gazmanjack Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Great ride on the front of a 45... How did you manage to fix a camera to the front ? Or, is it a case of 'Not what you know, it's who you know...' Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 It's not my video, but it was a private charter and the person who chartered the train posted it so go figure, Cheers David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
69843 Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Having a week, in bits and pieces, to go spotting I did just that. Monday, and we see the new gangways fitted to T65, now nicknamed the Tangaratah as a result. Tuesday, and a good mix of freight showed up. First to come through was 8238, 8181, 8230 and 8207. 8181 was apparently filling in for a dodgy 82. Next was 8134 and 8103 on a down grain service. 8103 shows off its small cabside numbers, as well as having the large numbers on the bodyside (I am unsure of the reason for the small numbers) And 8130 with 8109 barreled through with a down ballast service Wednesday saw 8203, 8239, 8208, 8209 on the morning coalie, and nearly being blocked by a T-set T20 popped it's head in, and for those who don't know it is the first built Tangara of the lot And the real reason for going out. Mechanised Track Patrol Vehicle ML-039 pulls into, and stops at Sutherland platform 3 during it's weekly run down the ES&IL. Thursday, and with prior knowedge of the timetable, I travelled to Sydney Terminal to see Boyd Munro's train. Actually bumping into Boyd himself was a plesent surprise, and he was a very kind and well spoken man. EL58 was the other surprise of the day. The two coaches are ex-SAR coaches The other piece of stock was V16, which deserves the nickname of the 'Flying Cheeseburger'. The Lilac interior is a nice change! Back in April, 8202 caught fire. So, appropriately enough, my first sighting of it after it was repared came on Friday 13th. And the new taillight in use (wonder if any RMwebber can see just what type it is... ) 4403 flat end first with the Boyd Munro train. EL58 was pointing nose first on the end of the train. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bingley hall Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Freightliner downunder - two CFCLA CF class locos have been leased to Freightliner and repainted accordingly Not my pic http://www.flickr.com/photos/37494672@N06/9572217315/in/photolist-fzS7Hz-fA7srJ-fcydGf-ebsBGx-ebKUhj-ebE6sz-eB3doQ-eFk94d-ebDgt8-ebDeyD-ebDeLZ-fGFuB8-eBAWKt-exmmt1-exutxd-foQHLR 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
69843 Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Freightliner downunder - two CFCLA CF class locos have been leased to Freightliner and repainted accordingly Not my pic http://www.flickr.com/photos/37494672@N06/9572217315/in/photolist-fzS7Hz-fA7srJ-fcydGf-ebsBGx-ebKUhj-ebE6sz-eB3doQ-eFk94d-ebDgt8-ebDeyD-ebDeLZ-fGFuB8-eBAWKt-exmmt1-exutxd-foQHLR Looks a bit like a single-ended Class 70. I must now try and hunt that down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 New NSW timetables out today, commencing 20 October.http://www.sydneytrains.info/news/2013/130917-timetablehttp://www.nswtrainlink.info/destinations/timetablesThe only one relevant to me is the Brisbane XPT. NSW has bowed to pressure to get it out of the Brisbane suburban area during the morning peak so QR can run more Gold Coast trains. The Brisbane XPT has been retimed so the northbound train arrives at Roma St at the convenient time of 4.53am and departs again at 5.55am. In summer, when NSW has daylight savings but Queensland doesn't, it will be an hour earlier!CheersDavid Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted September 17, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 17, 2013 New NSW timetables out today, commencing 20 October. http://www.sydneytrains.info/news/2013/130917-timetable http://www.nswtrainlink.info/destinations/timetables The only one relevant to me is the Brisbane XPT. NSW has bowed to pressure to get it out of the Brisbane suburban area during the morning peak so QR can run more Gold Coast trains. The Brisbane XPT has been retimed so the northbound train arrives at Roma St at the convenient time of 4.53am and departs again at 5.55am. In summer, when NSW has daylight savings but Queensland doesn't, it will be an hour earlier! Cheers David Interesting thanks. I see that some of the City Rail Sydney Trains tables still apparently include potential problems they were paying me to identify in order to improve reliability 9 years ago! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 How does the new timetable affect connections in Sydney for the Melbourne XPT? In the past one was able to change at Strathfield for the northbound services but the southbound ones missed completely! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Looks a bit like a single-ended Class 70. I must now try and hunt that down. Little bit of useful/useless info in similarities... Both the CF Class and the Class 70 are from GE and use the same GE 5GEB39 traction motors. The CF model is GE C44 ACi and the Class 70 PH37ACmi. The CF Class is a little longer, more HP; CF - 4500hp vs Class70 - 3690hp. The CF is heavier at 139 tonnes vs 129 tonnes, but the CF has a larger fuel capacity, 13,500 L vs 6000 L. The starting tractive effort is higher on the CF 600kN vs 534kN. The one thing that stands out, is that the CF is definately a better looking engine ! ...although the Freightliner livery is identical ! Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 How does the new timetable affect connections in Sydney for the Melbourne XPT? In the past one was able to change at Strathfield for the northbound services but the southbound ones missed completely! G'day Jeff, I'd say the Melbourne XPT will be using the East Hills Line from the 20th October, which is quicker to Campbelltown, than running through Strathfield. The East Hills Line has recently been put through an upgrade, with 4 lines through to Revesby, then double line onwards to Glenfield. Glenfield opens to 4 lines and then reduces to 3 heading to Ingleburn. Between Ingleburn and Campbelltown the line is only double. I'd say it won't be long before it is 4 lines all the way to Campbelltown as it is part of the freight corridor the Government has been spending money on over the last 5 years or so. Maybe someone here with more info could elaborate on this subject. Cheers, Gary. Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted September 17, 2013 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 17, 2013 (edited) Strathfield stops have been deleted on the Melbourne / Canberra / Griffith runs which implies operation via East Hills. If you're very lucky the s/b Brisbane XPT connects onto the night Melbourne (just 20 minutes at Central) and the s/b Casino with Brisbane coach connection likewise onto the day train (33 minutes). You would need to be even luckier n/b with the night train from Melbourne giving just 18 minutes to connect onto the Casino (for Brisbane coach) train and the day train having no onward connection of any sort. As an incidental to the retiming of the Brisbane train it will no longer be possible to photograph a scheduled passenger train at the Border Loop vantage point, nor indeed anywhere in Queensland on the standard gauge in daylight. The stop at Kyogle becomes even more useless now being in the even smaller hours of the night. On the positive side three trains once again run daily between Sydney and Canberra and at almost the same times every day. Edited September 17, 2013 by Gwiwer 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Yesterday's media launch of the Gold Coast light rail, now renamed G:link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG0BlmFsGaE Cheers David 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Makes you wonder why the trams couldn't be made here in Oz... Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Makes you wonder why the trams couldn't be made here in Oz... They could have, if the taxpayer was prepared to pay more. Bombardier in Victoria is building the 3-section E class trams for Melbourne at unit cost is $6 million including maintenance for 5 years. The 7-section Gold Coast trams built by Bombardier in Germany have a unit cost of $3.4 million including maintenance for 15 years. It comes down to whether you are prepared to pay nearly double to secure about 100 jobs in Victoria. Cheers David 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
69843 Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 Well, yesterday has to be the best day of spotting I've had (until next week... ) BRM002-G514-G511-BRM001 pass the end of Hawkesbury River bridge. These shots was taken on Railcorp property, with full supervision and permission. 4473 heading light engine on the down to pick up an A-set from Newcastle (A59 aparrently came down that evening). LDP002-LDP006-LDP009 went past on the up. LDP001-003 are in EDI/QR National Blue and White, and LDP004-009 are in QR National livery. NR51-NR109 Sandfly II on the up. This is the first time I've actually caught a Ghan NR, so that was good. MTPV2 surprised us, as as far as I was aware, it was still on test. C505-RL307-C506 were next on the up, with C505 in Blue and Yellow, and RL307 and C506 in Greentrains Green. This is where it gets a bit confusing, as C505/C506 are owned by Pacific National, and RL307 by Greentrains, but RL307 is in Cootes Industrial Green and C506 is in Greentrains livery, on what seemed to be a Qube service... The mind boggles. NR37-NR6-NR19 were next, with NR6 and NR19 still in debranded National Rail livery LDP005-LDP001 appeared on a down intermodal service, but we missed it as we were transferring back to the station. The Brisbane XPT was next to show, going through the station with a roar of Paxton engines and a helping of clag from trailing XP2008 MTPV2 passes back through the station. Track Patrol Vehicle staff have this great habbit of going crazy when a camera is pointed at them... Qube 1100s 1106 and 1102 rolled through the station. Sadly they were missed, as we had just started a change of scenery to Cowan...drat! On arrival at Cowan, our old enemy of SPENO grinder RR36M24 was waiting in the sidings, undergiong a wash and test. 'Cheeseburger 1' heads to Newcastle on a normal service. Southern Spirit NR85-NR98-NR66 pass North on a down intermodal. Seeing NR85 means I have now seen one of each of the four special liveries (NR18 'new' Indian Pacific, NR26/27 Indian Pacific, NR85 Southern Spirit, NR109 Ghan). 8206-8202-8218-8243 pass on the JW73 12:00 freight service...two and a half hours late! A change of side sees newly redone NSW TrainLink V45 pass with V26 on the rear. A quick snap was taken to compare the two schemes head on. And in what has to be the best spot all day, CF4412 Black Caviar and CF4411 Revenue showed up on the Freightliner 1581 intermodal. Jokes had been being made all day about seeing CF4412, but we didn't seriously think it would happen...someone must have been listening! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
69843 Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 With work having been done all through the week on the Cronulla branch, there has been an ecclectic mix of stock reported on the line, from GMs to 81s. 44206 seems to be the last left, as it was ticking over light engine by the end of the down line at Sutherland. 44206 (and 44204) were both up until this year in a modified version of the SRA scheme, with 44206 previously wearing Green with Yellow whiskers. Also present were a couple of funny little rail mounted cherry pickers on the back of a flatbed truck. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 Some great pics you have there. Only wish I could take my camera to work as Rookwood Cemetery is surrounded (two sides anyway) with the Chullora freight lines, with some great viewing areas, very close to the lines. Black Caviar is one loco that passes through occasionally, as with the mix of 44's, S, B, G, NR, DL, 80, 81, 82, 90, etc etc... also not forgetting the different companies, QR National, SSR, Pacific National, Qube, CFCLA, SCT, Independent Rail, Green Trains.... Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
69843 Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 (edited) Speaking of 81s and 82s (and C44aci's), we have the latest round of spotting, from Monday 23/9: Edit: Also note 8202, which was spotted 60-odd kms North at Cowan on the Tuesday (as in above picture with 8206 leading). Edit 2: Number annomily corrected Edited September 30, 2013 by 69843 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Adelaide's first electric train, first low speed test run on the Seaford extension. Note the dual gauge sleepers in preparation for Adelaide's version of the Great Western Great Regauging. Cheers David 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Budgie Posted October 2, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 2, 2013 Note the dual gauge sleepers in preparation for Adelaide's version of the Great Western Great Regauging. Are they proposing to convert everything in Adelaide to standard gauge? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 I don't know if it is an illusion caused by the wide angle lens but please don't tell me they have gone to 3' 6" gauge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bingley hall Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 Are they proposing to convert everything in Adelaide to standard gauge? Adelaide's metro network remains at 5'3". Any plans for standardisation are currently on ice. It may happen one day in the future, it may not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmanjack Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 I can understand that each individual State chose its own gauge, but for a while there, South Australia were confused on which gauge to choose ! see here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_South_Australia Cheers, Gary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
69843 Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Well, last Thursday, as promised I made the trip down to Goulburn. While I won't post all the pictures here, I will post the ones of the 44s stored. As suspected (and confirmed by our guide), they are stored outside of the museum compound and no-one is sure of their future. Out of the nine locomotives that are still under ownership of Qube, seven are stored (58, 61, 63, 77, 97 at Goulburn, 83 at Minto, 98 at Cooks River) and two are active (71 and 88). By a stroke of good luck, 4471 and 4488 were also at Goulburn. The line of 44s (in order from North to South): 4488 and 4471 with 4717 on the front sit after a shunt in the yard: 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Due to bushfires cutting the Main West at Lithgow and the Main South at Picton, the Illawarra is going to be very busy tonight and tomorrow. All freights and XPTs are going via Wollongong. Tomorrow's Indian Pacific is going via Wollongong too. Cheers David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now