Farina Standard Gauge Railway
Railway Precinct, Farina, SA
As a result of the opening up of the Leigh Creek Coalfield in the late 1940s and capacity restrictions on the existing narrow gauge Central Australia Railway via the Flinders Ranges, Marree and Quorn, a new standard gauge line was built, opening on 17 May 1956 from Stirling North on the outskirts of Port Augusta to Telford Cut and on 27 July 1957 to Marree. The line was extended to Marree because of the volume of cattle traffic coming off the Birdsville Track.
As well as freight trains, the new line was served by CB railcar services and The Ghan. The CB class was pulled from service in 1976 by Australian National Railways (ANR), leaving the standard gauge Ghan and a mixed train as the only passenger rail services on the line.
Various work was undertaken at the Farina Railway to adapt to the new Standard Gauge line, including a new Good platform, new turning triangle, changes to stockyards and changes to the water pipe layout.
After some research, the FRG has managed to obtain a number of plans from the South Australian Archives, relating to the new Standard Gauge line running through Farina.
The images of the plans below are loaded in Hi Resolution form. If you wish to zoom in to read detail, hover your mouse over the top right corner of the photo, then clock on the three dots (… Settings) and it will give you the option to Magnify Image. You will then be able to move around the plan to view detailed wording and measurements.
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Water Reticulation
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Std Gauge Triangle Turnout
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Std Gauge Layout Part 1
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Std Gauge Layout Part 2
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Std Gauge Layout part 3
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Main Road Change 1957
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Triangle Part 1
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Triangle Part 2
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Triangle Part 3
The arrival of the Standard Gauge at Farina required some infrastructure to support loading and unloading of goods, so a concrete goods platform was built next to the siding track.
Plans for construction of the platform were obtained from the South Australian Archives and are shown below.
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