South Australian Railways

Government department that ran South Australia's railways from 1854 to 1978

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 Australian National, and its Adelaide urban lines were transferred to the State Transport Authority. The SAR had three major rail gauges: 1600 mm (5 ft 3 in); 1435 mm (4 ft 8 1/2 in); and 1067 mm (3 ft 6 in).

The first railway in South Australia was laid in 1854 between Goolwa and Port Elliot to allow for goods to be transferred between paddle steamers on the Murray River and seagoing vessels. The next railway was laid from the harbour at Port Adelaide, to the capital, Adelaide, and was laid with Irish gauge 63in track. This line was opened in 1856. Later on, branch lines in the state's north in the mining towns of Kapunda and Burra were linked through to the Adelaide metropolitan system. From here, a south main line extended to meet the horse tramway from Victor Harbor to Strathalbyn, and towards the South Australia/Victoria Border. With the metropolitan systems being broad gauge, the mid north and south east of the state were originally laid with 42in narrow gauge track. These systems were closely based on British practice, as was the broad gauge system prior to 1926. Locomotives and rolling stock were bought from the United Kingdom and United States, from builders such as Beyer, Peacock & Company, Dübs and Company, North British Locomotive Company, and Baldwin Locomotive Works. Nine broad gauge tank locomotives plus the frame of a tenth were bought second hand from the Canterbury Provincial Railways in New Zealand when it converted to narrow gauge.

In 1922, after the SAR's worst financial deficit, the government appointed American railroad manager William Webb, from the Missouri Kansas Texas Railroad as Chief Commissioner. When Webb arrived in Adelaide with his young family, he found a railway system unchanged since the late 19th century. The locomotives and rolling stock were small, wagons and carriages were of wooden construction, the track and bridges were unsuitable for heavy loads, the workshops had antiquated machinery and the signalling system was inflexible. These attributes drove up the ratio of operating costs to revenue. Webb introduced a rehabilitation plan based on American railroad principles of large, standardised locomotives and steel bodied freight wagons, with automatic couplers to enable a significant increase in productivity. Lightly patronised passenger trains would be replaced by self propelled rail cars, enabling faster, more frequent and more efficient services. He recruited Fred Shea as his Chief Mechanical Engineer and had him prepare specifications for this new equipment. This resulted in orders being placed for 1,200 wagons of four types from American Car and Foundry, 12 petrol mechanical railmotor cars from the Service Motors Corporation, Wabash, Indiana, and 30 locomotives based on American Locomotive Company plans but built by Armstrong Whitworth & Co in the United Kingdom. These were of the Mountain, Pacific and Mikado wheel arrangements, 10 of each type, which became the 500, 600, and 700 class locomotives. To carry the heavier trains, the rehabilitation plan included the strengthening of track and bridges, and the conversion of the mid north 42 inches narrow gauge system (the Western division) to 63 inches broad gauge. The antiquated Islington Railway Workshops were demolished and replaced with a thoroughly modern railway maintenance and manufacturing works, a large new round house was built at Mile End, near Adelaide, and several 85 foot turntables were installed throughout the state to enable the much larger locomotives to be turned. Efficient train operations were facilitated by the adoption of American train order working on country lines, and Adelaide railway station was replaced with an imposing new building, opened in 1927. The 63 inches broad gauge system was the main focus of Webb rehabilitation scheme. The narrow gauge systems north of Terowie and on the Eyre Peninsula remained untouched, as did the gauge South Eastern division (although it was subsequently converted to broad gauge in the early 1950s). Webb decided not to extend his contract in 1930 and returned to the US, having revolutionised the SAR.

In 1936, the SAR owned 365 locomotives, 51 railcars, 408 passenger carriages, 38 brake vans and 8,219 goods wagons. The following year, ten 620 class 4 6 2 Pacific type locomotives, designed and built at the SAR's Islington Works – were introduced. Their axle load enabled them to traverse the many rural lines laid with 60 pound rail, but they were also usefully deployed on the East West Express between Adelaide and Port Pirie following the extension of the broad gauge line north from Redhill to Port Pirie in 1937. Two years later, the SAR's first mainline diesel electric locomotives entered service: the 900 class, also designed and built by Islington Railway Workshops. Their styling closely followed that of the Alco PA diesels in the United States. Subsequently, and coincidentally, the SAR exclusively purchased American Locomotive Company products made under licence in Sydney by AE Goodwin: the 930, 830, 600 and 700 classes. In the 1950s, railcars were introduced: the 250 and 100 class "Bluebirds" for regional services and the 300 and 400 class "Red Hens" for Adelaide suburban services. A major change occurred in 1970, when the remaining length of the Sydney Perth rail corridor that was not built to standard gauge, the Port Pirie Broken Hill line, was gauge converted. In the 1972 election, the Whitlam Federal Government made a commitment to invite the states to hand over their railway systems to the federal government. The Government of South Australia took up the offer, but elected to retain the Adelaide metropolitan services, which were transferred to the State Transport Authority. Financial responsibility for the remaining services passed to the Federal Government on 1 July 1975, although the SAR continued services until operations were formally transferred on 1 March 1978 to the Australian National Railways Commission. The penultimate head of the SAR, commissioner Ron Fitch, reflecting on the end of the railway administration, wrote: "The merging of the major part of the SAR into the Australian National Railways Commission, and the remainder into the South Australian State Transport Authority, cannot but tend to consign the former state railway system into eventual oblivion. But posterity should not be allowed to forget its achievements:
The Goolwa to Port Elliot railway, the first public railway in Australia. The first publicly owned railway in the British Empire; that between Adelaide and Port Adelaide. The Darwin to Pine Creek and the Port Augusta to Oodnadatta railways, built as part of the grand concept of a north south transcontinental rail link. Its gesture, together with the gentlemen of the Silverton Tramway Company, in providing a rail connection to Broken Hill, at a time when NSW declined to do so. The introduction into the Australian railways in the 1920s of large steam locomotive power. The installation of the nation's first train control system. The design and construction of what were then the world's finest sleeping cars. The placing into scheduled service on the mainland of Australia the first mainline diesel electric locomotive."

ClassQtyBuilderIntroducedWithdrawnNotesLocos 133Fairbairn18561871–1874 Locos Adelaide, Victoria and Albert preceded class system;eventually numbered 1, 2 & 3A3Stephenson1868, 18731893–1924B2Stephenson1856, 18581935, 1938C2Stephenson1856, 18571906, 1926D8Stephenson1856, 1862–18671896, 1904, 1932E7Slaughter, Grüning; Avonside1862–18821886–1929F (1st)2Avonside18691892F (2nd)43SAR; Martin; Perry1902–19221956–1968[NRM]G8Beyer, Peacock1869, 1880, 18861904–1923Ga1Stephenson18991915[c] Bought second hand; built 1874Gb2Stephenson18991904, 1916[c] Bought second hand; built 1874, 1878Gc1Stephenson18991905[c] Bought second hand; built 1879Gd2Beyer, Peacock18991925[c] Bought second hand; built 1880Ge2Beyer, Peacock18991929, 1935 [c] Bought second hand; built 1897H9Stephenson1870–18771888–1930I (1st)1Neilson18791909 Bought second hand; built 1873I (2nd)1Beyer, Peacock19101929 Bought second hand; built 1888J2Beyer, Peacock18751932, 1934K13Beyer, Peacock1879–18841936–1956L4Beyer, Peacock18801928, 1931M (1st)5Avonside1880, 18811913–1917 Bought second hand; built 1868–1874M (2nd)20Phoenix; David Munro & Co.1920–19221925–1935 Bought second hand; built 1889–1894N2Baldwin18811925, 1927O (1st)2Baldwin18811904O (2nd)1Stephenson19121929 Bought second hand; built 1868P20Beyer, Peacock; Martin1884, 18931929, 1957[NRM]Q22Dübs; Martin1885, 18921923, 1956R & Rx84Dübs; Martin; SAR; North British; Walkers1886, 1895, 19161927–1969From 1899, all R class (rebuilds and new builds) became Rx class, denoting Belpaire fireboxes [NRM] [SR]S18Martin1893, 1903–19041942–1960Tx78SAR; Martin; Walkers1903–19171957–1961Five narrow gauge T class converted from narrow gauge 1929; reverted 1949.50010Armstrong Whitworth19261958–1963[NRM]52012SAR1943–19471961–1971[NRM] [SR]60010Armstrong Whitworth19261958–196162010SAR1936–19381963–1969 [NRM] [SR]70010Armstrong Whitworth19261962–1968[NRM]71010SAR19291962–196872017SAR1930–19431958–196074010Clyde Engineering1951–19531963–196575010North British19511961 1969Bought second hand. [NRM]Other broad gauge locomotives purchased by the SAR but not given a classification were as follows:
nos. 97 and 98: 0 6 0T locos built by Kitson in 1884
no. 154: 2 4 0T built by Stephenson in 1893, acquired from the Glenelg Railway Company in 1899
no. 155: 2 4 0T built by Dübs in 1879, acquired from the Grange Railway and Investment Company in 1893. Notes:[c] = date condemned; date withdrawn is unknown. Codes in the Notes column show the locations of preserved examples of classes (operational or on static display) as of 2021:

ClassQtyBuilderIntroducedWithdrawnNotes3006WAGR, VR19521955–1956Bought second hand; built 1943–194540010Société Franco Belge1952–19531970 [NRM]K1Dübs18841938T78SAR, Martin, Walkers1903–1917?–1970 [NRM] [PRR]U8Beyer, Peacock18761924–1929V8Beyer, Peacock; Martin1877, 18931930s, 1940sW & Wx35Beyer, Peacock1877–18821929, 1959From 1903, 18 were rebuilt as Wx class with upgraded boilers. X8Baldwin1881–1882?–1907Y & Yx129Beyer, Peacock; SAR; Martin1885–1898Mainly 1960sBetween 1904 and 1924, 48 were rebuilt as Yx class with Belpaire fireboxes [NRM] [PRR]Z10Martin, SAR 1895, 19111956Other narrow gauge locomotives purchased by the SAR but not given a classification were as follows:
no. 0: 2 6 2T built by Beyer, Peacock, acquired in exchange (for a V class loco, lasting 9 months) with BHP in 1892
no. 107: 0 4 0ST (nicknamed Sandfly) built in 1886 by Baldwin, acquired from C. & E. Millar Bros in 1890
no. 260: 0 4 0T built in 1911 by Hudswell, Clarke & Co. Ltd, acquired from the SA Engineer in Chief's Department in 1916. Notes:Codes in the Notes column show the locations of preserved examples of classes (operational or on static display) as of 2021:

ClassQtyGaugeBuilderIntroducedWithdrawnNotes3502BroadSAR19491979[MHRM] [SR]500 34Broad & standardSAR1964–1969Most 1990s[NRM] [SR]6007StandardGoodwin1965, 1969–1970Mainly 1990s7006Broad & standardGoodwin1971–1972Mainly 2010s80010BroadEnglish Electric (NSW)1956–1957Early 1990s [NRM]83045Broad, standard & narrowGoodwin1959–1969See note Includes 7 DA conversions 90010BroadSAR1951–19531979–1985 [NRM]93037BroadGoodwin1955–1967Most 1986–1994[NRM] [SR]Brill Model 55 railcars12BroadBrill, SAR1924, 19251971? [NRM]Brill Model 75 railcars39Broad & narrowSAR19271971 [NRM] [PRR] [SR]100, 250 & 280 class Bluebird railcars21Broad & standardSAR1954–19591989–1995 See note. [NRM]300 & 400 class "Red Hen" railcars111BroadSAR1955–19711996 [NRM] [SR]Notes:The post SAR dispositions of diesel locomotives and railcars were very diverse and are not easily summarised. Further details are in the articles. Codes in the Notes column show the locations of preserved examples of classes (operational or on static display) as of 2021: