Re: Freight Question

[mauried@commslab.gov.au (Maurie Daly)]

In article <01bd7bfb$67c95f20$LocalHost@default> "dirtcircuitvideos" <dirtcircuitvideos@bigpond.com> writes:
>From: "dirtcircuitvideos" <dirtcircuitvideos@bigpond.com>
>Subject: Freight Question
>Date: 10 May 98 22:45:31 GMT

>Can some one explain to me why:

>G.S.R  freight train   travelling east past Port Pirie was carrying
>double decker containers  (ie: stacked two high per wagon) with
>two locos !!!

>Same day a GSR  freight train travelling west through Peterborough
>carrying what seamed less freight and none doubled up but this
>train had three locos up front.

Umm, no such thing as a GSR freight train, or have they gone into the freight 
business.
I presume you mean an ASR freight train.
On the TAR run , ie to Perth , the freight loading is highly assymetric with 
2/3 to 3/4 of all freight travelling to Perth , and much less coming back.
This means that quite often , eastbound  trains have more locos than westbound 
trains , simply to get the locos back.
As for the double stacking , Ive often myself wondered about the economics of 
this practice across the TAR.
On the face of it , theoretically it allows you to carry double the freight 
for a given number of wagons , which is an advantage , but in reality you cant 
simply because of the limited axle loads permissable across the TAR of only 23 
tonnes,per axle.
Id like to see some cost statistics of the improved returns in double stacking.

cheers
MD