There was a time when trains ruled the nation.
Everyone from primary producers to construction workers and travellers relied on the railways to move around or transport goods between cities, towns and regions.
And train services were scheduled from Mt Barker station multiple times a day.
“People used it for transport quite a bit, but also for goods too,” rail enthusiast and SteamRanger volunteer James Andonopoulos says.
“There (was) a lot of livestock and a lot of mail and general goods – and Victor Harbor was always a popular holiday destination, especially in the summertime.”
During the late 19th Century, the State Government backed rail aggressively in a bid to connect agricultural areas.
By the turn of the 20th Century, the regions were becoming more and more connected by rail, providing a faster link than the horse and cart or paddle steamers along the Murray River.
There were lines between Adelaide and Morgan – completed in 1878 – and to Marree in the far north, completed by early 1884.
As a vital interstate line was rolled out, connecting Adelaide and Melbourne, a junction near Littlehampton was also established in 1883.
This station, known as Mt Barker Junction, allowed the existing line between Strathalbyn and the Fleurieu Peninsula to connect directly to Adelaide, and later Melbourne.
“They saw an opportunity and with Mt Barker close enough to Adelaide, it was just the right spot for a junction,” James says.
The junction opened up new possibilities for Hills farmers who could freight their goods or travel along their regional line directly to the interstate corridor to travel to Melbourne or Adelaide.
But while rail remains a staple in many parts of the world, it’s heyday was short lived in the Adelaide Hills.
“We were connected by rail before the time of the car; rail was the way to travel,” James says.
“But once the motor car came along, and once it started getting popular and cheaper, that started killing rail in SA.”
If it wasn’t for a group of 12 men in the 1950s, the experience of riding a steam train through the Adelaide Hills would be nothing more than a distant memory
By the 1950s, rail was on the decline and, in 1952, 12 men started a group called the Australian Railway Historical Society (SA Division).
“What (the Society) did was organised tours with the railways … for a day out,” James says.
“By 1960, the group was going to the government railway and saying, ‘we want to run a trip … we want to hire one of your trains’.
“People could see that the decline of railways was on approach, especially with steam, so (the Society) started running tours all around.”
By 1966, suburban steam locomotives were replaced with diesel ones, and by 1970, regional freight followed suit.
But one of the Australian Railway Historical Society members, Dean Harvey, was determined to preserve railway history.
“Dean didn’t want to see (steam) die,” James says.
“So he actually went to the railway commissioner and said, ‘I want to preserve some steam engines so we can run tours’.”
In 1970, the railway commission told him it would cost $10,000 (about $85,000 today) to save a steam locomotive from scrap.
“The railway commissioner and folks in railway didn’t think (the Society would) be able to get that money,” James says.
“By late 1970 the money was nearly there.”
Using the money raised by the Society, South Australian Railways restored its SAR 621 steam locomotive and allowed the Society to hire it back from them.
“They basically resurrected a steam engine that they could use for their tours, and they got Royal permission to rename it the Duke of Edinburgh, after a royal who’s now our King Charles,” James says.
The SAR 621 was the first of what would become a list of locomotives the Society would save.
“This is the first instance of a private group going to the railways and (saying) ‘we’ll give you money to restore one of your engines for us so we can hire it from you’.”
By 1980, the society had had a depot built at Dry Creek where members could house and look after the engines themselves.
But in 1995, the line from Adelaide to Melbourne was converted from broad gauge to standard to bring it into line with other interstate tracks.
With their engines built to run on broad gauge tracks, the Society had to make a choice: move operations to Mt Barker or be cut off from the historical Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu lines.
The rest is history.
“This became a new home, and this became the beginning of our journey with our railway between Mt Barker and Victor Harbor,” James says of the Mt Barker SteamRanger depot.
Today, SteamRanger volunteers operate services between Mt Barker and the coast – traversing the 77km corridor using historic and restored steam and diesel engines.
SteamRanger services operate on about 200 days of the year, transporting almost 70,000 passengers.
Funds raised from ticket sales for the Cockle Train service between Goolwa and Victor Harbor, the Highlander service between Mt Barker and Strathalbyn, the Southern Encounter service between Mt Barker and Victor Harbor and a range of seasonal and special services facilitate the upkeep of the line and engines.
SteamRanger maintains 82km of broad gauge track and restores locomotives like the early 1900s Rx class engines, which frequently power the Cockle Train.
“When I was a kid in 2001, I saw one of these Rx class engines, and I was like, ‘whoa … this is so cool’,” James says.
“The experience of seeing that and then sitting inside a wood body carriage where you could put your window down while it’s rickety and knocky – it’s just something that takes you back in time.”
If it wasn’t for a group of 12 men in the 1950s, the experience of riding a steam train through the Adelaide Hills would be nothing more than a distant memory.
