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Exploring the Forgotten Peebinga Railway Line | South Australian History

Outdoorstype

9,468 views

The history of this old railway line is one of old-school Aussie grit and determination.

Everywhere else in South Australia, the pioneers settled the land first, proved it could grow wheat, and the railway followed.

But out here? This tough outback country was so sandy that farmers couldn’t get in there to prove the soil.

Like the Pinnaroo line, they decided to build the railway first, in another classic case of 'build it and they will come'.

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ARCHIVE IMAGES AND FOOTAGE:

National Railway Museum - ‪@nationalrailwaymuseumporta3502‬

Weston Langford - https://www.westonlangford.com/

State Library of South Australia

Denisbin - https://www.flickr.com/photos/8213479...

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RESEARCH:

'The Peebinga Line', Dylan Badenoch, 2024, Railmac Publications
(available at the NRM)

https://www.karoonda.com/see-do/histo...

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/ar...
(etc)

'Hairylegs Tracks' .kmz file for Google Earth

Good old fashioned Google with fact checks

Thanks to the ODT crew on YT and FB

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AUDIO/MUSIC:

Howling Wind - Sound Effect by LIECIO from Pixabay

YouTube Library

National Railway Museum recordings

Bluebird horn - ⁨‪@KanesTrains‬

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20 Comments

@simonstaples7586 4 months ago

Another fine example of why great storytelling good research and a pleasant delivery is a winner. Combined with amazing aerial shots , thanks mate for your hard work!

@shivaramasamy4161 4 months ago

Brilliant video yet again. Love how you spend time at each location showing what is left

@barbkevincarter7104 4 months ago

I'm a Peebinga girl so really loved this video. Thank you!

@igavehimadollar3354 4 months ago

I live hours away from karoonds but sometimes I would go out that way for which I liked . Home of the karoonda magpies a beaut little town

@peterpocock9062 4 months ago

Well done Mike. A bit of nostalia there for me. Our farm was about 5 miles south of Mulpata. My father and his wokman would cart bagged grain on the back of a 4 ton (red) Chev truck. Usually about 120 (3 bushell) bags to the open stacks at Mulpata. Usually wheat or barley. Sometimes bagged super was collected from there too. In the earlier days, mallee roots were exported as well.
Any way, the big deal for me was when a loco (usually an Rx) was shunting the yard. Very often the crew would let us get up in the cab and trundle around the yard. No wonder I'm afflicted with a passion for trains!😮 So much so I've nearly finished my 1.5 inch scale 4-8-4 steam loco!

@munrojumpers 4 months ago

Great job Mike! Some of my family was based on this railway line, learnt quite a bit.

@TIMVANBUUREN-q7t 4 months ago

Really enjoyed your video. Fascinating. A huge effort that shows you care. Thank you.

@stevelistkiewicz3177 1 month ago

Love Your videos , You have put a lot of time and effort into them , explaining the History , video clips and photos .

I was out this way in 2016 at Karoonda , 12 months after the last train. Sad to see all this Taxpayer Railway infrastructure , scrapped . Keep up the great Work

@markarthurson7715 4 months ago

I wasn’t aware of that line. Another grand design that didn’t account for climatic conditions nor foresee the innovations that were to come. A real revelation and excellent doco. Thanks.

@timothydunn5889 4 months ago

The W.A.B. on the plaque at Yurgo apparently acknowledges the work of Mrs Hopgood with the "Women in Agriculture and Business of South Australia " As of 2022 it was still running, making it the second oldest continually running branch.

@adriandawson4544 4 months ago

Thanks for another great video. Really enjoying them. I was on that Red Hen trip, two 400 class units ran to Tailem Bend then split up: one going to Peebinga and one to Pinnaroo. I travelled to Peebinga then caught a bus to Pinnaroo and returned to Tailem Bend and Adelaide. I remember looking out the front of the Red Hen on the Peebinga leg, the track just ran up and down over the sand dunes.

@nevillemander 4 months ago

love your work The bakery at Karoonda the best pies and pasties I ever had and always stop there when I drove from Mildura to Adelaide. I love watching the railway line in the scrub as you drive along those bitumen roads and always try to visualise the railway traffic back in the day.

@KanesTrains 4 months ago

Probably the most important thing I’ll do all year, and it’s just giving you a Brill horn sound to use 😅

Fantastic video as usual :)

@kenfowler1980 4 months ago

Another fantastic video mate! I can only echo the comments of others, well done! It is tough country out there!

@VT29steamtrain 4 months ago

Nice one Mike! Its a shame the lines out that way have all suffered an unfortunate fate. Good to see there's a Model 75 and some rolling stock on display at Karoonda though.

@gregwooldridge8864 4 months ago

I lived at gurrai. The train tracks infront of the farmhouse watching the trains go past.

@GerardCarter-i1j 4 months ago (edited)

This part of the mallee is obscure and generally unknown to most South Australians so it's interesting to see this topic covered. An old school mate of mine came from Meribah and that was the first time I'd heard of places like Peebinga. Interestingly, my late father who worked for SAR, was sent out to Karoonda with an offsider for a week in 1977 to do maintenance jobs on the stations. They lived in one of those "sleeping vans". Anyway, I had to drive out there on the Saturday morning to pick up Dad and bring him back home to Adelaide. I later made a trip out that way to have a look at Mootatunga and Peebinga but only got as far as Wirha so I'll have to make an effort to finish that trip from 45 years ago,

@timothywalsh4230 4 months ago

Once again, excellent work Mike. I worked in the property section of SACBH thru to Viterra, brings back good memories.

@ToxicQ777 4 months ago

Just wonderful cheers Mike

@davidreintjens283 4 months ago (edited)

Great video. Well researched. A few years ago, I visited Barmera for the first time in 30 years. Sad that most of the evidence of railway activity has gone. What was real disappointing was that the info centre was situated on the what was part of the line and the person tending knew nothing of the railway history, no publications relating to it. Mind you, she didn't know that they once had a drive in theatre. That's why I enjoy your videos so much.