In the 1970s, the South Australian Division of the
Australian Railway Historical Society established
SteamRanger as a not-for-profit railway preservation offshoot to operate its train tours from
Adelaide, mainly on rural lines throughout the state's broad-gauge networks. SteamRanger opened their first purpose-built depot at
Dry Creek railway station, north of
Adelaide in 1980. From the mid-1980s, SteamRanger gradually took over the operation and maintenance of the
Victor Harbor railway line in the
Adelaide Hills. When plans were announced for the
Adelaide to Melbourne line to be converted to standard gauge, SteamRanger had to choose between staying at Dry Creek and losing its investment in the Victor Harbor line, or move and become isolated from Adelaide's suburban railway lines. Since the first choice would break the society's financial viability, in a huge project all of SteamRanger's locomotives and rolling stock were moved. A new depot was built at
Mount Barker railway station, at the northern end of the broad-gauge line to Victor Harbor. As part of the move, the
District Council of Mount Barker renovated the station building, derelict at the time, to become SteamRanger's headquarters.
Conversion of the interstate line was completed in 1995 as part of the
One Nation infrastructure upgrade program. Following that most of South Australia's broad-gauge tracks have been closed, the line has become the last operating memory of locomotive-hauled trains on the broad gauge. ==Services==