Media Information Pack
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MEDIA INFORMATION PACK PICHI RICHI RAILWAY Proudly Volunteer Restored and Run since 1974 On behalf of the volunteers of great railway crossroad of the Pichi Richi Railway Australia. Preservation Society, Lovingly restored in our Quorn welcome aboard our Heritage workshops, our large collection Railway, the original Ghan of heritage steam and diesel railway line and a labour of locomotives, and antique love for the past 40 years. carriages also have their own stories to tell. In this booklet you'll find just If you can resist the view from some of the stories our railway your window, please read on and has to tell - stories of the people discover a few of the many who built and used the original stories behind our railway. line, and of our volunteers who keep it alive. Warm regards, Stories of the Railway's Dion Chandler hometown of Quorn, and the President, Pichi Richi Railway history behind what was once a Preservation Society, and third-generation railwayman. Media Enquiries – Meg Drechsler, Marketing Officer [email protected] 0432 533 658 Pichi Richi People Behind the success of this Although most of the original heritage railway stands a team members, many of them rail of dedicated volunteers and fans, were from the Quorn and their families. Pt Augusta area, today the society’s membership base Pichi Richi Railway Preservation extends further to Adelaide and Society (PRRPS) was formed in beyond. July 1973, at a public meeting PRRPS has completed a held in Cooinda Hall, Pt Augusta number of major projects to discuss the operation and since its inception. preservation of the rail line These include return to service running through the Pichi Richi of steam locomotives and Pass. heritage rolling stock, rebuilding Steam trains had been phased large sections of railway line, and the restoration of historic out in favour of the modern, buildings. diesel locomotive and rail fans united to commit to the The Society’s most recent conservation of these beautiful achievement is the milestone machines, and the line between of forty years of operation as a Port Augusta and Quorn. fully volunteer run organisation. Media Enquiries – Meg Drechsler, Marketing Officer [email protected] 0432 533 658 It is humbling to think as David Heah, an you ride along this line, engineering student at that none of it would be the University of possible without the dedication Adelaide, recently became the of volunteers. Society’s youngest-ever qualified Running a heritage railway on steam locomotive driver at the volunteer time alone is a truly age of 21. incredible feat. Alongside his studies, David has Countless hours are spent also taken over the role of rebuilding and maintaining the managing the PRRPS rail line, sometimes in extreme Locomotive Department, weather. Then there's the ensuring that routine painstaking task of restoring the maintenance, overhauls and train in which you are sitting to paperwork requirements are all original condition; and many met. early morning starts for the “Although the behind scenes drivers, car captains and catering work isn’t as glamorous as staff, many travelling from driving a passenger train through Adelaide or further afield. the Pichi Richi Pass, it’s just as David Heah is a steam rewarding”, said David. locomotive driver and one of “To know that these Pichi Richi Railway’s wonderful mechanical passionate volunteers. machines can still turn a wheel under their own steam is why I and all the other Media Enquiries – Meg Drechsler, Marketing Officer [email protected] 0432 533 658 volunteers keep coming to Quorn”. Media Enquiries – Meg Drechsler, Marketing Officer [email protected] 0432 533 658 Pichi Richi’s Hometown Quorn, Flinders Ranges The name `Pichi Richi’ is During the Second World said to be adapted from an War Quorn became a hive aboriginal word for the of activity in the movement of plant ‘Pituri’ which is troops to Darwin in preparation common in the pass. for a Japanese invasion, following the bombing in 1941. After European settlement pastoralists used the Quorn area Supplies, evacuees, stock and until Godfrey Walsh surveyed it over 100,000 troops moved in 1878, naming the town after continuously in and out of Quorndon in Leicestershire, UK. Quorn day and night. The railway line opened from Train services through Quorn Port Augusta to Quorn in 1879. peaked at 43 per day during this In 1917 the East-West period. The Country Women’s Transcontinental Railway Association provided over one opened and Quorn became the million hot meals for troops and crossroads of all north–south evacuees during their stops at and east–west rail travel in Quorn, serving them either on Australia for the next 20 years. the Station’s verandah, in the army-built Sydney Williams hut, or in the First World War Media Enquiries – Meg Drechsler, Marketing Officer [email protected] 0432 533 658 Memorial Hall at the Quorn’s many Quorn Oval. historic buildings stand as a reminder After the war, railway business in of its heyday, including the Quorn waned especially after the beautiful Railway Station, completion of the new standard- which now houses the gauge northern railway, west of Flinders Ranges Visitor the ranges in 1956. Information Centre. The line between Hawker and Stopping at the Visitor Centre, Quorn was maintained until travellers can pick up a brochure 1970 to transport barytes from for a self-guided walk around the Oraparinna mine to the Quorn’s well-preserved heritage treatment plant, which is just buildings. east of the Quorn Railway Station Yard. A visit to Quorn is well rounded off with a meal at one of its Sealed roads brought an end to fascinating cafes, or traditional use of the railway, before the outback pubs. Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society resurrected it. It is now A number of bushwalking trails one of Quorn’s main tourist exist nearby for tourists to get attractions, with the Pichi Richi off the beaten track and view the Pass serving as a grand entrance stunning landscape seen from to the Flinders Ranges. the train, close up. Media Enquiries – Meg Drechsler, Marketing Officer [email protected] 0432 533 658 The Pichi Richi Carriages Ranging in age from a NSS34 - sprightly 60-odd to over 100 Commonwealth years old, if our carriages Railways Special Car could talk, what stories they No. 3 would tell! Capturing the romance of high-end luxury travel in The Railway operates two the 1930s, this carriage once different collections of carriages, saw service as part of HRH originating from the the Duke of Gloucester's Commonwealth Railways (CR) special train during his 1934 and South Australian Railways Australian visit. (SAR). The NSS34’s luxurious appointments included Here are just a few of the Tasmanian oak interiors, four carriages in the Pichi Richi two-berth sleeping Railway’s extensive fleet. compartments including a wardrobe, washbasin with hot and cold water, Stone's electric lighting, fans, refrigeration, water Media Enquiries – Meg Drechsler, Marketing Officer [email protected] 0432 533 658 raising equipment and hot Commonwealth water service. Railways officers were able to use NSS34 from A dining saloon, kitchen, 1930. NSS34 was also used as bathroom and toilet provided the Ghan's dining car for two complete facilities. periods in the 1930s when the Constructed at the regular dining car ND35 was Commonwealth Railways’ Port undergoing maintenance. Augusta workshops from July In the 1960s some minor 1928, this car entered service in upgrading to NSS34's facilities April 1929, spending its entire took place. The bathroom was life on the Port Augusta to Alice re-lined with laminex and a Springs railway. shower installed. A gas stove and A distinctive feature of this refrigerator were installed in the carriage is a round-ended kitchen. observation lounge, which After the closure of the narrow- allowed guests and CR gauge Central Australia Railway, officers panoramic views of NSS34 was transferred to the the track and countryside Pichi Richi Railway in early 1981, when the carriage was and was purchased by PRR from attached to the rear of trains. Australian National in 1995. Media Enquiries – Meg Drechsler, Marketing Officer [email protected] 0432 533 658 Commonwealth A distinctive feature Railways NRC36 of NRC36 (and / NIA36 other Commonwealth Railways carriages of this era) was NRC36 is the carriage that the external louvres fitted US General Douglas over part of the windows to MacArthur and his family provide protection from the travelled in from Alice fierce central Australian Springs to Terowie after his heat. escape from the Phillipines and Japanese invasions in Other special features include a March, 1942. "turtle-back" roof, Tasmanian Oak for internal cladding, and The first sleeping carriage to nickel-plated fittings. be built by the Commonwealth Railways for In 1966, NRC was converted to the Central Australia Railway, an officer’s inspection carriage NRC36 was constructed at the and reclassified NIA36. CR's Port Augusta workshop, NIA36 was used on Central entering service in July 1929. Australian Railway up until its Today it retains a glimpse back closure in 1980, and was at travel in the heyday of transferred to the Pichi Richi railways. Railway in 1981. In 1995 PRR purchased NIA36 from Australian National. Media Enquiries – Meg Drechsler, Marketing Officer [email protected] 0432 533 658 South Australian complete with en suite Railways and (cold) shower. carriage 167 “Flinders” The end walls of the car were replaced with full height Named in honour of the early observation windows, and large Australian Explorer Matthew luxurious seats installed to allow Flinders, car 167 was built in the comfortable viewing of the 1890's as a “Short Tom”, with receding track.