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The Loxton railway line is a closed railway line in the northern
Murray Mallee The Murray Mallee is the grain-growing and sheep-farming area of South Australia bounded to the north and west by the Murray River (in South Australia, "River Murray"), to the east by the Victorian border, and extending about 50 km south ...
region of
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 ...
. It ran north-east from Tailem Bend to grain silos near Loxton.


History

The first stage of the Brown's Well railway line opened from Tailem Bend to
Wanbi Wanbi is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia located about east of the state capital of Adelaide and about north-east of the municipal seat of Karoonda. Wanbi is on the Karoonda Highway and the Loxton railway l ...
on 6 January 1913, and extended to Paruna by the end of April the same year. A branch from Alawoona to Loxton opened on 13 February 1914. The main line to Alawoona and only remaining branch to Loxton closed on 6 January 1996 to be gauge 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 , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
to standard gauge to retain connection to the main line from
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...
to
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...
after that line was converted. The last grain train left the silos on 20 June 2015, marking the closure of the line.


Route

The railway branched off the main line just south of Tailem Bend, and tracked roughly north-east. The Karoonda Highway from Murray Bridge East paralleled it after about 24 kilometres at Kulde. The railway and highway continued together 100 kilometres north-east through Karoonda to Alawoona, then both turned north for the final 35 kilometres to Loxton. The line no longer continues to Loxton station, having been curtailed at a bulk grain facility a few kilometres short of the town. The end of the main line became the grain terminal at what was originally the Tookayerta siding. The line closed on 20 July 2015, with all grain traffic now taken by road.


References

{{Reflist Closed railway lines in South Australia Railway lines closed in 2015 Standard gauge railways in Australia