Cook is a railway station and crossing loop on the standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie, with no inhabited places around. It is 826 kilometres (513 mi) by rail from Port Augusta, and is connected to the Eyre Highway by an unsealed road about 100 kilometres (60 mi) long.
History
The former town was created in 1917 when the railway was built and is named after the sixth Prime Minister of Australia, Joseph Cook. The town depended on the Tea and Sugar Train for the delivery of supplies, and is on the longest stretch of straight railway in the world, at 478 kilometres (297 mi) which stretches from Ooldea to beyond Loongana. When the town was active, water was pumped from an underground Artesian aquifer but now, all water is carried in by train.