Ebbing away.
Apologies to the non-railway people, this might bore you silly. Just pass over until the next lot of shots.
Since 1968 when the first heavy coal line, the Moura Short Line was opened from the port of Gladstone, the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland has seen a massive expansion in the numbers of mines and the railways serving them. The four main segments, Moura, Blackwater, Goonyella and Newlands have now all been interconnected via the ports of Gladstone (R.G. Tanna and Wiggins Island), Mackay (Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay) and Abbot Point (Bowen) and also a network of inland branches to enable flexibility of operation. Many of the lines have been duplicated and electrified to handle the vast tonnages while some lines remain operated by diesel locomotives. Already, a number of generations of locomotives have been worked into the ground and either withdrawn and scrapped or in recent times upgraded to the latest technology.
The first generation of electric locomotives introduced for coal haulage by Queensland Rail (now Aurizon) have mostly been and gone or upgraded. 3100/3200, 3500/3600 and 3900 class have been either scrapped, sold (to Africa) or upgraded with new technology to become the 3700, 3500 and 3551 class locomotives. The 3300/3400 were not well liked by crews nor as successful and have been totally scrapped. Forty-five new 3800 class were introduced in 2007 after construction by Siemens Mobility in Germany. Following the advent of privatisation and open access, Pacific National, BMA and One Rail Australia have also entered coal traffic with similar diesel and electric locos.
For Aurizon, a shrinking market and the entry of more operators, older locos have also been stored. This shot from the road over bridge at Jilalan south of Mackay shows locos mainly of the 3551 class stored just outside the depot with both Aurizon and the previous QR and QR National liveries. Both 3500 and 3551 class see limited service.
Out of interest for the railway guys, numbers visible from R to L are
3553, ?, 3555, 3567, 3558, ?- while 3519 and 3507 were in the depot.
Ebbing away.
Apologies to the non-railway people, this might bore you silly. Just pass over until the next lot of shots.
Since 1968 when the first heavy coal line, the Moura Short Line was opened from the port of Gladstone, the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland has seen a massive expansion in the numbers of mines and the railways serving them. The four main segments, Moura, Blackwater, Goonyella and Newlands have now all been interconnected via the ports of Gladstone (R.G. Tanna and Wiggins Island), Mackay (Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay) and Abbot Point (Bowen) and also a network of inland branches to enable flexibility of operation. Many of the lines have been duplicated and electrified to handle the vast tonnages while some lines remain operated by diesel locomotives. Already, a number of generations of locomotives have been worked into the ground and either withdrawn and scrapped or in recent times upgraded to the latest technology.
The first generation of electric locomotives introduced for coal haulage by Queensland Rail (now Aurizon) have mostly been and gone or upgraded. 3100/3200, 3500/3600 and 3900 class have been either scrapped, sold (to Africa) or upgraded with new technology to become the 3700, 3500 and 3551 class locomotives. The 3300/3400 were not well liked by crews nor as successful and have been totally scrapped. Forty-five new 3800 class were introduced in 2007 after construction by Siemens Mobility in Germany. Following the advent of privatisation and open access, Pacific National, BMA and One Rail Australia have also entered coal traffic with similar diesel and electric locos.
For Aurizon, a shrinking market and the entry of more operators, older locos have also been stored. This shot from the road over bridge at Jilalan south of Mackay shows locos mainly of the 3551 class stored just outside the depot with both Aurizon and the previous QR and QR National liveries. Both 3500 and 3551 class see limited service.
Out of interest for the railway guys, numbers visible from R to L are
3553, ?, 3555, 3567, 3558, ?- while 3519 and 3507 were in the depot.