Mount Barker railway station is a preserved railway station in 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 ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, on the broad gauge Victor Harbor line, formerly operated by

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 ...

and its successor, Australian National. When the nearby Adelaide-Melbourne railway line was converted to standard gauge in 1995, the line was disconnected. The station has become the headquarters of the

Australian Railway Historical Society The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) has been a railway organisation concerned with history and preservation of railway heritage at a national level. It has had divisions in every state and the Australian Capital Territory, althou ...

, a not-for-profit organisation trading as SteamRanger, which runs more than 200 trips per year, of various durations, on the line.

History

In 1884, an branch line was completed between Mount Barker Junction and Victor Harbor. Substantial stations were erected at Mount Barker, Strathalbyn and Goolwa. The Mount Barker station building, opened on 27 November 1883, was built from distinctive Aldgate freestone; it included the stationmaster's quarters and a ticketing office. Two years later, the first railway link between two colonial capital cities in Australia –

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 ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

– was completed, to which the branch was connected at Mount Barker Junction, 5 route kilometres (3 miles) to the north of Mount Barker station. Regular services operated until passenger numbers declined in the late 20th century, largely because of the circuitous rail route between Adelaide and Victor Harbor and increasing ownership of motor cars. Services were terminated in 1984. As a result of rapid growth and traffic congestion on the South Eastern Freeway, sporadic calls have been made since the late 2010s to extend the former passenger rail service beyond Belair to Mount Barker. However, a 2022 government-sponsored report rejected the prospect of opening a train service, arguing that reliability and travel time would "not come close" to buses and cars.

Present-day use

In 1989, a not-for-profit railway preservation organisation, SteamRanger, was established by the

to operate its heritage train tours from

to Victor Harbor through the station. Six years later, as part of the One Nation infrastructure program, the main line between Adelaide and

was converted 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 ...

, leaving Steamranger's depot at Dry Creek in metropolitan Adelaide isolated. In a major project, all of SteamRanger's locomotives, rolling stock and infrastructure were moved to Mount Barker station. As part of the move, the

District Council of Mount Barker The Mount Barker District Council is a local government area, centred on the Adelaide hills town of Mount Barker, just outside the Adelaide metropolitan area in South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and t ...

renovated the station building, at the time derelict, to become SteamRanger's base. SteamRanger's heritage locomotives and rolling stock provide more than 200 trips a year, conducted – as with maintenance and administration – entirely by volunteers.

References

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External links

Mount Barker station
SteamRanger Disused railway stations in South Australia Railway stations in Australia opened in 1883 Railway stations in Australia closed in 1984