This service uses original Ghan rolling stock of the narrow gauge era, including the steam engine NM25, which hauled the services between Port Augusta and Alice Springs. The Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society was formed in 1973 for these purposes and now the Society runs regular train services for visitors to the Flinders Ranges throughout the year.Ī Day in the Life of the Afghan Express shows the results of the work of the Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society with a train trip from Port Augusta to Quorn and back again on the Afghan Express. Rail enthusiasts, who were concerned by the loss of so much history, united to commit to the conservation of the steam trains, the preservation of the railway line and the work of the stone masons, who had built the retaining walls of embankments and bridge abutments. The railway line through the Pichi Richi Pass fell into disrepair and was removed in the Port Augusta area.
However, the narrow gauge continued to Alice Springs and north bound travellers were forced to change trains at Marree. This was a standard gauge line which reached Marree in 1957. A new route for the railway, bypassing the Pichi Richi Pass, Quorn and Hawker, was constructed to carry coal from the mine to Port Augusta. It was also the most scenic route.ĭuring the second world war, the coal mine at Leigh Creek came into service. The work reached Quorn in 1879, Marree in 1884, Oodnadatta in 1891 and finally Alice Springs in 1929.īecause of the agitations by wheat growers and miners of the Flinders Ranges, the route chosen for the railway line through the Pichi Richi Pass was the most difficult one possible, due to the rugged terrain of rocky outcrops and dry river beds.
Work began on the construction of the narrow gauge railway line in 1877 at Port Augusta, but progress was slow.
The Afghan Express was the name given to the trains running on the railway line north from Port Augusta in South Australia to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
0 kommentar(er)
