Peterborough–Quorn railway line

The Peterborough–Quorn railway line was a 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) railway line on the South Australian Railways network. Located in the upper Mid North of South Australia, it opened from Peterborough to Orroroo on 23 November 1881, being extended to Quorn on 22 May 1882.

Peterborough–Quorn railway line
Overview
Status	Closed & removed
Coordinates	32°36′15.0″S 138°33′32.4″E
Termini	Peterborough Quorn
Continues from	Roseworthy-Peterborough line
Continues as	Stirling North-Hawker line
Service
System	South Australian Railways
Operator(s)	South Australian Railways Australian National
History
Opened	Peterborough-Orroroo: 23 November 1881 Orroroo-Quorn: 22 May 1882
Closed	Eurelia-Quorn: 3 March 1987 Peterborough-Eurelia: 22 November 1988
Technical
Line length	130.2 km (80.9 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Route map km 129.5 Quorn Pichi Richi Railway 108.5 Bruce 96.0 Hammond 83.5 Moockra 72.0 Carrieton 57.5 Eurelia 46.5 Walloway 35.5 Orroroo 22.5 Black Rock 0.0 Peterborough Crystal Brook–Broken Hill line Roseworthy–Peterborough line to Gawler & Adelaide km (248 to Adelaide) broad gauge standard gauge 3 ft 6 in narrow gauge

History

The stations south to north on the line were Peterborough, Black Rock, Orroroo, Walloway, Eurelia, Carrieton, Moockra, Hammond, Bruce and Quorn.

At the time the Peterborough–Quorn line was built, Quorn was on the Central Australia Railway from Port Augusta to Farina, later extended to Oodnadatta, then Alice Springs. Peterborough was on the Port Pirie–Broken Hill railway line, later linking to Sydney, and it was also on a line to Adelaide. Consequently the Peterborough–Quorn line was a link in the north-south transcontinental transport corridor linking Adelaide to Darwin, with the northern part being by camel train and then road transport from the 1920s.

Following the opening of the Trans-Australian Railway from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie, in 1917, the Peterborough–Quorn line became part of the main east-west railway across Australia from Sydney via Melbourne to Perth, with another link from Sydney via Broken Hill opening in 1927. This transcontinental route via Quorn ceased in 1937 when the Trans-Australian Railway was extended to Port Pirie.

The Peterborough-Quorn line lost its north-south transcontinental traffic in 1957 when a new standard gauge line was opened between Port Augusta/Stirling North and Marree.

The line between Eurelia and Quorn closed on 3 March 1987, and between Peterborough and Eurelia on 22 November 1988. After closure, part of the line was used by the Steamtown Peterborough Railway Preservation Society.