Kadina–Brinkworth railway line

Kadina–Brinkworth railway line
Overview
Status	Partially closed and removed, remaining section dormant
Locale	Mid North, South Australia
Termini	Kadina Brinkworth
Continues from	Balaklava-Moonta line
Continues as	Hamley Bridge-Gladstone line
Service
System	South Australian Railways
Operator(s)	South Australian Railways Australian National
History
Opened	Kadina-Snowtown: 1 October 1879 Snowtown-Brinkworth: 2 July 1894
Closed	Snowtown-Brinkworth: 20 February 1990 Kadina-Snowtown: 3 March 1993
Technical
Line length	95.3 km (59.2 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Old gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Route map Brinkworth Hamley Bridge–Gladstone line Condowie to Crystal Brook & Port Augusta Snowtown Adelaide–Port Augusta line to Adelaide Barunga Gap Bute Mona Willamulka Balaklava–Moonta line to Port Wakefield Kadina dual gauge Balaklava–Moonta line Wallaroo Mines Wallaroo to Moonta broad gauge standard gauge dual gauge

The Kadina–Brinkworth railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network.

History

The first section of the line opened on 1 October 1879 from Kadina to Snowtown, branching off from the Balaklava-Moonta line. It was extended to Brinkworth on 2 July 1894 where it joined the Hamley Bridge-Gladstone line. On 1 August 1927, the line was gauge converted from 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) to 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in).

The section from Kadina to Snowtown was converted to dual gauge on 2 December 1982 with an extra 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) rail laid following the conversion of the Adelaide-Port Augusta line. The Snowtown to Brinkworth section closed on 20 February 1990 followed by the rest of the line on 3 March 1993.

After closure, part of the line from Wallaroo to Bute was used by the Lions Club of Yorke Peninsula for heritage tourist train services, but this ceased in 2009. The line between Wallaroo and Kadina has since been pulled up and replaced with the Copper Coast Rail Trail and retail stores on both ends.