Millions needed preserve the historical SteamRanger railway

Almost $10 million is needed for repair work on the historic SteamRanger Heritage Railway track to ensure its future as a South Australian tourist attraction.

Member for Finniss David Basham said about $8 million would be needed for repair work on the five bridges along the SteamRanger route to bring them up to where they need to be.

SteamRanger is confident its volunteers can continue to maintain and preserve the historical significance of the old Victor Harbor rail line, while operating its tourist railway as an important South Australian attraction.

However, more than $8 million worth of repairs on state government-owned bridges along the railway’s route would be needed to ensure the attraction’s future.

The SteamRanger Heritage Railway is an 82-kilometre broad gauge tourist railway which operates famous tourist attractions like the Cockle Train between Goolwa and Victor Harbor and the Hills Encounter between Mount Barker and Victor Harbor.

Last week, a shadow was cast on the long term future of the railway with a series of historic bridges along the SteamRanger route - including the famed Currency Creek viaduct - identified as deteriorating and in need of repair work within three years.

Member for Finniss David Basham said about $8 million would be needed for repair work on the five bridges along the SteamRanger route to bring them up to where they need to be.

Member for Finniss David Basham said the bridges in question were all in his electorate and while the state government had funded $450,000 for emergency work to keep the trains going, he warned a bigger investment would be needed to secure the future of the line.

He said SteamRanger’s investigations revealed about $8 million would be needed for repair work on the five bridges along the route to bring them up to standard and further funding would be needed for addition track work.

“The line between Goolwa and Port Elliot is the oldest public trade line in the southern hemisphere, it started in 1854 .. we are not that far away really from his 200th birthday and it’d be nice to make sure it makes it,” he said.

“SteamRanger is a fantastic group of volunteers - with a couple of employees but not many - who keep the whole thing functioning.”

A government spokesperson confirmed work had recently been undertaken to upgrade some bridges in order to keep the trains running and said the government was working towards long-term solutions.

“(The government) is aware of longer-term and more substantial challenges in line maintenance and is working through options,” the spokesperson said.

SteamRanger president Peter Charlton said the railway had engaged in constructive conversations with the Department of Environment and Water - which owns the Victor Harbor line - and with government ministers.

“They are very supportive of us … bearing in mind that we can’t expect them to put their hands in the treasury and pull out the money just like that,” he said.

“The bridges are safe for now but they need remedial work in the next 18 months to three years.”

He said SteamRanger regularly inspected the track weekly, conducted larger scale safety investigations yearly.

“In 2019 we commissioned a high-level bridge inspection at our expense to make sure we were able to meet our obligations under the rail safety national law and the Department of Water also has its own investigation underway,” he said.

Mr Charlton conceded the railway line was a challenging asset to maintain as they aimed to preserve heritage but use more modern solutions to ensure longevity.

He said some of the steel bridges had wooden transoms but upgrading to steel would last longer.

“We have identified the transoms were replaced probably 60 years ago and normally you’d expect them to have a 20-40 year lifespan … we could use steel transoms and it would be 50 years before you’d have to worry about them,”

“Some of the maintenance and repair methods would be different to 50 years ago but these heritage things are done with a heritage architect or heritage advisor.”

He said wooden sleepers were hard to get and replacing them with low-profile concrete replacements would mean less maintenance and a longer life for the track.