Tasrail & Adelaide Electrification

[bscanlon@dist.gov.au (Ben Scanlon)]

     Tasrail : I visited Conara Jcn on Tasrail's South line on Friday and 
     Burnie on the Western Line on Saturday.  The former Z type engines - 
     the ZR and ZP rebuilds and the usual ZBs, are now numbered in the 2100 
     class - with the Z letter and number painted out and the new four 
     digit number in white - on engine nose and sides. 
     
     At Burnie, also noticed some EBR concentrate wagons bogie-less upside 
     down on flat wagons - are they being converted from vacuum to air 
     brake ?
     
     The far reaches of the Western line to Wiltshire don't look like 
     they've seen a train in years, but are still intact.
     
     Adelaide Electrification : if you look at the ARHS Bulletins which 
     featured the Redhen railcars, back in the mid 80s (?) there is mention 
     there of a feasibility study to electrify Adelaide's suburban system 
     around 1948 or so - I think the conclusion was to put it in the 
     too-hard basket and order diesel railcars - that's what you'd expect 
     from a rail system which couldn't see that having two gauges probably 
     wasn't a very good idea.  Don't get me wrong, I love SAR trains and 
     think their diesels were the most stylish round, and certainly had the 
     best paint schemes - three at once ! But due to the gauges problem, SA 
     is lucky to have any rail system left at all. 
     
     Cheers
     
     Ben
     
     bscanlon@dist.gov.au
     





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