Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.
Concept
Penfield railway line
Summary
Penfield railway line is a defunct railway in northern Adelaide which was built mainly for industrial purposes during World War II. It started just north of Salisbury station on the Gawler line, running north-west, then north, through defence land in what is now Edinburgh. The line served four stations: Hilra, Penfield 1, Penfield 2, and Penfield 3. It was double track for the whole length, with a balloon loop at the end to allow trains to turn around.
The line opened in 1941 to serve various World War II armaments factories at what was then known as Penfield. Because it was built for industrial purposes, sidings branched off both the up and down tracks at many locations. The largest siding went into what is now RAAF Base Edinburgh, the approximate location of the Salisbury Explosives Factory, built between November 1940 and November 1941.
During the war years, the line was used by passenger trains carrying workers to the munitions factories in the area, which manufactured components for the Small Arms Ammunition Factories, as well as freight trains carrying raw materials in and armaments out. Passenger trains were necessary because Salisbury was a semi-rural community at the time and most of the workforce had to be brought in from other districts.
A more limited peak-hour passenger service to Penfield continued after the war, serving staff at the government Weapons Research Establishment, later to become the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO).
The balloon loop was closed on 8 June 1983, following the derailment of a train composed of Redhens railcars #319, #870, #318, #330, #869 & #331 while traversing it. Services continued to Penfield 3 on the down track and returned on the up track, using a crossover located just south of Penfield 3. The up track beyond Hilra was closed on 14 April 1984, along with most of the sidings. The remaining sidings were closed in 1986, and the whole of the branch had been reduced to single track by the end of the 1980s.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.