Not something you see every day

sgt_doofey · 17-05-2009, 06:03 PM

Driving to the hardware store this morning and came across this scene...

Few more photos here: Flickr

I was going to stay until they lifted the back carriage up, but my phone was going flat so I couldn't take anymore photos and I was getting hungry for lunch too.
It was just at the Nuriootpa crossing outside Penfolds on the Barossa Valley Higway. Apparently 11 out of 23 carriages came off the track. I wonder why?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...17/2572691.htm

Edit: Oh, and the carriages are apparently about 70 tonnes in weight each. 20 tonnes for the carriage and 50 tonnes of rock.

**redxm** · 17-05-2009, 07:02 PM

Oh dear
Someone has a LOT of paperwork to fill out.

4Vman · 17-05-2009, 07:05 PM

Looks like the tracks and sleepers collapsed under the weight of the carriages...

Hitman · 17-05-2009, 08:07 PM

And that is why the train will only ever be a supplement to road transport.

snappy · 17-05-2009, 08:09 PM

Bloody hoons

Jason[98.EL] · 17-05-2009, 08:12 PM

yup a person/people are going to have a crap load of paper work for those trucks de-railing

Jason

XR8 Uterous · 17-05-2009, 08:34 PM

Accident? Must of been a P-Plater.

Pinkbits · 17-05-2009, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hitman

And that is why the train will only ever be a supplement to road transport.

You've got to be joking

:
What is the maximum load for a B Double, 60 tonnes?
Freight trains haul in excess of 3000 tonnes.

Don't trucks have frequent roll overs?

flappist · 17-05-2009, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinkbits

You've got to be joking

:
What is the maximum load for a B Double, 60 tonnes?
Freight trains haul in excess of 3000 tonnes.

Don't trucks have frequent roll overs?

So what you are saying is that 1 train oops is equal to more than 50 truck oopses...........

Pinkbits · 17-05-2009, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

So what you are saying is that 1 train oops is equal to more than 50 truck oopses...........

No. For the amount of freight transported nationwide incidents of this nature are not a common occurance.

Looking at those pics it appears it was a low speed derail caused by the rails "spreading"

Hitman · 18-05-2009, 05:46 PM

But how long is it going to clean up the mess and get the train up and running again.

A truck rolls over, you get diverted around it but the freight still gets through, a train goes belly up and nothing gets through till they clean it up.

sgt_doofey · 18-05-2009, 10:24 PM

Sometime this week apparently. The initial derailment had a number of carriages over the road. Those photos I took were of the last three out of eleven to be righted. They were taken about 24 hours after the derailment.
Oh, and there is only one train that goes along that line. The one you see in the photos.

OLDFORDNUT · 19-05-2009, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinkbits

No. For the amount of freight transported nationwide incidents of this nature are not a common occurance.

Looking at those pics it appears it was a low speed derail caused by the rails "spreading"

Have another close look at last photo, you can clearly see the sleepers are crushed from being in poor(rotten)condition,
Sadly a lot of our rail systems are in disrepair from lack of proper funding

sgt_doofey · 19-05-2009, 07:27 AM

I believe that particular line is a privately owned line and the government doesn't maintain it. In the ABC news article linked above, it says that it's owned by Genesee and Wyoming.
The only train that runs along it is the freight train from the Penrice mine down to Adelaide and back again. No other services run along it.

Fev · 19-05-2009, 11:17 AM

glad that was travelling slowly! still would have kept moving for a good while after it came off though.. 3000t aint easy to stop!

Road_Warrior · 19-05-2009, 11:50 AM

I'd say poor maintenance is the culprit here...hundreds of thousands of tonnes of freight is shifted by rail in Australia daily, mainly on Government lines and there are little to no accidents like this one. If they really wanted to, they could get that line servicable again in 24-48 hours but seeing as it's a privately run line they probably don't have the resources to do it.

The biggest issue/incidents with rail is clowns who put stuff on the line and interfere with boom gates and points to try and stuff the trains up. Happens several times a day on each metro line.

Fev · 19-05-2009, 12:07 PM

If thats their only line im sure they'll have to get it fixed asap.

FreeTv · 19-05-2009, 02:40 PM

here's another from Tassie,

Tasmania's north-south rail line is to be closed for several weeks after a major derailment at Colebrook in the south three days ago.

Infrastructure Minister Graeme Sturges says the suspension will affect container cargo trains and newsprint from Boyer.

Mr Sturges says all the affected freight will have to go north by road.

"The government recognises that there is significant work that needs to be done on the rail track infrastructure," he said.

"In fact we have negotiated with the Federal Government for $201.5 million funding that will enable us to undertake maintenance and also to upgrade the track, particularly upgrade the track in the area of the Colebrook area."

Pacific National says it is likely the suspension will last several weeks.

ABC News

FreeTv · 19-05-2009, 02:41 PM

And another, this time a ute on the tracks,

CountryLink says its rail services through the north-east New South Wales will operate as normal this week after a rail crossing accident.

A ute driver and his passenger had a lucky escape near Uralla when the vehicle collided with the northbound Xplorer at the Wollun Road Crossing on Friday evening.

A transport safety investigation is underway.

The vehicle was dragged 25 metres after it hit the train, which was travelling at nearly 100 kilometres an hour.

CountryLink spokesman Paul Rea says it could have been a lot worse.

"Thankfully, collisions between trains and cars are very rare," he said.

"You have to understand that trains can't alter their course and it takes a long time for a train to stop, so I think the occupants of the car were very lucky.

"Because we didn't have a train up there, we put people on coaches coming from Armidale to Sydney and everything is looking fine for today and, of course, for this week."

ABC News

FreeTv · 19-05-2009, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fev

If thats their only line im sure they'll have to get it fixed asap.

Fixed now,

A train that derailed in the Barossa Valley yesterday is expected to be removed from the tracks during the day.

Eleven of the train's 23 carriages derailed at Nuriootpa about 1:00pm ACST.

It is understood the train was carrying limestone from Penrice Soda's Angaston quarry.

Local traffic was diverted to avoid the rail crossing yesterday afternoon. The railway line is expected to be back in full operation by this afternoon.

The locomotive's operators, Genesee and Wyoming, say the cause of the derailment should be determined during the day.

ABC News

RG · 19-05-2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OLDFORDNUT

Have another close look at last photo, you can clearly see the sleepers are crushed from being in poor(rotten)condition,
Sadly a lot of our rail systems are in disrepair from lack of proper funding

I wouldn't argue that point with Pinkbits.

Guess what he does for a living?

sgt_doofey · 19-05-2009, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreeTv

Fixed now,

Probably fixed by now. I took those photos on Sunday, one day after the accident occurred. Those were the last 3 carriages remaining of the 11 that derailed. No doubt they were the worst of the three left until last.

Bit more info at AdelaideNow site: http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...6-2682,00.html

sgt_doofey · 20-05-2009, 12:58 PM

I heard the train go by again this morning so the line must be fixed.