HEAVY AND SLOW GRAIN TRAIN - Australia's Portland Branchline

Slowly making its way to Portland along the speed-limited 40 kilometres per hour track is Pacific National loaded Grain Train 7740V from Nhill to the Port of Portland led by Pacific National locomotives G540/XR559 & G523. The train powers along the slow and steep Portland line with a load of about 3,000 Tons across 40 Hoppers behind, making its way throughout the region on the morning of the 4th of February 2023.
Pacific National has been the only operator on the Portland for years, with Grain the only freight to be moved on the line in the last 6 years with no trains using the line across a two period which, along with track owners, the Australian Rail Track Corporation neglecting the line, has led the track speed being reduced and journey times being extended massively.
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[@malcolmolle8984]

40 kmh in 2023, crazy, it must be good for diesel consumption 😂

[@MS_Trains]

Step backwards from the good old days of 80 kmh running 50 years ago. Pacific National is actually pushing for the track to be upgraded because the slower speeds require three locomotives instead of two to haul trains due to the lack of "run up" or momentum to make it up so of the grades with the 40kmh running. Probably more economical with the faster running with less locomotives required. Matt - M&S Trains

[@ReubenFarrelly]

Great video. I haven't seen any of your videos before so I've subscribed. Minor nitpick and something you may not know - storage vessels for grain such as at what you have shown at the Port of Portland are called Grain Bins, not Silos. Silos are used for wet storage (material such as silage) but grains are stored in dry vessels. Source - I work for a large Grain company and I also manage some infrastructure at the Port of Portland 🙂

[@gtptvanbuuren3795]

Thank you.

[@FishplateFilms]

More lovely work Matt! Great shots and just the right amount of interesting info. Well done young man. Cheers Gregg.

[@peterbranch2913]

Well done, looking foward to more of the same

[@MS_Trains]

Thanks, Peter! Lot's more to come. Matt - M&S Trains

[@TheMetGuy]

Great catch, that is one slow and HEAVY grain train

[@MS_Trains]

Thanks mate! Matt - M&S Trains

[@timvandiepen8373]

🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@lachlanbaker2031]

About time someone got a video of a train on this line. Good work 👏🏻

[@MS_Trains]

Thanks, Lachlan! More to come with the SRHC tour next weekend. Matt - M&S Trains

[@patrickbryant5224]

Another excellent video Matt. I didn't realise the Portland line was still in use. Great drone work showing the former Heywood line branching off. Adds to the viewing experience.

[@MS_Trains]

Thanks, Patrick! Glad you enjoyed and yes, Portland is still in use (Most of the time), but it's had it's fair share of no use over the last decade. Glad you enjoyed the Drone stuff too! Matt - M&S Trains

[@blueskyboys9855]

Great video. Love the overhead shots and history of the line.

[@MS_Trains]

Thanks mate! Glad you enjoyed it. Matt - M&S Trains

[@FromtheWindowSeat]

Great video. The plan to upgrade Portland port is good news. 😃

[@MS_Trains]

Thanks mate!! It's a good plan, but it's only an if for the moment. Funding will be difficult to get especially now but it's a much-needed project so we can hope! Matt - M&S Trains

[@louiskats5116]

Goodday Matt, Absolutely great video, not much information lately regarding the Portland line & what's going on. 40 kph in these days is ridiculous & we should hang our head in shame. I hope they spend the money to make Portland a valuable port. Great Great video thoroughly enjoyed it. Cheers Louis Kats 👍

[@MS_Trains]

Thanks for watching Louis. It really is a shame but to be expected, I suppose. The South West of Victoria seems to get the short end of the stick pretty often from the government. Hopefully, we will see a change for the port and lines sake soon. Matt - M&S Trains

[@jesstill7833]

Hi Matt nice video mate 💪😄👍🦍👍🦘🇦🇺

[@MS_Trains]

Thanks Jess! Have a good weekend. Matt - M&S Trains

[@jesstill7833]

@@MS_Trains Thanks Matt you are a champ son 💪💪👍👍🦘🇦🇺🙏

[@Gondwana_Goanna]

@04:20 that small section of track is pretty bad. You can definitely see the distortion in that small bit of track in the video even before the train gets to it…

[@MS_Trains]

For sure, it's a low-tier line these days. Upgrade works are long overdue. Matt - M&S Trains

[@lachlancampbell3058]

Locos sound exactly the same as the clydes in qld. On brookstead line in summer is 20kph for loaded trains and axle weight of 15.75t

[@MS_Trains]

Pretty good sound if you ask me. Victoria has its fair share of speed-limited running in Summer, too, not that they get much of summer compared to you guys in QLD. It would be great to come up to QLD at some stage and see some of that stuff for myself! Thanks for watching mate! Matt - M&S Trains

[@gregthompson3274]

Absolute disgrace the neglect of the line to Portland, our only natural deep water port, and close to the grain producing regions. The line needs to be upgraded to make it economic to run freight to Portland

[@kenfowler1980]

Maybe the highways need to have the same lack of maintenance & speed restrictions! Oh that’s right they do had the lack of maintenance but not speed restrictions

[@Kansas-Trains]

It's amazing how the Australian and American Railroads are really similar in the operations. However you guy's don't run these 3 mile long monsters like we do with PSR. 😊🤔🙏🇺🇸

[@thebops4180]

Thorough / Awesome . . . Travelling on dodgy track must be considered OH&S . . . The locomotives looked like rust buckets . . .

[@graememellor8319]

There is also a push to reopen the Mt Gambier line from near the MtGambier saleyards at Glenburnie through to Heywood again for log traffic to try and get the trucks off the highways. A study was started in 2022 so might happen before 2050 with some luck, though that is a bit of wishful thinking with the speed our governments work & the likely backlash from the road transport unions etc...

[@MS_Trains]

Fingers crossed for this push, then! It's about time something comes of the old line especially considering the amount of trucks I had to deal with on the local roads. Matt - M&S Trains

[@anthonywild9040]

Really pathetic that ARTC won't spend money to bring this line up to former condition. A deep sea port exists at Portland. Just makes sense to use this line to its optimum capacity. But of course this line, like so many others will suffer, because the government loves fuel tax from the road trucks, so inefficient when compared to rail!.

[@MS_Trains]

It needs some work for sure. Hopefully something comes around soon as far as funding or an upgrade as the line might not last much longer if not happens. Matt - M&S Trains

[@dieseldavetrains8988]

No wonder most grain goes by road, 40KMh speed on that track is disgusting, should be 80KMh or 60KMh at the very least. Shame ARTC, shame!🤨

[@gordonclark7632]

40 kays an hour what a long boring trip that would be for the crew.