When the Trans-Australian Railway was completed in 1917 from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta, about 50 settlements of various sizes were established along the line, from which maintenance workers kept the track in operational condition. They and their families led an isolated life, although they were supplied with provisions by a weekly special train, which also provided banking and postal facilities.[1] Passenger trains were hauled by steam locomotives, which needed to take on water at various stopping places. The 1930s to 1940s services required regular stops on the traverse.
With a change to diesel locomotives in the early 1950s, the need for such stops decreased greatly. Subsequently, upgrading to concrete sleepers and continuously welded rail reduced track inspection and maintenance considerably. Since 2001, maintenance work has been undertaken by contractors whose families do not live on the line., the only passenger train to traverse the entire railway – the Indian Pacific – stopped at Cook,[2] Rawlinna (seasonally),[3] and on the Nullarbor Plain[4] as part of the "outback experience", around which the train is marketed.
Nineteen stations on the Trans-Australian Railway were named after people: ten after former prime ministers, two after Australian governors-general, two after British earls, two after federal ministers, one after a prominent worker in Aboriginal welfare, one after a premier of WesternAustralia. and one after a Western Australian doctor. At almost all of the localities, other than Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie, station buildings and most infrastructure was dismantled in the 1990s.[5] Most of these sites are inaccessible by public roads; a few have short airstrips nearby.
| [6] [7] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Port Augusta 0 km | Tent Hill 27.5 km | Hesso 54.5 km |
| Bookaloo 85.0 km | McLeay 118.0 km | Wirrappa 150.0 km |
| Pimba 181.0 km | Burando 219.0 km | Wirraminna 250.0 km |
| Coondambo 273.5 km | Kultanaby 302.0 km | Kingoonya 334.5 km |
| Ferguson 377.0 km | Tarcoola 412.5 km | Malbooma 449.5 km |
| Lyons (10th PM) 473.0 km | Wynbring 514.5 km | Mount Christie 546.0 km |
| Mungala 575.0 km | Barton (1st PM) 601.5 km | Bates 633.5 km |
| Ooldea 684.0 km | Watson (3rd PM) 717.0 km | Fisher (5th PM) 769.5 km |
| Thomiar 797.0 km | Cook (6th PM) 822.5 km | Denman 864.5 km |
| Hughes (7th PM) 910.0 km | State border: SA and WA 958.9 km | Deakin (2nd PM) 962.0 km |
| Reid (4th PM) 1014.5 km | Forrest 1045.5 km | Mundrabilla 1100.0 km |
| Loongana 1147.5 km | Nurina 1195.0 km | Haig 1239.5 km |
| Wilban 1277.5 km | Rawlinna 1311.0 km | Naretha 1358.5 km |
| Boonderoo 1392.0 km | Kitchener 1420.5 km | Goddards 1459.0 km |
| Zanthus 1480.0 km | Coonana 1519.0 km | Chifley (16th PM)1550.0 km |
| Karonie 1578.5 km | Blamey 1600.0 km | Curtin (14th PM) 1630.5 km |
| Golden Ridge 1666.0 km | Parkeston 1684.0 km | Kalgoorlie 1693.5 km |
"PM" = Prime Minister of Australia after whom the locality was named. | ||