December 2018 TM Rolling stock: SPENO Ultrasonic Testing Vehicle US 7 Denison Street, Rockhampton Faster trains to Canberra and the South Published monthly by the Australian Railway Historical Society (NSW Division) Editor Bruce Belbin December 2018 • $10.00 TM Assistant Editor Shane O’Neil December 2018 National Affairs Lawrance Ryan Volume 56, Number 12 Editorial Assistant Darren Tulk International Ken Date Rolling stock: General Manager Paul Scells SPENO Ultrasonic Testing Vehicle US 7 Subscriptions: Ph: 02 9699 4595 Fax: 02 9699 1714 Editorial Office: Ph: 02 8394 9016 Fax: 02 9699 1714 ARHS Bookshop: Ph: 02 9699 4595 Fax: 02 9699 1714 Mail: 67 Renwick Street, Redfern NSW 2016 Publisher: Australian Railway Historical Society NSW Division, ACN 000 538 803 Print Post 100009942 Publication No. Denison Street, Rockhampton Faster trains to Canberra and the South Newsagent Gordon and Gotch Ltd Published monthly by the Australian Railway Historical Society (NSW Division) Distribution Mailing & Distribution Ligare Pty Limited and Australia Post Printing Ligare Pty Limited Features Website www.railwaydigest.com.au Faster Trains to Canberra and the South 36 Facebook www.facebook.com/railwaydigest The NSW Government recently announced that it would spend the Contributor Guidelines $4.2 billion dollars it received from the Commonwealth as payment for Articles and illustrations remain the copyright of the author and publisher. its share of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme on improving Please do not submit photos or articles that have been previously regional infrastructure, both road and rail. One of the stated aims published or submitted to other publications. Article contributions are was to reduce the rail travel time to Canberra to below three hours. welcome; views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Peter Clark takes a close look at some of the ways this may be achieved. editorial staff or publisher. We welcome photographs of current Australian railway subjects in the form of digital iles. Please include a detailed Denison Street, Rockhampton 40 description including train details, time, date, place and photographer’s You’ll sometimes hear visitors or tourists say that “Rockhampton is the name at the time of submission. Items that are not returned may be held town where the railway line runs down the middle of the main street”, within the ARHSnsw Railway Resource Centre. Please limit email sizes although Denison Street has not actually been the main street of to 15MB and Readers Write letter submissions to 500 words. Rockhampton for many years, now. Mike Martin reports on an unusual Publication deadlines: Railway Digest is published on the last Wednesday rail/road operation, dating from 1899, that continues today. of each month prior to the cover date. The deadline for advertisements and contributions is the 1st of the month prior to the cover date. Copyright © Australian Railway Historical Society New South Wales Division 2018 Regulars Contact email addresses Rail Industry 4 Editorial [email protected] Railway people 9 Photographic contributions [email protected] News 10 Articles/submissions [email protected] Rolling stock 42 Subscription enquiries/change of address [email protected] – SPENO Ultrasonic Testing Vehicle US 7 42 – Rolling Stock Contracts and Deliveries 44 Contributors Preservation and Tourist 48 Mark Carter, Peter Clark, Luke Horniblow, Peter Hower, John Hoyle, – Armistice Day at Richmond Main 49 Philip Jeeves, Ewan McLean, Mike Martin, Vaughn Moore, Arthur Shale. – Chasing ‘Grandma’ through the Cullerins 50 ABC News, ACT Minister for Transport – Meegan Fitzharris MLA, The Readers Write 57 Adelaide Advertiser, Adelaide Metro, The Age, Alstom Australia, The Armidale Express, Armidale Regional Council, Aurizon, The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant, The Examiner – Northern Tasmania, Infrastructure Australia, InterLinkSQ, Level Crossing Removal Authority, Maree Edwards MP – Victorian State Member for Bendigo West, The Newcastle Herald, Northern Daily Leader, Ofice of the Hon Daniel Andrews MP – Premier of Victoria, Parliament of Australia, Parliament of Tasmania, Port Rail Shuttle, Public Transport Victoria, Queensland Mines Department, Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads - The Honourable Mark Bailey, Queensland Rail, Queensland Supreme Court, Rabobank, Snowy Hydro Legacy Fund, South Australian Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, Save the Great Northern Rail line Group, South Australian Premier – Hon. Steven Marshall, SteamRanger, Sydney Morning Herald, Transport for NSW, Tamworth Regional Council, Yarra Trams, Victorian Minister for Ports – The Hon. Luke Donnellan, Victorian Minister for Public Transport – The Hon. Jacinta Allan, Watco Transportation Services. www.itnews.com.au , www.goodfood.com.au , www. perthnow.com.au Cover: On Sunday 30 September, Beyer-Garratt 6029 is just west ‘5 pack’, GWA’s 6AD1 Adelaide–Darwin intermodal freight powers of Bowenfells heading for Bathurst to work local shuttle trains out of Katherine and under the Victoria Highway overpass, as it between there and Tarana. Scott Mitchell resumes its journey behind GWA06 and ALF22. Gail Pattenden Opposite: At CFCLA’s Maintenance facility at Goulburn on Sunday Back cover lower: Pacific National PN 012 heads a southbound 4 November, MotivePower/Cummins locomotive CM3307 is joining intermodal freight from Townsville to Brisbane, between Milman in to the Christmas Spirit. Jamie Fisher and The Caves, approximately 25km north of Rockhampton, shortly Back cover upper: On Sunday 22 July, having just shunted off a after 11am on Saturday 8 September. Mike Martin Rail industry Freight on Rail Group attacks trucking industry policies and rail’s obsession with ‘perceived safety risks’ Rail freight lobby group, Freight on Rail Group (FORG), says governments for running a freight train. “During long-haul interstate or trans- are starting to get it right on rail infrastructure but other policy settings continental trips, train drivers will travel on multiple rail networks, were holding rail back in the steam age. FORG chair and Paciic National each having a raft of different codes, standards and communication CEO, Dean Dalla Valle, said at a time when Australians want safer roads, protocols that must be adhered to. This is an area in our industry ripe less trafic congestion during their daily commute and lower carbon for simpliication, modernisation and harmonisation,” said Mr Dalla emissions, government policies were largely geared to rolling out Valle. heavier and longer trucks. Mr Dalla Valle said that as a case in point, the He said the rail freight sector needs to be regulated to actual National Heavy Vehicle Regulator recently approved the roll-out of a risk, not perceived risk and certainly not outdated historical risks. 105 tonne 36.5 metre B-Quad truck on select routes between Victorian “To improve rail freight productivity in this country – which directly and Queensland. He said, “Don’t get me wrong: I see obvious freight impacts the cost of transporting goods and commodities to domestic productivity beneits, but how much bigger and heavier do we want and global markets – it’s time to consign outdated and contradictory trucks on our roads to get?” cross-border rules to the dust-bin of history,” said Mr Dalla Valle. Mr Dalla Valle said the trucking industry must be congratulated for FORG also called for the Productivity Commission to investigate the strength and intensity of its advocacy and he admired how truckies and quantify the impacts of mandated train driver hours in the rail make no apologies for being single-minded in their pursuit of extracting freight sector, notably in Queensland and NSW. Mr Dalla Valle said the from governments major concessions in eficiency, productivity and road trucking and aviation sectors in Australia have shifted towards greater access. “Unfortunately, rail freight has become tangled in nests of technical use of risk-based approaches to fatigue management, but rail continues jargon and jumping at perceived safety risks that modern day technology to be subjected to overly-prescriptive and complex rules which often has largely eliminated,” said Mr Dalla Valle. produce perverse safety outcomes. FORG gave an example of how a NSW freight train driver with more “For example, changing over train crews when outer limits of service than 25-years’ experience can be subjected to up to 18 months of extra are reached, irrespective of the location of a train on the network, training to operate on a similarly conigured rail corridor in another results in staff driving back and forth on roads between depots and state or territory. In stark contrast, a NSW truck driver can move from locomotives; creating needless road safety risks and added operating operating a semi-trailer to handling a B-Double or road train in just two costs,” said Mr Dalla Valle. days at minimal cost with immediate access to thousands of kilometres He said at times freight trains can be suddenly delayed on the across every jurisdiction in the country. network because of problems beyond the control of operators, The rail freight lobby group called on the Transport and Infrastructure resulting in locomotives being ‘parked-up’ in odd locations at odd Council (TIC) of Australia to urgently consider initiatives to get rail times. “Mandated hours for train drivers are inlexible; removing the freight policy back on track. These include streamlining federal and ability for