Quorn railway station was located on the

Central Australia Railway The former Central Australia Railway, which was built between 1878 and 1929 and closed in 1980, was a 1067 mm narrow gauge railway between Port Augusta and Alice Springs. A standard gauge line duplicated the southern section from Port Aug ...

, and also the Peterborough-Quorn railway line serving the

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 ...

n town of

Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products, or the company that makes them. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 14 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as bo ...

History

Quorn station opened on 15 December 1879 as the interim terminus of the

from

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 ...

. On 28 June 1880, it was extended north to

Hawker Hawker or Hawkers may refer to: Places * Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Hawker, South Australia, a town * Division of Hawker, an Electoral Division in South Australia * Hawker Island, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarct ...

, and eventually to

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 ...

in 1929.Port Augusta to Marree
Chris' Commonwealth Railways In 1881, Quorn became a

junction station ''Junction station'' usually refers to a railway station situated on or close to a junction where lines to several destinations diverge. The usual minimum is three incoming lines. At a station with platforms running from left to right, the minimum ...

with the opening of the

Peterborough–Quorn railway line The Peterborough–Quorn railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. Located in the upper Mid North of South Australia, it opened from Peterborough railway station, South Australia, Peterborough to Orroroo, South ...

from

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

and the south. In anticipation of the completion of the

Trans-Australian Railway The Trans-Australian Railway, opened in 1917, runs from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain in the process. As the only rail freight corridor between Western Australia and the easter ...

across the

Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of , 'no', and , 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its ...

in 1917, and the line via Quorn becoming part of the East-West route, a new station opened in 1915. In 1937, the East-West services were diverted to a new route via

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South ...

. In 1957, a new standard gauge Stirling North to Marree line opened, resulting in the closure of the narrow gauge line beyond Hawker. The

Stirling North Stirling North is a town located east of Port Augusta in the Australian state of South Australia. The now abandoned Marree railway line forms the official border line separating the two towns. Primarily, Stirling North is a satellite town to Po ...

to Hawker section closed on 1 June 1972. The line from Quorn to Peterborough closed on 3 March 1987. The line from Quorn to Stirling North was progressively restored by the Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society from 1974. This section was fully completed in 1999. The final into Port Augusta opened on a new alignment in 2001.Pichi Richi Preservation Society line
SA Track & Signal Quorn station is the society's headquarters.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline Railway stations in South Australia Railway stations in Australia opened in 1879 Railway stations closed in 1972 South Australian Heritage Register