International Railroad Discussion > South Aussie Grain Train Video

Hi all,

Here is some footage of Genesee & Wyoming Australia's grain trains in action through the Adelaide Hills.

Cheers,
Justin

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Great stuff Justin.Love your work.Saw some of those hoppers when they were new at The Rock(NSW) some years ago.Not a sign of graffiti back then.
Regards,DK

Excellent! Putting this on my to do list!

Thank you for sharing and congratulations on VOTD.
John

Not much interested on foreign trains, but I have to say this was a great video!

Great video, thanks for sharing Justin. Someone needs to catch that graffiti bandit. He/She is traveling all over the world. :) 

Justin, thanks again for another great video.  Love those "bulldogs"!

Couple of questions - the last clip of the empty grainer was 31 cars - is that a common length for grain trains?  I didn't go back and count the cars in the first train, but it looked relatively short as well.  Am curious if this is the normal size or if they are sized because of the grade in the Adelaide Hills.

Also, about how many freight trains per day operate on the line you photographed?  That track structure looks pretty sturdy, but at the same time, I think of G&W as a "shortline" that usually doesn't operate that many trains in a corridor. 

Finally, does this train run on a schedule, ie, daily at noon or some such?  Or is it like here in the States where you might get schedules for Z trains, but mostly it's hit and miss. 

Thanks, and again, wonderful videos!

    I was thinking the same thing. Very short trains in todays world for four units, even on fair grades.

Thanks again everyone.

The first grain train with four units and also the last both have 31 hoppers. This consist is mainly used on the two Mallee branch lines where the axle load is limited to 19.5 tonnes. Each hopper is loaded to a maximum of 76 tonne gross which works out as 2,356 tonne train. Two of the 22 or the 700 class which are rated at 2000hp and one 3000hp unit is all that is needed to work these trains. If a 1800hp GM is substituted for a 2000hp unit the load limit falls 16 tonne short requiring a second GM which makes four units. The 3000hp unit cannot work on the branchline but is used as a banker through the Adelaide Hills where the ruling grades are 2.2%.

The other grain train with the GWU and two FQ's plus the 700 was a 50 hopper train loaded from a mainline site where 23 tonne axle load is allowed for a 92t gross wagon or 4,600t. They also run 40 hopper trains on this line. The GWU class with their AC traction and 4400hp can do the work of two 2000hp DC units or nearly the same as three of the old GM's. The FQ's are 3850hp DC traction but can almost do the same work as two GM's. The light weight of our locomotives (134 metric tonne) limits the load of the locomotives. Load limits on the line are; 4300/4400hp AC traction are 1500t, 4000hp GE/ 3850hp EMD DC traction is 1250t. 3000hp DC are 950t, 2000hp DC are 750t and 1800hp DC are 640t.

The GWA grain trains run on an as required basis and have no set schedule. They generally stick to similar times though. As for other intermodal services with different operators they all have a set timetable. The line only see's around 10-15 trains a day maximum. Sometimes less than 10 and all of these are in the morning or evening. The track in this video is owned by ARTC and is part of the main interstate line between Adelaide and Melbourne. Operators pay an access fee/ path to use the line.

Cheers,
Justin