Railways in Australia; GE power and 234 cars of iron ore

[tartopfan]

What is the difference between a C40-9W, C44-9W, & a CM44-9CW?

[Rocketboy1950]

@tartopfan Wiki lists them as Dash 9-40C Dash 9-40CW Dash 9-44CW. A quick Google search will provide more details than I can fit here.

[tartopfan]

@Rocketboy1950 well appearently there is no difference exept that the Dash-9 40s can chance their horsepower to 4400 when needed I guess thats why NS has so many.

[DEEMANYWNA]

Did you stand there and count all the cars being pulled by the beast??

amazing

[Rocketboy1950]

@DEEMANYWNA No, 234 is a standard load.

[20100565]

would be so awesome to ride one of these!

[camposwilliam62]

Amazing seeing our engines down under! I would like to see their paint sceme though! Thanks for sharing!

[ZingisHaan]

This must be 2-3 km long.

[TheWolf1610]

Удивляет чистота подвижного состава и железнодорожного полотна. Красивое видео.

[ThEsHeEn117]

wow absolutely beautiful.

[bonzoAU]

What would be the chances of you arranging a ride in one of these monsters?i done know how you would go about doing it but would give a different view to your fantastic videos

[Rocketboy1950]

@bonzoAU I would not have any trouble getting cab rides on any of the iron ore roads as I am well acquainted and have worked with drivers on all three. I might have to do it on the QT at one but I am reasonably certain that I could get a pass on two others. 'OutbackSpot' is the guy to look up on YT. He is doing in cab video.

[bonzoAU]

@Rocketboy1950 Thanks will look up outbackspot and have a look

[lllllll5s]

Did u take this from someone?

[Rocketboy1950]

@lllllll5s I do not use any other persons material. There is one exception on my site and it is acknowledged as being given to me. If you have sen this somewhere else just point me to it and I will make the necessary copyright complaint to YT.

[lllllll5s]

@Rocketboy1950 oh ok

[Grumpy7783]

Love that K5LA

[trainzz58]

Dang... Thats way long! Theres a copper mine we have here that used to run ore trains that were pretty long but they quit running the trains like ten years ago. Now they move all the ore out with a huge conveyor belt that they move it all with. Its kinda sad they did that cuz I'm a big train fan.

[trainzz58]

I live in salt lake city, utah (united states) and the longest train I ever seen had 155 cars and i thought that was long... not!! the trains here are monsters!! I should make a trip there and do some train spotting!

[Rocketboy1950]

You'd love it. There are three companies in the Pilbara. The longest trains are 336 car empties on BHP tracks. Be prepared to 'rough it', it is extremely remote country and you have to camp or pay outrageous prices for second rate accommodation.

[oOmaAsterOo]

the tracks look really new

great vid 5*

[MCOvronnaz]

Now that's what I call a long, LONG train! Nice capture!!

[trainmasterfm2]

Its weird seeing a Dash 9 not give the long long short long like in America

[gragrn]

Crikey, how much horsepower is needed to pull that kind of weight?

[Rocketboy1950]

They use roughly 12,000 out on the road with extra to give them a push leaving the mine area.

[gragrn]

Thanks mate!

[vaxter2]

good clip

[vespaoz]

I guess the driver could blow the horn as little or as often as he liked. If anyone was foolish enough to get in the way there wouldn't be much left of them by the time the train was able to stop.

Great video!

[Engato]

how long it take? lol

[Rocketboy1950]

Australia and whilst technically it should be called a horn we often use the term whistle.

[vaxter2]

whistle? which part of Aus? not in vic, nsw or wa...

[Rocketboy1950]

Try VIC NSW SA TAS and god knows what they call it in QLD and WA. Given that I've been a driver since 1975 and the rule books call it a whistle and those white crosses on the approach to level crossings are called whistle boards then I'm sticking with whistle. Note that I acknowledge that it 'should' be called a horn but the facts is that at this time it is not.

[vaxter2]

stand corrected on the official term then. but I have never seen or heard it referred to as a whistle. I guess only if you have studied the book or been around train drivers would one know the 'technical' term :)

thanks for correcting me - Luke.

[Rocketboy1950]

Certainly not like in the US. Lets look at the logic. The train is travelling slowly, its driver has a clear view of the highway and can see vehicles stopped from both directions. What purpose would it serve to make a lot of racket ? Other than to enhance my clip but it aint hard to dub in some whistle if I were so inclined.

[mphill66]

@Rocketboy1950 It's in the Federal Rules... Unless it is a quiet Zone (specific enhancements to crossings, then only bells sound on posts trackside) train engineers are required to sound 2 long 1 short 1 long (the last blast as it enters the intersection).... Logic? horns are a safety feature. Trackside are signs with bif "W"s on them which are the starting point of sounding the horn (even tho' sign has a W, guess from the old days)

[Rocketboy1950]

@mphill66 And like many rules ( including those in my country ) it is a bullshit arse covering exercise. You still hit cars, trucks and pedestrians in the US don't t you. If the whistle was only sounded at the engineers discretion in unsafe situations people might actually take some notice of it.

[mphill66]

@Rocketboy1950 I understand that and agree.... (I was simply responding to the original post as to why) and those same arguments are bandied about here when a city (or area) wants to establish a quiet zone. Senses are dulled if you're bombarded with too much of something (in this case train horns). Quiet Zones restrict horns and as you said, "If the whistle was only sounded at the engineers discretion in unsafe situations people might actually take some notice of it." is agreed..

[BNSFbeagrett9647]

Beautiful K5LA! 5*& a fav!

[spcascades]

Now that there is a train! gm16v149 hooked me up with your videos. Great Stuff.

The way I see it, if people can't figure out that trains use tracks at a railroad crossing, like the name implies, then they deserve what they get.

Great video!

[pennsyr1]

I concur, on all points (particularly the railroad crossing comment).

[nickeax]

Thanks for the great video!! 5/5 The train looks so neat, almost as one piece.

[19CW92]

awesome train and video 5*! from Germany

[gm16v149]

I'm wating for someone from the States to say how come only two blasts for the crossing!

Those Pilbara trains are impressive.

[Rocketboy1950]

I think the first honk was for me, the crossing probably only got one which was one more than it needed given the approach speed, clear daylight and the fact that everything ( all two of them ) had stopped already. Wait til you see the trucks I got at that location.

[torquelimited8115]

These things leave Hope Downs and cook full tilt boogie with bankers right up to Juna Downs. You stand back when working trackside. The ground shakes something feirce