The Port Augusta and Government Gums Railway Act of 1876 allowed that the Railways Commissioner "may make and maintain a Line of Railway from Port Augusta to Government Gums", and stipulated that the gauge of the railway "shall be 3 feet 6 inches (1067mm)" with iron rails "not less than 40 pounds to the yard."
Construction commenced in 1876 from Port Augusta, and the "turning the sod" ceremony was performed by Sir William Jervois, Governor of South Australia, who stated in a despatch letter to the Earl of Carnarvon, of the Colonial Office in London, " ... It will be the southern terminus of a transcontinental railway, about 1800 miles in length, which will probably, ultimately, be carried through the Province of South Australia to Port Darwin."
The railway through the Pichi Richi Pass to Quorn opened in 1879, and the line reached Government Gums (now known as Farina) on 22 May 1882.
The line was extended to Oodnadatta in 1891 as the Great Northern Railway, and further to Alice Springs (771 miles or 1241 km) on 6 August 1929, becoming the Central Australia Railway.
The famous Ghan passenger train travelled this way between 1923 to 1956, and on the northern part of this route until 1980. The Ghan name originated in Quorn in 1923 when the Great Northern Express was dubbed The Afghan Express by railwaymen (see Wilson J, "The train to Oodna Woop-Woop" Sarlines Books 2021).
The (standard gauge) East-West Transcontinental railway across the Nullarbor Plain was completed in 1917, and the Pichi Richi Railway became part of the East-West route for the next 20 years.
Quorn was a vital railway junction, especially during World War II when military, coal, and other traffic placed many demands on the railway.
Washaways in the north and the incapacity of the railway to handle increased coal traffic from Leigh Creek for a new Power Station in Port Augusta resulted in a new standard gauge railway being constructed from Stirling North to Brachina, and the Pichi Richi Railway lost most regular traffic in 1957. The last train ran in 1970.
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