Spalding railway line

The Spalding railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network which branched from the Peterborough line at Riverton and passed through the Clare Valley to Spalding. The line opened from Riverton to Clare on 5 July 1918, being extended to Spalding on 9 January 1922. The cessation of railway services was a consequence of the Ash Wednesday bushfires in February 1983, which caused major damage to infrastructure between Sevenhill and Penwortham. The line was formally closed on 17 April 1984.

There is presently a committee in Clare that is organising events and displays to mark the centenary of the official ceremony of the opening of the railway to Clare, performed by His Excellency, the Governor, Sir Henry Galway, on 4 July1918. A book covering the history of the railway is being prepared, and is planned to be released for the centenary in July 2018.

It was a railway that had been mooted in the 1860s, but was deemed to be too costly on account of the hilly nature of the Clare region. In 1870 railways were constructed to the east Burra, and the west (Hoyleton) of the Clare region. In 1875 a Railway Commission was established to recommend appropriate expansion of the South Australian railway network, but recommended against a branch-line to Clare, as there was no point in the Clare region that was more than 15 miles from a railway station. The communities of Clare, Watervale and Auburn continued to agitate for the railway. About 1909 their cause was championed by Sir Richard Butler, who had briefly been South Australian Premier, and was Commissioner of Public Works in Archibald Peake's administration. A Royal Commission examined the proposal and determined that a branch-line to Clare would not generate revenue sufficient to cover costs, but by extending the line towards Spalding would facilitate closer settlement of the pastoral estates, which would in turn generate more revenue. The Riverton to Spalding Railway Act was passed in 1913.

It was built with economies that doomed it to an inefficiency of operation. There were tight curves (15 chains (990 ft; 300 m) radius north of Clare), 1:60 grades, second-hand 60lb rails, and reinforced concrete bridges that were designed for light axle loading. When larger locomotives were introduced on the South Australian Railways in 1926, the Spalding line was unable to carry their greater weight. The motive power up to 1950 was mainly Rx class engines, with the occasional Q class and S class. Commencing early 1951, the line was worked mainly by 750 class locomotives. From 1960 the line was worked by 830 class diesel-electric locomotives.

There was a major bridge over the Broughton River, just south of Spalding. It still stands, and in 1993 it was heritage listed. That listing was a consequence of the inclusion of the bridge in the 1985 book by Colin O'Connor "Spanning Two Centuries - Historic Bridges of Australia". O'Connor's book contains inaccuracies in relation to this bridge. He attributes its design to Alexander Moncrieff. The contract drawing is signed by Alex's brother Joseph. When the bridge was designed, Alex Moncrieff had been gone from the South Australian Railways for 2 years. It's 5-arch design was, by engineering standards, more than a decade obsolete when the contract was signed in 1918. Australia's expert on ferro-concrete construction, John Monash had abandoned this style of bridge by 1906. When this bridge had been completed in 1919 there was a dispute over payment, to Joseph Dixon, the contractor. The matter went to the High Court, which was critical of Joseph Moncrieff's handling of the contract, yet by a majority the High Court found in favour of the South Australian Railways.

In 1924 the South Australian Railways introduced Model 55 Brill petrol railcars to provide passenger services on rural branch-lines, with Clare being the first destination, commencing 24 February. On 22 February, South Australian Premier Sir Henry Barwell hosted a group of officials and Members of Parliament on a demonstration run to Clare. By the end of 1924, the new railcars had become known in popular parlance as "Barwell Bulls", which was a term coined by one of Barwell's political opponents, and with reference to the penetrating bovine sound of the railcar's air-horn.

In 1927 the larger Model 75 Brill railcars operated the passenger service, and continued until 1954. On 24 May 1954 the railcar service was replaced by a co-ordinated road-bus service serving Jamestown and the towns along the Spalding railway line, to connect with trains at Riverton. The main source of outward freight on the line was bulk grain railed from Andrews, however the rail-haul distance for transporting the grain to the terminal at Port Adelaide was considerably longer than the distance by road-haul to Wallaroo.During the 1970s there was a marked drop in tonnages of grain railed from Andrews. Spalding became an unattended station in January 1975, and then in July 1978, soon after Australian National Railways took over South Australian country operations, Andrews became the effective terminus, as the Working timetable had deleted Spalding.

The safeworking system was initially by the Telephone Block method from 1918 to 1922. With the opening of the line to Spalding in 1922, the line was worked by the Permissive Block. In January 1944 the line was worked by the Train Order system, operated by Train Control in Adelaide.

The track was lifted in 1989. In October 1992 the Clare Valley Winemakers Association held a Creative Think Day intended to unearth a way to distinguish the region's Riesling. Tony Brady of Wendouree Cellars suggested a trail be built using the old railway formation, and that it be called The Riesling Trail. He was supported by Evan Hiscock of Petaluma Wines. The proposal gained support from Terry Lavender of the State's Office of Recreation and Sport. In May 1994, two trial sections of The Riesling Trail were officially opened - Sevenhill to Watervale, and Riverton to Rhynie. The Clare Valley Winemakers Association continued to drive development of the Trail. The official launch of the section between Clare and Auburn was on 7 November 1998. In 1999 a community management committee was established. The 19 kilometres (12 mi) section from Riverton through Rhynie to Auburn was subsequently redeveloped as the Rattler Rail Trail and opened in 2010. The original 33 kilometres (21 mi) section from Auburn through the Clare Valley to Clare and beyond was extended northwards to the former Barinia siding, and was opened in November 2009.Riesling Trail.