Riding the Cockle Train

I have always wanted to ride the Cockle Train, the heritage railway that travels between Victor Harbor and Goolwa. The railway first began in 1854 (the first public railway on steel tracks in Australia and the first line in the colony of South Australia) as an outlet for the River Murray trade, but only went as far as Port Elliot. It was extended to Victor in 1864. Much later, Victor Harbor holiday makers and fishermen used the train to visit Goolwa and collect the huge cockles found in abundance on the wide stretches of Goolwa Beach - hence its enduring name.

So, when sister Lyn came for a visit, it was the perfect opportunity. We arrived at Victor Harbor station (this one was built in 1926) in plenty of time.  Just beyond the station proper are manual barrier gates - the last remaining example of rail/road crossing gates in the state.  The train wheezed in.  It was a diesel engine pulling the train on the outward journey, but it would be steam on the trip back home.

We  settled into beautifully restored leather seats and admired the heritage light fittings and the coat racks (none of which are really visible in this photo unfortunately).

It felt good to lift the very heavy windows, let them click back into the allotted latch, then feel the fresh breeze blow by.  Soon we had left Victor and were skimming along the foreshore, with the line skirting the Southern Ocean for 3 kms before arriving at Port Elliot. It was such fun, especially being so close to the water.

The line then climbed through sand hills and trundled right into the heart of Port Elliot.

After a brief stop to let off some passengers, we continued on, passing sweeping vistas of Middleton's famous surf beaches ...

 agricultural land ...

...and finally into Goolwa.

 Here we visited the markets and purchased a plant ...

 Had lunch then strolled along the wharf, glimpsing the paddle steamer Oscar W as it set off on its daily tour along the Murray estuary...

Finally, we arrived back in Victor Harbor under full steam, with frequent bursts of whistle power followed by puffs of black steam.  I was so excited to see the huge lumps of coal in the wagon, I made sure Steve recorded them in a photo. It was the end of a lovely day, and one of my dreams realised.

[The astute among my readers may wonder how I have photos of the train arriving at Port Elliot when I was supposedly in the train, as well as the train arriving in Goolwa. Well ---, we visited Port Elliot station a few days before and got there just when the train was arriving. And when we were strolling along the Goolwa wharf waiting for the return trip, the train passed quite close to where we were standing. Mystery solved.]