Re: FV NSW Contract

[David & Julie Donald <dsjmd@hermes.net.au>]

Guys,

There were some rumours floating around about twelve months ago (might even be
less than that), soon after Austrac got into full swing with their log haulage
from Junee to Port Kembla.  My information came from what I would have called
fairly reliable sources.
The rumours suggested that Austrac was fairly confident of gaining at least two
further log contracts, one being from the Canberra area (this was at about the
time that there was a concentration of logs at Bungendore) and a second from the
Lithgow area.  At the time, Austrac was allegedly looking for suitable loading
points, and more especially rolling stock and locomotives, and my understanding
was that they were having some difficulty in both regards, though they certainly
thought that they had some "irons in the fire".
So far as the Canberra area was concerned, there were certainly a suggestion at
one stage, whether serious or not, that Bungendore would be used, but more
especially using the old Captain's Flat branch connection etc.  Given that the
junction was literally in an open field, with, from my recollection, virtually
no access etc, it would seem that the development of a full loading facility
would have been required.

The "Western" contract was somewhat vaguer, but allegedly had some real
potential. I was told the quantity involved, and a figure of around 100,000
tonnes seems to come to mind, but I forget whether this was total or annual.  My
understanding was that they had a couple of potential loading points in mind,
being to either use the old Austen & Butta coal loading facility, situated
virtually behind the town of Wallerawang (I gather that it is no longer used,
apart from the storage of rakes of wagons) or possibly the long disused coal
loading facility at Hartley Vale (on the Darling Causeway, on the down side of
Mount Victoria) - as far as I am aware, the facilities are still technically
available for use.  As well, and I don't really know whether this was ever a
serious contender, given all the issues that might be involved (heavy trucks
through the Blue Mountains etc), there was a suggestion that they might approach
Boral to use the now disused Emu Plains Gravel Siding.  One might also remember
that logs were also loaded at Kelso (on the up side of Bathurst) for a short
while, but I suspect that this was not on the agenda.
Motive power did seem to be a real issue, especially in relation to this
"western" contract.  The word floating around at the time was that they might
even approach the owner of 4514, which in theory lives at the State Mine Museum,
Lithgow, and use that unit on this work.

As with a number of issues involving Austrac (whatever happened to their great
pronouncement that they were moving into the North-West of the state), this
whole matter seemed to die a rather sudden death (especially the "western"
idea), and I have heard no more about the issue until these latest comments.
However, if it does eventuate, whether as solely a Freight Victoria contract, or
FV sub-contracting to another operator, it will certainly add a new dimension to
traffic over the Blue Mountains, especially with the recent re-emergence of
National Rail sending certain freight services in this direction.

--

Regards

David Donald
Springwood, NSW

dsjmd@hermes.net.au