I found this short video which shows part of the setup for Rio Tinto's unmanned trains. I found it interesting.
Rio Tinto Autonomous Train - YouTube
The two lead units are GE ES44DCi units. 8110 is one of the first order painted silver with blue lettering. The second unit has the standard colours with the red diagonal stripes. The third unit 7083 is painted for Hamersley Iron and is a Dash 9 built in 1994. The other main type is the ES44ACi which looks much like the ES44DCi but has three dynamic brake fan/resistor units.
This was filmed at Seven Mile Yard at Karratha. My favourite comment was that the driver didn't know which mine the train was going to....
There are a number of similar Rio Tinto videos but I haven't watched them yet
Peter
I watched one more Video from the same source.
Rio Tinto Train Going Into (ex Robe River's) Car Dumper 1 At Cape Lambert. - YouTube
This covers the original Robe River car dumper at Cape Lambert. This was the only single car dumper in the Pilbara and the only one not enclosed for dust mitigation. The cars are the old Robe River "J type" (named after the mine at "Mesa J" on the Robe River line). The Mesas were named West to East, and they are now working on "Mesa A" a long way further West.
The locomotive 9132 is one of the latest ES44ACi units. The AC units work on the former Robe River line since the grades are steeper. This line does not have "Autohaul" unmanned trains, and these manned trains share the line from Cape Lambert to Western Junction with Autohaul trains. They have the same ATP system, since the line has no fixed signals.
The operation of the car positioner is interesting. All Pilbara dumpers have similar car positioners.
Here is one more, a PR piece from 5 years ago...
World first delivery of iron ore with world’s largest robot - YouTube
This does show the train under way, in nice scenery including descending the 2% grade.
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