G'day all, T211 has just arrived at Quorn on the weekly Hawker goods and from this point it will cease to be an S.A.R train and become a Commonwealth Railways train. 211 will continue to Hawker but the S.A.R brakevan will come off and be replaced by the ComRails van lurking behind the engine, see the taildisc? That van had been the Hotel Quorn for Ray Graf and I while we waited overnight for the goods to arrive and we camped in it when we got back from Hawker too.
I read somewhere, can't think where, that in it's heyday the railway employed 400 people at Quorn, that figure seems a lot but it was definitely a railway town before it was bypassed by the standard gauge line between Port Augusta and Maree.
Quorn railway station was unusual, still is, the building is set well back from the tracks. In this photo you can see the paved strip alongside the tracks and the lights on the poles but there is a paddock between here and the station building and an imposing railway station it is too.
According to a 1930s South Australian Railways time table I have a train set out from Quorn for Alice Springs on every second Thursday, the Alice was 746 miles away and when you passed Hawker you only had 705 miles to go. Well over 1000 kilometres in the new money.
Don't know about you, but in my minds eye I can see passengers stepping down from the cars onto that narrow strip of asphalt to stretch the legs and not one of them without a hat.
The train was here for two hours, plenty of time for a meal in the Railway Refreshment Rooms or a few beers over the way at The Transcontinental Hotel .
Take a look at the attached timetable and see how long it took to get to the Alice.
Best regards,
Peter Bruce.
P.S. Google Pichi Richi Railway.
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