Well stone the crows!The first AZJ loaded intermodal train from...

Well stone the crows!

The first AZJ loaded intermodal train from Melbourne to Perth departed Melbourne's Victoria Dock on Easter Saturday 8 April.

In an inefficient shunting move, the train had to operate in two sections I gather to Anakie (near Geelong), as the tracks at Victoria Dock can each only fit 700 metres of train, with the complete train having 82 wagons, the vast majority of which were loaded with containers, mainly Team Global Express as one would expect given the contract.

There's a video below of the train slowly passing Moorabool, again near Geelong:



I think the vehicle behind the locos is a former South Australian Railways' modified Bluebird railcar, now used by train crews for rest across the Nullarbor. These are not usually seen in Victoria.

Embarrassingly, an AZJ-operated (for huge grain handler CBH) Western Australian narrow gauge grain train derailed at the entrance to the Avon rail yard at Northam (c.80 kilometres east of Perth) some time (I assume in the morning) on Easter Sunday. It's allegedly only the last few wagons (don't know how many), so one would hope it's not too many hours or days before trains can again operate. It'll very much depend on how many metres of track have been damaged, including any points, which are more complex on dual gauge track.

This area has 'dual gauge' tracks: 1435 millimetres width for the standard gauge line used by the above intercapital intermodal train, with a third rail laid inside so 1067mm narrow gauge trains (the WA freight rail network that ironically sees many AZJ-operated intrastate trains given it has the contract for grain trains, plus some others).

So at present, no trains can travel all the way from Kalgoorlie, WA to Perth.

As luck would have it, Sundays is when the transcontinental luxury high fare 'Indian Pacific' train operates from Perth to Adelaide and Sydney. It's had to return to Perth, having not got very far.

Derailments don't happen often but given the importance of the Nullarbor rail line in supplying Perth and rural WA with groceries and a huge range of other items, any occurrence is far from optimal.