Port Pirie railway station (Mary Elie Street)
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Port Pirie railway station (Mary Elie Street) was the fifth of six stations that operated at various times from 1876 to serve the small maritime town (later city) of Port Pirie, by rail north of
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. As with several of Port Pirie's other stations before it, the station was built to accommodate a change of
track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...
on railway lines leading into the town. In 1966, planning commenced for the long-overdue conversion to standard gauge of the
South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation 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 Austr ...
narrow gauge line from Port Pirie to the
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
border. This project was to culminate in 1970, when for the first time trains were able to travel the entire
Sydney–Perth rail corridor The Sydney–Perth rail corridor is a railway route that runs for across Australia from Sydney, New South Wales, to Perth, Western Australia. Most of the route is under the control of the Australian Rail Track Corporation. The corridor ...
without a
change of gauge Gauge conversion is the changing of one railway track gauge (the distance between the running rails) to another. Sleepers If tracks are converted to a narrower gauge, the existing railroad tie, sleepers (ties) may be used. However, replacement ...
. At Port Pirie, new standard-gauge sidings and other facilities would be needed to handle the increased freight and passenger traffic enabled by the upgraded line. At that time the town had three passenger stations: *The first was the 1908-vintage Ellen Street station, on ground level at the end of a dual-gauge (broad and narrow) track that ran down the town's main street; it had become increasingly unpopular on account of congestion and safety concerns. It would close once the new line had been constructed, and would be re-purposed under new ownership. *The second was Port Pirie Junction station, opened in 1937 to accommodate transfers between a new broad-gauge line to Redhill (thence
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
) and a new standard-gauge line to
Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...
(thence
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
). Since its island platform would be far too short for the new ''Indian Pacific'', it would be demolished. *The third was the small, 1911-vintage
Solomontown railway station __NOTOC__ Solomontown railway station was one of a total of six stations that operated at various times between 1876 and the early 2010s to serve the rural maritime town (later city) of Port Pirie, 216 km (134 mi) by rail north ...
. With ground-level boarding, it sat alongside the Port Pirie Junction station, its two tracks next to the junction station's two broad gauge tracks. The line it served, the 1878-vintage narrow-gauge route inland to
Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
and beyond, carried ore trains from
Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...
, and a
railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...
ran a service mainly for schoolchildren in the morning and afternoon – the remnant of more frequent services that existed when the railway was the principal means of transport. A broad-gauge track would be laid to take trains from Adelaide to the new station. Although space was limited in Port Pirie's rail yards, standard-gauge and broad-gauge track would replace the narrow-gauge sidings (in new configurations) at Port Pirie South yard. Passengers, parcels and mail would transfer across a new island platform paralleling Wandearah Road; the station entrance would front Mary Elie Street. As before, broad-gauge trains came from Adelaide, to the south, and standard-gauge trains from Port Augusta, to the north; the new element was standard-gauge trains from Broken Hill, to the east. The configuration of tracks and platform was not easily devised – the South Australian Railways insisted that all freight and passenger traffic from the rail corridor would enter the Port Pirie yard and station. Since there was no room for track to continue on at the northern end, the station would have to be a stub terminal, and without the capacity that would allow passengers to join or leave at the middle or either end of the train, a platform capable of holding an entire passenger train was necessary. The ''Indian Pacific'', on its cross-continent journey due to commence in January 1970, would be much longer than the trains operating before then, namely the '' Trans-Australian'' to Western Australia, other standard-gauge services to
Whyalla Whyalla was founded as "Hummocks Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Gawler and along with Port Pirie and Port Augusta ...
and Woomera, and the ''East–west Express'' and other trains to Adelaide. Therefore, the platform would need to be long – the longest in Australia. The new station, from which trains started to run on 12 November 1967, was well received by the town populace; Port Pirie Town Council had been advocating a terminal station there for more than 25 years. Facilities constructed at the station included a waiting room, a refreshment room, a resthouse for train crew, a locomotive stabling depot, diesel fuelling, passenger car water supply, and a turntable. As had occurred at Port Pirie Junction station, a run-around loop on each side permitted locomotives to be detached and turned, and a shunting locomotive took the carriages away to be placed in the sequence needed for the return journey. The ''Indian Pacific'', which first arrived in Port Pirie on 24 February 1970, was the exception: since Port Pirie was only a pause in its journey, its carriages did not need to be rearranged. However, the entire train needed to be pushed back for to return to the mainline and continue on its way – a time-wasting procedure. Much longer operating delays occurred with freight traffic, not only because of the dead-end configuration of the tracks but also because broad-gauge and standard-gauge
bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...
s had to be exchanged on all freight cars that travelled between the South Australian Railways and Commonwealth Railways. A 1971 report stated: "It is expected that in the near future the Australian National Railways Commission will construct a by-pass line around the Port Pirie yard and station to facilitate the fast through movement of freight trains between Sydney and Perth." In the event, the by-pass line was not laid around the Port Pirie's rail yards and station but on the mainline, where tracks forked out from the yards' exit: north to Port Augusta and south to Crystal Brook, the latter standardised in 1970. The "missing link" between them was completed in 1978 by of new track to form the " Coonamia
triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...
", which not only enabled straight-through traffic but provided a useful means of turning locomotives and trains.Inwards traffic continued to be lead-zinc-silver ore for the Port Pirie smelter; outwards traffic was mainly bunker fuel for the power station at Broken Hill and sulphuric acid from the smelter. By then, the Australian National Railways Commission had acquired the South Australian Railways and Commonwealth Railways, so locomotives did not have to be changed at Mary Elie Street when going to and from what had previously been separate systems. The '' Indian Pacific'', however, did not bypass the station until 1986. Mary Elie Street station closed on 5 February 1989. It was still considered necessary to provide a facility for Port Pirie passengers of ''
The Ghan ''The Ghan'' is an experiential tourism oriented passenger train service that operates between the northern and southern coasts of Australia, through the cities of Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor. O ...
'', '' Indian Pacific'', and (until June 1991, when it ceased) the '' Trans-Australian'', so a tiny "provisional" stop was simultaneously re-established at Coonamia (see map, station 6), allowing trains to pick up and drop off Port Pirie passengers without having to go through the reversing procedure. Nine months later, the federal House of Representatives Standing Committee on Transport, Communications and Infrastructure recommended that the ''Indian Pacific'' and ''Trans-Australian'', which still ran over three different rail authorities'Western Australian government, New South Wales government, and Australian National. tracks, be booked, staffed and controlled by Australian National and be upgraded, refurbished and marketed as luxury train journeys. Further, "Intra-state passengers should only be carried on a stand-by basis, and should rely on alternatives for their primary transport requirements". Australian National acted quickly to discontinue South Australian non-metropolitan intrastate train services, which it achieved in December 1989. Since it served interstate trains, Coonamia remained in use until the 2010s, although climbing down over the ballast shoulder and down to ground level was a difficult, undignified travel experience for the few people who persisted in travelling on a long-distance train within their state. In 1990, tracks to, and at, the Mary Elie Street platform were lifted. Redevelopment of the northern (ticket office) end as the Port Pirie's tourist information centre, arts centre and public library was completed in 2009. Until 2012, a former Commonwealth Railways GM class locomotive and three 1950s-era passenger cars were stabled at the platform as a public display; one car was a restaurant providing on-the-job training for young people in the hospitality industry with the support of
Port Pirie Regional Council The Port Pirie Regional Council (PPRC) is a local government area in South Australia, focused on the city of Port Pirie. It has a population of about 18,000 people. The council's main administrative facilities and works depot can be found in Port ...
and
The Foundation for Young Australians The Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) is an Australian non-profit organisation whose purpose is to back young people with the trust, resources, skills, and connections to make change. The organisation's vision is that young people have the ...
. As of 2021, the platform, its canopy and the block formerly used as a waiting room remained. A miniature railway operated in the garden surrounds. The forecourt served as a bus station. ''Preceding stations: Ellen Street, Port Pirie Junction, and Solomontown.'' ''Concurrent station: none''. ''Subsequent station: Coonamia provisional stopping place.''


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registration: a free registration is required to access the source.)">Photos of Mary Elie Street station, 2009, on Flickr ( registration: a free registration is required to access the source.)Diagram of Mary Elie Street and Port Pirie South yard track layout, 1970–1982 (p. 29, map 1015)

Diagram of Port Pirie track layout, 2019
Disused railway stations in South Australia Railway stations in Australia opened in 1967 Port Pirie Commonwealth Railways