Mount Pleasant railway line
{{Short description|Former railway line in South Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2012}}
{{Infobox rail line
| name = Mount Pleasant Line
| color = 999999
| image =
| image_alt =
| caption =
| system = South Australian Railways
| status = Closed and Removed
| locale = Adelaide, South Australia
| start = Adelaide
| end = Mount Pleasant
| stations = {{Plainlist|
}}
| open = 1918
| routes =
| event1label =
| event1 =
| event2label =
| event2 =
| close = 1963
| owner =
| operator = South Australian Railways
| depot =
| stock =
| linelength_km = 33.8
| tracks = single track
| gauge =
| map_state = collapsed
| map = {{Routemap
|title=Mount Pleasant railway line
|inline= yes
|float=none
|title-bg=#000000
|navbar pos=2
|legend=no
|map=
\LSTR \ ~~{{BSsplit|km to|Adelaide}}~~ ~~To Adelaide
\BHF \ ~~45.8~~Balhannah
\eABZgl \exSTR+r~~Balhanna Junction
\LSTR \exSTR ~~ ~~ ~~Adelaide-Wolseley line
\ \exBHF ~~48.1~~Oakbank
\ \exHST ~~Mappinga
\ \exHST ~~Riverview
\ \exBHF ~~53.4~~Woodside
\ \exHST ~~Kayannie
\ \exBHF ~~57.8~~Charleston
\ \exHST ~~Muralappie
\ \exBHF ~~65.4~~Mount Torrens
\ \exHST ~~Milkappa Road
\ \exBHF ~~71 ~~Birdwood
\ \exHST ~~Crane Road
\ \exHST ~~Narcoonah
\ \exKBHFe ~~79.8~~Mount Pleasant
}}
}}
The Mount Pleasant railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. It was opened between Balhannah and Mount Pleasant in September 1918 and ran until March 1963{{Cite web|url=http://mountpleasant.sa.au/district-history/balhannah-to-mount-pleasant-railway/|title=Balhannah to Mount Pleasant Railway {{!}} Mount Pleasant Community|website=mountpleasant.sa.au|language=en-US|access-date=2017-10-20}} as a freight and passenger service.[http://www.adelaidehillsrailtrail.org.au/pages/history.php Adelaide Hills Rail Trail - History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723025637/http://www.adelaidehillsrailtrail.org.au/pages/history.php |date=23 July 2008 }} Part of its trackbed is now the Amy Gillett Bikeway rail trail near to Adelaide.[http://www.railtrails.org.au/states/trails.php3?action=trail&trail=111 Rail Trails news article] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723044553/http://www.railtrails.org.au/states/trails.php3?action=trail&trail=111 |date=23 July 2008 }}
History
The line opened on 16 September 1918 between Balhannah, 10 kilometres east of Mount Lofty, and Mount Pleasant.W.H. Callaghan, "The Mount Pleasant Line", Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, October 1994, pp.274-281. It had six stations and a number of halts; typically, the halts were located near level crossings. The six stations were Oakbank, Woodside, Charleston, Mount Torrens, Birdwood, and Mount Pleasant. The seven halts were Mappinga, Riverview, Kayannie, Muralappie, Milkappa Road, Crane Road, and Narcoonah.
The line was closed on 4 March 1963, and the way between Balhannah and Oakbank has mostly returned to private landowners.
Rail trail
This former railway is in the jurisdiction of the Adelaide Hills Council, which in 2003 commissioned a feasibility study into the best use of the land. The report recommended it be converted to a rail trail, with which the council agreed but considered beyond their means to implement. However, since that time, the development of a rail trail led to the opening of the Amy Gillett Bikeway in 2010, named in honour of the late Amy Gillett, a South Australian-born Olympic cyclist who had died in 2005. As of 2015, the conversion had reached from Balhannah to Mount Torrens.
Line guide
| class="wikitable sortable" border="2"
!Station !Image !Opened !Additional information |
| Mount Pleasant
| |1918 |Terminus; closed 1963 |
| Birdwood
| |1918 |Closed 1963 |
| Mount Torrens
| |1918 |Closed 1963 |
| Charleston
| |1918 |Closed 1963 |
| Woodside
| |1918 |Closed 1963 |
| Oakbank
| |1918 |Closed 1963 |
| Balhannah
| |1883 |Former junction station on the Adelaide-Wolseley line. Closed 1963 |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Closed Railway lines of Adelaide}}
Category:Closed railway lines in South Australia