintain and operate, has also been abandoned. The line between Quorn and Hawker remained in operation until 1972 and was connected to the rest of the rail network via Peterborough and Terowie.

The narrow-gauge railway remaining north of Marree continued as an island operation until 1981, repeatedly interrupted by sand drifts or floods, which washed away a section of the route or made it impassable. To the north of Oodnadatta, the route had hardly any bridges and crossed river beds, which are mostly dry, on dams that were torn away by the very sudden water after rainfall. Operations ceased when the Central Australian Railroad opened in 1981 . It is 200 km to the west, in more favorable terrain, leaves the Trans-Australian Railway in Tarcoola and leads from there to Alice Springs.

Pichi Richi Railway

The section between Stirling North and Quorn was handed over to the Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society to operate a museum railway , which initially runs between Quorn and Woolshed Flat, then expanded to Stirling North and, since 2002, back to Port Augusta. The narrow-gauge track was repaired for this purpose. The train operates as the Pichi Richi Railway (PRR), named after the Pichi Richi Pass that the railway crosses.

The Old Ghan Heritage Railway

Route, as it is today, south of Alice Springs

A railway museum was also built at the northern end of the former Great Northern Railway . On the southern outskirts of Alice Springs, the Old Ghan Heritage Railway museum shows numerous exhibits from the history of the railway.

literature

• John Beckhaus: The Pichi Richi Railway Extension . In: Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin. May 2000, p. 163f.
• JL Buckland: The “Pick-a-Back” Train . In: Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin. December 1955, pp. 157-162.
• BJ Castle: The Stirling North-Maree Standard Gauge Railway . In: Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin. February 1958, pp. 17-22.
• WH Callaghan: Great Northern to Government Gums . In: Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin. 2008, pp. 283-301; 323-336; 368-374.
• Central Australia Railway: Time-Table with Connecting Services to and from Adelaide . March 1, 1978.
• Basil Fuller: The Ghan - The Story of the Alice Springs Railway . Sydney 1975. ND 2003. ISBN 978-1-74110-806-4 .
• Graham Reid: The Demise of the Central Australia Railway . In: Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin. January 1996, pp. 10-23.
• NN: leaflet. Across Australia's Center . Approx. 1975. [then issued to the travelers of the Ghan]
• Keith A. Smith: Carpe Diem - Seize the Day . In: Australian Railway History. March 2006, pp. 103-112.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kilometrage according to: Central Australia Railway: Time-Table . The kilometers count from Port Pirie .
2. ↑ Callaghan, p. 330.
3. ^ Central Australia Railway; as well as in other publications of the Australian National in the end of the operation in the 1970s.
4. ↑ Basil Fuller already uses two different names in the title of his book - Ghan and Alice Springs Railway !
5. ↑ ^{a b} Fuller, p. 227 (in an official report by Commonwealth Railways )
6. ^ So: Callaghan, p. 373.
7. ↑ Callaghan, p. 291.
8. ↑ Fuller, p. 41
9. ↑ Fuller, p. 44.
10. ↑ Callaghan, p. 290.
11. ↑ Also The Gums , later: Farina , today a desert .
12. ↑ Fuller, p. 53
13. ↑ Callaghan, p. 295ff.
14. ↑ ^{a b} Callaghan, p. 295.
15. ↑ ^{a b c} Callaghan, p. 300.
16. ↑ ^{a b} Fuller, p. 109.
17. ↑ ^{a b} Callaghan, p. 329.
18. ^ NN: leaflet.
19. ↑ ^{a b c d} Callaghan, p. 334.
20. ↑ Callaghan, p. 370.
21. ↑ Callaghan, p. 373.
22. ↑ Fuller, pp. 250ff.
23. ↑ ^{a b} Fuller, pp. 279f.
24. ↑ Callaghan, p. 323.
25. ↑ Callaghan, p. 331.
26. ↑ See: Fuller, especially Chapter 2 and 10.
27. ↑ Fuller, p. 212.
28. ↑ Fuller, p. 212. If that were true, that would probably have been the only case in which the Fama invented the prohibition of picking flowers while driving, to mock the branch line system in German-speaking countries , could actually have been screwed into the car in a meaningful way.
29. ↑ Callaghan, p. 326.
30. ↑ available online here , PDF file, 44kb
31. ↑ available online here , PDF file, 46kb
32. ^ Fuller, p. 224
33. ↑ Callaghan, pp. 373f.
34. ↑ Fuller, p. 77; Callaghan, pp. 372f.
35. ↑ Callaghan, p. 374.
36. ↑ ^{a b} Fuller, p. 287.
37. ↑ Kilometers according to: Central Australia Railway. The kilometers count from Port Pirie .
38. ↑ Callaghan, pp. 370f.
39. ^ Fuller, p. 298; NN: leaflet. Across Australia's Center .
40. ^ BJ Castle; Fuller, p. 301.
41. ^ JL Buckland; Keith A. Smith; Fuller, pp. 12, 299.
42. ↑ Graham Reid
43. ↑ John Beckhaus.