North Australia Railway

Line length	316 mi (509 km)
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)

The North Australia Railway (NAR), also known as the Palmerston to Pine Creek railway, was a 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge railway which ran from Darwin, once known as Palmerston, to Birdum, just south of Larrimah.

In the nineteenth century the Northern Territory was administered by the Government of South Australia. The John Cox Bray Government introduced the Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway Bill in 1883. The £959,300 contract was awarded to C&E Millar of Melbourne on the proviso that they could use coolie labour. The line reached Pine Creek in 1888 and officially opened on 30 September 1889. Singhalese and Indian gangs did the grubbing and earthwork and 3,000 Chinese labourers laid over one kilometre of track per day. A total of 310 bridges and flood openings were built.

The Commonwealth Government took control in 1911, having promised to complete the railway from Adelaide to Darwin but without setting a time frame for so doing.

The line was extended to near Katherine in 1917. A further extension saw the line reach Birdum in 1929.

In 1930 a mixed train, called Leaping Lena ran to an established timetable.

During World War II Larrimah, nine kilometres north of Birdum, became the effective railhead as it was on the Stuart Highway, unlike Birdum. The 100 metre bridge across Birdum Creek is still present. There were locomotive turning triangles at both locations. The busiest time for the railway was during World War II. As many as 247 trains ran per week in 1944.

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