The Australian Railway Historical Society (SA Division) ... was formally constituted in June 1952 when a group of twelve men from diverse backgrounds met at Millswood to form a local Branch of what was then known as the “Australasian Railway & Locomotive Historical Society”, subsequently renamed the ARHS (SA Division). Regular meetings were held to discuss railway topics and visits were arranged to workshops, signalling facilities and to inspect locomotives, rail cars and stations. At first members travelled on regular passenger services or arranged for passenger cars to be attached to goods trains to explore more isolated country lines. Membership grew quickly and special public charter trains were then organised. By the late 1960s up to 20 excursion trains were being run each year and there were nearly 200 paid up members. When early members joined in in the 1960s, they had no idea that once steam finished around Adelaide, it would still be alive in the 21st Century. ARHS members also assisted in 1973 to help Pichi Richi get started. Some clever engineering, fire and water and the romance of steam lingers on! It was all started by twelve men interested in train travel. The “elders” of that early group alive today include David Parsons, Brian Castle, Doug Colquhoun and Dean Harvey. All remain interested in railways today but 1960s, 70s and 80s Tours Manager and President Dean Harvey stands out at the pinnacle of the group. Dean had the foresight, knowledge and contacts to rescue many items before they were destroyed so that leases were obtained to build our own depot at Dry Creek and when change of gauge occurred, build a base at Mt Barker and another depot at Goolwa.

The first organised excursion - to Mt Pleasant in Nov 1952 (NRM archives)

1.      1966 - The Decline of Steam in South Australia

When steam operations ceased in South Australia in April 1966, it was obvious to members that the whole canvass of railway operations was changing in a major way. Through negotiation with the SA Railways the Society assumed responsibilty for the maintenance and regular servicing of four steam locomotives at the Mile End depot complex to enable the continuation of the now very popular steam hauled trips.

A museum site was gradually established on leased land at Mile End to facilitate the retention of selected condemned historic locos and railcars and to encourage preservation of a representative collection of the quickly disappearing rail heritage that been so important in the State’s development. The site was officially opened in December 1970. The museum amicably separated from the ARHS in 1975 and has subsequently evolved into today’s impressive National Railway Museum at Port Dock

2.      Documenting our Rail Heritage

Over the years, the Society has published a number of large format glossy books describing classic South Australian locomotives, contributes to a monthly national journal and, with the NRM, publishes a bi-monthly magazine recording day to day rail activities in the State.

3.       1978 - The Society’s rail tours activities entered a new era

• A season opening “Festival of Steam” was staged at Adelaide Station, with three steam locomotives operating trains to Woodville and Salisbury, special carriages open for inspection and displays and souvenir sales throughout the station.
  
  
• It was announced that a regular excursion train to Bridgewater would run twice a month and more frequently in holiday periods - this was to be known as the “SteamRanger”
  
  
• A grant was obtained to allow volunteers to superficially refurbish 15 wooden passenger cars at Edwardstown

4.       1980 - Our Own Depot at Dry Creek

But soon another crisis surfaced! ....rationalisation of the commercial railway system was well advanced and we were asked to remove our four preserved locos from Mile End. After much lobbying, by year’s end a site was found at Dry Creek and SteamRanger entered a new era of preserved steam operations

• A grant of $270,000 from the government Unemployment Relief Scheme and lots of fundraising allowed depot construction to commence in March 1979 with over 30 workers on site at times.
  
  
• Work progressed with enthusiasm. Our photo shows loco 520 easing into the new shed to test clearances. Finally, SteamRanger’s new home was officially opened by the Premier in August 1979. Our locos, over 30 carriages and other rollingstock now had a long term home!
  
  
• But the depot was much more than a storage shed, so the next steps were to fit out a basic mechanical workshop, aided by valuable donations from our supporters, and accumulate all the resources needed to stand on our own feet as a restoration and maintenance base.
  
  
• As facilities improved we engaged a full time fitter to support the volunteers and commenced major repair tasks on all of our locos including a major rebuilding of loco 621 and started rebuilding of F251 which had been acquired in poor condition from a static display at Elizabeth.

5.       And with a real home our Tours Programme grew apace

• In 1970 we ran 16 excursion trains.
  
  
• In 1980, our first full year operating from our new depot, this had grown to 34 trains
  
  
• Longer distance trips increased - to Mt Gambier, the Riverland and almost to Melbourne
  
  
• Using our own sleepers and Club Car a weekend overnight excursion train was run to Victor

6.      1986 - The SteamRanger Tourist Railway - from Adelaide to Victor Harbor

• Arbitration and argument on the future of the line ensued. Finally, as a trial, SteamRanger was given authority to set up a tourist railway by operating trains from Adelaide to Victor Harbor and with some reluctance, funding and resources were provided to assist in bringing the track up to an acceptable standard, first from Strathalbyn to Victor, then later from Mt Barker to Strathalbyn. Our photo shows ballast being loaded at Gemmells station during the line rehabilitation.
  
  
• The new SteamRanger Tourist Railway was launched with a doubleheaded steam train to Victor in October 1986. The service was promoted as the “Southern Encounter” and the public packed the regularly scheduled steam hauled services.
  
  
• Volunteers were trained, and took over control of the train from AN crews, first beyond Strathalbyn and then from Mt Barker. Regular services were operated on this shared basis for over 10 years.
  
  
• A local service, The Cockle Train, was run between Goolwa and Victor, to cater for locally holidaying tourists, especially when the summer fireban season prevented steam running from Mt Barker. A running Depot was built at Goolwa as part of the rehabilitation project.

      1995 - Another Crisis! - The track is isolated from Adelaide

A line up of locos outside our new Depot

In 1995 the main Melbourne line was standardised, leaving our railway as an isolated broad gauge line. All the hard-gained facilities at Dry Creek became redundant as we were forced to transfer our depot operations to Mt Barker. Inadequate compensation resulted in a facility which was initially much less adequate than at Dry Creek. However, a massive relocation of rollingstock and equipment went ahead in April 1995, followed by relocation of the redundant Bridgewater turntable to the northern end of the yard. The Southern Encounter then commenced operating regularly from Mt Barker to Victor, fully crewed by volunteers, and the Cockle Train ran year-round along the south coast, based at our Goolwa depot. Volunteers took full responsibility for maintaining the track from Mt Barker Junction to Victor.