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Wheat stack in Loxton railway yard
Title : Wheat stack in Loxton railway yard Wheat stack in Loxton railway yard
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Source : Wheat stack in Loxton railway yard with horse team
Date of creation : ca. 1915
Format : Photograph
Contributor : State Library of South Australia
Catalogue record
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Description :

Large wheat stack in Loxton railway yard, with a team of draught horses and dray, a man standing high on the stack of bags on the left, other men taking a break near their makeshift chute.


The wheat harvest always coincided with low water on the river, and thousands of bags of wheat would be stacked up on the wharf awaiting transport to market. Loxton successfully argued for railway to carry the harvest to Port Adelaide for shipment overseas. In 1914 the new railway was opened with wheat the main shipment out and the fertilizer superphosphate on the return. The railway station is now part of an historical pioneer village.

Wheat was bagged in the farm paddock and transported to the town: each bag contained about 4 bushels (or 110 kgs). After 1909 the bags were a little smaller holding 72 kgs or 3 bushels. At the grain agents' yards the bags were tallied and then loaded onto the stacks awaiting shipment by rail or sea. The stacks were usually 23 bags high.

Subjects
Coverage year : ca. 1915
Place : Loxton
Region : Riverland and Murraylands
Further reading :

South Australian Railways History of railway construction and operation from 1854 [Adaide, 1970?]

Donovan and Associates Railway heritage of South Australia: a report commissioned by the National Trust of South Australia [Adelaide]: Donovan and Associates, 1992

Linn, Rob Community of strength: Loxton & its people Loxton, SA: District Council of Loxton Waikerie, 2007

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