International Railroad Discussion > Recent Downunder Pics

Hi all,

Some recent shots from downunder.

1. 1966 built Clyde/EMD A16C GM38 owned by G&W hauls 4172 SCT transfer through Mallala in South Australia. 10/19/12.

2. QR National train 6MP1 heads up the 2.2% grade at Yantaringa in South Australia with UGL/GE C44ACi 6003, Clyde/EMD,JT26C-2SS G516 and Goninan/GE CM30-8 2809 on 10/20/12.

3. Three Pacific National Goninan/GE Cv40-9i locootives NR85/NR61/NR96 near the top of the 2.2% grade at Mt. Lofty, South Australia, 10/20/12.

More to come.

Justin

---

---

---

Some more.

1. NR54 and Clyde/EMD JT46C AN2 roll downgrade through Clapham, South Australia with Pacific National train 2MA5 on 10/23/12.

2. Specialized Container Transport (SCT) owned EDI/EMD GT46ACe's SCT009/SCT003 roll downgrade out of Sleeps Hill tunnel in South Australia with train 2MP9 10/23/12.

3. Pacific National train 7PM5 heads down the 2.2% grade at Bridgewater, South Australia with NR60/NR14 on 10/23/12.

More coming.

---

---

---

Some more.

1. QR National train 2MP1 climbs upgrade into Mt. Lofty with 2821, EDI/EMD GT46ACe LDP003 and UGL/GE C44ACi 6022 on 10/23/12.

2. Pacific National train 1WX2 climbs upgrade through Yantaringa on 10/23/12 with NR108/AN6/NR84.

3. With train 1WX2 in the crossing loop at Mt. Lofty, PN train 1PM7 passes through on the main with NR73/NR54 on 10/23/12. The old station buliding seen in the picture has been turned into accomodation and is well worth the stay for railfans as trains battle 2.2% grades in either direction as the station is at the top of the hill. The loop is not very long there so very few trains actually cross at that location.

---

---

---

Some more.

1. Goodwin/Alco DL531 841 and Goodwin/Alco DL500G 704 wait at Gawler station, South Australia for line clearance early in the morning on 10/25/12.

2. PN train 4MP5 with NR103/NR100 approaches Kitchener in Western Australia on 11/9/12. This is on the Trans Australia Railway.

3. SCT train 5PM9 waits in the siding at Burando, South Australia on 11/10/12 with SCT003/SCT009.

---

---

---

Some more.

1. G&W owned Clyde/EMD J26C 2207 leads a crew car and Clyde/EMD G6B FJ105 on 1475 transfer near Korunye, South Australia on 11/12/12.

2. Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia (CFCLA) unit CM30-Mmi, GL108 A Goninan/GE rebuild of an Goodwin/Alco DL500G heads towards Two Wells, South Australia with Patrick Portlink train 1417 on 11/12/12.

3. CFCLA transfer movement from Adelaide, South Australia to New South Wales approaches Two Wells with 1960 vintage Clyde/EMD A16C S311 leading two 2008 vintage Avteq/EMD GT26C units VL358/VL359 on 11/12/12.

---

---

---

The last one for now.

1967 vintage A16C's GM45/GM46 lead 1969 vintage J26C 2214 as they wait on the siding at Long Plains, South Australia with Genesee & Wyoming grain service 4112 on 11/13/12.

I hope you enjoy.

Cheers,
Justin

---

Nice variety of power over your way Justin.I usually only see NR,s here through Wagga.
Regards,dK

Justin,
Great photos and interesting equipment. In the photo of the SCT train what are the extremely tall looking cars toward the rear of the train. Also what is the purpose of the crew cars? Do they carry two crews with one on and one off?
Charlie

The really tall looking cars are high bube boxcars which are almost the height of double stacked containers. As for a crew car they contain a kitchen area, shower, toilet and normally 5 bedrooms. They are used on relay working over here on long distance runs where there is virtually no towns etc. This is also why the SCT trains have in-line re-fuelling so we don't have to stop. In relay working there is always four drivers with two up the front and two resting in the crew car. the pairs will change every 8 hours with a maximum time limit of 54 hours. I do this type of working on the 2617km (1626 mile) run from Adelaide to Perth and back again. The trip with around 20 hours off in Perth takes five days. So we do 5234km/3252 miles in that time.

Justin

Do you run over 600 miles in one day? That's what it appears.

The most I have done in my 8 hours up the front is 790km or 490 miles. Out on the desert on the long straight - 478km, if we have no crosses we sit on 110km/h (68mph) non stop for up to 8 hours minus the occasional speed restriction or curve speed. These train can run from Adelaide to Perth in around 34-38 hours for the 1626 miles. The best average speed I have had on one trip to Perth was around 80km/h or around 50mph, including stopping for crosses etc.

Cheers,
Justin

Justin,

Thanks for the info, very interesting. What is typically hauled in those very high cube boxcars? Here high cube boxcars were often used for autoparts. I assume the tank containers on a flat car behind the locomotives is used for on in route fueling? Why a container tank instead of a tank car?

Charlie

Absolutely beautiful pictures!!
It is neat to see other parts of "Aussie Land"....(I read the WA E-Mag regularly)

Please keep the pic coming !!

DaveL

GOOD GRIEF, 3252 Miles round trip??? As a retired Engineer (Canada) my longest trip with no relief Engineer was 313 miles, basically non stop, Rocky Mountaineer "Fraser Discovery" tourist train and because we travelled on three subdivisions during that trip, were paid 8 hrs per sub, or equivalent to 24 hrs pay. So after this 5 day trip that you do, how much time off do you have? Or what type of work schedule do the drivers have on this job, seems like an awful lot of miles and time on duty. Now for the "bold question", are you paid by the mile, hour or trip. On the BC Rail in western Canada, I was paid by the hour, minimum day pay was eight hours, or 8 hours per rail subdivision that we worked on. On other railways like CN or CP crews are paid by the mile, minimum 100 miles pay, and some crews are "double sub" 250 miles or more. Very curious and comparing notes from "up above and down under". Thanks, Doug

Great set of pictures and really interesting to hear about how you work. Thanks.

Thanks everyone for the kind words on the pictures.

The high cube boxcars carry light weight but bulky items such as boxes of breakfast cereal. As for the inline fuel tanks, they did use old tank cars to start with but they soon developed cracks. Four different operators now use the system of two 28,000 litre 20ft tank containers mounted on a flatcar with the pumping unit. I think it is a much cheaper option than building new specific tank cars.

My longest trip in a non relay working job was on The Ghan passenger train from Adelaide to Tarcoola in South Australia - a distance of 725km or 450 miles and we were rostered for a 12 hour shift. This distance was acheived including easily in that time.

After a 5 day relay job we have to have a minimum of 62 hours off. Relay working is 8 hours driving, 8 hours resting with a total maximum time of 54 hours. We then have to have a minimum of 12 hours off before heading home again on the same routine. As for pay we get our full rate of pay while resting or working plus three meal allowences a day. Once resting in Perth we get paid our full rate again after 12 hours. Example if we have 24 hours rest in the hotel in Perth we get paid for 12 of that. On an average Perth relay job we normally end up with around 40-48 hours work and the same again in rest plus whatever rest pay we get in Perth - normally around 4-6 hours. This makes a 5 day job worth around 90+ hours worth of full rate pay.

The roster cycle i'm on includes 6 of these relay jobs in an 8 week period then you have four weeks of local work or maybe an away job covering someone on holidays. We also do local jobs in between away jobs.

One of the advantages of the working across the Nullarbor Plain on is the awesome sunrises, sunsets and great thunder storms. A couple of shots taken whilst on the longest straight piece of railway line in the world 478km or 297 miles.

I hope this information helps.

Justin

---

---

---

Some interior shots of a crew car.

Justin

---

---

---

This is our view for a couple of hundred miles on these long runs.

---

Hi Justin
some really interesting insight into different working conditions and operations.
I reckon you need to be well rested to stay awake on those long empty runs peering at the rails disappearing to the horizon.
Some nice shots too.

Steve

Wow! And I thought U.S. railroaders worked under pretty tough conditions! It looks like they take pretty good care of you, though it's time to replace that TV with a wall-mounted flat screen.

The photos are wonderful. That's some very colorful rail equipment you run "down under", and Oz looks like a beautiful place. I'd love to visit someday. Never managed to get there during a 20-year consulting career.

I'm glad to see you're using stack cars on at least some routes. When the railway to Darwin was under construction, I had a series of emails and phone calls with an economist at Monash University about the cost reductions possible with double stack technology. Apparently the idea was that ocean containers could move from Asian points to Darwin and then by rail. I eventually told him that the economics are such that it would make more sense to leave the boxes on the ship and go right to Sydney (or wherever), and that there was little chance of getting traffic to move via Darwin. The government built the railway anyway, and predictably it went into administration.

However, a few weeks after my discussions on this subject, a package arrived from Australia. It contained two highball glasses with a map of Australia and the route of the new railway etched into them. I'm sure I'm the only person in New Jersey with such glassware.