Grain Train in the Suburbs - The Kensington Shunt!
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
- The Kensington flour mill is one of the last rail-served industries in the Melbourne suburban area, and the only one that involves shunting in full public view alongside a busy suburban line. The train is operated by Southern Shorthaul Railroad (SSR), using a mixture of ancient EMD diesel locomotives of the S, B, P and T class.
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Thanks to Pannier for providing quite a bit of footage for this video, please check out his channel here: / channel
All other footage and photographs, narration and diagrams by Martin Bennet (except that one screenshot of the PTV map).
My voiceover in this video was recorded with the assistance of my brother Cian, who happens to be a sound recordist and musician. Check out his music here: hyperfollow.com/cianbennetmusic
If you like hearing me bang on about transport, check out the full list here: • Martin Talks Transport
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:28 - How does it even get there?
03:20 - Shunting the mill
05:12 - How cool is B75?
05:50 - Back out west
06:29 - A few last notes
#trains #railways #freighttrain #railroad
5:37 A future in commercial freight service? I don't think anyone would've believed it had a future at all based on the state it was in. Mad respect to the people responsible for getting that engine back in the shape it is in now.
I remember thinking, as a kid, that the mills were abandoned. You'd go past on a Broadmeadows train, the mill all covered in graffiti and dust, and I thought it just didn't work anymore. On that note, I remember the rail tractor very fondly! I used to see it all the time growing up, usually when mum and I caught the train to North Melbourne for rail spotting as a kid. I used to see it and think to myself 'Almost there'!
Yes I do remember standing over the Kensington footbridge and watching grain trains shunting while enjoying a tasty sandwich 🥪
The mill was rebuilt completely in the late 1980’s with computer controlled milling equipment - and then the wheat silos exploded just before it was commissioned and it had to be completely rebuilt again.
The milling building is almost entirely new in 1988.
I don't know why I find trains so interesting. So much to know about how this infrastructure operates.
OMG, I have lived in Kensington for years and never realised the SSR trains were actually moving freight! Awesome explainer video Martin, your channel rocks!
They're gunzels and just run the train for fun
@@aidenteszke9000 yeah how stupid am I
That part where it goes through Kensington station and back sounds timely. If the gates are down the whole time that must be annoying for cars waiting to pass through
Haha you should see Kensington road in the morning peak. Barely moves with those booms being down so long. Always one train in the boom detection area calling for the crossing to go active.
Ello fellow sploon enjoyer
i have seen someone get out of their car and start screaming at the boomgates. i estimate we have 10 or so years before someone goes postal on it
@@billiam5726 you'd think with that activity they'd have made Kensington on the list of the level crossing removals
@@dylanshadowstar9779 No thanks. The heritage station buildings would lose their current function, and the whole area would be smothered in concrete, with access to trains much slower down stairs, along a ramp or having to use a slow lift. These level crossing removals may benefit motorists but they're not optimum for rail users!
I commute over that footbridge and have seen a few very confused ubereats riders delivering to the train crews through the chainlink fence!
What an extraordinarily well produced and informative video. Really is a breath of fresh air compared with the usual RUclips fare. Excellent photography and content.
Genuinely excited I've discovered your channel.
More of these informative videos please, I quite enjoy them!
It felt like an Australian Distant Signal or V12 Productions. I like it!
Great video. I've recently seen the siding entry operation taking place late at night. The wheat quality probe mounted on a small crane is an interesting feature of the siding. To think that the B and S class locos, based on the EMD F series 1940s designs if I'm not wrong, are still working hard, presumably at close to their rated 1 MW for the V16 two stroke engine. A mobile power station right there.
For the amount of times I've caught the Craigieburn line in both directions, I've never seen this unloading taking place. I always enjoy seeing the locomotives parked up just near Kensington (which they are quite often) but I never connected the dots that they were working nearby. Great video!
Great video! As a side note, the "arrivals yard" is a relic of the past when the area today known as docklands was a gigantic rail yard. Trains from various destinations would arrive there, then get split up and unloaded at various points in the main yard. For context there was also a "departures yard" as well where trains were assembled for departure to various country destinations.
And let's not forget the Hump!
i can never tap on a new upload of yours fast enough! love love love your informational videos about our fabulous city. thank you once again!
Me watching this guy tell train facts about my city 👍🏽
Whenever I would pass this place on the train, I would only assume it was abandoned. Awesome video and thank you for teaching me something new.
The rail tractor at the Allied Mills site was destroyed by vandals in the early 2000’s.
I worked on the mill site in the late 1980’s when it was rebuilt (twice - the wheat silos exploded and took out the mill for two years).
Great video. I love learning about these sorts of unusual rail operations. Doesn’t seem particularly efficient but glad that rail is still used to haul the majority of their grain.
honestly, its still probably better for the environment than trucks would be
@@vsvnrg3263 I didn’t mean efficiency in terms of road vs rail but the efficiency of the shunting process because of the awkward track layout. 😉
@@vsvnrg3263 no shot a road train is gonna be set loose in the middle of the cbd
@@vsvnrg3263 no there aren't
@@duskpede5146 And a lot safer!
These operations are a must see when I go to Melbourne!
fantastic video!
Thanks for this really great rundown!
Superb work
Beautiful footage of trains 👍👍
Awesome and professional quality content as per usual!
Ah yes, the grain train shunt. Annoying Kensington signallers for eons. 😂. Still have my notes on how to remember to do this move. As a reliever signaller we may only do that move once or twice a year.
Thank you for this great video !
Everything was great; the video, sound, how it was put together & the information that was provided as I listened & enjoyed it all.
Great video! I never understood how this works until now.
And great footage from Pannier as well
Awesome video
Great video man. 🙌🏻🙌🏻😊
I lived in Kensington for years and always what the story was with these locos! Now I'm disappointed I never actually saw them shunting. Thanks for the great video!
This is so cool! Quite geeky but still so cool!
Brilliantly explained thank you 👍 Living in Castlemaine, these trains rumble through many nights during the year. I always wondered where they ended up
You should do a video on how the Newport station junctions work considering you have metro rail depot, steam depot and a freight depot all in the one area
5:20, B75 is turning 70 years old this year!
Great video as usual. I wonder if they are considering moving the flour mill elsewhere in the future, the redevelopment potential is huge and the level crossing is hard to remove in the current circumstances.
I'm sure we can all agree some eager developer is eyeing that grain mill site for when it becomes commercially unviable. Then they can turn it into $1m+ "NY loft style" apartments with a "community" consisting of an on-site cafe... or whatever they puffed up to convince the council that this was a meaningful project that betters the neighbourhood character (ha ha).
Thanks Tait! i never knew how the grain train got there (always thought it would be down the Cragieburn line). Always love going past the Mill on the Cragieburn line (I'm a regular commuter) and woundering whether there is a grain train there.
Interesting operations, lots of shunting
Good job 👍
Saw one of those B class engines parked near the Macaulay road crossing about two months ago no wagons attached .
It so sad we don't more resources around by rail :(
Always wondered how they did the grain ops there. Used to commute from Kensington a few years ago and loved seeing the grain train in there.
Pity the train controllers when it comes in, finding time for a route from Spion Kop to Kensington, and then again for the set back into the siding would be a nightmare. Though for futute ops they could push it through to Flemington and have it come back out providing they adjusted the signalling to suit.
This was really interesting. I work as a cleaner at Southern Cross and one of the areas that I do is the Shunters Yard. So I get to see shunters doing their jobs.
Another well described operation, Martin. I note the comment by Aero Buddy and your reply. Many years ago there were dedicated Down and Up direction freight lines in that space which catered for the livestock traffic to/from Newmarket.
There is at least one redundant signal pole behind vegetation on the brick wall near the pedestrian footbridge that once carried a Down direction twin arm upper quadrant automatic signal which preceded the Kensington Home Signal at the junction.
Another interesting fact about this operation is that because of the need to break up the train for unloading, a full brake test is needed before the empties can resume a journey back to the silos for another load. This adds to crew costs. Thanks again for an informative video.🙂
I always wondered why there were grain trains in that siding, didn't realize there was a mill there.
That seems like a very time consuming and costly way to get grain to the mill. I wonder what the alternatives are, aside from putting 100 percent of the grain onto trucks. Whoever comes up with a solution to this should get a medal!
An excellent video. Extremely well produced, with great explanation. Well done to both of you.
One further benefit of SSR, PN, Aurizon and Qube grain trains is that although rail is not perfect, it has a way better safety record than B-Double and other road transport. The latter sector is reluctant to admit this. Thankfully some companies such as GrainCorp recognise this.
Great video, I've always wondered how they did this!
Oh so that's what that building on the Craigieburn line is!!! I've always seen trains parked there with no idea why.
I actually have 3 of these around me! I have the Escondido Local, It runs from the Oceanside Stuart Mesa Yard into Vitagold yard where it delivers: Lumber, and I don't know what is delivered in the hoppers or tank cars, I have the Miramar local. It runs from Stuart Mesa yard down to rose canyon where it takes a Diamond onto the spur and serves the Miramar Marine core Airforce Base, Then we have the San Diego Imperial valley, It runs from San Diego yard to El Cajon where it delivers stuff along the way. Occasionally you could see it going past a Steam Locomotive! These all run very late at night 2 Being operated by BNSF and one by San Diego Imperial Vally.
..... Well done Mate, articulate, informative, entertaining and excellent research and editing.
Project suggestion,
'The history of S317' (Sub heading) The price our species pays for modern safety standards'.
Looks like the second cab of the B class bulldog nose streamliner helps out a lot to be able to use a streamliner as a shunter ( switcher ).
That’s amazing I had no clue that this happened, I used to work at a bakery where we had about a tonne of flour delivered a week all from allied pinnacle.
I found this really interesting because I've wondered whether there was any rail freight passing through the Melbourne suburban rail system. Great explanations with the track charts. Nice to see spiffed-up vintage B-class loco still at work! I have to wonder why the Rail Tractor isn't still used. Can they get a train moved in there and unloaded and back out again on one shift?
Ahh I was about to ask why isn’t it done between 01:00-05:00 but you answered that right at the end
Surely you could get around a lot of these problems by putting the shunt sidings on the west side of the tracks and have a grain conveyor running under the alignment? Expensive but would leave the Craigieburn line free of conflicts.
A friend of mine said exactly the same thing! I think it's a good idea, and there's plenty of space there.
This is so bloody cool, I was dimly aware of freight trains occasionally running through the city lines, but had no idea there were operations this full on within the city. Would it be worth including some timing/location advice for anyone who wants to catch some of the more unusual things you mention on the channel with our own eyes?
Glad you enjoyed it! This one doesn't really run to a predictable time unfortunately, it can be a bit hard to catch. Both times I managed to film the shunting it was just sheer luck I was in the area and saw the train!
Grain are AD-HOC, Meaning that they have no set time on a Roster. It's Published between the Controllers and Train Company within a week.
I used to work at KEN box and put the KEN goods into the flour mill siding.
always wondered why that ssr train is always at my train station
Another mystery solved! It is picked up from Murchison. :)
How many wagons are there in the train (ie how long is each loop). Presumably any locos not used for shunting are left in the "neck" at the other end, and the slowly expanding empty train added on to them.
Vintage Penssylvania railroad F7 in the modern Era! Wooow Still strong right?
Sadleirs Spotswood shunt video when?
Can See In Toronto on some GO Transit line with CN & Shortline .
Hi there. I'll be coming over at some stage, and I'd quite like to film this. Is there a rough timetable for when this happens, and how many times a week does it happen? Cheers.
Hi, unfortunately it's very unpredictable - only a few times a week and on an 'as required' basis. There's a Facebook group called Train Tracker Victoria where people post sightings, but these trains often slip past unreported. If you just want to watch the shunting, best bet is to just head out to Kensington and see if it's there!
Awesome vid, never knew this is whay went on near those parked freight trains!
How many wagons are usually on this train? and where does the train run from i.e name of the town. I'm from the WA and not familiar with grain customers or country town that the trains go to or run from.
20 IIRC. It'll originate at many possible locations: Woorinen or others on the Swan Hill line, or various silos on the Sea Lake or Manangatang lines. Not all grain lines in Victoria are broad gauge.
what time does it reach Kensington platform 2 I kind of want to go there and watch now lol
Unfortunately it doesn't run to a regular timetable, it's a hard one to catch!
Kensington Grain!!!. It's complicated operationally.
I am sad. In all the years I travelled from oak park into the city I never once saw this in action.
Talk about compact shunting
What a crazy time consuming money wasting system. Could only happen with railways in Australia. Thanks for the detailed explanation of how this is done.
We have a saying in the railways. You can do it the wrong way, the right way, or the rail way!! Lots of things are done with no logic. 😂
Lots of similar, legacy operations in the US that railroads would like to get rid of but legally cannot as common carriers without going through a formal abandonment process with the Surface Transportation Board. Then the shippers can object and force the carrier to keep servicing them as long as they are active customers.
Why don't they just run it top and tail?
I was wondering that, I'm not sure. Possibly because it would require an extra crew member - I think you need to have someone in the trailing loco if it's running, in addition to the two in the lead unit.
Speaking to some SSR drivers this isn’t the best job on the roster!
I have never been more convinced that the Macaulay Road level crossings should be removed. How much boom gate down time does this operation take up?
Would only be 2-3 minutes, and only about twice a week - usually at night. The average user of the crossing will never encounter this move.