Line(s) Victor Harbor line Bicycle facilities No Opened 1883 | Parking No Closed 1984 | |
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Location Druids Avenue
Mount Barker Bus routes 835 to Lobethal via Hahndorf
837 to Nairne
840 to City via South Eastern Freeway
852 to Strathalbyn via Wistow
853 to Strathalbyn via Macclesfield
864 to City via Aldgate Address Mount Barker SA 5251, Australia Similar SteamRanger, Mount Barker Junction r, Port Dock railway station, Clapham railway station - A, Albert Park railway station - A | ||
Mount Barker railway station is a preserved railway station in South Australia on the Victor Harbor line, formerly operated by South Australian Railways and it successor, Australian National. With only broad gauge track running through the station, it has been disconnected from the Adelaide metropolitan network since the standardisation of the Adelaide-Wolseley line in 1995. It is still used by Steamranger, a heritage train operator between Mount Barker and Victor Harbor.
History
The first railway link between two colonial capital cities, Adelaide and Melbourne, was completed in 1886. Three years earlier construction on a branch line from Mount Barker Junction to Victor Harbor, with stations at Mount Barker, Strathalbyn and Goolwa, was begun, and completed in 1884. The Mount Barker railway station was built out of Aldgate freestone, and housed a stationmaster's quarters and a ticketing office. It was opened on 27 November 1883.
Regular services operated until passenger numbers declined in the late 20th century with the dominance of the motor car, and were terminated in April 1984. Community support saw the establishment of the non-for-profit organisation Steamranger in 1989, which ran heritage trains from Adelaide to Victor Harbor through the station. As part of the One Nation programme in 1995, the main line between Adelaide and Melbourne was converted to standard gauge, leaving Streamranger's depot in metropolitan Adelaide isolated and defunct. Mount Barker station became its new base, and all its locomotives and facilities were transferred there. As part of the move, the railway station itself, at the time derelict, was renovated by the District Council of Mount Barker.