Re: The future of broad gauge was Ouyen - Pinnaroo line

[mdaly@pcug.org.au (Maurie Daly)]

In article <grYw4.543$co1.449820@news0.optus.net.au> dbromage@fang.omni.com.au (David Bromage) writes:
>From: dbromage@fang.omni.com.au (David Bromage)
>Subject: Re: The future of broad gauge   was Ouyen - Pinnaroo line
>Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2000 00:54:36 GMT

>Maurie Daly (mdaly@pcug.org.au) won a Nobel Prize for literature by writing:
>> There are a few lines which would possobly justify the cost , namely Heywood 
>> to Mt G (only if the other side was guage converted ) and possibly Mangalore 
>> to Tocumwal (only if Tocumwal to Naranderra was re opened.),and thats about 
>> it.

>Benalla - Oaklands could also be justified, and there have been murmuers
>abourt reopening Springhurst - Wahgunyah.

Yes but why.
Benalla- oaklands is wheat which currently goes to geelong.
Guage converting would allow you to take the wheat to Portland.
Why do it , Geelong is closer than Portland, no merit at all.



>Seymour - Albury is also a candidate for regauging. This should give
>double track, each signalled for bidirectional running. Crossovers on each
>side of stations mean you don't need additional passenger facilities - you
>can use the existing stations. I'd dual gauge the up platform at Seymour,
>and a standard gauge platform may be required at Broadmeadows. The sg
>platform at Sunshine would need to be upgraded.

Again , there is no merit in this unless Albury to Junee is duplicated,and 
with the current train densities in the NE SG this isnt justified.
There is also the thorny issue of who owns the tracks ,having two SG lines 
running parallel to each other owned by differant operators achieves nothing.
As Rod pointed out in a previous posting FA runs on the BG track as ir costs 
them nothing.


>I'd even (eventually) regauge the up line from Somerton to Dysart. The
>broad gauge can continue to serve the commuters on a single line with
>loops at each station.

>Dunolly - Inglewood - Korong Vale - Kulwin/Robinvale would be viable if
>more grain went through Portland. This is a bit iffy given the layout of
>Ararat.

Where grain goes is dependent on the silo size and ship capacity.
Both Geelong and Portland have similar storage capacities so there is no 
advantage in going to Portland.
Ararat yard is a problem as well as the SG access charges from Ararat to 
Maroona.

>If Geelong - Ballarat (and eventually to Merbein and Pinaroo) is to go
>over, I'd rather see a second track put down (it used to be double track)
>than dual gauge. The second track would allow 115km/h running on both
>lines. Dual gauge would limit it to 80km/h because of the paranoia about
>derailing and would preclude using 60kg rail.

I can see no reason at all to guage convert Geelong to Mildura or Sunshine to 
Balaarat.

>The only "metropolitan" line which has any merit for standard gauge is
>Long Island for the steel traffic. Rather than trying to dual gauge all
>the way through Frankston, it would be easier and cheaper to dual gauge to
>Caulfield (including the new viaduct) and build a third (sg) track to
>Dandenong (or Berwick), then south to Westernport.

This is the only Metro line that needs to be converted and its a hard one to 
do.
At the risk of sounding heinous Id suggest that NRC totally abandon running 
steel trains to Long Island and send the steel by ship directly from Pt 
Kembla.
There is no reason whatever that NRC or indeed any other rail company has to 
only use trains to transport goods.
Rail Companies have to become Transport Companies like SCT TNT or Tolls and 
use the most appropriate mode of Transport for the Task in hand.
 

>> Guage conversion of existing lines is only justified if the guage conversion 
>> results in a large increase in traffic which would otherwise not exist,and Im 
>> not aware of any lines that fall into his category.

>It would depends on what ports end up getting standard gauge. Hopefully
>the Webb Dock phoenix will be dual gauge as was originally designed.

Yes , its pretty vital that Webb Dock gets a rail line back and dual guage 
would be beneficial,but lets not get too carried away.
How many SG trains are there to Fishermans Island in Brisbane.?
Not very many ,(less than one per day the last time I looked.)
 

>Melbourne - Geelong - Warrnambool, Ballarat, Bendigo, Seymour and
>Traralgon can remain broad gauge.

>Cheers
>David

Of course , if all the State parochialism was dropped and there was some 
goodwill and cooperation we could realistically see grain from the SE parts of 
NSW going to Victorian ports and grain from the NW of NSW going to Brisbane 
ports.
Much more efficient from the perspective of the ruling grades over which the 
loaded trains have to run , but of course no way thanks to State Govts.

MD