Re: Mt Gambier network - thoughts

[John Duncan McCallum <mccallum@melbpc.org.au>]

fg wrote:
 
> Reading a 4 page article in Track + Signal (Jul-Sep 99) on 'The Mount
> Gambier and District Railway Society Inc.'(MGDRS) trading as 'the Limestone
> Coast Railway', it was interesting to note that the whole area's track is
> still useable.

> '...the track... is controlled by ASR...but not all of it.  The remainder
> ...(from Coonawarra to Bordertown and from Snuggery to Millicent) remains
> under state control. ...To the east of Mount Gambier is the the track to
> Heywood in Victoria and LCR has a standing lease application on this track
> from the State border with the Victorian Rail Track Corporation (VicTrack) -
> to prevent the track from being pulled up.'

<snip> 

> An obvious step forward would be connectedness to the rest of rail network.
> There are 2 options:
> a) Change to SG
> b) Connect to BG

> a) Change to SG
>     - distances (approx) -
> north
> Mt Gambier to Coonawarra    61 km
> Coonawarra to Naracoorte     40 km
> Naracoorte to Bordertown       82 km
> west
> Mt Gambier to Snuggery         39 km
> Snuggery to Millicent               10 km
> east
> Mt Gambier to Dartmoor         53 km
> Dartmoor to Heywood             35 km
> Total                                         320 km

> Between Mt Gambier and Coonawarra the track is laid on sleepers, of which
> 60% are steel sleepers. I've never seen steel sleepers, but the article says
> they exist.  Do they?  Is this a problem? or does one need to completely
> change these sleepers when changing gauge.



> b) Connect to BG.
>     - distances (approx) -
> Victoria
> Heywood to Hamilton                58 km
> Hamilton to Glenthompson       50 km
> Glenthompson to  Ararat          54 km
> Total                                          162 km
 
> Are the sleepers between Heywood and Ararat timber or concrete?(Again, need
> for sleeper replacement?)  This option involves making the Heywood to Ararat
> line dual gauge and reopening the Ararat to Ballarat line.  Are trees
> popping up between the rails on the Ballarat-Ararat section yet?

> What's cheaper?  Gauge conversion of the whole network or putting in another
> rail over a distance of 162 km.

> Who would run trains over this network?  Freight Victoria is probably the
> only company with BG locos, so only it would run in and out of Mt Gambier
> from the east.  Would it bother travelling north of Mt Gambier for freight?
> Where would the freight be coming from/to - Portland or Geelong and
> Melbourne.

> Perhaps FV would be happier to convert Heywood to Mt Gambier only, to SG,
> but this would make the west and north branch useless.
 
> So it seems to me, that for FV, if the network is connected to BG it would
> be a FV monopoly, but it costs too much to lay another track for 162 km to
> Ararat (plus start maintaining track to Ballarat again).

> If they convert 88km from Mt Gambier to Heywood, everyone with an SG loco
> will have access.  Not good.  Plus the locals would probably want the whole
> network converted in one hit.  This will provide twice as much access for
> FV's competition (Bordertown and Heywood).  (These locals include the SA
> governent and ASR.)
 
> NB    Is this mainly a FV issue if the work is done in VIC, while if work is
> carried out in SA it also involves SA gov and ASR?  Perhaps, this is the
> crux of the issue.

> Plus there is always the possibility of passenger rail movement, but that
> will probably not provide the impetus for a connection.
 
> End train of thought.  Anyone have any ideas, facts.

> Andrei

I do not think that regauging to standard gauge would be viable. During
the
last few years the line was in regular use, the main freight traffic (at
least
into Victoria) was paper products from Snuggery to either Fairfield or
to Maryvale, both of which were on broad gauge lines. To regain this
traffic by rail would 
either involve transfer to trucks at Melbourne, or bogie exchange. Both
of these options are time consuming and therefore expensive. Therefore,
in my opinion, 
rail would not get this traffic back.

I doubt whether converting Heywood to Ararat to dual gauge is an option
either.
It is my opinion that a better alternative would be to rebuild the
closed line
from Dennington to Port Fairy and then building a new line from Port
Fairy
to Heywood. This option is obviously expensive also, but has the
advantage
of keeping the broad gauge separate from the standard gauge.
Perhaps West Coast Railway could extend their passenger services to Mt.
Gambier? 
There would be a reasonable chance of getting the paper traffic back
with this
option.

I can see little real freight traffic from the Mt Gambier to Wolseley
section.
This would seem to rule out any regular use of this section, apart from
the
tourist trains. The cost of maintaining this section just for a few
passenger
trains would be cost prohibitive. Gauge conversion of this section might
be
viable if there is enough traffic in Mt Gambier itself to justify
conversion,
but as I said above, I cannot see enough to justify the expense.

Perhaps our South Australian friends have a differing view here.

John McCallum