Loxton railway line

Loxton railway line
File:Tookayerta grain terminal 1.JPG Tookayerta grain terminal at the end of the line
Overview
Status	No trains operating
Locale	Murray Mallee
Coordinates
Termini	Tailem Bend Loxton
Operation
Opened	2 February 1914 (1914-02-02)
Closed	20 July 2015 (2015-07-20)
Events
Converted to standard gauge	1996
Technical
Line length	(Tailem Bend–Tookayerta)
No. of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Old gauge	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Route map Adelaide-Wolseley railway line to Adelaide 120.3 km Tailem Bend Loop (Station closed) Adelaide-Wolseley railway line to Melbourne Pinnaroo railway line to Ouyen 169.0 km Karoonda Loop & silos Peebinga & Waikerie lines 215.2 km Mindarie Mine 224.4 km Wanbi Loop & silos x20px Moorook railway line to Yinkanie 243.6 km Alawoona Loop & silos Barmera railway line 271.0 km Tookayerta Grain Terminal Loxton (Closed) Route distances from Adelaide Blue is Standard Gauge, red was broad gauge

The Loxton railway line is a closed railway line in the northern Murray Mallee region of South Australia. It ran north-east from Tailem Bend to grain silos near Loxton.

History

The line initially opened from Tailem Bend to Karoonda on 26 June 1896, being extended to Alawoona on 9 September 1896 and Loxton on 2 February 1914. It closed on 6 January 1996 to be gauge converted from broad gauge to standard gauge to retain connection to the main line from Adelaide to Melbourne after that line was converted. The last grain train left the silos on 20 June 2015, marking the closure of the line.

Route

The railway branched off the main line just south of Tailem Bend, and tracked roughly north-east. The Karoonda Highway from Murray Bridge East paralleled it after about 24 kilometres at Kulde. The railway and highway continued together 100 kilometres north-east through Karoonda to Alawoona, then both turned north for the final 35 kilometres to Loxton.

The line no longer continues to Loxton station, having been curtailed at a bulk grain facility a few kilometres short of the town. The end of the main line became the grain terminal at what was originally the Tookayerta siding. The line closed on 20 July 2015, with all grain traffic now taken by road.