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It's surprising that, in this OZScrapers Subforum, I have looked so far back, and as yet, haven't found even a quiescent thread relating to rail freight: yet, as the cost of oil increases, this will probably make or break us: anyway, to kick this thread off, here's a few photos and reflections from the west side of Melbourne, Sunday 8th of June:
The Queen has her birthday on many days (I guess she gets more presents that way), but in Victoria, we are celebrating today the Queen's birthday, and have proclaimed a public holiday for the occasion. Hence, I was rather surprised to see the train above, pulling out of Melbourne, late on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of a long weekend, and there was more of it:
I post this here for those who never see a freight train: all part of the same train; they're very long these days. The first two photos were taken from the bridge in the third photo: and I didn't run..
The discerning viewer will note that the track on the left in the first image has, not two, but three rails. This is because Australians couldn't agree on their rail-gauges. At West Footscray, 200m or so west of the previous photos, this out-of-focus image never-the-less explains it all:
The broad gauge goes to the left; the standard gauge (national network) to the right. I guess you can see where most of the traffic goes as well.
From what I understand, 38% of container traffic in Australia is off-loaded at the Port of Melbourne: and 80% of the container traffic from Melbourne to Adelaide proceeds by rail. Anyway, it all comes through here.

The Queen has her birthday on many days (I guess she gets more presents that way), but in Victoria, we are celebrating today the Queen's birthday, and have proclaimed a public holiday for the occasion. Hence, I was rather surprised to see the train above, pulling out of Melbourne, late on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of a long weekend, and there was more of it:


I post this here for those who never see a freight train: all part of the same train; they're very long these days. The first two photos were taken from the bridge in the third photo: and I didn't run..
The discerning viewer will note that the track on the left in the first image has, not two, but three rails. This is because Australians couldn't agree on their rail-gauges. At West Footscray, 200m or so west of the previous photos, this out-of-focus image never-the-less explains it all:

The broad gauge goes to the left; the standard gauge (national network) to the right. I guess you can see where most of the traffic goes as well.
From what I understand, 38% of container traffic in Australia is off-loaded at the Port of Melbourne: and 80% of the container traffic from Melbourne to Adelaide proceeds by rail. Anyway, it all comes through here.