Solomontown railway station

Solomontown railway station was one of a total of six stations that operated at various times between 1876 and the early 2010s to serve the rural maritime town (later city) of Port Pirie, 216 km (134 mi) by rail north of Adelaide, South Australia. It was opened in 1911 as the town's third (and ultimately final) narrow-gauge "station" – in practice an unattended provisional stopping place. It was closed in 1967.

Solomontown railway station, 1911–1937 (part of Port Pirie Junction station, 1937–1967)
Map of Port Pirie (part), its railway reserves and the site of Solomontown in 1896 (click to enlarge)
Location	Off Railway Terrace, between the intersections with Murn Street and Harris Road, Port Pirie, South Australia
Coordinates	33°11′29″S 138°01′16″E
Owned by	South Australian Railways
Line(s)	Port Pirie to New South Wales border
Gauge Narrow – 1067 mm / 3 ft 6 in Structure Small wooden waiting shelter Platform None; ground-level boarding Staffing Unattended Stopping Passenger trains on request by the passenger Opened 1911 Renamed 1937: became part of Port Pirie Junction railway station Closed 1967 Previous station Port Pirie South Concurrent station Port Pirie Junction (collocated) and Ellen Street Subsequent station Mary Elie Street

Articles about Port Pirie's six railway stations
	Known as	Duration	Gauge
1	Port Pirie (name changed to "Port Pirie South" in 1902)	1876 to soon after 1911	ng
2	Ellen Street	1902–1967	ng	bg*
3	Solomontown (this article)	1911–1937, then part of Port Pirie Junction until 1967	ng
4	Port Pirie Junction (also dual-signposted, and known colloquially, as "Solomontown")	1937–1967	ng	bg	sg
5	Mary Elie Street	1967–1989		bg	sg
6	Coonamia	1st, 1929 to after 1937 (marker at level crossing only); 2nd, 1989–2010s			sg
* In 1937, one of the two narrow-gauge tracks along Ellen Street was made dual-gauge as far as the station by the addition of a broad-gauge rail. Track gauges: narrow, broad and standard.

The "multi-gauge muddle" in Port Pirie
At various times during a period of close to 140 years, Port Pirie had six railway stations. During the 45-year period 1937–1982, the city became well known as one of the few locations in the world having three railway gauges.[note 1] This situation was a result of transitioning from lightly constructed developmental narrow gauge lines to heavier broad gauge (which predominated in the state at the time), then to standard gauge when lines between the mainland state capitals were at last unified. As a consequence, all Port Pirie stations that succeeded the inaugural station of 1876 were either built to accommodate a change of gauge or were affected by one. The timeline, reasons for change, and gauges involved are shown in the following graphic. Timeline of Port Pirie's six railway stations (click to enlarge):

Solomontown station was the third of six built in Port Pirie, where eventually three railway gauges converged on the town of about 15,000 residents. The sequence of construction is shown in the map (click to enlarge).

About 1950, looking east, the Solomontown "station" (centre of photo, where a girl is standing), had provided for passengers on narrow-gauge trains (such as this railcar-hauled school train to Gladstone) for four decades. As with all other stations on the narrow-gauge network, passengers boarded trains from ground level. The substantial Port Pirie Junction station (left) and signal box had been constructed in 1937 to handle trains on newly built broad-gauge and standard-gauge lines, but the narrow-gauge facility remained unchanged.

Origins

In 1911, the South Australian Railways initiated a local passenger service on the narrow-gauge line leading into the hinterland from Port Pirie's docks. The service operated between the nearby Ellen Street terminus, and via Port Pirie South, 700 metres (770 yards) away to a developing suburban area 1.6 km (1.0 mi) further to the south. A station was declared at the latter location on Railway Terrace, which at that time was the southern boundary of a lightly inhabited area called Solomontown. Infrastructure consisted of only a signboard and a small wooden shelter; an unpaved compacted earth area for boarding trains from ground level served in lieu of a platform, as at all South Australian narrow-gauge stations. Without staff deployed there, it was officially known as a "provisional stopping place", marked on public timetables with an asterisk and a note stating "Stop, if required, to pick up or set down passengers".[1][2][3]

Multi-gauge era

In 1937, two new lines – broad gauge from Adelaide and standard gauge from Port Augusta – reached Port Pirie and the town became well known, along with Gladstone, for having railways built to three gauges.[4]^:27 [note 1] A substantial broad- and standard-gauge station, Port Pirie Junction, was opened immediately opposite the Solomontown stopping place. No new facilities were built to handle narrow-gauge traffic. The "Solomontown" sign was removed, however, because the new Junction station now encompassed Solomontown. Soon afterwards, the Port Pirie Council succeeded in having the South Australian Railways append "Solomontown" under "Port Pirie Junction" on signboards on the new station's platform and signal box. In colloquial use among both residents of Port Pirie and railway employees, "Solomontown" was applied to the new station as well as the old one.[1][5][6]

By 1967, long-distance broad-gauge and standard-gauge passenger trains had become much longer than the Port Pirie Junction platforms, necessitating a new station at Mary Elie Street, 1.6 km (1.0 mi) away. The following year, the Junction station was demolished and the track surrounding it, including that of the narrow-gauge stop, was reconfigured, consigning the infrastruture to history.[6]

Previous stations: Port Pirie South; Ellen Street.

Concurrent stations: Port Pirie Junction (collocated); Ellen Street.

Subsequent station: Mary Elie Street.

Notes

1. The gauges were 1067 mm (3 ft 6 in), 1435 mm (4 ft 8½ in), and 1600 mm (5 ft 3 in).

References

1. "Solomontown railway service". Port Pirie Recorder and North Western Mail (1451). (Original, Port Pirie. Digital reproduction, Canberra: National Library of Australia – Trove digital newspaper archive). 16 September 1911. p. 3. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
2. South Australian Railways public timetable, August 1934.
3. South Australian Railways working timetable, 1911.
4. "South Australia's mixed gauge muddle" (PDF). National Railway Museum [South Australia]. National Railway Museum. 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
5. "Solomontown railway station". The Advertiser. (Original, Adelaide. Digital reproduction, Canberra: National Library of Australia – Trove digital newspaper archive). 14 July 1937. p. 27. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
6. Barrington, Rodney (2008). Railway station buildings of the South Australian Railways. Adelaide: Modelling the Railways of South Australia Convention. p. 6-207.

See also

• South Australian Railways
• Transport in South Australia