Cook is a railway station and crossing loop located in the Australian state of South Australia on the Trans-Australian Railway. It is about 826 kilometres (513 mi) west by rail from Port Augusta and about 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of the Eyre Highway via an unsealed road.[1][4] It is on the longest stretch of straight railway in the world, at 478 kilometres (297 mi), which extends from Ooldea, South Australia to beyond Loongana, Western Australia.

Cook Nullarbor Plain, South Australia
Cook's railway station is unattended but is a principal stopping place for freight and passenger trains to take on diesel fuel and water
Cook
Coordinates	30°37′03″S 130°24′40″E[1]
Population	4 (2009)[2]
Established	1917; 105 years ago (1917)
Elevation	120 m (394 ft)[3]
Time zone	ACST (UTC+9:30)
• Summer (DST)	ACDT (UTC+10:30)
LGA(s)	Pastoral Unincorporated Area[1]

Cook is the only scheduled stop on the Nullarbor Plain for the Indian Pacific transcontinental passenger train and has little other than curiosity value for passengers strolling around while their train is replenished.

History

Cook was established in 1917 on the Nullarbor Plain when the Trans-Australian Railway was built. It is named after the sixth Prime Minister of Australia, Joseph Cook.[5] When the town was a major Commonwealth Railways centre for track maintenance and locomotive and rolling stock repairs, it supported a school and hospital. At that time, railway employees and their families depended on two weekly provisions trains for the delivery of supplies. When the town was populated, water was pumped from an underground artesian aquifer but since then, all water has been carried in by train.

The 1964 black-and-white film Nullarbor Hideout was set in and around Cook.

Today

In 2009, Cook was said to have a resident population of four.[2] The town was effectively closed in 1997 when the Australian National Railways' assets were sold to railway operating companies. The reliability of diesel locomotives and the introduction of concrete sleepers and continuously welded rail rendered resident employees redundant. Track and facilities maintenance is undertaken by contractors and diesel refuelling facilities remain; there is overnight accommodation for resting train crews.

The crossing loop can cross trains up to 1.8 kilometres (1.1 miles) long. The former airstrip is known as a place to spot inland dotterel.[6]

As of 2016, Cook was officially described as an "unbounded locality" which is not used as an address. Since 2013, it has been administratively classified as being in the locality of Nullarbor.[1]

• 
  The Indian Pacific train at Cook
• 
  Disused vehicles at Cook in 2011
• 
  Signs on a deserted building at Cook in 2005

Climate

See also

• Localities on the Trans-Australian Railway

References

На других языках

[de] Cook (South Australia)