Epic fail! Pacific National grain train fails on Warrenheip Bank!

Early on the morning of Sunday 17th of January, 2021, PN grain train #9160 failed on wet rails near the bottom of Ballart's infamous 1 in 50 grade of Warrenheip Bank. Quite some hours later attempts were made to re-start the 3000 tonne train on the 1 in 50 with engines G543 and XR552 - a combined total of 6000 HP. This did not work, despite ballast being crushed to help aid traction. In the process of trying to get moving again G543 cops a thrashing, with its big EMD 645 engine revving hard, much to the delight of some of us!
Around the time of sunset, and with light rain falling, Rescue Locos XR550 and XR553 arrived from Melbourne and were coupled to the existing train engines. A further struggle is seen, but eventually all 12,000 HP is used to drag the 3040 tonne loaded grain train towards Geelong for unloading.
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[@andrewmilligan2152]

pig of a bank got stuck there years ago on a grain train consisting of 2 S class and a B class locomotives, the second S class threw a ground relay and with out its power we stalled . the train was made up of the old GY carriages so we called the guard up and proceeded to split the train taking half forward then returning to get the rest

[@tobys_transport_videos]

Lucky you had a guard! I can't imagine being allowed to split a train today or even roll back down towards more level track at Stawell St!

[@DaleDix]

Did they have someone ex-El Zorro filling in at provisioning?

[@Schony747]

Great video!

[@JFinnerud]

Great catch! I pity the crew thou'. Must be like when you crash your car and the crowd gathers around to watch 😏

[@mickryan2450]

Never trust anyone in rail you will get screwed just talk to ex mc dows you will learn the hard way

[@callumbinyon723]

Wet rails, doesn't take a lot to go wrong when close to ruling grade. Usually a G and XR can manage. Great video, thank you. Would have it been worth rolling back to Ballarat and trying again?

[@tobys_transport_videos]

This is PN we're talking about....

[@callumbinyon723]

@@tobys_transport_videos I am guessing that's a no then haha!

[@AshBehindtheCamera]

Awesome video hello from the UK

[@kellyswoodyard]

Standing on the Melbourne line with all that noise, he's asking to eat the Ballarat - Melbourne Vlocity rail motor.

[@tobys_transport_videos]

😂 I didn't realise that Safeworking Schools teach you how to climb off what is technically a moving loco, and how to stand in the 5 foot on a mainline!!! This, as you point out, isn't some rarely-used freight line!

[@NicholassTrainChannel]

Nice video mate that is not the first time this has happend it has happend a few times over the past few years. Warrenheip bank is known for having trains stall whilst trying to clime the grade.

[@tobys_transport_videos]

The last one I saw that had problems crested the grade at 3 kmh! On another occasion it failed near the road bridge at Warrenheip. Wet weather that day later turned to snow!

[@pauloconnor2980]

I'm surprised I didn't see a DHMU pass the grain train!!!!

[@tobys_transport_videos]

DHMU? You mean a Vlo? They would have been around, maybe I just cut the awful things out when editing this video. Thanks for watching! 🙂

[@thegeforce6625]

Better watch the ammeter and think about traction motor duty cycles!

[@raptor9813]

Has G543 ever been on standard gauge

[@roberteddy-of2uj]

Back in the 80s stalls here were almost daily

[@tobys_transport_videos]

Wow!! I'm expecting a few more this coming winter!

[@TramBusTV]

💪💪💪 cool

[@vsvnrg3263]

i love a stall. especially here. i think the last one i can remember here was a pn captured by schoney a few months ago. at 5:00, they got it moving by using the same method that was used in "freight train stall on porcupine hill -re-upload" by emd645e3c.

[@robturvey2026]

Take the brake off

[@geneva760]

Would have enjoyed watching the last car go by.

[@tobys_transport_videos]

Nothing more to see! The last wagon is the same as the first! Also I don't like getting wet! Ballarat is a cold town!!!

[@cliffleigh7450]

What was the chick in the safety vest doing?

[@tobys_transport_videos]

Apart from whinging at me for videoing, I'm not real sure! I think she was trying to tell the driver of the G if the wheels were slipping. Obviously she deemed the driver to be an idiot and not know what a wheelslip light was!!! 🙄

[@zdravkoleski2375]

How many wagons did it have?

[@tobys_transport_videos]

I think 40 wagons is about the normal load for PN grain trains on this line. The reason why trains stall appears to be the lack of sand on the lead loco, enabling it to keep traction, and wet rails. Ballarat has a reputation for being wet! All this combined with a 1 in 50 grade, and you can see why there are problems. PN have solved this issue for at least one grain train consist, where it is normal to see triple XR class on it. This combo is starting to appear again so it may appear as a feature video _"somewhere down the track!"_

[@zdravkoleski2375]

@@tobys_transport_videos 40 seems the standard but why would they use originally only 1 locco when they know the inevitable result. 2 loccos struggle up there let alone 1. Great video 👍

[@tobys_transport_videos]

I can't say I've only ever seen it as 1. The ratio seems to be 3000 HP = 2000 tonnes of train, but the PN (ex VR) grain hoppers aren't 100 tonnes gross - _"I think"_ they're around 75-80 tonnes gross, so naturally that changes the total weight of the train. The ratio of 3000 HP to every 1000 tonnes of train would appear to work much better. Having trains fail and wait hours to be rescued, and to have videos made of numerous failures, is not a good look for rail.

[@zdravkoleski2375]

@@tobys_transport_videos they definitely need to 2 loccos 3 to be sure so it avoids the long delays of the stall