Mount Lofty Railway Station is located on the Adelaide-Wolseley line and served the

Adelaide Hills The Adelaide Hills region is located in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. The largest town in the area, Mount Barker, South Australia, Mount Barker, is one of Australia's fastest-growi ...

suburb of

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

. It is located from Adelaide station.

History

The station opened in 1883 and was the highest railway station between

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, at an elevation of 492 m. Two platforms were provided. The eastbound platform was 125 metres long and the westbound platform, 104 metres long. Both platforms are still in place, although no longer in use. The station signs on both platforms, which were mainly used at stations in the hills and near the beach (e.g. Belair and Semaphore respectively) from early in the 1900s to the 1980s, are also still in place. The station closed on 23 September 1987, when the State Transport Authority withdrew Bridgewater line services between

Belair Belair or Bélair may refer to: People *Bianca Belair, wrestler *Sanité Bélair (1781–1802), Haitian freedom fighter *Anne Liger-Belair, Belgian writer known as Anne Duguël Places Historic locations *Belair (Nashville, Tennessee), United Sta ...

and Bridgewater. The small traditional wooden shelter which once graced the eastbound platform no longer exists. Neither does the signal box which once stood high next to the bridge on the south platform. This was demolished when main building was extended to include a new signal box in 1929. The wooden stairs leading down from the footbridge to the south platform were removed in 2014 when the footbridge was refurbished. In 1995, the line from Adelaide to Melbourne was converted from

Broad Gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

(1600mm) to

Standard Gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

(1435mm), thus preventing any restoration of local trains to Mount Lofty and beyond, as the Adelaide suburban system remained as broad gauge. At the station there are three standard gauge

railway track Railway track ( and UIC terminology) or railroad track (), also known as permanent way () or "P way" ( and Indian English), is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers ( railroad ties in American ...

s, two for interstate freight, and the third is used to stable track machines. The southern track is the main line and the northern track is the crossing loop. As the length of the

crossing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains o ...

is only 629 metres, the crossing of trains at Mount Lofty is rare. Mount Lofty station was used for holiday and tourist accommodation with a comfortable and quaint railway theme from 2000 to 2018. From a derelict state, the station building was rebuilt in the mid 1990s in a project managed by Stirling Council using Federal Government retraining funding. In 1999-2000, the Emmett family of Stirling completed the rebuild to suit its current use as accommodation, and operated it until 2018 on lease from the South Australian Government. Trains, including interstate freight trains and the interstate passenger express "The Overland", pass through the station each day, but the platforms are only used for special trains or in emergencies. In 2016 Railcams were installed by Railpage Australia designed to digitally record all freight and passenger trains through the location. As at 16 April 2017 over 11,000 images had been recorded and made available online, and an example can be found in th
Mount Lofty Railway Station - Photo Thread

References

;Timetables * Australian National Working Timetable Book No. 286 effective 25 October 1987 *

South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the organisation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Australian Natio ...

Working Timetable Book No. 265 effective 30 June 1974

External links

*
Mount Lofty - Lineside Information Guide

Railpage Railcam Listing
{{coord, -35.0077, 138.7095, format=dms, display=title, region:AU-SA_type:railwaystation Disused railway stations in South Australia Railway stations in Australia opened in 1883 Railway stations in Australia closed in 1987