Localities on the Trans-Australian Railway

When the Trans-Australian Railway was completed in 1917 from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta, about 50 settlements of various sizes were established along the line, from which maintenance workers kept the track in operational condition.

They and their families led an isolated life, although they were supplied with provisions by a weekly special train, which also provided banking and postal facilities.

[1] Passenger trains were hauled by steam locomotives, which needed to take on water at various stopping places.

[3] Subsequently, upgrading to concrete sleepers and continuously welded rail reduced track inspection and maintenance considerably.

[note 1] Nineteen stations on the Trans-Australian Railway were named after people: ten after former prime ministers, two after Australian governors-general, two after British earls, two after federal ministers, one after a prominent worker in Aboriginal welfare, one after a premier of Western Australia.

A wooden station building at Woocalla. Its design was common to almost 50 buildings placed at localities along the Trans-Australian Railway.
A map given to passengers on the Trans-Australian Railway, circa 1960, showed all localities on the line at that time and the origins of their names