| Bowmans | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Balaklava Road, Bowmans, South Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 34°09′35″S 138°15′42″E / 34.1597°S 138.2618°E / -34.1597; 138.2618 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Operated by | Australian National | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Line(s) | Balaklava-Moonta line | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 112 kilometres from Adelaide | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Structure type | Ground | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Closed, mostly demolished | ||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1870 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | 1968 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Bowmans railway station was located at the junction of the Balaklava-Moonta railway line and the Adelaide-Port Augusta railway line in the town of Bowmans, South Australia.
History
An isolated horse-drawn and gravity operated tramway was built to deliver grain from the plains east of Port Wakefield in the areas of Balaklava, Halbury and Hoyle's Plains (now Hoyleton) to that port. The line was converted into a steam railway and extended to Kadina and Wallaroo in 1878. Bowmans railway station was opened in 1870. It was named after E. and C. Bowman who were well known pastoralists and led the estate along which the railway passed. It became a junction with the opening of a new railway line from Salisbury to Snowtown and Redhill. That line was later extended from there to Port Pirie in 1936.
The Port Pirie line was constructed as 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) broad gauge and the Moonta line was constructed as 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge. This problem was solved when the Moonta line was converted to broad gauge on 1 August 1927.
Transfer to Australian National, closure and demolition
The station closed to regular passenger use in 1968. In 1978, the station and all associated infrastructure was included in the transfer of South Australian Railways to Australian National. The Port Pirie line was converted from 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) broad gauge to standard gauge in 1982. The broad gauge line through Bowmans closed on 4 April 1984 with the refreshment rooms, most of the station infrastructure and railway line being removed not long after.
Present day
Only the disused railway platform remains as any evidence of a passenger rail service. The alignment of the southern entrance to the station was converted into a spur to service the Bowmans Rail intermodal terminal.
References
- "PORT WAKEFIELD RAILWAY". The South Australian Advertiser. Vol. XII, no. 3385. South Australia. 21 August 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 24 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- "THE PORT WAKEFIELD AND HOYLE'S PLAINS TRAMWAY, AND THE DISTRICT THROUGH WHICH IT PASSES". The Express and Telegraph. Vol. VI, no. 1, 808. South Australia. 27 November 1869. p. 2 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved 24 September 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- Names of South Australian Railway Stations with meanings and derivations
- Bowmans town a link to 1840s start of pastoral family's properties push to top of Spencer Gulf in South Australia
- Redhill Railway Opening 15 August 1925
- Callaghan, WH (2002). "Horse and Steam, Wheat and Copper". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin (January, February, 2002): 9–27, 46–63.
- Railways and Colonisation in South Australia
- Rail Agreement (Adelaide to Crystal Brook Railway) Act 1980 Government of Australia
- Quinlan, Howard; Newland, John (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 - 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 56–58. ISBN 0-909650-49-7.
- Bowmans.Port Wakefield. All that is left of the large railway station and refreshment rooms at Bowmans
- [https://www.bowmansrail.com.au/ Bowmans Rail