Re: Freight is booming

[Bob <gioia@fastlink.com.au>]

Maurie Daly wrote:

> .
>
> >No, but it does subtract. FreightCorp have sold most Mark I and II 48's
> >and 74's mothballed 46's, 48's, 49's, 80's (currently being brought back
> >for Metrop shunters), 422's ( only 2 of Countrylink's in the Metrop),
> >442's and are currently withdrawing 85's and 86's.
>
> Exactly correct.
> The locos above which have been sold were not locos that were leased to
> NR ,so it means that main line locos are now being used to replace them.The
> real measure of how well a railway utilizes its locos is to simply measure the
> total annual ntk (net tonne kilometers) hauled by a rail operator and compare
> this to the number of locomotives required to achieve the desired task.
> Sadly , most Govt railways score very poorely in this regard , with Westrail
> doing the best.
> Even NR arnt that brilliant.
>
> A loco shortage can be created simply by having a policy to flog off every
> loco that is deemed old , unreliable or uneconomic to some one else , who very
> often finds that the sold loco is in fact magically not unrealiable or
> uneconomic once its been purchased.
> If the locomotives arnt unreliable enuf then we make sure they get that way
> by not maintaining them properly,and eventually we can them flog them off
> using the excuse of unreliability.(How long until the XP power cars go this
> way.)
>
> It will be interesting to measure ASRs performance after a few years.
>
> cheers
> MD


The locos that were sold off were old clapped out wrecks like 44 class and 45s
that were years past their use by date for a class one railway. The 48s were
likewise and also you must remember that 48s are a branchline unit and we don't
have many of those left. How silly is it to have 4 48s on a coal train when 1 90
class can do the same work for less fuel. Also consider that the maintenance man
hours have quadrupled . Even in the poms are finding out that old locos are not in
the race. Yes there were problems ands still are with SRA maintenance practices
and this is why Clyde maintain the 82s and 90s. I now hear that QR has offered
them a maintenance option on the tilt train. Who better that the manufacturer
would know how to look after a loco? Also worth mentioning is that NRC are saving
millions since the introduction of the NRs just in fuel bills alone. If  we all
took the attitude that old is still good we would all be driving our FJ Holdens
and Ford Zephers. I think not. Look outside Australia and note what happens
particularly in the USA with old Vs new locos.
Bob