International Railroad Discussion > Downunder Pictures

Hi all,

Some more recent pictures from me.

1. Stored bulldog's - GM42, GM37, GM40, GM47, GM46 all in line plus GM38 to the right keep in service Goodwin/Alco unit, 701 c ompany at Dry Creek on 6/27/15.

2. Nose to tail GM40 and GM47 on 6/27/15. GM40 has an S5T.

3. Nose to nose GM42 and GM37 both fitted with Leslie RS5T's.

Justin
 

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Next lot.

1. A well weather beaten GM46 showing its old Commonwealth Railways livery trying to come through on 6/27/15.

2. An in cab view of the sunset as we heard north near Kulgera in the Northern Territory desert on board a UGL/ GE C44ACi on 7/1/15.

3. Our train, 3AD1 with GWU003 and ALF18 waits on the siding at Katherine in the Northern Territory on 7/2/15.

Justin

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1. 5DA2 with GWU004, CLP17 arrives at Katherine on 2/7/15. The banner was made by the driver as it was his lat job before retirement.

2. A side shot showing the Bradford-Kendall made Commonwealth bogie on crew car ADFY5. A former Overland sleeping car.

3. Berrimah (Darwin) Freight terminal's local shunt locomotive 2214 rests between duties on 7/3/15.

Justin

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1. 6DA2 is getting ready to depart Berrimah behind GWU003, ALF18 on 7/3/15.

2 & 3. The lounge and kitchen area inside crew car ADFY5. Our home away from home for the best part of 5 days.

Justin

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1. Looking south towards Alice Springs at Illoquara in the Northern Territory under a full moon on 7/4/15. This was 660 seconds at f22, 400ISO.

2. 6DA2 with GWU003, ALF22 waits to depart from Alice Springs after attaching more loading on 7/4/15.

3. Desert railroading, the crossing loop at Hugh River in the Northern Territory.

Justin

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1. GWU003 on 6DA2 at Coondambo in South Australia on 7/4/15.

2. Another view of 6DA2 at Coondambo as a Pacific National service passes by at around 50 MPH.

3. 6DA2 waits in the siding at Burando on 7/4/15.

Justin

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1. Espee Rail Services locomotive and wagon transfer, 5472 passes through Yongala, South Australia on 7/8/15 with CFCLA owned CF4402 hauling former QR National units 42304, 42305.

2. 5472 passes through Caltowie.

3. The train passes a windmill between Caltowie and Gladstone.

Justin

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1. The train arrives at Gladstone.

2. Interail liveried 42304 at Gladstone. These were former narrow gauge Queensland Rail 1502 class. A Clyde/EMD built G22 which entered service in 1967-69. Six were rebuilt into the standard gauge 423 class in 2002 for Interail/QR National.

3. 42305 at Gladstone in the QR National livery.

Justin

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1. The Australian Horsepower logo on CF4402.

2. PN service, 2PS7 passes through the former triple gauge yard at Gladstone hauled by NR92, NR110 on 7/8/15.

3. 5472 heads out of Crystal Brook as GWA locomotive GWA008 loads a grain train on the balloon loop.

Justin

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1. 5472 rounds a curve at Bungama.

2. 5472 nears its destination as it passes through Coonamia.

3. 5472 has arrived in Port Pirie yard as GWA shunt locomotive 2212 looks on. The two 423's plus the ballast hoppers and container flatcars will be exported to Saudi Arabia in the next few weeks.

Justin

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1. The two 423's in Pt. Pirie yard.

2. The CQAX container wagon bound for export. These wagons have had an interesting life. They were built between 1958 and 1963 as 85ft piggy back wagons for TTX and SP? 45 were imported into Australia in 1985 by Australian National. Now 15 are heading for the Middle East!

3. The CHOY ballast hopper heading overseas. These were built for the Victorian Railways and V/Line.

Justin

 

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1-3. Retired and being slowly stripped for parts, GM34 rests at the Dry Creek MPC on 7/9/15. Soon it will head for the scrap heap having not run since 2006.

Justin

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Another three shots of GM34. The radiator hatch has been removed ready for the engine to be lifted out. The third photo shows the rear pressurising fan filter assembly which helped keep dirt out of the engine room.

Justin

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And lastly.

One last side on shot of GM34. A Clyde/ EMD A16C that entered service in April 1965.

Cheers,
Justin

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Great images, especially the night shots. It is really interesting to see those long distance operations and the inside of the crew car. Do track gangs on those long routes to Darwin and Perth also travel out to areas that are under maintainence, or are their maintenance bases throughout those areas?

Great images and beautiful scenery.  Question about the crew car / lounge / kitchen,  does the railway supply the food, what foods do you get, washroom facilities and what about entertainment, videos / internet???  Really curious as you said home away for five days, just trying to compare it to my experience in Canada on ther railway.  Thanks,  Doug

Thanks for sharing a great series of trains Down Under.

Stanley Jackowski
Valrico, FL

When did the 423s get sold off?

how many days OFF do u get after returning from a 5 day trip?

thanks for the great pics.......

66

Thanks for the comments everyone. A few answers to the above questions.

Track gangs have central bases and have to travel hundreds of miles to get to work sites and sometimes camp out if big jobs are to be done.

As for the food on crew cars, we supply our own. We get paid three tax free meal allownces per 24 hours which is more than enought to cover the food. They currently work out to about $90 a day. The crew cars are fitted with a seperate shower and toilet plus five bedrooms. In the main lounge area is the big screen TV with blu-ray/DVD player and surround sound system. On our crews cars, each bedroom also has its own flat screen TV with in-built DVD player. All rooms also have their own seperate split system air conditioners. Up through the Northern Territory there is only a few spots of mobile phone coverage so no internet. On ARTC owned track, their radio system runs off the 4G mobile network and is encrypted so a scanner is useless but you have mobile and internet coverage in those areas.

Only those two 423's were sold off recently. None of the other four have from what I am aware.

For time off, we can work a maximum of 54 hours on relay and then have a minimum of 12 hours off in the location we arrive at. We mainly get between 15 and 20. On getting home after a 5 day job we have to have a minimum of 62 hours off.

I hope this answers all the questions.

Cheers,
Justin