Nurragi was an unattended station at the farming locality of the same name in
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 ...
. It was located on the former 13.1 km (8.1 mi) long
Milang railway line
The Milang railway line was a branch line, now closed, of the former South Australian Railways that left the Victor Harbor railway line, mainline to Victor Harbor at the farming locality of Sandergrove, South Australia, Sandergrove, south of S ...
, which opened in 1884 and closed in 1970.
History
The branch line left the former
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 ...
Mount Barker–Victor Harbor railway line (now the
SteamRanger Heritage Railway
The SteamRanger Heritage Railway is an long broad gauge tourist railway, formerly the Victor Harbor railway line of the South Australian Railways (SAR). It is operated by the not-for-profit South Australian Division of the Australian Railway ...
) at the farming locality of
Sandergrove. It ended at
Milang, on the shore of
Lake Alexandrina. Nurragi, the only intermediate station on the line, was about halfway along the line.
The limited facilities were a
passing 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 ...
70 metres (230 yards) long, a full-height platform, and a small shed for local farmers' consignments.
The name Nurragi is derived from the word for "scrub country" in the language of the local indigenous Ngarrindjeri people. It does indeed describe the original vegetation in the region before more than 98 per cent of it was cleared by European settlers.
After the Milang line was closed in 1970, the track was lifted and the site cleared. Since 1991, the site has been incorporated into the
Nurragi Conservation Reserve, a popular
rail trail
A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...
. The reserve contains extremely important remnant vegetation indigenous to the Milang Scrub: more than 300 native plant species are present, of which more than 50 are of particular conservation significance. A community group has worked to re-establish flora; local primary school children have also taken part. Bare areas have been revegetated with species of the original Milang Scrub, including Aboriginal food plants such as muntries, quandongs and native currants. The reserve is also an important corridor for wildlife and birds between the lakeside environment and the foothills, providing them with food and protective cover.
Milang railway museum
The Milang Railway Museum is a museum in the Australian state of South Australia located in the town of Milang in the former Milang railway station. It was established on 1 November 1999.
It has two collections. One tells the story of the Sou ...
.[
]
References
{{reflist
Disused railway stations in South Australia
Railway stations in Australia opened in 1884
Railway stations in Australia closed in 1970