23-689: The SteamRanger Heritage Railway is an 82 kilometres (51 miles) long 1600 mm ( 5 ft 3 in ) broad gauge tourist railway, formerly the Victor Harbor railway line of the South Australian Railways (SAR). It is operated by the not-for-profit South Australian Division of the Australian Railway Historical Society . As the last operating non-suburban line of the former broad-gauge network, on which Australia's first public railway
46-532: A quarry east of the town, injecting an estimated $ 29 million into the local economy and creating around 100 jobs. The mine was expected to yield zinc and lead, with small quantities of silver, gold and copper, and operate for seven years. This proposal was opposed by "The Residents for a Future Strathalbyn Inc." who were concerned about ecologically unsustainable development within their district. The mine stopped operating in October 2013 due to low metal prices and
69-518: 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
92-572: Is host to an annual collectors, hobbies and antique fair, held the third weekend of August every year. Other popular events are the Strathalbyn Rotary Club's renowned Duck Race, the Strathalbyn Show, and the collaborative Street Parade and Carols by Candlelight. There is a Sunday market, once per month, at Gilbert’s Motor Museum on High Street. In 1975, street scenes from the film Picnic at Hanging Rock were filmed in
115-534: The River Angas for recreation purposes, plus a site for a Presbyterian Church and cemetery. The community was soon the centre for a large pastoral and farming population, many of Scottish origin. Mining later became important in the area. The District Council of Strathalbyn was established in 1854. In 1868 a municipal council, the Corporation of Strathalbyn, was formed by the secession of section 2600 of
138-527: The Hundred of Strathalbyn from the district council. The town and district councils re-amalgamated in 1976. Strathalbyn was connected by broad gauge horse tram to Goolwa and Victor Harbor from 1869. The Victor Harbor railway line was extended to Mount Barker and Adelaide and was upgraded for steam engines from 1884. It was isolated again in 1995 when the Adelaide-Melbourne railway line
161-565: The Victor Harbor line was curtailed at Mount Barker , 3 kilometres (2 miles) from the junction. 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
184-531: The area in which Strathalbyn is now located. Among them were tribes which are now commonly described as the Ngarrindjeri people, a generic ethnonym popularised by English missionary George Taplin for the various, distinct groups of people who occupied much of the Fleurieu Peninsula, lower Murray River and Coorong regions prior to and after colonisation . The town was founded in 1839,
207-548: 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
230-526: The economic ore reserve running out. The closure resulted in over 100 jobs being lost to the town. It is possible that the zinc mine will reopen to extract more ore if the sale price increases. A 5MW/10MWh Compressed air energy storage demonstration project is scheduled for the mine. Strathalbyn has four pubs on the centre of town, The Victoria , The Robin Hood , The Terminus , and the Commercial . It
253-404: 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
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#1732794471975276-497: The first choice would break the society's financial viability, in a huge project all of SteamRanger's locomotives and rolling stock were moved. A new depot was built at Mount Barker railway station , at the northern end of the broad-gauge line to Victor Harbor. As part of the move, the District Council of Mount Barker renovated the station building, derelict at the time, to become SteamRanger's headquarters. Conversion of
299-469: The first landholders being Dr. Rankine , followed by Donald McLean . In 1846, the cadastral division, the Hundred of Strathalbyn , was proclaimed including the township of Strathalbyn at the south-western corner of the division. Strathalbyn was once a major stop on the route from Adelaide to Melbourne. The streets were laid out in a broad and liberal manner, with a large area reserved on either side of
322-563: The interstate line was completed in 1995 as part of the One Nation infrastructure upgrade program. Following that most of South Australia's broad-gauge tracks have been closed, the line has become the last operating memory of locomotive-hauled trains on the broad gauge. As of January 2023, scheduled SteamRanger trips were as follows. SteamRanger's fleet as of December 2023 was as follows. Victor Harbor railway line, South Australia The Victor Harbor railway line
345-729: The line closed in 2007. Strathalbyn, South Australia Strathalbyn is a town in South Australia , in the Alexandrina Council . In 2016, the town had a population of approximately 6,500. Strathalbyn is 60 km southeast of Adelaide on the banks of the River Angas , at the southeastern edge of the Adelaide Hills and beginning of the Fleurieu Peninsula . Strathalbyn has a warm-summer mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csb ). Aboriginal Australian people are indigenous to
368-445: 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. The SteamRanger Heritage Railway was established in 1986 to operate tourist trains on
391-589: 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
414-544: The mid-1980s, SteamRanger gradually took over the operation and maintenance of the Victor Harbor railway line in the Adelaide Hills . When plans were announced for the Adelaide to Melbourne line to be converted to 1435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) standard gauge, SteamRanger had to choose between staying at Dry Creek and losing its investment in the Victor Harbor line, or move and become isolated from Adelaide's suburban railway lines.Since
437-412: 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,
460-499: The town. The Children's Bridge is a pedestrian bridge over the river in the park. The Strathalbyn Post Office was entered in the Commonwealth Heritage List in 2004. The Strathalbyn Post Office, constructed in 1911–1912, is historically important for its association with the development of the township of Strathalbyn. It is an example of an Edwardian Baroque and Arts and Crafts movement hybrid, applied to
483-518: Was converted to standard gauge . The SteamRanger historic tourist train runs on the isolated broad gauge line, including stops at Strathalbyn. Small lead, zinc, gold and copper mines operated in the area in the later part of the 19th century. These have all been long closed, and did not have a significant effect on the development of the town. In 2008, mining company Terramin Australia Ltd established an underground zinc mine situated in
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#1732794471975506-562: 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
529-588: Was opened, the line and its associated rail assets have high historical significance. In the 1970s, the South Australian Division of the Australian Railway Historical Society established SteamRanger as a not-for-profit railway preservation offshoot to operate its train tours from Adelaide , mainly on rural lines throughout the state's broad-gauge networks. SteamRanger opened their first purpose-built depot at Dry Creek railway station , 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) north of Adelaide in 1980. From
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