Beachport railway station

Beachport railway station was the terminus of the Beachport railway line. It served the town of Beachport.

Beachport
General information
LocationRailway Terrace, Beachport, South Australia
Coordinates37°28′43″S 140°00′39″E / 37.47848636898985°S 140.01096420878986°E / -37.47848636898985; 140.01096420878986
Operated bySouth Australian Railways
Line(s)Beachport line
Distance381 kilometres from Adelaide
Platforms1
Tracks1
Construction
Structure typeGround
Other information
StatusClosed to passengers, repurposed as the Beachport Bowling Club
History
Opened1878
Closed1957

History

edit

Beachport station opened in 1878 when narrow gauge railway was built from the port on Rivoli Bay at what is now Beachport inland via Millicent to Mount Gambier.[1] The line was initially used for both freight and passenger traffic. It spanned right across the jetty and some spur lines into the Grain and Wool Store, the sheep yards and a chicory kiln. The rail yards were huge with the station being supported by passenger and freight sheds, repair workshops and accommodations for the South Australian Railways employees.[2] The station consisted of a station master's residence and a waiting room. The waiting room and residence were weatherboard and had a metal tiled roof, which replaced a corrugated galvanized iron roof. The residence had an M-shaped gable end with lourved ventilators. Modern additions adjoined the northern and southern ends. The waiting room had a dressed stone chimney.[3]

The station closed in 1957 when the line was converted to broad gauge and was cut back to terminate at Millicent.[4][5] The line through Beachport was removed but the station building was retained as a bowling club[6] and the old wool and grain store has been preserved and today serves as a National Trust museum.

References

edit
  1. ^ MOUNT GAMBIER AND RIVOLI BAY RAILWAY 20 May 1879
  2. ^ Beachport Museum Railway Exhibition
  3. ^ HERITAGE SURVEY OF THE SOUTH EAST
  4. ^ Broad gauge Railway Opened, 23 June 1953, via trove.nla.gov.au
  5. ^ Millicent and Beachport Railway Discontinuance Act, 1959. No. 22, Government Printer, 24 May 2011, retrieved 3 August 2015
  6. ^ Old Railway Station (1878), Beachport, South East Region, South Australia