On 9 June 1891, the Tarrawingee Flux & Tramway Company, led by
J. S. Reid, opened a 40 mile line to carry high-grade limestone from
Tarrawingee (for use as flux) to the
Broken Hill smelters. It purchased two
James Martin & Co built
2-6-0 locomotives to the same specification as the
South Australian Railways Y class. However they were sold to railway builder Baxter & Sadler and the
Silverton Tramway Company (STC) and instead hired in locomotives from the STC. In 1897, the smelting of iron-ore had moved to
Port Pirie and the need for Tarrawingee limestone ceased. After being lobbied, on 7 September 1899 the
New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) purchased the line for £15,000 and spend £37,000 upgrading the line. As it was isolated from the rest of the NSWGR's operations and to a different gauge, it contracted STC to operate services. In 1900, a 1 mile 8 chain branch was added to McCulloch Park Racecourse. It briefly reopened in 1931 to allow 25,000 tons of aggregate to be conveyed from Tarrawingee for construction of the Broken Hill Central Power Station with the last train running on 17 April 1931. In May 1936, the line was sold to
Zinc Corporation for dismantling except for short spur to the
Vacuum Oil Company, this was removed in March 1959. ==References==