Port Augusta to Wilpena Pound, Flinders Ranges

6th October 2014

After a very hot night in Port Augusta we set off for the Flinders Ranges, stopping off in Quorn on the way.  Quorn is in a picturesque valley and was founded for farming.  Due to the aridity of the area farming was not successful and now there are just a few sheep run on the hills.

In 1877 a narrow gauge railway line from Port Augusta was commenced with the ambitious goal of going all the way to Darwin.  This of course was the Ghan.  The route went through Quorn and eventually got as far as Alice Springs in 1929.  A line was started at the Darwin end but didn't ever reach very far south.

After the Japanese bombing of Darwin in 1942, thousands of troops were shipped to Alice on the Ghan line to set up defences across the Northern Territory.  Quorn became an important stop where they were given a cooked dinner by volunteers of the Country Womens Association.  A kitchen and mess hall was built for the purpose [still there].

Pichi Richi railway at Woolshed Flats

In the 1950's the southern end of the line was re-routed further to the west using standard gauge tracks; the passengers and freight had to change from one train to the other at the intersection of gauges. Quorn then became a backwater. Now railway enthusiasts run the old engines and carriages on a tourist railway known as the Pichi Richi  heritage railway.  They do a great job.  We went on a 2.5 hour round trip to Woolshed Flat from Quorn. Unfortunately they couldn't use the steam engine today as it was hot and windy so there is a total fire ban.  We were pulled by an old diesel engine instead

Eventually, by 1980 the entire original line of the Ghan through to Alice was rerouted and changed to standard gauge.  In 2004 the remaining track from Alice to Darwin was eventually completed.