The Old Finsbury Railway Line

The Finsbury railway line was a short railway (actually more of a siding) in northwestern Adelaide that was built and used mainly for wartime industrial works in 1940 and 1941. It ran from Woodville through Woodville North, Pennington and Ottoway, before joining the Dry Creek to Port Adelaide line. The line had heaps of sidings and four stations; Actil, Woodville North, No. 18 Shed, and Finsbury Stores. It closed in 1979 and was dismantled in 1985.
Let’s go see what we can find, if anything, in 2023.
Massive industries were established in the area to supply and maintain road vehicles for the war effort in WW2. The Finsbury line was built to service WW2 munitions works at Cheltenham Park and a Government Supply Depot at Finsbury station. Heaps of sidings ran off the line (siding?) to serve the various complexes.
The line opened in two sections. The first section from the junction of the Outer Harbor/Grange lines at Woodville to Finsbury opened in late 1940. The rest of the line from Finsbury station to Gillman Junction was completed in 1941.
It left the main Outer Harbor line north-west of Woodville station, and headed north, parallel to the eastern side of the Cheltenham Park Racecourse, where Actil station was. The line crossed Torrens Road (and trams - one of the few places in SA where trams crossed with rail) and turned north, parallel to Audley Street through Woodville North and Glenroy Street, Pennington. Finsbury station was located where the al-Khalil mosque is now on the corner of Torrens Road and Audley Street. Its name was changed to Woodville North in 1967. Finsbury was the only real station on the line. The others were simple stopping places with only basic wooden step down platforms.
After winding its way along the tight corridor through the Finsbury industrial complexes, the line crossed Grand Junction Road and travelled parallel to and between Eastern Parade and Agnes Street, before joining the Dry Creek line. The passenger services that were scheduled on the line were SAR trains for the workers.
After WW2, industrial activity in the area was maintained for a while but after years of declining use, the line was closed in 1979 and dismantled in 1985.
A few remnants, like the former platform at Woodville, and some snippets of old sidings, are all that exist today.
CREDITS:
Map: openstreetmap.org
Images: State Library of South Australia (public domain) and National Railway Museum (used with permission).
Reference: ‘Rails Through Swamp & Sand - A History Of The Port Adelaide Railway’, Malcolm Thompson, 1988, Port Dock Station Railway Museum
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