Morgan railway line

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Morgan railway line
Gawler river railway bridge roseworthy line 3 10may2012 pb110 (7364029758).jpg
Railway over the Gawler River bridge near the beginning of the route (2012)
Overview
StatusDormant
TerminiGawler
Morgan
Continues fromGawler line
Service
SystemSouth Australian Railways
Operator(s)
History
Opened
  • Gawler–Kapunda: 13 August 1860 (1860-08-13)
  • Kapunda-Morgan: 23 September 1878 (1878-09-23)
Closed
  • Eudunda-Morgan: 2 November 1969 (1969-11-02)
  • Kapunda-Eudunda: 11 March 1994 (1994-03-11)
Technical
Line length129.0 km (80.2 mi)
Track gauge1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Route map

 Morgan
Eba
Mount Mary
Bower
Sutherlands
Robertstown
Point Pass
Robertstown line
 Eudunda
Hampden
Hansborough
Bagot Well
Kapunda
Fords
Freeling
Peterborough line
 Roseworthy
to Gawler Central
via Barossa Valley line
 Gawler
Gawler line
 Adelaide
[1]
This diagram:
  • view
  • talk

The Morgan railway line or North-West Bend railway was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network.

History[]

Bridge over the Gawler River (2012)
Morgan railway station during operation

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, though this was rejected, with the line being removed not long after. [6] In 1975, 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. theoretically remains open but has not been used for some years.[citation needed] One Rail Australia continues to clear vegetation on the line to help meet the lease agreement with the SA Government, although the track itself has not been maintained since the last train passed.

Route[]

Railway bridge over Light River at Hansborough (2010)

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][7]

Possible extension[]

There were proposals to extend the line to connect to Wentworth, New South Wales,[8] and even to Hay to provide a more direct rail route to Sydney.[9]

References[]

  1. ^ Chief Engineer for Railways. "Map showing lines of railways in South Australia" (Map). Johnny's Pages. South Australian Railways. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  2. ^ Opening of the Kapunda Railway South Australian Advertiser 14 August 1860
  3. ^ "Opening of the North-West Bend Railway". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide. 2 November 1878. p. 9. Retrieved 3 September 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Quinlan, Howard; Newland, John (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 - 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. p. 55. ISBN 0 909650 49 7.
  5. ^ The Formation of the South Australian Railways National Railway Museum
  6. ^ name=VisitMorganRailways Visit Morgan
  7. ^ "Robertstown Railway". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 10 December 1914. p. 9. Retrieved 23 September 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Public Works". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 14 June 1879. p. 3 Supplement: Supplement to the South Australian Register. Retrieved 3 September 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Hay to Morgan". The Maitland Weekly Mercury. NSW. 10 June 1922. p. 3. Retrieved 3 September 2014 – via National Library of Australia.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""