Pichi Richi Railway: Pichi Richi Explorer

The 3'6" gauge Pichi Richi Railway is located in the mid north of South Australia and winds its way from Pt Augusta to Quorn over the Flinders Ranges through the picturesque Pichi Richi Pass.

In the first half of the 20th century, this line formed both the transcontinental route from Sydney to Perth, and was part of the Central Australia line (made famous by "The Old Ghan") until the 1957 when the standard gauge line to Maree was built.

In the early 70's the Pichi Richi Railway was formed to preserve and operate this line. It is now the only operational section left of the once extensive network of narrow gauge lines north and east of Pt Augusta and remains open due to the dedicated group of volunteers who do an outstanding job running the railway.

This video features the "Pichi Richi Explorer" train which runs from Quorn to Woolshed Flat and return. The train was hauled by Silverton Tramway 22, which is actually rebuilt from former WAGR W916 using parts from the original 22. The carriages are former South Australian Railways narrow gauge cars.

An extra train was also run later in the day for the "Teddy Bears Picnic" and I followed this to Woolshed Flat.

Shunting at Quorn 0:00
Departing Quorn 1:37
Pichi Richi Park 2:39
Waukarie Creek 3:26
Woolshed Flat 4:04
Woolshed Flat - Pichi Richi 5:06
Near Pichi Richi 6:54
Pichi Richi - Summit 7:59
Quorn 9:04
Departing Quorn 9:29
Downgrade from Summit 10:46
Pichi Richi 11:20
Pichi Richi Park - Woolshed Flat 11:51
On the stone walls near Woolshed Flat 12:47
Woolshed Flat 14:24


© 2010 James Brook

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Pichi
• Richi
• Railway
• South
• Australian
• Railways
• Commonwealth
• WAGR
• Silverton
• Tramway
• Flinders
• Ranges
• Pt
• Augusta
• Quorn
• steam
• train
• railroad
• gunzel
• railfan
• W934
• W22
• CR
• SAR
• narrow
• gauge
• Old
• Ghan
• afghan
• express
• woolshed
• flat

[kdjat]

Anyone spot the kangaroo at around 2:50 running alongside track? Whistle and noise of train interrupted his grazing!

[vrfan2006]

@kdjat Yeah, plenty of kangaroos around.

[rajnikantsharma]

Nice video. How do the volunteers finance the railway?

[vrfan2006]

@rajnikantsharma The railway would mostly be financed through ticket sales, donations and grants.

[Gavsta40]

Awesome Quality! And i love the video!