stayer, on 20 October 2021 GNC said in a media release:"...Most...

stayer, on 20 October 2021 GNC said in a media release:

"...Most of our trains run with a 40-wagon ‘rake’ – the formation of wagons sitting behind the locomotive – allowing them to carry anywhere from 1950 tonnes to 2880.

The final mass varies depending on the produce; low density canola, for example, is much lighter than high protein milling wheat.

Most trains are driven by a pair of diesel-electric locomotives, each producing around 3000 horsepower (or 4.5 megawatts total in metric)..."

------------------------------------

What it didn't mention was that wagons are limited by permitted axle loadings on various rail lines.

This was a Victorian government release from 31 August 2022:

"...Freight operators on the Shepparton-Tocumwal corridor can now benefit from upgrades completed by V/Line – from increasing the depth of crushed rock supporting tracks, to assessing and upgrading culverts and bridges on high-use corridors –making it possible to carry heavier loads.

Works completed by V/Line have now delivered higher tonnage capacity at four grain terminals on the broad-gauge freight network from 19 to 20 tonne axle-load (TAL) with more soon to follow.

Across Victoria and southern New South Wales, one-million tonnes of grain valued at $600 million was moved to port from 29 active grain sites, including Tocumwal, by more than 530 bulk grain trains on the V/Line freight rail network from July 2021 to April this year.

A typical 650-metre long loaded train carries more than $1.3 million worth of grain and is the equivalent to 50 loaded semi-trailers. The increase from 19 to 20 TAL means suitable grain trains can carry an additional 160 tonnes of grain, which is the equivalent of around 3.5 B-Double truckloads of extra grain in each train..."

-----------------------------------

The Victorian standard gauge lines (the Australian Rail Track Corporation has the lease) now have higher axle loadings of 23 tonnes.

So in this case, a wagon could be loaded to a gross mass of 92 tonnes. In practice as GNC states above, this may not be typical. 2880 tonnes divided by 40 is 72 tonnes per wagon so when added to the 20 tonnes tare, it's 92.

----------------------------------

If you look at this train logging site (through Gheringhap, near Geelong: the Adelaide/Mildura standard gauge and Ballarat/Manangatang/Sea Lake broad gauge lines junction there), you can see in the week ending on 1 July 2023, there's been a 45 wagon standard gauge rake of wagons running:

http://ghaploop.railpage.org.au/thweeks.html (see the Pacific National - PN - grain trains, and look for '45W' in the last column).