30/03/2026
Steamtown in Peterborough is one of South Australia’s most distinctive heritage railway sites — a place where the state’s rail history, engineering grit, and outback storytelling all converge.
Steamtown sits within the old South Australian Railways workshops, once the beating heart of Peterborough’s rail operations. At its peak, the town handled more than 100 trains a day and employed over 1,000 people, making it one of the busiest regional rail hubs in the state. Today, the site has been transformed into a heritage rail centre that preserves this industrial legacy.
The museum is built around its heritage‑listed roundhouse, original workshops, and Australia’s only operational triple‑gauge turntable, capable of handling narrow, standard, and broad‑gauge rolling stock. Visitors can explore historic steam and diesel locomotives, passenger carriages dating back to the late 1800s, and freight vehicles that once crossed the Nullarbor or served the state’s rural lines.
As of early 2026, the District Council of Peterborough has temporarily closed the centre while a new operating model is developed, with plans to reopen for the 2026 tourist season. Group bookings of more than ten people are still being honoured, and visitors can access information at the temporary carriage‑based visitor point on Main Street.
http://www.steamtown.com.au
