The Yinkanie railway line was a 50.6 kilometres (31.4 mi) railway line on the South Australian Railways network. Named the Wanbi to Moorook Railway in its enabling Act, it never reached its intended destination on the River Murray.[1] The railway ran from a junction with the Barmera line at Wanbi northwards to Yinkanie, opening on 7 September 1925 and closing on 1 May 1971.[2]
Previously a broad-gauge through line into Victoria, the line was closed at the border in 1996 before being converted to standard gauge in 1998.
Construction of the Barmera line was paused at Paringa in 1913 pending funding of a bridge over the River Murray. The line was completed to Barmera in 1928. A branch line was built to support construction of the proposed Chowilla Dam in 1966–67. Some 27.3 kilometres (17.0 miles) long, it branched from the Barmera line 8 kilometres (5 miles) south of Paringa and proceeded to Murtho on the south bank of the River Murray. Construction of the dam was deferred in 1967 and subsequently cancelled; later the line was removed without being used.
Paringa–Barmera closed in 1984; Alawoona–Paringa closed in 1990; Tailem Bend–Alawoona closed in 1996.
^Map showing lines of railways in South Australia and through mileages (Map). Adelaide: South Australian Railways. 1958 – via National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide.
