Lachlan Baker Photography
Lending a hand
9011, 9006 and 9012 power upgrade banking the sparingly used Whitehaven Coal owned but PN operated coal set operating service WH902 (led by WH class locos WH001, WH002 and WH003), seen at Kankool at 1119 on Monday the 3rd of July 2023. These bankers were attached just around the corner at Chilcotts Creek Loop, and will be detached at Ardglen, the summit of the steep 1:40 Ardglen Bank.
PN and Aurizon attach bankers to Newcastle bound coal and grain services at Chilcotts Creek Loop to give them a shove over the steep 1:40 grade. The locos are detached just around the corner from where I took this photo. SSR also have bankers for their daily grain trains over this bank, but are attached at Werris Creek and detached at Pages River Loop due to the lack of siding space at Chilcotts Creek.
The 90 class face an uncertain future due to their lack of ECP braking capabilities, a technology which ARTC intend to make universal on coal trains on their network within coming years, a technology that the 90s cannot have fitted outside of a major rebuild. Coupled with the continued obsolescence of their DC traction package and their extremely heavy weight (by Australian standards) of 164t or 177t (the latter weight is a modification fitted to several examples which allows their tractive effort to be equal to that of a unit with AC traction) makes them too heavy to work anywhere outside of the Hunter Valley coal network (Narrabri-Newcastle) with little exception. What will happen is unclear as Pacific National have made conflicting statements and actions regrading whether the locomotives will be rebuilt or withdrawn from service in the near future, with members of the class coming in and out of storage, although none as of the time of writing (03/07/23) have been scrapped. In addition to normal coal services, since 2020 three 90s at a time have been dedicated to banking duties for loaded coal trains over the steep Ardglen Bank. These locomotives are based at Chilcotts Creek loop (with Aurizon's bankers based there as well) when not required.
Lending a hand
9011, 9006 and 9012 power upgrade banking the sparingly used Whitehaven Coal owned but PN operated coal set operating service WH902 (led by WH class locos WH001, WH002 and WH003), seen at Kankool at 1119 on Monday the 3rd of July 2023. These bankers were attached just around the corner at Chilcotts Creek Loop, and will be detached at Ardglen, the summit of the steep 1:40 Ardglen Bank.
PN and Aurizon attach bankers to Newcastle bound coal and grain services at Chilcotts Creek Loop to give them a shove over the steep 1:40 grade. The locos are detached just around the corner from where I took this photo. SSR also have bankers for their daily grain trains over this bank, but are attached at Werris Creek and detached at Pages River Loop due to the lack of siding space at Chilcotts Creek.
The 90 class face an uncertain future due to their lack of ECP braking capabilities, a technology which ARTC intend to make universal on coal trains on their network within coming years, a technology that the 90s cannot have fitted outside of a major rebuild. Coupled with the continued obsolescence of their DC traction package and their extremely heavy weight (by Australian standards) of 164t or 177t (the latter weight is a modification fitted to several examples which allows their tractive effort to be equal to that of a unit with AC traction) makes them too heavy to work anywhere outside of the Hunter Valley coal network (Narrabri-Newcastle) with little exception. What will happen is unclear as Pacific National have made conflicting statements and actions regrading whether the locomotives will be rebuilt or withdrawn from service in the near future, with members of the class coming in and out of storage, although none as of the time of writing (03/07/23) have been scrapped. In addition to normal coal services, since 2020 three 90s at a time have been dedicated to banking duties for loaded coal trains over the steep Ardglen Bank. These locomotives are based at Chilcotts Creek loop (with Aurizon's bankers based there as well) when not required.