Wolseley is a small former railway town near the South Australian/Victorian border.

Where is it?: South East. 5 km south of the Dukes Highway and 13 kilometres east of Bordertown.




The town was surveyed in 1884, and initially named Tatiara, which was described as an "Aboriginal word from the Jackegilbrab Tribe which HC Talbot states is divided into six clans (Kooinkill, Wirriga, Chala, Camiaguigara, Niall & Nunkoora)". The railway station was named after Lord Wolseley, who was the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. The name of the town was changed to match the name of the station on 20 February 1941.

Wolseley's Railway Heritage

The Adelaide-Wolseley railway was opened from Adelaide east to Wolseley railway station in the early 1880s built to 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge. The Serviceton railway line from Melbourne reached Serviceton in Victoria in 1886, and the three miles from Wolseley to Serviceton was completed by the South Australian Railways in 1887, completing a broad gauge rail link between Adelaide and Melbourne. Around the same time, the Mount Gambier railway line 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge railway extended to Wolseley station from the south, creating a break-of-gauge rail junction.

In the 1950s the break-of-gauge was abolished by the conversion of the Mount Gambier line to broad gauge. The line to Mount Gambier has been out of use since the conversion of the Adelaide - Melbourne line to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1���2 in) standard gauge in 1995, pending possible conversion to standard gauge.

World War II fuel tanks

Early in World War II, No. 12 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot was established at Wolseley, with an initial capacity of 280,000 gallons (approx. 1,273,000 litres) in three tanks camouflaged to look like farm buildings. The depot started operations in 1942 and three additional tanks were added later. It was disbanded on 14 June 1944. The tanks survive and can be seen beside the highway.