 On 19 January 1878 Sir William Jervois symbolically turned the first sod on the new northern railway (called The Ghan) at Port Augusta.The line reached Hawker in June 1880, Beltana on 2 July 1881, Marree on 6 January 1884, Oodnadatta on 7 January 1891 and Alice Springs on 2 August 1929.In 1956 the narrow gauge line through Beltana was replaced by a standard gauge line that bypassed the town and the line is now closed.