SARail & telegraph
Quorn
A railway junction gave this town its purpose.
1878Town surveyed for the railway
WHAT STARTED IT
Quorn was planned around the expanding northern railway network. Its position in the Pichi Richi route made it a junction for trains, workers and businesses supplying travellers.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The arrival of the transcontinental railway increased its importance. Later routes bypassed it, reducing railway work and leaving infrastructure that volunteers eventually preserved.
TURNING POINTS
1878The town is surveyed.
1879The railway from Port Augusta reaches Quorn.
1917Transcontinental traffic increases its junction role.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A small Flinders Ranges service and visitor town. The Pichi Richi Railway keeps part of its original reason for being in operation.