Re: Fate of 85/86 class

["Chris Downs" <cvdowns@ozemail.com.au>]

If FreightCorp doesn't like changing locos at Lithgow then I would at least
hope that the Clarence Colliery coalies would be electrically hauled.

Chris

<chris@enet21.com.au> wrote in message
38A3DA99.A64C6BC@enet21.com.au">news:38A3DA99.A64C6BC@enet21.com.au...
> this may not be relevant but did anybody else email R Carr  and  the
greens
> with the email address I gave earlier?
>
> Greg Hunter wrote:
>
> > Maybe this newsgroup has had a win - FreightCorp has started running
elec
> > hauled coal trains from the Blue Mtns to Pt Kembla again.
> > There was one 4 loco train on 8/2 (about 0145 through Sutherland) and
two
> > on 9/2  (0130 & 2130)
> >
> > Just to answer some of the recent questions:
> >
> > To move equal size trains over the same route, electricity costs about
1/4
> > to 1/3 that of diesel fuel. But the savings in fuel costs must be enough
to
> > cover the Capital and maintenance costs of the electrical
infrastructure.
> > For new electrification, this is only likely to break even if you're
moving
> >  over about 50 million tonnes pa.(maybe a bit less)
> >
> > But for using 85/86s under existing wire, it's pure savings.(assuming FC
> > aren't being charged anything for the maintenance of the wire - I don't
> > know about this)
> > To take 3500 tonnes from Lithgow to Pt Kembla and the empties back
again,
> > uses about $800 worth of electricity at current rates. (expected to rise
by
> > about 20% soon.) So the savings over diesel would be around $2500 per
trip.
> >
> > Apparently FreightCorp reckons this amount doesn't cover the cost of
> > changing locos twice at Lithgow. Hmmm?
> >
> > Others have mentioned that the 1500V system limits the number of locos
you
> > can ultimately use and that the losses in a dc system are must larger
than
> > a high voltage system.
> > The first bit is true - the Como- Heathcote section can handle 9
megawatt
> > trains (12,000 HP) of 4 electric locos in series parallel.  And this is
> > about as big as any 1500V system could ever go.
> >
> > The losses in the two systems, running big trains, are not all that
> > different and not really significant in either case. Electrical systems
are
> > designed to be pushed to their limit by single big trains and ultimately
> > this means big losses for short times. For the 4 loco trains on the Como
> > bank losses on the dc system are about 13% but on the overall return
trip
> > less than 5% all up.
> > An AC system would be designed for the volts to fall to maybe 18 kV so
the
> > losses would be not that much less than dc.
> >
> > Greg
>