Historic Photo of the Day: 2025-04-30

Today's historic photo of the day comes from my grandfather's collection. It shows South Australian Railways steam locomotive no 524 and its train at Ellen Street, Port Pirie, SA, 1950. The back of the print is labelled simply 'Port Pirie 1950', but it was part of a collection many of which are labelled MV Moonta including photos of Port Lincoln and Whyalla, so it could have been part of a six day Spencer Gulf cruise from Port Adelaide for which the MV Moonta was known. Port Pirie is an industrial city in the Iron Triangle region of South Australia on the eastern shore of upper Spencer Gulf, just over 200km north of Adelaide. The city was the northern terminus of the broad gauge railway from Adelaide, and was also the eastern terminus of the Commonwealth Railways standard gauge line from Kalgoorlie and narrow gauge lines to the north and east to Broken Hill. However I believe the tracks seen here were a broad/narrow dual gauge track (on which the train was standing) and a narrow gauge track nearer to us. You can see the dual gauge track at left. Ellen Street station was unusual in that it faced the street and trains ran along and stopped in the centre centre of the street. If I have the location right, the ornate Ellen Street station building is just out of shot on the right hand side of the street. The standard gauge did not run along Ellen Street, trains from Kalgoorlie terminated at Port Pirie Junction (Solomontown), and later at Mary Elie Street station. Thus it was most likely that this train was bound for Adelaide and was just commencing its trip here. The class 520 4-8-4 steam locomotives, 12 of which were built between 1943 and 1946 by the South Australian Railways had a unique and striking streamlined design. Built for speed, these locos set the SAR steam speed record of 78mph on a run between Port Pirie and Adelaide. Their 8-coupled wheel arrangement also however meant they could run on lighter lines, and they could run on much of the SAR's broad gauge network. Most were withdrawn in the early 1960s with 524 surviving until 1969. Two of the class, 520 and 523 have survived, and 520 may one day return to heritage service. The tracks have long since been removed from Ellen Street, and many of the buildings in this image have been demolished or very unsympathetically renovated. But I think this streetview angle is the same spot today - with 'The Dentist' building being one surviving half of the two lower-rise buildings with the deep single level verandah at left. Thankfully, as you can see here, Ellen Street station building has been preserved. https://maps.app.goo.gl/KJMQpCS5hMrNJowu7