Yorke Peninsula Railway: Walleroo, on Yorke Peninsula

Due to track damage caused by heat wave conditions in the Summer of 2009 the Railway is currently unable to operate. As soon as the line reopens we will post the details here.

Today the old 60s T-class diesel - part of the Yorke Peninsula Railway - picks up its latest consignment of holiday makers bound for a journey across the top end of Yorke Peninsula.

From the wood panelled carriages, the young and old roll passed the mine ruins and cottages that were home to the Cousin Jacks and Jennies - the early miners and their wives who made this part of South Australia their own Little Cornwall.

"So in the 140 years of existence of this rail line, it has had seven owners and operators running trains throughout this area."

The first stop - Kadina - and more passengers... eager young train buffs bound for the Primary School at Bute -- a small farming community further up the line.

From the railway sign Bute looks like a tacked on afterthought... but it's now the latest extension to a tourist railway that began in 1994 with plans to extend the trip to Snowtown in the mid-north by the end of the year.

Out here you get a sense of the endless procession of seasons - some good and some bad - on a railway line that takes you back to the days when the first cereal farmers cleared the mallee scrub and established tiny settlements like Willymulka.. with its eighteen eighties Methodist Church set amid fields of gold.

As we near Bute, the old T-class heaves its way up a small rise... and soon a reminder of another form of transport which replaced the steam trains and diesel's which rumbled along this track until its closure as a passenger and freight service in the 1980s.

For these kids the arrival at the Bute siding marks the end of a morning away from the classroom.. and for the rest of us its time to head back in the squeaky comfort of the old Overland carriages which date back to 1910.. a more sedate era of train travel.

" It's lovely. It's so different to Queensland.. just seeing all the lovely corn coloured fields of maize, barley in it as well I think.. and then those lovely trees behind it.. everything looks really great. Haven't seen a Kangaroo but apart from that and the lovely old stone houses that you see and the occasional stone churches and that. It's great."

"It's lovely.. so peaceful.. and I've really enjoyed it.. its very relaxing."

Relaxing for some but not for the driver and his crew. Up here in the engine.. it's not so much hard work as noisy.

"Flat out at 750 rpm."

"The little button I just pressed, the ding is vigilant. In fact every 90 seconds, if somebody doesn't press that button.. the Loco will actually go back to an idle and apply its own brakes. This is another version of the "dead man's brake", because they found out that dead man could still drive trains."

"So basically its always asking for a response... so if there's something wrong with the driver it will slow down."

"It will ultimately cut back to an idle and apply the brakes and stop."

But there's no stopping Graham Carter when it comes to his love affair with rail.

"So Graham, how long have you worked on the railways?"

"42 years."

"So why are you here?"

"Ha! Because its in my blood."

And for so many years these steel rails were the lifeblood of towns like Kadina, Wallaroo and Moonta.. whether as a horse drawn gravity line during the 1860s cooper boom or back in the days when the freight trains picked up bagged wheat and barley from sidings like Bute.

You can relive the old days of diesel on the Yorke Peninsula Railway.... The train departs the historic Wallaroo Station one weekend a month. To book contact 1800 654 991.

Yorke Peninsula Railway - Return trip Wallaroo to Bute - 11am - 4.30pm - Adults $20 Children $10 Family $42 - Contact 1800 654 991 or email info@postcards-sa.com.au