Pine Creek railway station is a disused railway station and museum on the former

North Australia Railway The North Australia Railway was a narrow gauge railway in the Northern Territory of Australia which ran from the territory capital of Darwin, once known as Palmerston, to Birdum, just south of Larrimah. Initially its name was the ''Palmerst ...

in Pine Creek in the

Northern Territory of Australia The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

. The station is located from the original Darwin station, and was the southern terminus of the line until 1914. The station precinct is the most complete remaining example of infrastructure associated with the line.

History

Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway

The construction of the railway line from Palmerston (now Darwin) reached Pine Creek in 1889, providing easier access to the goldfields from Port Darwin in the north, however by the time of completion the local mining industry was entering a decline. The station yard was designed with two sidings, each capable of handling forty-two goods wagons to allow for traffic growth at the terminus. Mixed passenger and goods trains began revenue services on 1 October 1889, operated by the Palmerston division of

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 ...

and hauled by "W" class Beyer Peacock locomotives. Three trains per week served Pine Creek, arriving in the evenings on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and departing on the return journey to Palmerston at 8 am the following morning. The journey time was approximately nine and a half hours, including a refreshment stop at

Adelaide River The Adelaide River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. Course and features The river rises in the Litchfield National Park and flows generally northwards to Clarence Strait, joined by eight tributaries including the west branch ...

.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3373644?searchTerm=Pine Creek Emungalan railway&searchLimits= The passenger fare between Palmerston and Pine Creek was initially charged at a rate of 4d per mile for first class and 3d per mile for second class, relatively expensive given the passenger accommodation on the trains were criticised as being more suited to livestock than paying passengers. Similarly, tariffs for transport of heavy goods and machinery by rail to Pine Creek were seen by many as being set too high to promote growth of the mining industry even before the line opened, despite this being a major reason for its construction.

Commonwealth takeover and extension of line

In 1914, following the Commonwealth taking over administration of the Northern Territory and railway, the line was extended to Emungalan, on the northern bank of the

Katherine River Katherine River is located in the Northern Territory, Australia. Its headwaters are in Nitmiluk National Park, it flows through the town of Katherine, and is a major tributary of the Daly River. The Katherine River drops around 384m over its 328 ...

to serve the pastoral industry and transport cattle to

Vestey's Meatworks Vestey's Meatworks, officially the North Australia Meat Company, was a slaughterhouse in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, built by Vestey Brothers between 1914 and 1917. Never profitable, it operated for three years before the company ab ...

in Darwin. Pine Creek remained a major station following the extension, and new sidings were added at the station.

Commonwealth Railways The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1917 by the Government of Australia with the Commonwealth Railways Act to administer the Trans-Australia and Port Augusta to Darwin railways. It was absorbed into Australian National in 1975. O ...

assumed the responsibility for the operation of the station in 1918. The journey time from Pine Creek to Emungalan was approximately three hours By the 1920s the train service south was running only once per fortnight, with northbound trains operating weekly. Despite the service reductions and closure of Vestey's Meatworks, the Commonwealth government approved a further extension south to Daly Waters. Simultaneously, a narrow

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...

line was extended from

Oodnadatta, South Australia Oodnadatta is a small, remote outback town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia, located north-north-west of the state capital of Adelaide by road or direct, at an altitude of . The unsealed Oodnadatta Track, an outback ro ...

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

with the eventual aim of joining the north and south lines to form a transcontinental railway. Construction on the northern line was halted at Birdum, short of Daly Waters due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in 1929. In 1926, the line was renamed the

and Pine Creek while no longer a terminus, remained an overnight stopping place.

World War II

With Australia's involvement in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a number of military bases were established in the Northern Territory. The railway proved to be an important transport link. In 1939, Pine Creek station was called on by just a single weekly train in each direction. By 1941, several per week stopped here and this number would continue to grow to 147 weekly services by 1944. The station was a major dispersal base during the war.

Museum

The station precinct now operates as a museum. It is home to a restored and operational 1877 Commonwealth Railways NF class steam locomotive, used in construction of the railway, and a former

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

TA class diesel-electric shunting locomotive, also maintained in operational condition. Much of the original terminus remains, with preserved buildings including the original passenger station with restrooms, parcel office and waiting room along with the goods shed, loading bank, weighbridge and crane. A number of other original railway buildings were removed following the closure of the line in 1976, but the site was added to the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

in October 1980 and subsequently the remaining infrastructure was progressively restored and preserved. The station precinct was listed on the

Northern Territory Heritage Register The Northern Territory Heritage Register is a heritage register, being a statutory list of places in the Northern Territory of Australia that are protected by the Northern Territory statute, the ''Heritage Act 2011''. The register is maintained b ...

in 1994.

References

{{reflist Disused railway stations in the Northern Territory Railway museums in the Northern Territory Museums in the Northern Territory Northern Territory places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate Northern Territory Heritage Register