Group,
Somehow I managed to stumble across this youtube video. Does anybody have any idea where this happened? The rail line looks like narrow gauge but I can't be sure. I asked in the youtube comments but have not received a response.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KUw57VJE&t=2s
Regards,
Fred M. Cain
If you do 'show more' in the description - Almost looked like the Penn Central Video :)
On Saturday 9th January 1999, No. 36 goods traveling north from Hobart to Burnie in the Australian State of Tasmania, derailed at Chigwell in Hobart's northern suburbs. The derailment was apparently caused by a track buckle in a timber-sleepered section that had been replaced by steel sleepers earlier that week. The wobbly track seen towards the end was straight before the train ran over it - except for a slight track buckle/kink that was probably caused by heat (January is high summer in Australia). Although the actual derailment isn't seen, it's graphically heard at (2:50) and (2:56) when bogies from a loaded wagon (blue containers) jump the track and leave a trail of track devastation for about a kilometre. The loco. crew didn't realise until a witness contacted Train Control which in turn contacted them. By the time the train stopped at Austins Ferry, 9 wagons had come off the track. The locomotives are four English-Electric diesel-electric locomotives built in Queensland for use in Tasmania in the early 1970s (2118 -ex ZA6, 2111 -ex Z2 "Bell Bay Pioneer", 2110 -ex Z1 "Northern Progress" , & 2112 -ex Z 3). They did not come off the track. (some info. sourced from "Tasmanian Rail News" magazine, issue 204 Feb. 1999, ARHS Tas. Division).
rdamon,
Thanks for that! I wasn't able to see that under "Show More" - will look again. I noticed the locomotives were just yellow and couldn't make out any additional identifying reporting remarks.
Some of the track did not look good - like you said sorta "Penn Centralish". Actually, I am surprised that the Australian railways don't have better track than that.
I've looked into this just a bit more and based on both a TasRail map and Google Earth "Street Views" the line that this happened on back in '99 appears to have been abandoned.
https://www.google.com/maps/@-42.8283607,147.2704719,3a,42.8y,134.68h,76.19t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLMGHK_8zvgk26C86O2sizQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Fred M CainI am surprised that the Australian railways don't have better track than that.
Tasmania is an island, not part of Australia other than politically. Even much of the flora and fauna have evolved separately.
(Note: Tasmania is notable for having been the home of the fastest Garratts -- eight-cylinder double Atlantics of fascinating design. You can note for yourself the implications that would require the use of such power.)
Overmod,
One thing that still puzzles me is that on a relatively small island like Tasmania, why would they be shipping stuff by rail in containers? Doesn't COFC demand fairly long distances to be truly truck competitive? In Tasmania, evidently not.
Another puzzle is TAS Rail's sole commitment to freight. I would think that on a small island like that intercity passenger rail corridors might be viable possibly as much or more than freight.
But what do I know? I live in northeastern Indiana and it's hard to imagine a place further away than Tasmania is from here!
BUT ! I thought some of the scenery there looks almost uncannily like some parts of California.
Fred M CainOvermod, One thing that still puzzles me is that on a relatively small island like Tasmania, why would they be shipping stuff by rail in containers? Doesn't COFC demand fairly long distances to be truly truck competitive? In Tasmania, evidently not. Another puzzle is TAS Rail's sole commitment to freight. I would think that on a small island like that intercity passenger rail corridors might be viable possibly as much or more than freight. But what do I know? I live in northeastern Indiana and it's hard to imagine a place further away than Tasmania is from here! BUT ! I thought some of the scenery there looks almost uncannily like some parts of California. Regards, Fred M. Cain
Tazmania
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDTazmania
Tazmania looks like this:
https://images.app.goo.gl/ZvVZRWgp1kQPWo496
Overmod BaltACD Tazmania No, that's Tasmania. Tazmania looks like this:
BaltACD Tazmania
No, that's Tasmania.
I didn't win any spelling bees.
BaltACDI didn't win any spelling bees.
You know, I was examining Google Earth "Street Views" of all the grade crossings on the now defunct Hobart line and I have not been able to pin point the location of the grade crossing shown in the film. It's appears to be in a somewhat hilly area and I just haven't been able to find that. I wonder if the location given in the introduction of the film under "SHOW MORE" is accurate.
But here is one thing that I can give Tasmania high marks for. First of all, they closed the line but have made no apparent attempts to date to pull the rails. SMART! I wish we could do that here in the U.S. There has been some on-again, off-again proposals to re-introduce passenger service on the corridor. Probably won't happen but if they'd pulled the rails there would be a 0% chance of that ever happening or any other rail proposal for either freight or passenger.
There are also some very short branches or industrial leads that remain in the city of Hobart that look as though they have been out of service for some time. But in some cases the rails remain.
The other thing, if you look at the Google Earth picture I posted earlier, you'll notice that they have a "Rail WITH Trail" opposed to "Rails to Trails". A chain link safety fence has been installed between the track and the bike path. Why could they think of that in Upstate New York? I do not know if the bike path was built before or after the line was abandoned since the last train traffic evidently only dates to 2014.
Finally, the line might not really be officially "abandoned" in the American sense. They send an inspection speeder over the line once a month. But the large freight facilities around the Hobart Port are gone and the tracks removed. They end at a stub near some kind of a sports facility.
This looks like the current end of the line:
https://www.google.com/maps/@-42.8767419,147.3376747,3a,75y,301.15h,75.39t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssXpMrVv7a3vPMw4x6TbrUw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Don't know if this will work right or not but here is the 180° view looking the other direction. If that doesn't work, just "rotate".
https://www.google.com/maps/@-42.8767419,147.3376747,3a,75y,154.31h,64.24t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssXpMrVv7a3vPMw4x6TbrUw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
I've been to Tasmania and it's quite rugged terrain. The road network isn't very highly advanced, sorta like the Scottish Highlands. There is a lot of logging done, and the trees are large diameter. Most of the logs are loaded onto ships for processing somewhere else (China?).
Just to be clear, that curvy track that trails the train is not normal. It is the normal track under extreme heat expansion, and train is realeasing track's anchoring against the heat stress. So the track is "running" into a multi-loop sun kink as the train is passing over it.
Seemed like a pretty short lead time on the grade crossing signals.
Was that narrow gauge?
Lithonia Operator Seemed like a pretty short lead time on the grade crossing signals. Was that narrow gauge?
I think it's three-foot six inches, is what I came up with.
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