Victor Harbor railway line

The Victor Harbor railway line is a 1600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge line in South Australia. It originally branched from the Adelaide to Melbourne line at Mount Barker Junction then ran 80.6 kilometres (50 miles) south to Victor Harbor. When the mainline was converted to 1435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge and the junction was closed, the northern end of the Victor Harbor line was curtailed at Mount Barker, 3 kilometres (2 miles) from the junction.

Victor Harbor line
Mount Barker station
Overview
Status	Working heritage railway
Termini	Mount Barker Junction Victor Harbor
Continues from	Adelaide-Wolseley line
Service
Operator(s)	Steamranger Heritage Railway
Technical
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Route map km Adelaide-Wolseley line to Adelaide 50.0 Mount Barker Junction Adelaide-Wolseley line to Melbourne 53.0 Littlehampton SA South Eastern Freeway Tunnel 55.1 Mount Barker SteamRanger Depot Western Flat Creek 61.5 Philcox Hill 64.0 Bugle Ranges 70.1 Gemmells Angas River 81.5 Strathalbyn Sandergrove Milang line 97.0 Finniss Finniss River 99.2 Gilberts Currency Creek 106.7 Currency Creek Goolwa Triangle & SteamRanger Depot Hindmarsh Island Bridge 114.4 Goolwa 122.5 Middleton 125.5 Port Elliot Watsons Gap Hindmarsh River 132.0 Victor Harbor Victor Harbor Horse Drawn Tram to Granite Island broad gauge standard gauge

History

South Australia's first railway venture was the 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) line completed in 1854 from Goolwa, on the River Murray, to the small ocean harbour at Port Elliot. Short trains pulled by horses moved freight and passengers between the shallow-draft River Murray Paddle steamers and coastal and ocean-going vessels, bypassing the narrow, shallow mouth of the river with its unpredictable currents. However, Port Elliot was extremely hazardous; seven vessels had sunk there by 1864. The line was then extended 7 km (4.3 mi) to a safer harbour at Victor Harbor. The Institution of Engineers Australia placed a Historic Engineering Marker on the railway in 1992.

The line was extended northwards to Strathalbyn in 1869, the connection from Adelaide reaching the town in 1884 and completing the link. Until 1884, trains south of Strathalbyn were hauled by horse power, but between 1883 and 1885 the section to Currency Creek was rebuilt to steam railway standards.

Australian National operated freight services between the Strathalbyn and Victor section of the line were withdrawn in 1980 and along the rest of the line from October 1987. The last goods train to Victor Harbor ran on 23 April 1980 and was hauled by engine 843. In July 1982, AN recommended closure of the Strathalbyn-Victor Harbor section to the Commonwealth Minister of Transport and suspended passenger services from Adelaide to Victor Harbor on 30 April 1984.

In the early 1980s, Australian National announced that the Victor Harbor line would close, despite high levels of public opposition. Several factors were noted for the closure of the line, such as a deteriorating track condition, a long time-consuming route compared with a more direct road journey, and declining passenger numbers: more than 50,000 return journeys were made during the 12 months to June 1978, but the number had dropped to about 16,000 in 1982–83. The last Australian National passenger service ran on 30 April 1984.

Renewal

The SteamRanger Heritage Railway was established in 1986 to operate tourist trains on the line. In late 1989, Australian National declared the Mount Barker Junction–Strathalbyn section unsafe due to poor track condition and SteamRanger operated services from Adelaide to Strathalbyn were cancelled. That section was eventually renewed with assistance from AN during 1990–91 with funding from the State Government.

First the line beyond Strathalbyn towards Victor Harbor was operated by SteamRanger train crews, later extending to the entire line. In 1995 gauge conversion of the Adelaide to Wolseley line isolated the broad gauge Victor Harbor line off from the rest of the network, and volunteers took full responsibility for maintaining the track from Mount Barker Junction to Victor Harbor. The Junction Jogger service from Mount Barker Station to Mount Barker Junction operated until it was deemed unsafe and this section of the line closed in 2007.

Further reading

• Harvey, Dean (1992). "The Victor Harbor Line". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin (July–September): 155–169, 179–195 & 207–220.