@@Moltar_Railfan If you do some research yourself NYC... you'd find they double stack down under too. Your comment is also proof that most Americans don't get sarcasm, irony etc as I believe the initial comment was as much to do with America's obesity problem as any comparison of our trains vs Aussie ones.
@@Moltar_Railfan Could you be any more clueless? You totally missed the point with your first post and even when A JO spells it out for you, you still don't get it.
Just as a matter of interest, do we know that american train drivers are heavier than aussie ones? It may be true, but it may not be. And the comment is a bit frivolous, putting it nicely. As for double stacking, while I am definitely no expert on freight trains, my impression that double stacking is common in the USA, but not here (in oz...). AFAIK part of the Inland Rail project is modifying the existing routes to allow double stacking, which currently is not possible. I personally live near the freight line to Port Botany, and there are not double stacked container trains there.
@@alexanderSydneyOz Double stacking doesn't happen on the east coast for the obvious reason that the numerous bridges and tunnels are too low but it's rare to see an intermodal service between Perth/Adelaide/Goobang that doesn't have double stacked loads.
Yes in the early seventies Hamersly Iron signs said do not get in front of our trains as it take 2 and a half miles for it to stop and today with a 100 more wagons probably more
Of all the hundreds of cars that passed the camera in this short video, not one single flat-spotted wheel was heard! That to me is just amazing. I don't know if they have a better way of preventing sticking brakes or a zero tolerance of any flat spot whatsoever, but it sure is impressive.
you all probably dont give a damn but does anybody know of a way to log back into an instagram account?? I somehow forgot the password. I appreciate any tricks you can offer me.
@Marco Kashton i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm trying it out now. Seems to take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane (hate that term) for a retired engr (76yrs) in Phila, USA. Was a Brit 10 pound pom working on the original MTP>Dampier (King Bay then) as an inspector on the railroad (180 ml) 1965-66 for Central Engineering Svces (RioTintoZinc) telling all the MKMM contractors (primarily yanks) what they were doing right or wrong! reading from the authority of a fat manual. In my own caravan and Land Rover (a rolls royce among the Land Cruisers) I hopscotched through the various camps until we opened the railroad at MTP on July 1, 1966. There is a group pic on the Rio Tinto website (celebrating the 50 year anni) of the gathered management and politicos at the spike driving ceremony. If you look close, there is a guy at the far left chatting up two MMA stewardesses - that's me! I've done a lot with my life since but the Pilbara and the railroad still features BIG in my soul.
George, Your are one of about Ten Million People who have Gone to Northern Australian but Decided to Leave. Leave because the Australian Government has No Idea How to Govern the Northern Half of Australia. All You Get from Our Government About Northern WA, The NT, QLD, South Australia is Excuses, Excuses, Excuses. Thanks for Your History.
The Pilbara Swahili Windtalkers. I used to work on Cliffs Railroad in 1973, some of the drivers were ex colonials from Kenya. When one of the drivers hit a roo he used to radio his mate on the track gang to check if it had a Joey in Swahili, so that the train controller could not understand him
Great video. In the U.S. the Horseshoe Curve is the best place for trainspotting as it is part of a major pass through mountains, allowing trains to gain or lose altitude.
Horseshoe curve is not a good filming spot. To me, It’s a good picnic area. I prefer downtown Altoona, PA. It’s the same trains, and the same amount of action.
There are helper locos getting the trains up the hills away from the mines. After that it is pretty much all downhill to the sea. I have a brother in law that drives them. It is a great area to visit but not a good place to break down. Could be 200 miles from help..
The train at time stamp 1:47-4:28 was a long one; those three unit must had some good horse power to pull all those wagon a full load on each wagon. thanks for a very good video and some beautiful country side.
The train has 240 cars and weighs around 33,000 tons and depending on which mine it came from, may have been banked in the rear by two or three units until it got over the biggest hill on the line at around the 250 - 300 km mark, depending on which line it began its journey on. At this point, it's just come down a 2% grade that's 25 kms long.
Busiest railway junction in Australia? Are you kidding? What about places such as Strathfield in Sydney, which has HUNDREDS of trains passing through daily? Sunshine in Victoria is also very busy. A fine movie, but not a suitable title for it, though!
It's pretty good But I suspect The NSW Hunter Valley 4 track line is the busiest for freight. Most of the trains are coal trains. I've never seen anything close to this busy in Australia. Often several coal trans or empties an hour,
I agree with you the Hunter coal lines are VERY busy. I have seen trains every three or for minutes on that route. Also, there are some very busy junctions in urban areas, places such as Redfurn in Sydney, take some beating!
@@tramwayjohn Tonnage wise it would have to be the Pilbera, Hunter Valley coal lines & Queensland coal lines. All 3 are quite different in nature. For freight train frequency, there would now be no competion from interstate intormodel traffic & state systems have all but been destroyed (intentionally, by governments) Others can sit by the interstate lines now, I.m sick of waiting hours to see a freight train.
Those Rio trains are now fully automated or going that way - no drivers. And this is just one company; BHP and FMG also have their own lines and are automating. Why? The cost of getting drivers there, housing them and obviously paying them is incredibly high plus they can run more trains.
And you know what's really odd? It really surprises me that Rio Tinto want to go so big on autonomous trains yet they hardly ever run distributed power.
Yeah and two of the tracks block the way to go red dog gorge which is a shame but I’ve got say great video I love seeing and hearing tracks especially when I go camping so this video is great and it is also great because I don’t get to go up there much of the time so having video like these are great 👍 keep up the magnificent work
In Crystal Brook SA, there is a sign, opposite the pub, on Railway Terrace stating that the station is the busiest railway junction in the southern hemisphere............ It is a very old sign though.......
How accessible is this area if I wanted to take some leave from work and go up there to take photos and videos? Is that junction in the middle of no where or accessible by car?
From the North West Coastal Hwy, you take the turnoff just to the north of the level crossing near Karratha and travel around 70 kms. You'll go over another crossing and Western Creek is immediately to your right. The points where the Pannawonika line and Tom Price lines diverge are just 100 m from that crossing. Drive another km or two and look to your right to see the whole area. If you want to venture off the asphalt and onto the rail access road, you'll need a permit from the Karratha Visitor Centre.
At the peak, about 10 years back, mineral exports - which are mostly iron ore and coal - accounted for about 10% of Australia's GDP. I have personally found that most people haven't the slightest concept of how important that is.
The reason is almost certainly the additional shunting it would create prior to unloading. Iron ore wagons in the Pilbara are emptied using rotary dumpers through which the locos cannot pass, e.g. ruclips.net/video/GpWaEDcDrS8/видео.html Avoiding broken couplers keeps the drivers on their toes.
Hey man great video! i was wondering how did u know when trains were coming ? im going up north to portheadland soon but won't no the times may u help pls
This is close to the old 45 mile MKMO camp. I used to work on the track on the railway. The Track machines are tampers used to lift and pack the line where it subsidies or dips. We used to drive every day from Wickham to this point and further on to the the Canyon where a lot of the work was done
Swedish Iron Ore trains down from Kiruna run on hydropowered electricity (and are much quieter). How great would it be for Australia to truly seize its potential to become a nation run on renewables supplying all of Asia with green H2.
This is kinda nuts. I am an American and this geography fakes me out. This reminds me of Arizona a lot but I know it is a completely different continent.
Very hot mid summer I lived in one of the rail camps for some years ( camp Anderson) We used to get at least 1 week a year where max temp was 50 degrees C every day Bloody hot!
Am I missing something here or are they ignoring the possibility of solar and wind energy allowing them to refine the ore at the mine and only transport the pig iron. The fuel savings far outweigh the costs as less trains means less wear.
Mining without it we be still be Cave dwellers Trains transporting to export 👍Straya needs to build our own ships & Tech stop sending to overseas as the govt keeps saying saves $ for WHO?
Hopefully, in the not too distant future, these diesel locomotives will be replaced by 100% electric battery locomotives. We only have one planet and we must preserve it for future generations.
Australia world's heaviest trains USA world's heaviest train drivers.
@@Moltar_Railfan If you do some research yourself NYC... you'd find they double stack down under too. Your comment is also proof that most Americans don't get sarcasm, irony etc as I believe the initial comment was as much to do with America's obesity problem as any comparison of our trains vs Aussie ones.
@@Moltar_Railfan Could you be any more clueless? You totally missed the point with your first post and even when A JO spells it out for you, you still don't get it.
Trevor, that's offensive...
Just as a matter of interest, do we know that american train drivers are heavier than aussie ones? It may be true, but it may not be. And the comment is a bit frivolous, putting it nicely.
As for double stacking, while I am definitely no expert on freight trains, my impression that double stacking is common in the USA, but not here (in oz...). AFAIK part of the Inland Rail project is modifying the existing routes to allow double stacking, which currently is not possible. I personally live near the freight line to Port Botany, and there are not double stacked container trains there.
@@alexanderSydneyOz Double stacking doesn't happen on the east coast for the obvious reason that the numerous bridges and tunnels are too low but it's rare to see an intermodal service between Perth/Adelaide/Goobang that doesn't have double stacked loads.
I was told at one or more level crossings there was a sign saying it takes a train 7 minutes to cross whether your vehicle is on the tracks or not.
Yes in the early seventies Hamersly Iron signs said do not get in front of our trains as it take 2 and a half miles for it to stop and today with a 100 more wagons probably more
Quite a short wait, in many areas in the US if the engines are in view at the crossing you turn off the engine and get out a picnic table.
@@infidel6728 but no train in the US are longer than this. So they must be... slower?
Of course you do,then you wake up and take your hand off it.@@infidel6728
Of all the hundreds of cars that passed the camera in this short video, not one single flat-spotted wheel was heard! That to me is just amazing. I don't know if they have a better way of preventing sticking brakes or a zero tolerance of any flat spot whatsoever, but it sure is impressive.
you all probably dont give a damn but does anybody know of a way to log back into an instagram account??
I somehow forgot the password. I appreciate any tricks you can offer me.
@Jerry Sam Instablaster ;)
@Marco Kashton i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm trying it out now.
Seems to take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Marco Kashton it worked and I actually got access to my account again. Im so happy:D
Thanks so much, you saved my ass!
@Jerry Sam no problem :)
Holy moly, how many freight cars are there in this monster-consist ? This really boggles my mind - fantastic video !
Just over 230 I reckon.
Longest in the world
@@martincrisp3385 about right and given that it only had three engines its a case of get it started and then don's stop!!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane (hate that term) for a retired engr (76yrs) in Phila, USA. Was a Brit 10 pound pom working on the original MTP>Dampier (King Bay then) as an inspector on the railroad (180 ml) 1965-66 for Central Engineering Svces (RioTintoZinc) telling all the MKMM contractors (primarily yanks) what they were doing right or wrong! reading from the authority of a fat manual. In my own caravan and Land Rover (a rolls royce among the Land Cruisers) I hopscotched through the various camps until we opened the railroad at MTP on July 1, 1966. There is a group pic on the Rio Tinto website (celebrating the 50 year anni) of the gathered management and politicos at the spike driving ceremony. If you look close, there is a guy at the far left chatting up two MMA stewardesses - that's me! I've done a lot with my life since but the Pilbara and the railroad still features BIG in my soul.
@PJay George Have you got the link to the photo?
MMA brought back memories Mickey Mouse Airline’s and you might leave the Pilbara but the Pilbara never will leave you
George, Your are one of about Ten Million People who have Gone to Northern Australian but Decided to Leave. Leave because the Australian Government has No Idea How to Govern the Northern Half of Australia. All You Get from Our Government About Northern WA, The NT, QLD, South Australia is Excuses, Excuses, Excuses.
Thanks for Your History.
@@chrisgriffiths2533 They leave because they made their money and want to go somewhere more hospitable.
@@sydneyshinshi Yes Interesting that George had to go to All the way to the USA to Find a Hospitable Location ?.
The Pilbara Swahili Windtalkers. I used to work on Cliffs Railroad in 1973, some of the drivers were ex colonials from Kenya. When one of the drivers hit a roo he used to radio his mate on the track gang to check if it had a Joey in Swahili, so that the train controller could not understand him
Classic trains and remote Australian areas : perfect.
a great video of powerful trains in the midst of severe conditions.
5:10 super scenery. It looked like a giant snake slithering away
Great video. In the U.S. the Horseshoe Curve is the best place for trainspotting as it is part of a major pass through mountains, allowing trains to gain or lose altitude.
Not the best, just one of very many "best Places"
Horseshoe curve is not a good filming spot. To me, It’s a good picnic area. I prefer downtown Altoona, PA. It’s the same trains, and the same amount of action.
Nice scenery! Can’t believe there’s no helper locomotives on these trains through all those inclines
I think that the terrain is, overall, very flat.
There are helper locos getting the trains up the hills away from the mines. After that it is pretty much all downhill to the sea. I have a brother in law that drives them. It is a great area to visit but not a good place to break down. Could be 200 miles from help..
Like the old Great Northern ore lines in Minnesota. They ran 200+ car trains too.
Fantastic landscape and some very long trains.
Terrence Odgers. That is far from a long train, just average for my area, perhaps a bit on the short side.
@@infidel6728 - and your point is?
THANKS YOU FOR THE VIDEO..SALUDOS FROM NEW YORK.
Really nice video! Looks like a pretty interesting junction:) Is it really busy?
The train at time stamp 1:47-4:28 was a long one; those three unit must had some good horse power to pull all those wagon a full load on each wagon. thanks for a very good video and some beautiful country side.
The train has 240 cars and weighs around 33,000 tons and depending on which mine it came from, may have been banked in the rear by two or three units until it got over the biggest hill on the line at around the 250 - 300 km mark, depending on which line it began its journey on. At this point, it's just come down a 2% grade that's 25 kms long.
The two lead units are ES 4400's and the third unit is a D9-4400CW which indicates the horsepower so 13,200hp in total.
Love the locations you shoot from.
Busiest railway junction in Australia? Are you kidding? What about places such as Strathfield in Sydney, which has HUNDREDS of trains passing through daily? Sunshine in Victoria is also very busy. A fine movie, but not a suitable title for it, though!
It's pretty good But I suspect The NSW Hunter Valley 4 track line is the busiest for freight.
Most of the trains are coal trains.
I've never seen anything close to this busy in Australia. Often several coal trans or empties an hour,
I agree with you the Hunter coal lines are VERY busy. I have seen trains every three or for minutes on that route. Also, there are some very busy junctions in urban areas, places such as Redfurn in Sydney, take some beating!
@@tramwayjohn Tonnage wise it would have to be the Pilbera, Hunter Valley coal lines & Queensland coal lines.
All 3 are quite different in nature.
For freight train frequency, there would now be no competion from interstate intormodel traffic & state systems have all but been destroyed (intentionally, by governments)
Others can sit by the interstate lines now, I.m sick of waiting hours to see a freight train.
@blue heeler
They weigh 220 tonnes
37 tonne axle on 68kg rail...
Yes but trains here are at least 228 cars long - some are up to 240 long
You need a Lot of Steel to Mine and Cart Iron Ore.
Lots of Fuel as Well, All that Sunshine Just Going to Waste.
Great Video.
@bagariddum So They Do Know What Solar Energy is in that Part of Hot Climate Australia, Interesting.
Great rail therapy....Thanks for sharing👍👍👍
Fantastic filming...looks like another planet...
That looks like the area near the old 45mile camp of MKMO,H.I.s trains went over the first overpass shown
great show of Australia and their trains
Nice shots, spectacular country.
Keep up the awesome job!
Those Rio trains are now fully automated or going that way - no drivers. And this is just one company; BHP and FMG also have their own lines and are automating. Why? The cost of getting drivers there, housing them and obviously paying them is incredibly high plus they can run more trains.
And you know what's really odd? It really surprises me that Rio Tinto want to go so big on autonomous trains yet they hardly ever run distributed power.
Another excellent video. ♡ T.E.N.
Western Creek Junction, that's an odd name.... I would have called it "trainichasbalavalabong" (silly Simpsons joke) Loved the video :)
wow they know how to load them about 225 hoppers I counted I missed a few but either way 2:10 - 4:24 thanks for the video
240 cars
Yeah and two of the tracks block the way to go red dog gorge which is a shame but I’ve got say great video I love seeing and hearing tracks especially when I go camping so this video is great and it is also great because I don’t get to go up there much of the time so having video like these are great 👍 keep up the magnificent work
Did I count right? Over 200 loaded ore cars?? Amazing!
If I counted right 270.
@Peter Breis Fantastic. It is wonder the couplers hold together.
@@klbird Don't worry the couplers failed more than once on start up from what i heard.
@@petermcgreevy6386 Not surprised. It `must have been a long walk in the heat to replace them.
@@klbird that would suck!!!
I been on old Hamersley iron ore mining trains from mt tom price iron ore mine site to Parker Point in dampier in grade 7 in 1988
Congratulations fantastic shots😊😊😊
they used to use alco century locos , they didnt sell many of them in the US , but they did sterling service here for many years
In grade 6 camp i been on a train to dampier on a Hamersley iron ore trains from mt tom price iron ore mine site
In Crystal Brook SA, there is a sign, opposite the pub, on Railway Terrace stating that the station is the busiest railway junction in the southern hemisphere............
It is a very old sign though.......
Still working for Rio after 10 years
How accessible is this area if I wanted to take some leave from work and go up there to take photos and videos? Is that junction in the middle of no where or accessible by car?
thanks Matt. I really must get up there one of these days.
Blimey, that long one starting at 2:07 - I couldn't see any gap between trucks.
very good video
I might work for Rio tinto at mt tom price iron ore mine site and work has a train driver at dampier Western Australia Australia
The American locos look pretty good Down Under. Do engineers drive on the wrong side of the cab down there?
How many days to load it? Then empty it?
On the ore train does it have traditional automatic air or do the cars have electric control valves?
Nice and Beautiful 👍
How do you get to Western creek jct from the nearest town?
From the North West Coastal Hwy, you take the turnoff just to the north of the level crossing near Karratha and travel around 70 kms. You'll go over another crossing and Western Creek is immediately to your right. The points where the Pannawonika line and Tom Price lines diverge are just 100 m from that crossing. Drive another km or two and look to your right to see the whole area. If you want to venture off the asphalt and onto the rail access road, you'll need a permit from the Karratha Visitor Centre.
Rio Tinto are shifting loads of ore. Is it public knowledge how much Australia benefits from this ?
Unfortunately most people here are ignorant to that fact, especially the eastern states.
At the peak, about 10 years back, mineral exports - which are mostly iron ore and coal - accounted for about 10% of Australia's GDP. I have personally found that most people haven't the slightest concept of how important that is.
What is the cash value of the trains load of iron ore ?
Bit surprised that they are not using Distributed Power on these trains.
The reason is almost certainly the additional shunting it would create prior to unloading. Iron ore wagons in the Pilbara are emptied using rotary dumpers through which the locos cannot pass, e.g. ruclips.net/video/GpWaEDcDrS8/видео.html
Avoiding broken couplers keeps the drivers on their toes.
The busiest? In the Pilbara yes.
Hey man great video! i was wondering how did u know when trains were coming ? im going up north to portheadland soon but won't no the times may u help pls
@@MS_Trains ohhhh thats so good thanks mate
With 300 million tons a year you never have to wait long
Wow, how long is the ore train? Amazing.
What was the total weight of that iron ore train?
about 35,000 tons . BHP put all its AC 6000s [ i think eight of them ] onto one train in 2001 and pulled a record 80,000 tons .
Hat is the maximum speed for these ore trains ? ?
Anyone have a count on how many railcars in the "Loaded Iron Ore (Heading to Wickham)" consist @07:30?
Like a big Brown Snake roaming the countryside
...3 days later the last truck glides silently by...!!
Does each locomotive have a driver? Or are they linked so one driver can control them from the front?
@@MS_Trains automated... Wow... I shouldn't be surprised given today's technology but I am. Thanks for your reply.
@@MS_Trains Yes the drivers are down behind Perth airport
it must be a hot climate where trains run in tough conditions and must be dependable
they were specially ordered with bigger cooling systems ect. to withstand the conditions
'
train go up grade is a hard to pull many trailer train / more drink fuel...
go down grade is a easy neutral / save fuel but alot of brakes
HEAT IS THE HARDEST THING TO FIGHT FOR MAINTENANCE
How much cargo do these trains carry at each time? By European standards, they are enormous in terms of number of wagons.
230 cars at about 106 tonnes each: over 24,000 tonnes. The entire train runs about 30,000 tonnes.
@@paullangford8179 Only three locos. Some powerful
Maybe Tom price? Port Hedland? Karratha?
Nearest town Karratha
I used to work on this railroad
Lived at the 201 km mark Camp Anderson 3 1/2 yrs
my sweet jesus, such a long train....
Takes a long time to pass, seems longer when you are waiting to get across on the way back to camp after doing 12 hours in 45+ heat!!
Funny how Rio wants to fully automate these trains.
Are those trains 3 or 4 Km long ? Am I seeing right ?
@bagariddum Thanks.
nice
Good meditation for sleeping.
Quick question what does the Track Machine actually I seen on most days but I’ve never known what they do
The tamper? @ 1.30? i assume ruclips.net/video/gSHeyl-IonY/видео.html
This is close to the old 45 mile MKMO camp. I used to work on the track on the railway. The Track machines are tampers used to lift and pack the line where it subsidies or dips. We used to drive every day from Wickham to this point and further on to the the Canyon where a lot of the work was done
The busiest railway junction in Australia is Illawarra Junction in Sydney #justsaying
Swedish Iron Ore trains down from Kiruna run on hydropowered electricity (and are much quieter). How great would it be for Australia to truly seize its potential to become a nation run on renewables supplying all of Asia with green H2.
Me being a USA foamer I didn’t know Australia had es44 and ac4400s
I have heard they buy them second hand and modify them for these Iron Ore trains.
This is kinda nuts. I am an American and this geography fakes me out. This reminds me of Arizona a lot but I know it is a completely different continent.
There is a whole other world out there.
Very hot mid summer
I lived in one of the rail camps for some years ( camp Anderson)
We used to get at least 1 week a year where max temp was 50 degrees C every day
Bloody hot!
You would not want to get lost around there, water is very scarce!
Didnt know they were using GE s down there. Looks just like an american conset
American* consist.*
trains have to be well well built to take excessive heat
13,220 hp of the three locomotive consist, GE’S will pull the world
13 thousand... laughs in space shuttle fuel pump
Am I missing something here or are they ignoring the possibility of solar and wind energy allowing them to refine the ore at the mine and only transport the pig iron. The fuel savings far outweigh the costs as less trains means less wear.
I counted 244 + engines
Could have been Arizona to the untrained eye
Jesus Christ !!..go baybe go baybe .
Go Australia.. @ Go usa..
Mining without it we be still be Cave dwellers Trains transporting to export 👍Straya needs to build our own ships & Tech stop sending to overseas as the govt keeps saying saves $ for WHO?
Great n american built hp, kind of puts the other locos in Australia to shame.
What a ridiculous response. Some real wackos out there.
@riplstrip you idiot.
@riplstrip Its not the president rioting, destroying the country and wanting to get rid of cops and law and order. Its the Democrats.
Its so way out who really cares?
H
Hopefully, in the not too distant future, these diesel locomotives will be replaced by 100% electric battery locomotives. We only have one planet and we must preserve it for future generations.
Phil imagine how many batteries you’d need to power it, diesel probably better for the environment in the end?