Re: Fate of 85/86 class

[Greg Rudd <grudd@mail.usyd.edu.au>]

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?
>

It's a thing called Ready Power.  Freightcorp have 58 82 class engines if they
don't get the minimum amount of Km on them per month they could get hit with
penalty payments.  Another aside is that if Freightcorp don't have to change
loco's at Lithgow the could effectively close Lithgow locomotive depot and
reduce it to a fuelling point. With detrimental effects on the employment
situation in Lithgow.

>
> 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

-Greg