Quorn in the Flinders: In the Outback region of South Australia The railway town that became a movie star
Good rain meant good times for the Nukunu people whose territory reached into the Flinders. Good times were here, too, for the farmers who followed William Pinkerton, who drove 7000 sheep into the shallow valley and scored the name of the dry creek through the town. You can come into this perfectly positioned Flinders base, Quorn, via the Pt. Augusta road up through Pichi Richi Pass, or drive through Melrose and Wilmington and arrive to a view of the silo dominated houses with the magnificent Dutchman’s Stern Range providing a blue back drop to a town that just… popped up.
The Pichi Richi tourist steam trains still huff and puff the message that the picturesque sprawling Quorn railway station and the impressive row of pubs and shops behind it arose because this was to be the end of the first stage of the great northern railway - with an east-west intersection as well. History buff Maureen McColl explained its origins as we took in the Town Hall, courthouse and three two-storey hotels and a matching group of shops all in a row.
“They started building the town in 1878, as soon as the line was being constructed from Port Augusta.”
One block back from Railway Terrace, an impressive line of shopkeepers and merchants were soon ready for the action, with the added custom of new wheat farmers all too ready to believe that rain would follow the plough into the Flinders. While Quorn is growing again now, it will never again see the heady days when tens of thousands of troops in World War II stopped off on their journey to Darwin and the islands.
“The Country Women’s Associaion ladies were organizing all the voluntary work”, said Maureen. “They turned on 350,000 free meals during that period.”
When the Pichi Richi Railway steam engines let off steam and sound their whistle as they enter the railway yards, they’re recreating a scene that happened thousand of times in the heyday of the narrow gauge line that eventually ran all the way to Alice Springs. The Afghan Express tourist train relives the steam era of the legendary “Ghan”, and Quorn is back as the original end of the line thanks to the volunteers who rallied thirty years ago to preserve a vital piece of railway heritage. Through its weekend and school holiday schedule, Quorn is once again a railway town.
The last regular passenger train through the town with customers needing its four hotels pulled up in 1956. The new standard gauge ran up the other side of the ranges and Quorn initially languished. It was saved, however, by farmers and tourism. And then it rocketed to stardom as a movie set.
“The first one was Bitter Springs, filmed in nearby Warren Gorge in 1949. That starred Chips Rafferty and Tommy Trinder. The day’s scenes were rushed in film cans all the way to Parafield airport in Adelaide to be sent to Sydney for processing. A local man rode his motorbike down every time.”
Head into the front bar of the Criterion and the town’s illustrious film career is hanging on the wall before you in framed posters. Over a cleansing ale you’ll discover the Sundowners in 1961 starred Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr. Round the corner, a picturesque corner shop with obligatory verandah has become the Quandong Café. Its impressive photo collection on the wall includes shots of outdoor scenes from the Sundowners, including a scene outside the hotels with horses, sulkies and fake rain. It poured the next day, of course.
A young Jack Thompson walked into town nearly thirty years ago in the South Australian film classic, Sunday Too Far Away. The shearers’ story took him into at least three of the hotels (at least that’s the way the people behind the bar tell it.)
“Our railway station was renamed Gimmel”, Maureen recalled. “That’s where the strikebreakers arrived and all the carry on started.”
It is a memorable Australian film sequence, as the new team hops off the train to be met by Jack Thompson and the steadfast band of shearers holding out for better pay.
“We’re just the welcoming committee!” shouted Jack’s character as the arrivals walked off towards the unchanged station building. “You’re scabs! That’s what you are.” Fighting words.
Another Aussie classic, Gallipoli, brought a youthful Mel Gibson into focus here. His character tried to do a runner down the stairs of the Austral and out the door onto Railway Terrace. It’s refurbished front bar may now sport a welcome expresso coffee machine, but the overall scene is much the same as when it played a supporting role in the TV mini-series The Last Frontier, shot in 1986. Hollywood star Linda Evans played an American who married an outback station owner.
That was a big year for this part of the Flinders Ranges. Bryan Brown and young Rebecca Smart were soon carrying their swags into town past the ornate nineteenth century Town Hall, playing father and daughter in The Shiralee mini series, also produced in 1986.
“A lovely film”, mused Maureen. “A lot of our buildings were used for making it.”
The hospital featured in a dramatic sequence as little “Buster” became gravely ill, the station made another cameo appearance, another picturesque country corner shop (the old bakery which is now “The Church on the Corner”) was converted into a hotel and the cemetery on the rise featured too. The funeral scene required a bevy of extras, and they included our guide, Maureen. Her best contribution fell to the cutting room sadly, and so they are all, like the town itself, waiting for their next part.
“We’re just waiting to be discovered,” she laughed.
The writing’s on the boarding of one shop front - it lists several of the film’s shot in this classic country town. The credits do the talking. Film directors talk about actors needing star quality. They have to have “it”. Well, Quorn definitely has “it”, and so it’s looking forward to welcoming you for a stay in the Flinders, where you can really get to know a film star.
Quorn Tourist Information Centre
Seventh Street
Quorn, South Australian, 5433
Ph: (08) 8648 6419Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society
PO Box 111
Quorn, SA, 5433
Bookings 0428 581 110
