Silverton Tramway

Silverton Tramway
Silverton station
Overview
Termini	Cockburn Broken Hill
Continues from	Crystal Brook-Cockburn line
Stations	6
Operation
Opened	12 January 1888
Closed	9 January 1970
Operator(s)	Silverton Tramway Company
Technical
Line length	58 km (36 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)

Silverton Tramway
Port Pirie-Cockburn line 0.0km Cockburn SA/NSW state border 0.14km Burns 8.97km Thackaringa 20.20km 12 Mile Siding 32.44km Silverton 44.27km Limestone Siding 49.09km Barrier Mine 53.03km Picton Salesyard 55.51km Brickyards Siding 56.51km Railway Town 57.47km Sulphide Street

The Silverton Tramway was a 58 kilometre long 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) railway line running from Cockburn on the South Australian state border to Broken Hill in New South Wales. Operating between 1888 and 1970, it served the mines of Broken Hill, and formed the link between the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge New South Wales Government Railways and the narrow gauge South Australian Railways lines. It was owned and operated by the Silverton Tramway Company (STC).

The Silverton Tramway was conceived as a way to transport silver ore from the newly discovered ore deposits at Silverton, to the smelters at Port Pirie, with the line later extended to Broken Hill with the discovery of that field. The need for a private line was in part due to the New South Wales Government refusing to allow the South Australian Railways to extend its line from Port Pirie across the border. The Silverton Tramway Act of 1886 was passed by the New South Wales Government, permitting the narrow gauge line to be built by the STC. The Act also permitted the New South Wales Government to buy out the company and assets after 21 years, provided a payment of 21 times the average of the previous seven years, and that the company could be obliged to alter the track gauge at any time at its own expense. The line was built in twelve months at a cost of £125,000. The contract to build the line was awarded to C&E Millar, who was building the Peterborough to Cockburn at the same time. The first train reached Broken Hill on 6 September 1887, with the line officially opened on 12 January 1888 by the Duke of Manchester.