SAR Northern Division

The SAR (South Australian Railways) Northern Division was a network of narrow gauge (3ft 6in - 1047mm) tracks running from Port Augusta to Cockburn on the New South Wales and South Australian border where a private narrow gauge railway provided a "hook and pull" service to Broken Hill. The line was built to carry mineral ores from the mines at Broken Hill to the smelters and port at Port Pire, a function it still performs today. The division also had branch lines to Wilmington, Terowie and Quorn as well as some mining branch lines.

The Trainz layout is modelled on the actual narrow gauge mainline route from Gladstone to Paratoo as it existed in the mid to late 1960s. It includes the complete Wilmington, Quorn and Terowie branch lines. Total route length is 375km (223mi). At Quorn the branch line connected with the Commonwealth Railways narrow gauge Port Augusta to Hawker line - this line was originally the Central Australia Line and extended to Alice Springs at the centre of the continent. Terowie was the junction with the broad gauge (5ft 3in - 1600mm) mainline to Adelaide, the state capital. In 1969 the main line was converted to standard gauge (4ft 8.5in - 1435mm) and, during the following years, the narrow gauge branch lines were closed. The short branch to Terowie was initially converted to broad gauge but eventually this was also closed. The map only shows the major stations. Products carried in the 1960s included:- Passengers Mineral Ores General Goods Sheep & Cattle Fuel These products are commodities in the supporting sessions. Return to Main Page