Loxton railway line

The Loxton railway line is a closed railway line in the northern Murray Mallee region of South Australia. It ran north-east from Tailem Bend to grain silos near Loxton.[1]

Loxton railway line
Tookayerta grain terminal at the end of the line
Overview
Status	No trains operating
Locale	Murray Mallee
Coordinates	34°58′15″S 140°5′30″E
Termini	Tailem Bend Loxton
Operation
Opened	2 February 1914 (1914-02-02)
Closed	20 July 2015 (2015-07-20)
Events
Converted to standard gauge	1996
Technical
Line length	271 km (168 mi)(Tailem Bend–Tookayerta)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Old gauge	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Route map km Adelaide-Wolseley line to Adelaide One Rail Australia Tailem Bend Yard 120.3 Tailem Bend Adelaide-Wolseley line Pinnaroo line 169.0 Karoonda loop Peebinga and Waikerie lines 215.2 Mindarie Mine 222.2 Wanbi loop Moorook line 243.6 Alawoona loop Barmera line 271.0 Tookayerta Grain Terminal Loxton Victorian broad gauge standard gauge narrow gauge

History

The first stage of the Brown's Well railway line opened from Tailem Bend to Wanbi on 6 January 1913,[2] and extended to Paruna by the end of April the same year.[3] A branch from Alawoona to Loxton opened on 13 February 1914.[4] The main line to Alawoona and only remaining branch to Loxton closed on 6 January 1996 to be gauge converted from broad gauge to standard gauge to retain connection to the main line from Adelaide to Melbourne after that line was converted.[5][6][7] The last grain train left the silos on 20 June 2015, marking the closure of the line.

Route

The railway branched off the main line just south of Tailem Bend, and tracked roughly north-east. The Karoonda Highway from Murray Bridge East paralleled it after about 24 kilometres at Kulde. The railway and highway continued together 100 kilometres north-east through Karoonda to Alawoona, then both turned north for the final 35 kilometres to Loxton.

The line no longer continues to Loxton station, having been curtailed at a bulk grain facility a few kilometres short of the town. The end of the main line became the grain terminal at what was originally the Tookayerta siding.[8] The line closed on 20 July 2015, with all grain traffic now taken by road.[9]

References

1. Mid North & Murray Mallee Lines Archived 2 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine SA Track & Signal
2. "BROWNS WELL RAILWAY". The Advertiser. LV (16, 919). South Australia. 7 January 1913. p. 8. Retrieved 28 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "TAILEM BEND AND PARUNA (BROWN'S WELL LINE)". The Advertiser. LV (17, 016). South Australia. 30 April 1913. p. 2. Retrieved 28 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "LOXTON'S GALA DAY". Observer. LXXI (5, 477). South Australia. 21 February 1914. p. 48. Retrieved 28 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
5. Newland, Andrew; Quinlan, Howard (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 - 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 54, 56. ISBN 0-909650-49-7.
6. "SA Branches to be Standardised" Railway Digest June 1995 page 15
7. "South Australia" Railway Digest July 1996 page 37
8. Freight Study & Rail Operations Investigation Archived 16 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine Flywheel Advisory 17 November 2014
9. Strathearn, Peri (21 May 2015). "End of line for Murraylands, Mallee grain trains". The Murray Valley Standard. Fairfax Regional Media. Retrieved 4 August 2015.