Whyalla Railway Station

I was in Whyalla on business this month and took the opportunity to visit the remains of the former Whyalla passenger Railway Station.

I am a bit sketchy on the exact closing date, but my understanding is that the station closed in December 1990 along with the passenger services from Adelaide to Whyalla (via Port Augusta).

The railway line itself is still in active use today by Arrium Steelworks mining operation in Whyalla, and the trains run past the former Whyalla station on their way to/from the Steelworks facility.

It seems a real shame that we can't have a passenger service from Adelaide to Whyalla any more, especially when the line servicing Whyalla is still in active use today, unlike many of the closed country lines in South Australia.

The station itself is no longer signposted anywhere, and there is one dirt road from the main road into Whyalla leading to it, also unmarked. I needed to use Google Maps to locate the station, since without any signage (and being hidden away from the road behind trees) it was hard to find.

It is not that close to the Whyalla township, which seems a strange decision given the rails go much closer than this to Whyalla. I found the station eventually though, and parked nearby.

Here is the view towards the station platform, with the wooden fence (and iron mesh) on the platform intact but obviously no longer maintained.

As I walked onto the station platform I could see the Station sign, plants and concrete chairs were still present.

Here are some close up photos of the Whyalla Station platform signage:

This is the view from the Platform towards Port Augusta end:

Some motorcyclist has clearly decided to use the platform for doing burnouts at some point...

 
This is what is left of the former Whyalla Railway Station building. Sadly it was demolished sometime between 2009 and 2012 so I didn't get to see it...you can see the large station building that was there on Johnny's pages website here.

 
Some alternative photos of the former station building site:

Some remnants still remain of the flooring - I guess the toilets?

Here is the view from the Whyalla station platform towards Whyalla:

Turning around and looking back towards Whyalla I took a few more shots from the platform - I am guessing no one is likely to sit in this chair:

View across the platform towards the running track:

Some last views of the Whyalla platform looking towards the Port Augusta end:

Some running track shots to finish up:

I was keen to see this station having not been to Whyalla before, and I was glad to be able to finally see it. Would be better if you could still catch trains at it of course...

Tanunda Railway Station

This weekend I went on a trip to the Barossa and decided to drop in to see the Tanunda Railway Station, on the now disused line from Gawler Central to Angaston.

The Tanunda Railway Station is being used today as a local Radio station, which makes it the only station on the disused line in active use, albeit not as it's intended function. It does mean the building is being kept in reasonable condition though.

The Goods Shed is still intact too as you can see above. The other railway lines that were originally here have been long since removed, with only the main line still remaining.

Reminders of the Stonie are still here, with the signs indicating only Marble trains to use the line.

Another view of the good shed:

Someone has been actively fighting the graffiti on the Goods Shed.

Another poor condition platform siding is here too - not sure what it's original function was, here looking towards Gawler:

Here are some more photos of the Tanunda station:

View looking towards Nuriootpa:

Next I went around the front of the Station, which looks quite barren:

On the Tanunda station platform:

On the platform looking towards Nuriootpa:

On the Platform looking towards Gawler:

As a final look around I went to the railway crossing near the station:

View from the pedestrian crossing looking towards Nuriootpa:

Final photo looking towards Tanunda Railway Station from the Pedestrian crossing:

I was glad to see the station is not in too bad condition. I really hope someone uses this line for wine tours into the Barossa using the old Barossa Wine Train (as has been suggested as a possibility) - it would be great to ride this line - I have never had the chance.

Balhannah Railway Station

This weekend I took a trip to the abandoned Balhannah Railway Station in the Adelaide Hills, in the town of Balhannah.

As the station is completely fenced off with clear signs to keep out, I took ALL photos here from behind the fence of the station. I made sure to remain behind the fence at all times. Click any photos to enlarge.

The Great Southern Rail Overland train to Melbourne (Twice weekly) and regular freight trains still use the standard gauge railway lines through this station.

Originally Balhannah Railway Station was on the former broad gauge line that was shortened to Belair Railway Station for Adelaide Metro broad gauge line services. The broad gauge line itself from Belair onwards was replaced back in 1995 to a dual standard gauge line to Melbourne.

Update 10/5/2015: Balhannah Station used to also be a junction station, which a branch line diverged from here towards Oakbank, Woodside, Charleston, Mount Torrens, Birdwood and on to Mount Pleasant. This branch line was opened in 1918 and closed in 1953, but still had some rail traffic to Oakbank Race Carnival yearly until the early 1960's. The branch line rails have long been removed and the stations too, but the former alignment can be seen by following a gravel road near the station through a cutting and following the Onkaparinga Valley Road. This can be seen well on Google Maps.

A section of this former branch line between Oakbank and Mount Torrens is now converted to a bike trail called the "Amy Gillet bikeway". It is planned to extend the bikeway along the former rail alignment to Mount Pleasant in the future. Thanks to Pressman (SouthOzRail forum) for most of this extra info.

  

The station itself is in very poor condition, covered in Graffiti and eaten out by termites too. I assume it will be demolished at some stage.

Zoomed in photo of the former goods siding (from behind the fence) with the crane also in situ:

View towards Balhannah Station on the platform (positioned behind the fence) - you can also see the signal box building structure still in situ:

View of the Entrance to the Balhannah Railway Station from behind the fence:

I thought it might be interesting to show Railway fans what Balhannah Railway Station looks like in April 2015, as I suspect it may not be around for much longer.