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Marree
Marree
	The former Marree railway station building, with an explanatory sign outside, in 2013
General information
Coordinates	29°23′S 138°02′E / 29.38°S 138.03°E
Operated by	South Australian Railways 1884–1926; Commonwealth Railways 1926–1975; Australian National 1975–1987
Line(s)	Central Australia Railway, Marree railway line
Distance	709 kilometres from Adelaide
Platforms	2 (1 island)
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Other information
Status	Closed
History
Opened	7 February 1884
Closed	10 June 1987
Rebuilt	27 July 1957
Previous names	Hergott Springs
Services

Marree railway station was located on the Central Australia Railway, and later the Marree railway line serving the small South Australian outback town of Marree.

History

Early history

Marree station opened on 7 February 1884 at what was then known as Hergott Springs as the terminus of the Central Australia Railway when it was extended from Farina. The line was extended to Coward Springs on 1 February 1888. The town and railway station were renamed as Marree in 1917.^[1]^[2] In 1891, the line was extended north to Oodnadatta, ultimately reaching Alice Springs in 1929.^[3]

Conversion to dual gauge

On 27 July 1957, Marree became a dual-gauge junction station, when the extension of a heavy-duty standard gauge line was opened originally to convey coal from Telford Cut to Stirling North since the capacity of the flood-prone, lightly constructed narrow gauge line from Port Augusta was inadequate for tonnages required to serve the new Playford A Power Station near Port Augusta, though the extension to Marree was also justified because of the cattle traffic.^[4]^: 234 The narrow gauge line south of Marree remained operational for freight traffic until the standard gauge line was completed.^[5] As part of the new standard gauge line, the station was rebuilt with a new brick station building similar to those at Copley and Telford, an island platform to serve SG trains on one side and NG trains on the other, and a goods shed and platform for standard gauge trains.

Decline and closure

The narrow gauge trains north of Marree ceased when a new standard gauge line opened from Tarcoola to Alice Springs in 1980, replacing the Central Australia Railway in its role as the line to Alice Springs.^[6] This led to the cessation of regular passenger services to Marree, but passengers were still able to travel there via mixed goods trains until 1985 when the service was replaced with a goods only train.^[7] A farewell train was operated to Marree using a set of Bluebird railcars on 9 May 1987. The line was officially closed on 10 June 1987 and removed in 1993.^[1]^[8]^[7]

Present day

Located at the station are the station building (housing a museum); the 250-metre (820-foot) passenger platform with 1067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow-gauge track on one side and 1435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard-gauge track on the other; water tanks; some other structures; and extensive rail tracks in the railway yard. Two NSU class diesel-electric locomotives (NSU57, NSU60) and two wagons, owned by the Marree Progress Association, are located at the station. The former 3-kilometre (1.9-mile) turning loop, with cattle yards and a 200-metre (660-foot) freight platform still intact, are to the west of the station.^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b Bromby, Robin (2004). The Railway Age in Australia. South Melbourne: Thomas Lothan. p. 64. ISBN 0-734407-15-7.
^ Port Augusta to Marree Chris' Commonwealth Railways
^ The Ghan Archived 12 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine South Australian History
^ Fuller, Basil (1975). The Ghan: the story of the Alice Springs railway. Adelaide: Rigby. ISBN 0727000160.
^ Hawker Railway Station Hawker Visitor Information Centre
^ Good times on the Ghan, 90 years after its maiden journey Financial Review
^ ^a ^b FLINDERS RANGES HERITAGE SURVEY VOLUME 6 Department of Environment and Natural Resources
^ Leigh Creek Coalfield line SA Track & Signal
^ "Marree" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 9 July 2024.