Mount Pleasant railway line
| Mount Pleasant Line | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | Adelaide, South Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Termini | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1918 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | 1963 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 33.8 km (21.0 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of tracks | single track | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Mount Pleasant railway line is an abandoned South Australian line. It was opened between Balhannah and Mount Pleasant in September 1918 and ran until March 1963[1] as a freight and passenger service.[2] Part of its trackbed is now the Amy Gillett Bikeway rail trail near to Adelaide.[3]
History[edit]
The line opened on 16 September 1918 between Balhannah, 10 kilometres east of Mount Lofty, and Mount Pleasant.[4] It had six stations and a number of halts; typically, the halts were located near level crossings. The six stations were Oakbank, Woodside, Charleston, Mount Torrens, Birdwood, and Mount Pleasant. The seven halts were Mappinga, Riverview, Kayannie, Muralappie, Milkappa Road, Crane Road, and Narcoonah.
The line was closed on 4 March 1963, and the way between Balhannah and Oakbank has mostly returned to private landowners.[3]
Rail trail[edit]
This former railway is in the jurisdiction of the Adelaide Hills Council, which in 2003 commissioned a feasibility study into the best use of the land. The report recommended it be converted to a rail trail, with which the council agreed but considered beyond their means to implement. However, since that time, the development of a rail trail led to the opening of the Amy Gillett Bikeway in 2010, named in honour of the late Amy Gillett, a South Australian-born Olympic cyclist who had died in 2005.[3] As of 2015, the conversion had reached from Balhannah to Mount Torrens.
Line guide[edit]
| Station | Image | Opened | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Pleasant | 1918 | Terminus; closed 1963 | |
| Birdwood | 1918 | Closed 1963 | |
| Mount Torrens | 1918 | Closed 1963 | |
| Charleston | 1918 | Closed 1963 | |
| Woodside | 1918 | Closed 1963 | |
| Oakbank | 1918 | Closed 1963 | |
| Balhannah | 1883 | Former junction station on the Adelaide-Wolseley line. Closed 1963 |
References[edit]
- ^ "Balhannah to Mount Pleasant Railway | Mount Pleasant Community". mountpleasant.sa.au. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ Adelaide Hills Rail Trail - History Archived 23 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c Rail Trails news article Archived 23 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ W.H. Callaghan, "The Mount Pleasant Line", Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, October 1994, pp.274-281.