Chapter 6
I Construction During The Settlement Years
II The Use Of Timber As A Structural Material
III Structural Steel
IV Concrete Technology
V Housing
VI Industrialised Pre-cast Concrete Housing
VII Ports And Harbours
VIII Roads
IX Heavy Foundations
X Bridges
XI Sewerage
XII Water Engineering
XIII Railways
i Factors Impeding Developments
ii Railway Sleepers
iii Rail Tracks
iv Some Interesting Railway Projects
v Tarcoola-Alice Springs Railway
vi The Conversion to Standard Gauge
vii Railways in the Pilbara
viii Railways in the Coal Fields of Queensland
ix The Melbourne Underground Railway Loop
XIV Major Buildings
XV Airports
XVI Thermal Power Stations
XVII Materials Handling
XVIII Oil Industry
XIX The Snowy Mountains Scheme
XX The Sydney Opera House
XXI The Sydney Harbour Bridge
XXII Hamersley Iron
XXIII North West Shelf
Sources and References
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Railways in the Coal Fields of Queensland
From 1967 to 1973, a number of coal mines were connected to the Central Railway from Blackwater to Gladstone. The existing track was upgraded using 53 kg/m rail and gradients improved from 2 to 1.25 per cent. At the mines, balloon loops were provided for loading. Train size was similar to the previous lines, but increasing rail size and changing operation characteristics represented a trend towards a new style of operation. 50-wagon trains hauled by three locomotives were operated, subsequently increased to 64 wagons and four locomotives to give a gross trailing load of a little over 4,000 tonnes.A little later (from 1969 to 1976) the Goonyella system was developed. Rail used was 53 kg/m, axle-load increased to 18.5 tonnes, and 74 wagon trains gave total trailing loads of 5,250 tonnes. The total tonnage hauled on the Goonyella system is substantial, of the order of 19 million nett tonnes per annum. This led to the introduction of 'Locotrol', which remotely controls a second group of locomotives in the train by radio. Locotrol permitted doubling the size of the train without exceeding draw-gear strength. Trains of this type are 2 km long. Locotrol was so successful that it was introduced to the Blackwater operation, providing for 100-wagon trains hauled by five locomotives, with a total train length of 1.5 km. Subsequent developments in Queensland have included construction of a 225 km railway from Cobarra (near Townsville) to the Greenvale lateritic nickel ore mine, using rotary dump wagons with an axle-load of 20 tonnes.
The traditional practice which formed the initial basis of Queensland Railways' mineral lines has, from time to time, proved to be a problem. In particular, the Queensland vertical rail and cylindrical wheel standard resulted in shelling of 53 kilogram rail, since overcome by profiling the rail and wheels to canted standards. Axle-loadings have increased, but remain of the same magnitude as conventional practice. This has not, however, restricted the sizeable tonnage hauled on the Queensland coal and mineral lines.
Organisations in Australian Science at Work - Hamersley Iron
People in Bright Sparcs - Connell, J. W.
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Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering |  |
© 1988 Print Edition page 380, Online Edition 2000
Published by Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, using the Web Academic Resource Publisher
http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/382.html