Re: Train Order working

[David Johnson <trainman@ozemail.com.au>]

Robert Parnell wrote:

> Train Orders are definitely not in use between Broken Hill and Parkes yet -
> I travelled through there Sun night/early Mon. morning on the East-bound IP.
> Stopping every 20-30 minutes to attend to the current safeworking partly
> adds to the rough ride as the train was bunched and unbunched at each stop.
> The crew may not have been used to hauling passenger trains. There is also
> the noticeable boundary of each track authority from Perth to Sydney -
> clearly evident by the ride quality. By far the worst section is from Broken
> Hill station to Sydney. Meals in the dining car were served without any
> problem until NSW - watch your drinks are now spilling, the cutlery now
> vibrates and slowly creeps to the edge of the table, bottles of wine falling
> off the bar repeatedly. No such problems else where. A foreign passenger
> commented that we were travelling at a much greater speed (at meal sitting
> after Broken Hill.) I timed the train and we were travelling around 120
> km/h - the same speed as the Nullabor, but much more noticeable on the
> different quality of track.

I found the track quality was excellent between Broken Hill and Parkes on Sunday
night / Monday morning.  My train left BHQ 3 hours behind yours.  The dining car
(1938 vintage) rode very well at 115 km/h, and the sleeping cars (1960s vintage)
were extremely smooth and very quiet.  The driver from Silverton was very good,
and there were no coupler run in/outs.

--
David Johnson
trainman@ozemail.com.au
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~trainman/