Fitzys Rail Photos - Farrel Flat & Terowie

[bigfitzy]

got a ton of train and rail relted pics I had stashed away and wanted to share them so figured rather than break them all up (there are a hell of a lot of them) id make a new thread, and not clag up someone elses.

hope you all enjoy them.

Farrel Flat station

Terowie station

 

[bigfitzy]

Hallet & Mt Bryan

Hallet station

Mount Bryan station

 

[bigfitzy]

Burra station

 

[bigfitzy]

Peterborough Station

 

[bigfitzy]

forgot to mention the old Bluebirds used to run a regular day train to Adelaide thru all these stations (except Farrel Flat) can remember riding it myself as a child, was narrow guage from memory but I could be wrong.

when ive got the fuel to spare sometime Illl head down the old line to the rest of the towns and snap theyre stations as well.:wave:

 

[crman123]

Most of this is now abandoned, yes? Or is it in some kind of storage, but still operational (from the state of the photos, that was probably a dumb question )

 

[bigfitzy]

the stations from terowie to Mt Bryan are without rails they were on the old line from here to Adelaide, but the rails were pulled up many moons ago unfortunately (it was narrow guage and was used by a regular daily railcar the bluebird (see the ones in trainz thats them). the Farrel Flat and Burra still have rails but only to service the wheat silos nearby, and not sure as to wether that is now a thing of the past as well as I beleive they took out a section of the Burra connection too. Peterborough is on the main East - West line across australia and has several trainz pass thru each week, but our station has been closed for a lot of years sadly and neither Transfield (the rail company who owns it) or our local council want to claim responsibility for it. the Indian Pacific does stop here but its very rare and they prefer passengers to go to the city to get aboard rather than stop the train (they quoted it as costing approximately $200 to stop and restart the train to pick up a passenger, therefore not economically viable).

as I stated earlier there are another 4 stations on the old Adelaide line (Manoora, Saddleworth, Riverton, & Tarlee) when I have the time and fuel ill drive thru and snap them anpost them here as well.

 

[bigfitzy]

as promised I hit the road today and snapped the remaining stations on the line to Adelaide plus another I found lurking out in the middle of the paddocks of all places.

Manoora station, next up the line from Burra

Saddleworth station and yard signal.

Riverton is next on the line however this yard end shot was all I could get for now as it is a private residence now but I intend calling the owners sometime to get permission for a few shots, they run it as accomodation using three old redhens as the extra rooms.

Tarlee station

 

[bigfitzy]

now this is Merilton station, set amongst the feilds of cropped wheat nothing around for miles and miles except paddocks, and all of a sudden there is this station and shed! it lies on where one of two branch lines ran off from the main Peterborough - Adelaide line.

yeah thats my faithfull old Commodore parked there with its tongue hanging out (was in the mid 40's today)

well thats it for this set, have a couple more stations to add from the Mid North areas, will post as I take them. hope you enjoy these.:wave:

 

[hoover]

Peterborough Line

I rode the Bluebird from Adelaide to Peterborough in 1979. The line from Adelaide was broad gauge 5'3" this was SA standard gauge. Peterborough was a 3 gauge station.

 

[bigfitzy]

yes your quite right there Hoover, I got mixed up when i said it was narrow guage, the turntable at steamtown stiill has the three guages on it. and yeah I remember riding the bluebird to Adelaide and also quite a few times to broken hill as a teenager.

ah the good ol days ..."MEEEMORIES" :hehe:

ps. should have pics of Jamestown station and maybe Caltowie if it has one by the time i get back this afternoon.

 

[bigfitzy]

Jamestown station, now a very interesting little museum.. when they can find someone to staff it that is.

 

[Rob]

The old Main North line was such a treat. Oozed character, it's a shame that it wasn't preserved. Wicked country.

I followed the route (once again) while in SA recently, and it obviously hasn't even seen the Burra grain traffic in recent years.

Oh for the days of triple 930s roaring up the Gumbowie Bank! :'(

Thanks for the pics!

~R~

 

[Midland]

Excellent photos big fellah. They make fascinating er... reading! It's very large, flat and dry out there or so it looks to my eyes. The stonework on those old buildings is quite distinctive and stunning. They make the more modern Peterborough buildings look bland by comparison!

Has nobody converted the old unused stations to living places? I would have thought they'd make an interesting place to live. Over here some of the abandoned stations have been converted but in the case of ex-stations on a working railway line it can be a bit noisy! Also most of the old stations over here were weatherboard rather than stone or brick.





Cheers

Nix

 

[bigfitzy]

yeah theyre stone as it was in more of a ready supply than wood in this part of the country. the Riverton station and Farrell flat stations are both private residences now, and Jamestown is a museum as you saw, and although i havent snapped it yet (its coming dont worry soon as i get down that way again) Auburn (on the old Clare line) is apparently a museum as well.

as I wander ill get more and more pics of stations and add them here so stay tuned. and any questions anyone has feel free to ask if I dont know what you need ill try to find out for you.

 

[bigfitzy]

some more station shots, this time I followed the route of the old narrow guage line from Peterborough to Black Rock, Orroroo, Eurelia, Bruce, to Quorn.

hope you enjoy them.

Black Rock station (or what remains)

Orroroo Station (its a private residence now so couldnt get close up) and rail bridge

Eurelia Station and yard ( the end point for Steamtowns trips when they ran)

more to come

 

[bigfitzy]

Bruce station and surrounds (another private residence complete with approximateley 300 yards of track and its own section car lol)

nothing to do with rail as such, but cvouldnt resist snapping it... saw this sign and thought "hmm I wonder why?"

this is why lol,

more to go

 

[Midland]

Very interesting Fitzy. I love the TC telephone structure; could easily convert it to an outback dunny!:hehe: (I assume it's no longer got a phone in it or hooked up to the network)

You mentioned "narrow gauge"; was that part of the "big mess" that was Oz rail gauges or was it an industry specific choice?

The colours are also strikingly different to this side of the ditch; very red. I remember way back in '67 when we flew across Oz on our way here it was red ground as far as the eye could see. Must take a holiday there sometime...



Cheers

Nix

 

[bigfitzy]

Quorn station, and yards

Woolshed Flat station (between Quorn and Pt Augusta)

 

[bigfitzy]

and finally the grand old Port Augusta Station and rail work shops and the old turn table.

and that concludes our journey up this line, next set will be following the line thru to Port Pirie (when i have the time).

hope you enjoyed them