Kybunga railway station
Kybunga | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Former Australian National regional rail | |||||||||||
.jpg) Wheat stacks at Kybunga station, ca. 1920 | |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | Longmire Road, Kybunga, South Australia | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°55′18″S 138°30′27″E / 33.92152836902067°S 138.50744205834695°E | ||||||||||
| Line(s) | Gladstone line | ||||||||||
| Distance | 140 kilometres from Adelaide | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||
| Structure type | Ground | ||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||
| Status | Closed and demolished | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | 14 March 1876 | ||||||||||
| Closed | 12 July 1981 | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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Kybunga railway station was located on the Hamley Bridge-Gladstone railway line. It served the town of Kybunga, South Australia.
History
[edit]Kybunga opened on 14 March 1876 as part of the narrow gauge line from Balaklava to Blyth on 14 March 1876 as part of the Port Wakefield line. On 15 January 1880, the line opened from Hamley Bridge to Balaklava.[1] It was extended north from Blyth to Gladstone on 2 July 1894 where it joined the Port Pirie-Cockburn and Wilmington lines. The line was gauge converted to 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) on 1 August 1927. The station's name was given by Lieutenant Colonel C.R Roberts originally to his farm along with the township, it also ended up being the name for the railway station.[2] In 1912, residents of Kybunga met with the railway commissioner and requested imrpoved facilities at the station, so that Port Pirie express trains can stop there. The residents also requested a station master to be appointed at the station [3] although their request to make Kybunga an attended station never eventuated.
In 1927, the line through Kybunga was gauge converted from narrow gauge to broad gauge.[4] By 1966, the station facilities at Kybunga included a platform with a ramp, a heavy portable ramp, a side loading sheep race along with an adjustable ramp for loading and unloading goods and livestock such as pigs between a livestock van and a road vehicle.[5]
In 1978, the station and all associated infrastructure were included in the transfer of South Australian Railways to Australian National. Kybunga became an unattended crossing station in July 1977 and closed to all goods and parcels traffic on 12 July 1981. It closed to regular passengers on 6 November 1982 and by January 1988, was only listed as having a crossing loop.[5] The line through Kybunga closed on 29 March 1989.[6] Removal of the tracks and infrastructure began in the early 1990s and was completed by the end of 1992; there is no longer any trace of the station.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ "Hamley Bridge and Balaklava Railway". South Australian Register. Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia. 26 November 1879. p. 5. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ^ Names Of South Australian Railway Stations 24 March 1915
- ^ Kybunga Railway Station 16 March 1912
- ^ "The Big Push". Register. August 1927 – via Trove.
- ^ a b c "Stations Remembered: SAR – Halbury, Hoyleton & Kybunga by Steve McNicol – Paperback – 1st Edition 1st Printing – 2021 – from Train World Pty Ltd (SKU: ARMP-0223)". Biblio.com.au. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ Quinlan, Howard; Newland, John (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 - 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 56, 58. ISBN 0-909650-49-7.