South Australia's first railway venture was the opening of the Goolwa on the Murray River to the ocean harbour at Port Elliothorse tramway in 1854. It was later extended to a safer harbour at Victor Harbor. The line was used to move freight between the shallow-draft River Murray paddle boats and coastal and ocean-going sailing vessels. In this way it was possible to bypass both the narrow, shallow mouth of the river with its unpredictable currents and the notoriously hazardous coast at Port Elliot. The Goolwa–Port Elliot railway was awarded a Historic Engineering Marker in 1992. The line was extended northwards to Strathalbyn in 1869, the connection from Adelaide reaching the town in 1884 and completing the link. Until 1884, trains south of Strathalbyn were hauled by horse power, but between 1883 and 1885 the section to Currency Creek was rebuilt to steam railway standards. Australian National operated freight services on the Strathalbyn to Victor section were withdrawn in 1980 and on the rest of the line from October 1987. In the early 1980s, Australian National announced that the Victor Harbor line would close, despite enormous public opposition. Several factors were noted for the closure of the line, such as a deteriorating track condition, a long time-consuming route compared with a more direct road journey, and declining passenger numbers. Over 50,000 return journeys were made during 1977/78, but this dropped to only around 16,000 in 1982/83. The last Australian National passenger service ran on 30 April 1984, when locomotive 942 hauled seven steel cars from Adelaide to Victor Harbor and return.
Renewal
The SteamRanger Heritage Railway was established in 1986 to operate tourist trains on the line. In late 1989, Australian National declared the Mount Barker Junction–Strathalbyn section unsafe and SteamRanger operated services from Adelaide to Strathalbyn were cancelled. That section was eventually renewed during 1990–91 with funding from the State Government. First the lines beyond Strathalbyn were operated by SteamRanger train crews, later extending to the entire line. In 1995 gauge conversion of the Adelaide to Wolseley line isolated the broad gauge Victor Harbor line off from the rest of the network, and volunteers took full responsibility for maintaining the track from Mount Barker Junction to Victor Harbor. The Junction Jogger service from Mount Barker Station to Mount Barker Junction operated until it was deemed unsafe and this section of the line closed in 2005.
Future
Proposals exist for a "Fleurieu Fast Rail", whereby the Victor Harbour line would be reopened to link to Adelaide railway station with a travel time of an hour, with trains travelling at 160 km/h.
