An epic struggle on Cowan bank

[Alcopara]

Been there done that 1 x 46er and full load from Broadmeadow cold rainy nite advised North Control and Hawkesbury River not interested green lights all the way dead duck partway up the bank - grease pots didn't help neither. Drivers use to call it the SH*Ts HITS THE FAN. I can laugh now but back then North Control wasn't laughing. G8 the driver got his train up the bank.

[trio3d]

@2:40 Freight Train driver says, "I hate my job"

[wayneweek]

2:40 lolz overtaken by a 6 car train!

[TheWaluigiking]

The V set reminds me of 3801's problem in 1990

[53bigmikejones]

Nice video, but dont understand why they didnt double the hill.

[FastFlyingVirginian]

Love that sound...

[LittleRaggie]

Cowan Bank 8.6 k's of 1:40 grade..... Used to test new locos.

[bradstrains]

These locomotives traction motors most have been fried!

[AussieMan7493]

Four 82 class loco's would have made the job a million times easyer, those three locos look so old.

[onceANexile]

yep, its aussie...Bi directional- we need a little of that in n. america. nice trains down under.

[onceANexile]

this has got to be australia..

[wayneweek]

@onceANexile it is man!

[BigDirtyBasterd]

Wheres Thomas?

[zelo1954]

Didn't the crew handle the locos well? No major thrashing but kept it within the capacity of the motors to handle the power.

[ES09100]

i wasted 4:28 of my life on a slow train

[rhondaw1]

This is great to see....thanks for posting.....I don't like electric trains at all...... they are extremely boring

[nitinmenon2011]

indian loco are very much more powerfull than these junks

[kingdl72]

@nitinmenon2011 what a retarded comment, these are from the 1950s. And you are wrong also, most indian diesel locos does not have more power than these.

[youthwith]

@kingdl72 Sorry but most indian diesel locos have 2400hp or 3100hp engines. These have 1800hp.

[kingdl72]

@youthwith Yeah actually you are right, they use the 12-cyl version of the Alco 251B, wheras the WDM-2(the most common diesel loco in india) use the 16-cyl version. But still they are not junk, just as the indian version is not. Or else they wouldnt have lasted for 50 years+. :-)

[aussietraindriver]

thats the way, load those alco's up!!

[mattemtris]

two stroke engines only dominate suburban lawns on sunday afternoons!

[123legodude]

@mattemtris and semi trucks with two stroke cummins engines

[YB49887]

@123legodude sorry but cummins never made a 2 cycle diesel engine. you are thinking of detroit diesel

[123legodude]

@YB49887 oh thats what i was thinking of. lol sorry bro. i always get them two mixed up for some strange reason

[steveh9169]

@mattemtris If These 2-Strokes did the Lawns, Problem Solved.

[tyronewasup]

Bloody Alcos, there weak as piss, GM dominates

[blackthorne57]

I grew up in the age of steam so I am not usually a diesel fan but the sounds on this video are great. Thanks for sharing.

[emilkarpo]

ALCo 251 prime movers in the lead units?

[backnumber1662]

Good video, yes, but if we had a decent government the Cowan Bank would have been eliminated years ago and we would have electric trains up and down its replacement at 60mph.

[shazam75]

wow! bring back the 44s! cool vid!

[markcaetano]

I love how the V set is just "Get the hell out of my way" and flies past it.

[lloydbolier]

what do the 55/60 signs mean? speed?

[diesel1964]

@lloydbolier - Yes, there speed boards. The 55 is for freight trains and the 60 is for passenger trains.

[lloydbolier]

@diesel1964 thanks man.

[shazam75]

@lloydbolier 60 for XPT i think

[cagorrie]

Brilliant video and sound, whats the grade ?

[SydneyRover]

@cagorrie The grade is 1 in 40. It is my understanding that the maximum load for a single 44 class on such a grade is 600 tonnes.

[TehBenshiGuy]

that is one seriously underpowered train.

[gregrudd]

@TehBenshiGuy

I think you will find that the loco's in question have not had serious work done on them since the mid 80's so they are doing OK.

[PoathTrains]

Great video. And wasn't it fortuitous the cityrail train didn't block any of the action.

[astapic]

Those 44 class are still going strong after all these years.

I think we really need that Northern Sydney freight line URGENTLY!

[lstrabt]

Another victim for cowan 

[Trainbrain1949]

It has been decades since anyone could see ALCO cabs running on the mainline.

[trains72345]

at 2:38 did they shut the units down to let the traction motor cool down or not ?

[jvltog]

Nice video :-)

[iusetano]

Those old ALCO's are doing what they alway's did best, lug the train over the hill. Excellent video.

[TheWelly888]

Were the locos slipping on the damp rails? It was a relief to see the train finally get underway after the driver came to a complete stop!