Centenary of Port Lincoln RailwayPrint Page

The plaque commemorates the centenary of the Port Lincoln Railway from 1907 to 2007.

The Eyre Peninsula Railway was built and operated by the South Australian Railways (SAR). As with many other early narrow-gauge railways in South Australia, the Eyre Peninsula lines started out as isolated lines connecting small ports to the inland, opening up the country for settlement and economic life including export of grain and other produce in an environment with few roads and only horse-drawn road vehicles. The railway has always been isolated from the main network. A proposal to link it with the rest of the network at Port Augusta was rejected in the 1920s and again in the 1950s.

The first 67 kilometres from Port Lincoln to Cummins opened on 18 November 1907, followed by extensions to Yeelanna on 1 April 1909, Minnipa on 5 May 1913, Nunjikompita on 14 August 1914 and Thevenard on 8 February 1915, a total of 434 kilometres. A second line opened from Cummins to Moody on 1 August 1912, being extended to Ungarra on 31 March 1913, Kimba on 11 July 1913 and Buckleboo on 5 August 1926, a distance of 213 kilometres.

Branch lines off the original line opened from Yeelanna to Mount Hope on 9 October 1914, a distance of 38 kilometres and from Wandana to Penong on 7 February 1924, a distance of 83 kilometres. A further nine kilometre branch from Kevin to Kowulka opened on 11 April 1950. This was the peak of the network's size at 777 kilometres. Today only one 60 kilometre section remains open and is operated by One Rail Australia. 

 

Location

Address:	Railway Place, Railway Station, Port Lincoln, 5606
State:	SA
Area:	AUS
GPS Coordinates:	Lat: -34.724047 Long: 135.867169 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.

View Google Map

Details

Monument Type:	Plaque
Monument Theme:	Government
Sub-Theme:	State
Actual Event Start Date:	18-November-1907
Actual Event End Date:	18-November-2007

Dedication

Approx. Monument Dedication Date:	2007

Source: MA