Victor Harbor Horse Drawn Tram

In 2014, in Victor Harbor, a coastal town about an hour south of Adelaide, there continues a tradition started in the late 1800's of using a horse drawn tram service from victor harbor to granite island.

The current trams were built in the mid 1980's, double storey and still look great today, thanks to regular maintenance and being stored undercover in a secure tram shed near to the victor harbor tram stop.

Here is the shed:

Closer view:

A couple of trams are already in service today with two in storage...here is Tram No. 4:

Here is the view showing the track work that leads from the tram shed to the Victor Harbor train station and the Victor harbor tram stop.

Track switching:

View towards Victor harbor train station past the right side of the tram shed.

Here is the Victor Harbor tram stop where the tram journey starts:

Here are some photos of the horse drawn trams in action:

Here is the terminus stop on Granite Island:

There is a small manual turntable to turn the tram around for the return journey. A signboard shows the ride details - schedule and fares.

Close up of the tram front logo:

Tram is dropping off passengers:

On the move again:

The causeway that the tram crosses from Victor harbor to granite island:

It is well worth the visit to Victor harbor to ride the horse drawn tram!

Citadis Tram in Adelaide CBD

Quick photo today of one of the newer Citadis trams repainted in blue advertising and stopped at the Rundle Mall tram stop in Adelaide!

Behind it is a flexity tram heading the other direction.

The tram line runs from the Adelaide Entertainment Centre through the city centre and then south west to Glenelg beach.

North Adelaide Railway Station

Yesterday I was in Bowden to attend the Fork on the Road food event nearby, and decided to have a closer look at the North Adelaide Railway Station.

From the vantage point below at the pedestrian crossing, you can see the freight line on the right heading towards Adelaide (also used by the Ghan and Indian Pacific). The other lines are the Adelaide Metro Broad gauge lines servicing the Gawler line, and also providing access to the Dry Creek Depot where Adelaide Metro trains are stored and serviced when not in use:

This station is active and is the first stop on the Gawler line. It is not used a great deal though, and often trains pass through the station without stopping.

Here is the view on the Adelaide Metro Platform which is heading towards Gawler, looking at the bus shelter style stop on this platform and the North Adelaide Station building on the opposite side:

Here is a closer view of the North Adelaide Railway Station building, which is not in use and is sealed up on the platform side - does provide shelter when it is raining though, like today:

North Adelaide Station signage on the platform:

Further along the platform I can see the Park Terrace bridge in the distance, freight line on the left and two broad gauge Adelaide Metro lines on the right:

When the electrification works to Dry Creek and beyond take place, this view will change a lot from how it is today!

Here is a another shot of the North Adelaide Railway Station building:

As I was taking photos, a regular service Gawler line train passed through North Adelaide station without stopping, on it's way to Adelaide Railway Station:

Here is the train as it passes through the station - 3 carriages on this 2000 series Diesel train service:

After the train passes through the station:

Here is the bus stop style Train Stop information board at North Adelaide Railway Station, Platform 1:

Given that trains infrequently stop at this station is it important to check the schedule to make sure you can catch the train from this station. Bowden Railway Station (on the Outer harbour and Grange lines) is walking distance from this station, as is the Entertainment Centre Tram stop - so it is not a great surprise that it sees little use.

When the Adelaide Railway Station was closed in January 2014 for electrification works for the Seaford line, North Adelaide Railway Station was the start/terminating Railway Station for the Gawler line, where people transferred here to buses to go to Adelaide Railway Station. For that month it was very busy at this station!

Angaston Railway Station

On a trip this weekend to the Barossa Valley, I took some photos around the disused Angaston Railway Station.

Angaston was the end of the line from Gawler Central Station (terminus of the Adelaide Metro) into the Barossa Valley. This stopped being used for passenger services many years ago, with the Barossa Wine Train the last regular train to serve passengers on the line. Subsequently some occasional National Rail Museum charter train journeys were the last train trips on the line.

There is some talk of the Barossa Wine Train service coming back, with the original Barossa Wine Train recently tested and discussions apparently in progress - I hope so - I would love to ride it!

There is a branch line from this line still open and active to the Penrice Soda facility near Angaston. , operated by a train called the "Stonie" by locals, transporting soda products from the quarry to Penrice's facility in Port Adelaide for processing.

The railway line split to Penrice occurs just after Nuriootpa railway station, with one section going to Angaston and the other to Penrice.

The Nuriootpa to Angaston line has recently been converted into a cycle way, replacing the old railway line completely making any future restoration of services along this section much more difficult.

However, at Angaston station (as shown below) a short section of the old railway line has been retained, along with the turntable section for turning trains around (not maintained well) and the sections that used to lead to storage sheds I suspect (although not certain of this previous use).

Below is the view looking towards Angaston Railway Station, with the Goods Shed on the right, and the Angaston Station platform on the left (you can click to expand any of these photos for a closer look):

Here is the view towards Nuriootpa, showing the bicycle path which has now replaced the main railway line between Angaston and Nuriootpa. Below you can see where the short track left now ends, where it used to merge into the main railway line towards Nuriootpa:

The Goods Shed is preserved well enough, and is still on the Angaston Railway station site today in 2014. Here is a view of the Goods Shed from the platform:

Another view of the Goods Shed from ground level, looking towards Nuriootpa:

The Angaston Station building itself is starting to show the sure signs of lack of maintenance and care. Here is the view of the Entrance side of the building from the car park:

The ticket office:

Platform side view of the station building:

View from the other side of the building. You see the timber has seen better days:

Passenger waiting area:

View of the station building platform side from the former railway line bed (now a cycle lane):

I noticed that the platform edge has started falling apart in sections like below, and it is not particularly safe:

Here is a view of the platform edge damage I observed from the railway line bed, looking towards the platform:

Here is the view past the platform at the Angaston end of the station platform showing the line splitting off to the turntable and continuing to the final end. The cycle path on the right winds up to street level just out of shot:

A close up of the in situ switch:

Next to the line leaving the good shed is this statue of a man reading a newspaper, waiting for a train that will never come...next to him some lock ups for bicycle riders while they explore Angaston:

The turntable at Angaston, clearly not maintained anymore and becoming a bit of an eyesore, overgrown and becoming a dumping ground for rubbish:

A car park was made over the in situ railway lines that continue past the turntable. You can still see the rails clearly in the car park:

Here is the view from the car park back towards Angaston Railway Station:

Here marks the end of the main line - almost:

Beyond the end sign above, the tracks continue into the bush land behind:

And past the bushes this is where the line actually ends. Beyond this point is a hill rising to the road crossing:

There is an information sign that explains a little about the history of the railways in the area, installed as part of the bikeway installation on the former railway line (click to expand):

With the conversion to bikeway, it means some ongoing work will be done to keep the railway station area clean into the future for that purpose. Whether any attention is made to keep the railway station building or turntable clean and tidy remains to be seen.