Australian Railways Are NUTS!

In todays video, we take a trip to The Land Down Under, which is home to some of the most wonderfully unusual railroads out there. There's driverless trains in the west, bi-directional streamliners in the east, and one of the world's most desolate right of ways in the south, along with much, much more!
Official Discord Server: / discord
Merch Shop: okieprint.com/SPR/shop/home

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Pardon my allergy-ridden voice, lol. SPR Drip- okieprint.com/SPR/shop/home

[@trainanimator8150]

i think youre the only person with a southern accent that likes trains to this extent

[@brendanmichaelwelsh6260]

I love the way Americans & many others try and pronounce different Australia places or citys, Melbourne always gets the Jason Bourne treatment, Poor Melbourne.

[@toyroadsrails-trainscarspl1709]

Very informative! Love watching stuff like this about trains and history.

[@hoilst265]

@@trainanimator8150 Well, one who isn't a Blues musician.

[@seanworkman431]

In Sydney we now have an autonomous underground rail network, partly in operation and partly under construction. It is the same gauge as existing track but they made the carriages a different width. Why? Tasmania also has a tunnel about 3 miles long, dug by hand but most of Tasmania's rail network has been abandoned in favour of road transport. Australia is a really big island, covers the continental USA but is mostly desert or at least harsh country.

[@androidbox3571]

I am a 75 year old Australian, I worked in all areas depicted, I congratulate you on a very thorough & accurate depiction of Aus railway history. As a Tasmanian, appreciated your inclusion of their railway system which, due to geography, did not mimic the mainland.

[@floppycheese9369]

Hopefully Tasmania can get a public railway back soon 👍

[@edxr6949]

​@@floppycheese9369Highly doubtful. We have a old railway corridor here in the north east, beautiful scenery, 150 years old, decommissioned in 2004, soon to be ripped up for a railtrail that will rarely be used as shown with the current railtrail. Rediculous

[@weemadando]

​​@@edxr6949I think that if you offered a fully connected Launceston to Derby rail trail, it might get a lot more interest than the current section from Scottsdale to Tonganah. But both sides of that project seem to be counting on a lot of funding that may never be forthcoming. I would deeply love (and also believe we have an economic and environmental need) to bring back intercity passenger rail in Tas, but given the absolute opposition to public transport and anything not car-centric, I think we're shit outta luck.

[@idemanddonuts]

I see this comment and am immediately hitting download xD

[@thetubeboi6991]

SHUTTUP TASMANIA

[@Ragnar6000]

As an Aussie (who is not really into trains} i found this very interesting and your narrating very soothing to listen to : )

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thank you!

[@IAreBean]

I always read through the comments before I watch a new creator or new style of video. And you just described me, so I guess I have to watch this one! 😅

[@reckz420]

that southern drawl! 😀

[@jakeauckram150]

Bro I think you're just autistic fam lmao

[@namikstudios]

I like the huge differences in American accents. The last video I watched was narrated by someone from Oregon - very different voice to this narrator. Both distinctively American but yet so different from one another.

[@allangibson8494]

The Pilbara is also home to the first totally battery electric mainline trains - with no external power. The battery is charged by dynamic braking on the run downhill to the port and the recovered charge used to drive the empty train back uphill to the mine.

[@TheLukasDirector]

That's a clever way to do battery-electric propulsion. Thanks for the small fact.

[@appleintosh]

They probably did it that way so they don’t have to ship fuel in. With how remote that area is I can’t imagine importing fuel is cheap

[@allangibson8494]

@@appleintosh Actually fuel in the Pilbara is cheaper than in Perth - closer to the refinery in Singapore.

[@MitchellFreeway]

@allangibson8494 this is incorrect. There are currently no battery electric locomotives in the Pilbara. All four operators have battery locos on order but none have arrived in the country yet and it will be a long time before the area is totally battery electric. The new battery electric locos are designed to be marshalled between two diesel locomotives and will not be able to operate on regenerative braking charging only.

[@allangibson8494]

@@MitchellFreeway Fortescue are going to run battery only (at least on a trial basis). Roy Hill, Rio Tinto and BHP are running a more conservative hybrid consist with Roy Hill taking delivery first before Christmas this year.

[@thebeautifulones5436]

I wrote part of the computer control system which loads iron ore on to trains on a pilbara mine. It took control of the engine off the driver and moved the train in sync with the ore loader. The train was so long a special radio communication tower was built on a hill top to ensure the required line of sight with the front of the train.

[@FloydBromley]

As an Australian, I must say this video is very accurate! Not many commentaries from international viewers come close to achieving this level of accuracy and coverage. A few minor inaccuracies such as pronunciations, but we can't all be perfect, and I'd even say you did better than most non-Australians would.

[@loeysmob]

I keep cringing at the pronounciation of names.....Other than that, and a couple of skipped parts its actually pretty accurate.

[@onemantwohands5224]

And some Aussies 🤣

[@thedave7760]

@@loeysmob It's pronounced Pill-Bra....

[@loeysmob]

@@thedave7760 well duh. I never said it was pronunced any other way. 🤣🤣

[@seanworkman431]

@@loeysmob Lachlan got me. Most of it all just in the middle of nowhere.

[@GL-xz3xk]

Greetings! Typing this while sitting in a Victorian electric broad gauge suburban train set. Australia’s gauge problem came about… wait for it… because of an Irishman, an Englishman and a Scotsman. All the states hired their own engineers, who built their networks to their native gauges back home. Throw in timber tramways, private lines as well and we have at least 4 gauges in Victoria alone. Great video!

[@FloydBromley]

If you include timber tramways, by my count there was 14 different gauges! And if you include the rest of Australia (timber tramways included), you get to an astonishing 34 different gauges!

[@PJRayment]

The bit about engineers is somewhat true, but not really accurate. But I'll put that in a separate comment.

[@dieseldragon6756]

Whenever I hear people saying we in the UK must have it easy for using only one gauge on the mainline, the first thing that comes to mind is the sheer horror of the yards at Didcot and Swindon, where the broad-gauge (Brunel) GWR connected to the standard-gauge (Stephenson) LNWR and a *lot* of multi-gauge track and pointwork had to be kept in check. 🤯 It's for this reason when the UK railways were unified then nationalised, one of the priorities for British Rail was gauge standardisation. They took out all of the GWR broad-gauge track for standard gauge as quickly as they could, and the benefit for the GWR routes is that three standard gauge tracks can fit in the same amount of space as two broad gauge ones, effectively increasing capacity by 50% in many places. 👍 But: The British approach (Of _„Just tear it all out“_ ) - Though practical - Does sadly mean that a lot of our early railway history has been lost to progress. I suppose though that is the British way... 🫖

[@rowan9367]

Patty Englishman Patty Irishman and Patty Scotsman strike again.

[@coasterblocks3420]

The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is actually a federal government owned statutory corporation with passenger services having priority over freight. Rail operators pay fees to ARTC for access to the network and ongoing operations and maintenance are built into the pricing structure. Additional funding is also provided by Government.

[@gregorturner9421]

except for the east west line which freight gets the priority as the indian pacific only runs each way once a week.

[@andreas1161]

I’m Australian and didn’t know half of the stuff you went though in this video. Really great work, loved it!

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thank you! Glad I could help you learn something new!

[@JC-mi8fw]

The comments betray the fact that nobody except for Australians cares about Australia. Nearly every comment on this video starts with, "as an Australian..." Lame country

[@thecairnsrailfan]

Thanks for including my Cairns Rail Cement Train clip in your video! I’m very happy you credited my clip without just taking it without credit, I really appreciate it. Now for my comments, I wish you mentioned some more of Queensland’s railways because it’s so incredibly unique even aside the huge narrow gauge railway network. First of all our 2ft (610mm) gauge sugarcane trains are kinda crazy to think about. Thousands of kilometres worth of 2ft gauge track, spread over many extremely complicated networks north to south of the state. They operate with little to no signals at all and operated by radio communication instead! The only signals used are for catch points where 3ft 6in gauge crosses 610mm gauge and mill yards to indicate when a line of full or empty cane bins is ready for import or export. They also are incredibly unique as their large 2ft gauge rail networks are the only major tramway gauge railways in the world to operate a profitable business with millions of dollars of investment each year. Sugarcane train operations can also be very peculiar and sometimes even seem safety lacking at times. Trains with a crew of 2 are allowed the co-driver to hop out of the train while still moving, switch points or add things like tail sticks to the back of trains and get back on, yet again why the train is still moving! (Mostly at low speeds of course though😉) Also with some lines of particular sugarcane railways becoming so old that they have to use tractors to haul their train wagons! The ones I speak of are Victoria Mill’s “horse lines” in Ingham. Last thing I would like to mention about Queenslands sugarcane trains, quite a few of the new rebuilds of older locomotives are being equipped with remote control technology, so the driver can control the locomotive outside of the cab with a controller, useful for shunting especially around blind corners or areas where the driver cannot see very well while shunting. Also I would just like to mention the Kuranda Scenic Railway, which should’ve definitely gotten a mention in this video! It is an engineering marvel to say the least. They built the steep and mountainous railway line in incredibly harsh tropical rainforest conditions all the way back in 1891, carving 15 tunnels by hand, blasting away rock with dynamite and even having to dangle men from ropes to the cliff side to clear the way for the line. Over 30 people died to build the rather small length of 33 kilometres of track from Cairns to Kuranda. The construction of the railway has an incredibly fascinating history. Final thing I would like to mention… Queensland, despite operating on 3ft 6in (1,067mm) gauge has their own Beyer-Garratt too! It’s the Queensland Class, with 30 built from 1950-1951, measuring at 27.43m (90 ft) long. Only 1 of 30 is currently preserved. How those locomotives got around our narrow gauge network is beyond me! Anyway, great video. I really enjoyed it! It is awesome to see some representation for Australian railways.

[@AusJimBob]

I lived in Cairns on and off for over 10 years. Plus, Queensland, for most of my life, it is hard to explain how extensive the Cane Rail Network is to those unfamiliar. Also, it runs all day and night during the Crush. I lived amongst the cane and you hear the harvest and loading at night. It is impressive that these things exist and work!

[@thecairnsrailfan]

@@AusJimBob Certainly! During cane season, if you drive around cane fields it is practically guaranteed to see a harvester or train at work.

[@kizzjd9578]

Any more info about the vic mill? I regularly drive pst it and have got some nice aerial videos of it recently.

[@thecairnsrailfan]

@@kizzjd9578 Not really as I’ve only visited the Ingham mills once and the time I did visit, it was raining. But I did get to see their raw sugar trains, making Ingham’s mills the last of the Queensland sugar mills to transport their raw sugar to a bulk sugar terminal by 2ft gauge rail!

[@wagrtrains]

As a West Australian, I loved your appreciation for the Pilbara's railway network [pronounced pil-buh-ruh] but it would have been really nice if you mentioned WA's expansive railway, which are also in 1067mm NG track. Here in Perth, we have a wide array of trains and lines, we've developed much differently because of our isolation from the East.

[@theothertonydutch]

I read "as a wet australian".

[@wagrtrains]

@@theothertonydutch 💀💀

[@BigBushWookie]

By isolation from the East do you mean by eastern Australia or eastern countries?

[@wagrtrains]

@@BigBushWookie The Eastern Aussie states of Victoria, NSW AND Queensland.

[@agnelodsa788]

Settlers all of you so called Australians. You are from Europe and you are bred from convicts.

[@sylphil51]

Mate, to summarise that amount of our rail history in 19:26 minutes is a cracking (very good) effort worthy of 2 thumbs up 👍👍. New subby here as well.

[@StonedDragons]

The trans-Australian railway wasn't just approved, it was constitutionally required as one of Western Australia's demands in joining the Commonwealth of Australia alongside an accompanying telegraph cable. Also, I live along the line between Perth and Kalgoorlie so get to see some impressive trains go through fairly regularly.

[@DevynCairns]

That's funny, that was exactly the same story in Canada. British Columbia, the westernmost province here and where I live, wouldn't join Canada without the promise of a transcontinental railway. It was very difficult to accomplish, not just because of the extreme distance, but because there are many extremely tall mountains (including the Rocky Mountains) between here and the rest of the country. I got to ride all the way through to Toronto last year and experience firsthand just how much of a winding route they had to develop to get through them, with tunnels that sometimes loop over onto themselves.

[@gregorturner9421]

@@DevynCairns similar to the blue mountains coming out of sydney. lots of tunnels. i used to live at woodford about halfway up the mountains and waiting for the normal passenger commute train at 5.20 am would often see the empty coal trains returning from delivering the coal to lithgow power station before heading back to singleton for a reload. they also have a steam train that runs occasionally and the historic zig zag railway i believe has just reopened after losing their buildings to the bush fires of 2019

[@DevynCairns]

@@gregorturner9421 the Rocky Mountains are just a tad bigger, but yes it's the same principle 😉

[@gregorturner9421]

@@DevynCairns just a tad lol, ive seen videos of some of the rail line in the rockies and wow some of the bridges are insane.

[@williamadams7865]

Here’s a fun factoid for you from an Australian, five SD50 units in the US were actually built in Australia. In 1982, Hamersley Iron ordered five SD50 units (6060-6064) from Clyde Engineering in South Australia, who were EMD’s Australian licensee. These ran in the Pilbara until 1995 before being shipped to the US, all eventually going to the Utah Railway.

[@tez613]

As someone who lives in utah thats incredibly cool info to know

[@ironhornforge7970]

I'm a blacksmith from Ipswich Queensland, two of my Anvils are from the Ipswich rail yards that were used to maintain all the steam locomotives in the south east. The rail yard is still in use today and has quite a decent collection of engines, some fully restored and others in various stages of restoration. Well worth the trip. Also if you ever visit, make sure to go to Dorrigo NSW, it holds the largest private collection of steam locomotives in the world. Hundreds of them back to back, it's a sight to behold.

[@MrMotorNerd]

Also Ipswich to Grandview was the first railway in QLD ....

[@ironhornforge7970]

@@MrMotorNerd sure was, I'm very lucky to live here

[@davidphilips4637]

You need to come and take a look at the Zig Zag railway in the Blue Mountains about 100 miles west of Sydney. Thie line was the original NSW Railways line over the mountains which was bypassed in 1910 by a 10 tunnel deviation with an easier grade. due to inability of the single line with its switchbacks to handle increasded traffic. The line was abandoned and torn up after it closed and at one stage a roadway used the formation and the tunnels were used to grow mushrooms. The Zig Zag Railway Co-Op (non profit) obtained the Right Of Way and set about progressively relaying track - to 3' 6" gauge (originally it was standard gauge) because they were unbable to source any standard gauge locos or carriages, and running trains for many years. After a devasting bushfire wiped them out some years ago they have now returned to full operation between Clarence (the highest staion on the line) and bottom points where they meet the new main line. The Zig Zag uses ex QR steam lcos and an eclectic mix of carriages from Tasmania, Western Australia, and South Australia (from the old Broken Hill to Port Pirie narrow gage line of the SAR). There is also the 2' 6" gauge Puffing Billy Railway near Melbourne - another icon with its tiny tank engines. Queensland is also home to the oldest working steam loco in the southern hemisphere - A10 #6, built in 1865 by Neilsons in Glasgow and shipped out to Australia in pieces. The loco is presently stored, operational, at Ipswhich Workshops. There is also a very short 2" 6" gauge line at Walhalla in Eastern Victoria called The Goldfields Railway and another of similar name in central Victoria running on broad gauge. There are many heritage steam locos on the ast coast, mainly in NSW and Victoria, though there are 2 or three in Queensland inluding "The yank", an AC16 class obtained from the usa during WW2..

[@Tascountrygirl]

Great you mentioned the Blue Mountains Zig Zag Railway as my family who always had free Australia-wide rail passes while my father was alive, travelled on this rather scary mountain zig zag railway section in the 1960's.

[@LordAKiraAndou]

you missed the west coast wilderness railway in Tasmania that is the steepest rack and pinion railway in the southern hemisphere

[@ShortOrderCook]

The Zig Zag is one of my favourite routes to film and photograph.

[@jameswassink3218]

@@Tascountrygirl The zig zag was closed in 1910 and reopened as a tourist railway in 1975, so there couldn't have been any trains on it in the 60s...

[@Secretlyanothername]

You know that driverless trains are common on metro rail throughout the world? I rode driverless units in Singapore a few weeks ago. Some important things are separation (grade separation, platform screen doors), and high-quality electronic signalling. I'd trust these to haul freight anywhere.

[@jpmasters-aus]

The expanding new metro system in Sydney is driverless as well (I think managed by the Hong Kong operator)

[@roundsm18]

We tried it. Had the problem of them hitting cars until they put the operator back in.

[@sheerluckholmes5468]

Also common in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; a bit of a shock at first time seeing no driver.

[@SherrifOfNottingham]

Grade separation for rail traffic of any kind is a good idea, most accidents on trains occur to things being on the rails that shouldn't, like cars, people and animals, people believe the drivers are going to prevent these kinds of accidents the reality is these kinds of accidents happen all the time. Cars on tracks get hit, that's why you don't stop on the tracks, blaming the train's driver or the driverless train is a useless point. Most trains move at a speed where a driver's reactions are not good enough to not hit things that block the tracks. It actually kinda hit a nerve with me when the video started going off on how bad of an idea driverless trains are, if you build a good system you don't need a driver. The problem is in America, where this mindset originated, we don't have a good rail system but not even drivers can fix it.

[@erikoffenbach3044]

We area already talking about driverless cars, don't see why driverless trains should be a big problem, especially as a human driver are also often not able to break right in time.

[@corriegillett2536]

As an Aussie who is a sectionmen in Australia, I really enjoyed this. Even a good shot of a freighter coming over the old bridge in wallerawang which is a part of the track I look after was pretty dam cool. Thanks mate👍

[@Respectable_Username]

I know this video was mainly focussed on freight lines, but as a Sydneysider, I've got to shout out the Tangara trains on our local rail network! Not only are they two storeys for maximum passenger seatage (as opposed to standing), but also those seats can be swung to face either direction, so you're practically never riding backwards! Also, when riding with friends in an empty enough train car, you can actually swing the chairs to fit up to 6 people facing each other 😊

[@jameswassink3218]

The vast majority of Tangaras don't have reversible seats. Every other train in Sydney does however!

[@Respectable_Username]

@@jameswassink3218 Ah sorry, I'm not across the different models enough to know which is which! I just assumed they were all called Tangaras because that's what I've heard others refer to them as? My mistake!

[@phinix250]

​@@Respectable_UsernameTangaras are the ones with the upper floor windows that extend to the 45 degree angle in the roof.

[@spacegrass6632]

brisbanite here, imagine my surprise going from our trains to the big double deckers in sydney! went for the first time earlier this year to visit my sister and she had to show me how the seats worked lol

[@ardiannurfatah5938]

There is one more motive power that i really want to point out. FMG in the early 2000s bought ex-UP SD90MAC-H2s, they're numbered in 900 series. They were rebuilt in NS's Juniata shops before going to FMG. I'm not sure if they're still using those or not. I believe they're still wearing their 6000hp 16-265H engines before being rebuilt with EMD's 710 engines at somepoint. My favorite was FMG 903, its an ex-UP 8539 which made a cameo in movie Unstoppable (2010)!

[@timhanesworth2539]

The ore railroads are in Western Australia where it is very desolate. The only people that live out there are people that work for the ore company's. They make the train up as we do & then switch it over to driverless. There are cameras on board with someone monitoring them from a desk. It works there because there is very little human contact. Great video

[@mattevans4377]

Does it also have some form of kill switch? Say it it loses connection with dispatch, I imagine it automatically stopping and turning off would be a great safety measure.

[@thaneirwin4688]

@@mattevans4377 They do. My family has driven Rio Tinto trains over there for the last 10 years or so. Funnily enough the Driverless system over time performs about 30% worse than a driver due to all of the Stoppages on extremly busy tracks requiring a driver to drive hours to basically hit a reset button. When they upgraded their brake systems to electric activated for example with drivers his depot could move around 400-450 million tons a year. Previously with full pnumatic systems they did around 300-350 million tons. With the driverless they are back down to 300 million tons. Not to mention that the development costs would of paid for their whole driver staff for around 80 years. But I guess the theory is you roll it out elsewhere like Sierra Lione that they struggle to recruit staff for.

[@tuggaworsley4281]

@mattevans4377 No remote kill switch but a remote derail ‘switch’ in the event of a runaway. You might like to KZbin various news reports of ‘BHP Pilbara ore train derailment’ on the 6th Nov. 2018 . . . what a laugh , truly !

[@helmutsandner6964]

Thanks for an interesting video about Australian railways. Very enjoyable to watch. I am a locomotive engineer here in Australia. My career spans from working on the New South Wales Railway in the late seventies, eighties and nineties. I am currently working with Rio Tinto. I saw the introduction of the driverless trains. I worked many autonomous test trains, testing the driving strategies. The driving strategies were developed with locomotive engineers giving feedback on each of the test runs. The autonomous trains are working well. We have locomotive engineers, who go out to attend the autonomous trains. If they have any technical issues. We still have many human driven trains. Fuel trains, maintenance of way trains. We also drive the iron ore trains for training and qualification purposes on the various routes. If you or your viewers want to know more about Australian railways? Or the autonomous trains where I work. Please let me know.

[@gm16v149]

Have you ever felt like transferring to BHP, FMG or Gina’s company where they still have drivers? There was a segment on TV where they showed that BHP were so short of drivers that they started a school in Port Hedland, but to me that was PR because they even had a woman on there who was a social worker with no mechanical experience whatsoever and they accepted her. I remember there was a woman who was a star on a TV entertainment show who they were training as a driver at Rio at Dampier, and apparently she was let go because her train handling was pretty awful.

[@Mattb81]

You’re name is familiar. I think I’ve worked with your brother a few times.

[@heinmadsen-leipoldt2341]

Tons of American and European train videos, but Australian train videos? Watching something about Australia is like roaming around in heaven, thanks for this great video

[@ErgonBill]

They ran a remote train on a short hop between Railton and Devonport, Tasmania carrying cement to port. A few years ago, it decided to go rogue and had to be intentionally derailed in the middle of town to prevent carnage at the terminus.

[@jpmasters-aus]

I have had two connections with railways in Australia. My father was a clerk (and the last few years a manager) in the old SAR (South Australian Railways) until it was taken over by the Commonwealth Railways to create Australian National Railways. My earliest memory of him at work was when he was the configuration controller for The Overland (then a 7 days a week nightly service between Adelaide and Melbourne on the broad gauge network, jointly owned by SAR/ANR and Victorian Railways. It is now operated by the tourist train operator that runs the Indian Pacific, Ghan etc. My dad also work on establishing adding sitting cars to the Indian Pacific from Peterborough (one end of the broad gauge network from Adelaide) to Sydney, and eventually all the way from Sydney to Perth. He use to be the co-ordinator of the steam trains until they were handed over to specialist groups. South Australia also had three gauges. The SAR’s main line was broad gauge (as was the city network in Adelaide), standard gauge across the middle where the Indian Pacific (and formerly Trans Australia) ran and then on Eyre Peninsula an isolated narrow gauge network. I said I would never work in the railways sector, but I was an executive with the Federal and State Governments creating National Rail Corporation, to take over all their interstate freight operations and turn around the $350 million loss per year in the sector. I was the head of Internal Audit so I ended up seeing across the entire business. We did the largest order of locomotives in Australia, ordering 120 units which made up most of the fleet until it was sold (now Pacific National). You can see these units pulling the Indian Pacific and The Ghan on contract to the private tourist train operator. One of the problems with getting the engines was weight limitations. Apart from some of the coal network in NSW, the tracks have lower weight limitations than say the USA. There are a couple of oddities. The government control track maintenance and service allocation provider has some network in NSW which does allow the heavier tracks for the Hunter Valley Coal to the Port of Newcastle which is a very complex network. In the end at NRC we decided not to purchases heavier engines for these tracks as it meant isolating locomotives to a particular area. As the various tracks in the Pilbara Region are developed and owned by the mining companies, and as you mentioned is an isolated system from any of the rest of the national system meant they built their track for heavier engines and rolling stock so are able to pretty much purchase off the locomotive manufactures in the USA catalogue! The other interesting part of working at NRC was the Federal Government project we were funded to undertake which was transforming the Melbourne to Adelaide route from broad gauge to standard gauge (which a different track our of Melbourne via Geelong and then getting back to the old mainline track). This created some challenge for passenger services in Adelaide which until recently their city network was Broad gauge (if I recall there was talk of when they were electrifying the network they would also convert to standard gauge, but I don’t know if that happened) and also in Melbourne more with their regional intercity network. I travelled on the old Ghan train, which was a broad gauge sit up passenger cars from Adelaide to Port Pirie (which was in motor cars - called the Blue Bird fleet), change their for an other sit up train (locomotive pulled) from Port Pirie to Oodnadatta, and then change to a narrow gauge network sleeper train from their to Alice Springs. I did this trip before they opened the standard gauge track from north west of Port Augusta on the Trans Australia track directly to Alice Springs and using similar carriages you see today (before the many modifications the private operator made). Whilst I was a kid/youth when my father was working at SAR/ANR a lot of our holidays were travelling interstate on various trains (The Overland - to Melbourne, the day train to Sydney etc). One thing missed is in the Blue Mountains out from Sydney is the steepest railway in the world. It is not that long, now is a tourist train, but originally was for coal. scenicworld.com.au/experience/scenic-railway

[@billybob803]

I got to go to Bunderburg on the east coast. Huge sugar cane area. They use some small gauge trains to haul the crop to the sugar mill. the molasses is piped next door to the rum factory. Such a cool network.

[@johnstaring3210]

"Bundaberg" actually @billybob803. Have been to the Rum factory, and the smell (steam)coming from the piped molasses is nauseating, though fascinating.

[@user-sp4gy7ko5l]

@@johnstaring3210 Bundaberg Rum is horrible. I don't know how anyone can actually like it.

[@SMG4YTP]

7:54 703 was retired and preserved at the national railway museum at Pt Adelaide 704 was preserved at the SteamRanger heritage railway 702 was scrapped And 701 was now named after his grace Tailem bend

[@jakeverbakel204]

Even know this is more of an overview. This is definitely the most in-depth video about most of the rails you've covered. Be awesome if you'd do more! 6042 may still be in storage but I've had the pleasure of standing on the foot plate of 6029 just before she went through her trials to get back out there. Her and 3801 was a goddamn impressive sight to see thundering along side by side, only thing that could top that might be a big boy...maybe

[@carneeki]

The father of one of my classmates wound up buying 6029 a few years after this. The photos he (my classmate) showed made it look like a baby shunter, he never said just how big it was until I saw this video.

[@rtman29]

Congratulations! Like many of the viewers who’ve commented below, I was greatly impressed by your knowledge of Australian railways. You’ve obviously researched the subject extensively, and your passion comes through loud and clear. Well done! Just one friendly word by way of correction: Garratt is pronounced like “carrot” - not “Ger-rat”. Anyway, thanks for a great video, and keep up the excellent work!

[@SuperOwensTrainsYT]

These Australians are too smart

[@JordysRailVideos]

Of course we are

[@Sjwilliams07]

Yep of course (as an Australian) we are nuts with railroad technology

[@JoshAllenberg]

I'd say they're mentally aroused

[@_ford_crown_victoria_p]

Nah you’re just american

[@Crappy52]

Ofc

[@therwfer]

"convict-powered tram way" might just be the most australian thing ever.

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Lol

[@kylegleeson8638]

Left hand driver stands is standard practice in Australia; a pommy (UK) railway practice. Queensland and the Pilbara have adopted right hand stands. There are a few right hand stands in NSW, however, it is found on locos that have come from 'foreign' areas (Europe; MZs and Queensland; 2800s/3200s and 423s)

[@SoCalOCRailfan]

This is an amazing video! Australia is very interesting when it comes to railroading

[@zingerboxdemolisher]

only for freight, the suburban lines suck lmfao

[@woobykal68]

I live in australia and I must say this is the most accurate train vid of australian trains to date. Excellent, excellent video, keep the good work.

[@infinity6450]

This is a breath of fresh air. With so much UK and USA railway information about, it can be hard to pin down a good understanding of something in my own backyard. Coal train regularly pass through my hometown in QLD, on the aforementioned narrow-gauge network. These mostly haul grain and coal.

[@pquodling]

Dear to my heart - my GGG Grandfather came to Australia in the 1850s as a Sapper (Engineer) in the Military, and surveyed what is now known as the Zigzag railway (so named because it would change direction to work it's way up a mountain range) through the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. He went on to Survey much of New South Wales' rail network. His son was Chief Clerk (i.e.. CFO) of the NSW Railways. Early in my career I was involved in some of the earliest work on autonomous vehicles (Mine Haul Trucks, not Trains) with Rio Tinto.

[@davidblowe9096]

Great overview of our rail network, you did better than some locals 👍

[@everyhandletaken]

Just another Australian here to say what a great job you did with this video. I am not a 'train guy', but do have an interest in rail & I certainly learnt a lot from this. Excellent.

[@Notimp0rtant523]

Great video. Never seen this channel before, not a railroad guy but a general infrastructure guy. Always been fascinated with the logistics of Australian cross-country transit. Thanks for making this.

[@tjmfarming9584]

You forgot about WA's own NG Network! Basically, apart from the Pilbara iron ore lines, we also had the WAGR (West Australian Government Railways) GSR (Great Southern) and MRWA (Midland Railway of WA) The GSR was merged into the WAGR early on and ran to albany, hence the old NG mainline's nickname "The Great Southern" The MRWA however, was regarded as WA's only privately run main line network which had roughly 4 classes of steam engines, and 3 classes of diesels. What made the railway unique in WA is the fact that only 1 of it's steam engines still exists in preservation today, all the others being scrapped. Perth also has a variety of trains and lines due to our isolation from over east. sure, the passenger EMU's used aren't exactly the most diverse, but the freight network on the otherhand has quite the array of different engines. We also have our only preserved line using steam engines in the winter months - the hotham valley. The reason why we don't run steam in summer is because Australia is prone to becoming like a desert in the heat, and we don't have to deal with snow in winter either, allowing better opportunity for steam operations

[@scote___]

Back in 2007, I used the driverless tube in Turin. Seemed to work great

[@21gioni]

As a Victorian and having worked with the Metro railway system it is sad to see that the state government opted for CCP developed and built trains for our suburban railway system.

[@gunzel5126]

Absolutely spot on. Australian steam locomotive design was very much a fusion on American and British designs.

[@nickhiscock8948]

Rio Tinto now has a fully automatic electric Iron Ore railway that requires no diesel power or even external electrical power as it uses the power of gravity to charge batteries on board while running full ore trains to port and uses that battery power to haul the empty train back result in a small surplus of power back at the mine. It is nicknamed the infinity train as it can technically run forever.

[@mabamabam]

Where?

[@johnstaring3210]

@@mabamabam Rio Tinto are in the Pilbara in Western Australia's north west.

[@mabamabam]

@@johnstaring3210 Yes. But there are no battery trains there. FMG are talking about doing it, but no one has yet. So I was wondering if rio were running them somewhere else in the world.

[@MelC636]

@nickhiscock8948 you’re dreaming. Rio Tinto do not. The only thing they’re boasting currently are autonomous trains on the former Hamersley Iron network. All 4 railways have one or two battery locos on order. None have been delivered yet.

[@samuelbhend2521]

Whoa, that's interesting! Those Distances must be absolutely Mindboggling! Since a few Years we've got automatically Gauge changeing Trains here in Switzerland. They switch from 1000mm Narrowgauge to 1435mm Standardgauge and back. That Technology was created to get a Trainline from Luzern to Montreux without having to change Trains twice. Luzern-Interlaken is Narrowgauge with Sections of Cogwheel assistance, Interlaken-Zweisimmen is Standardgauge and Zweisimmen-Montreux is Narrowgauge again. They only have to put another Locomotive on in Front between Zweisimmen and Montreux, because it runs on 900V DC, whilst Luzern-Interlaken-Zweisimmen runs the usual, in europe widely used Standardcurrent of 15'000V AC at 15.6Hz Another speciality can be seen in Graubünden, eastern Switzerland, where there are Sections of Track running a 3-Rail-Setup, so Narrow- and Standardgauge Trains can use the same Track. It's also pretty common in Europe to have Locos capable of changing to multiple different currentsystems on the fly. It makes me often wonder why nobody else uses these Technologies, since they are available and running smoothly...

[@peterbuckley3877]

We run driverless trains from western Sydney into the city and are expanding the network. The Metro is quick, efficient and has never had an accident to date.

[@krenesh2420]

If you want some coffee and waffles on an active fright line. Head to Spring Bluff in Toowoomba. It's a picturesque spot known for its beautifully landscaped gardens and historic railway station.

[@ivorb8835]

Great video. The different gauges in Australia was best described by American writer Mark Twain when travelling between Sydney and Melbourne. Having to change trains at Albury on the New South Wales/Victorian border. "Now comes a singular thing, the oddest thing, the strangest thing, the most unaccountable marvel that Australia can show," he wrote. "At the frontier between NSW and Victoria our multitude of passengers were routed out of their snug beds by lantern light in the morning in the biting cold to change cars. Think of the paralysis of intellect that gave that idea birth, imagine the boulder it emerged from, on some petrified legislator's shoulders."

[@dungandonuts]

really well researched video, as an Aussie I learned a lot! My favourite weird railway fact that wasn't mentioned is that Queensland is so dedicated to the narrow gauge they developed the fastest 3"6' train in the world, the Tilt Train. It also features a street running section in Rockhampton which is a unique sight.

[@ashtonnotary5653]

I had never put into perspective how unique our railways are! And a sidenote; this video taught me things I didn’t even know about Australian trains, cheers for uploading.

[@cranegantry868]

Wow! Great documentary, loved this. Thanks for showing us.

[@thatoneguy6725]

I'm not even a big railfan and found this video very interesting and cool. Nice work!

[@RogersRamblings]

I've had a serious interest in transport since joining the London Underground in 1976. I think this is an excellent introduction and summary of Australian railways. Good work.

[@jeffreyhunt1727]

8:56 Aaaaah!! I can't believe they used MS Comic Sans lol

[@TheBunzinator]

Thanks for the interest in our railways, and great video! And it's always fun to hear people who haven't grown up with them trying to pronounce Australian place names. I'm sure you have a similar experience with American place names.

[@yanni2112]

Visited Fremantle in 87 while in the US Navy and loved it. Friendliest people I met while on WESTPAC. We drank to the Queen! Love from Long Island NY USA. New Sub.

[@darylcheshire1618]

GM was a bit skeptical about the double ended EMDs and the VR CME visited Detriot to discuss the requirements.

[@Bareego]

My dad grew up in Australia in the 40s/50s. He said the worst thing you could drink back then was the railway coffee. Also up here in Queensland we have a tilting train which would be interesting enough for it's own episode.

[@PharaohDeathMask]

What a great video. Lots of good, accurate information. Thank you for all of the work that you put into this. Thumbs up.

[@quentinshaddock1855]

I really enjoyed that. I used to work on a cement ship that picked up its cargo from the Mersey river in Devonport, Tasmania. They started using remote controlled trains for shunting the cement cargo around the wharf/rail area, which some wharf workers thought was not really a great idea. I eventually left the company, but about 10 years ago I saw on the morning news that they had made the train fully remote , not only at the wharf but all the way back to the cement works 20Km inland. a cement train got out of control bringing cement to the wharf and careered through Devonport town and across one of the main streets. It then promptly derailed as it took the sharp turn onto the wharf. there were no injuries or damage apart from the train on its side and a lot of cement dust, i was nice reminisce a bit.

[@CinophileRailroad1993]

Yes! Lo, The Clouds Parted And A Shaft Of Light Beamed Down, And Thus A New Southern Plains Railfans Video Was Born! ♡ #SouthernPlainsRailfanForever

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

🤣🤣🤣

[@KaiHenningsen]

As for driverless trains in Berlin ... they just ordered 1300 driverless S-Bahn trains. Well, OK, they're prepared to _later_ be running driverless.

[@radiosification]

Given the success of this video, if you did a series about railways in different countries around the world it would probably do quite well

[@TheKnobCalledTone.]

Cool video. I note that Peterborough was mentioned due to having all 3 gauges, but up until the early '70s the break of gauge from broad gauge to narrow gauge was located at Terowie, which is about 15 miles south of Peterborough. IMHO the most interesting thing about Terowie is that it was where General MacArthur gave his famous "I shall return" speech during WWII.

[@geoffgunn9673]

And there are a few spots with all three gauges going on at the same time. Makes the point work interesting

[@thomas316]

There is a driverless metro line in Sydney, Australia. It's been operating for 4 ir 5 years now. Very interesting to ride in the front and look down tbe tracks as the train drives itself.

[@FalconXE302]

The Sydney trains and other similar passenger systems were designed as driver-less systems from the start. The system RIO implemented uses all standard track signalling and standard locomotives with retro-fitted AUTONOMOUS CONTROL systems and satellite communications to help keep an eye on the locomotives. My understanding that no other driver less trains in the world use this approach to automate standard train systems.

[@Neilios1000]

I went to school in Brisbane in the 1980s, and we were taught that the reason why Queensland uses narrow gauge is because the treasury was robbed before construction started, so to make everything cheaper, narrow gauge was adopted. Dual Gauge was implemented during WW2 to help the war effort. But Standard Gauge only goes as far north as Roma Street in Brisbane, as far as I'm aware. Thanks for any corrections for stuff I've got wrong.

[@paulfri1569]

Makes good sense 💰

[@adam872]

As someone who does consulting work for BHP WAIO Rail I enjoyed this. I even recognised one of the maintenance facilities at Nelson Point (Port Hedland). Nice one!

[@terryheimerl8674]

Hey mate, it is not just the railways that break records. I have a young female friend that drives a "Quad Truck". She is a slightly built firecracker that hauls loads of up to 215 tons. We also still have a couple of gear drive, as in cog slung under the train to give it traction to go up and down very steep grades. There is also the ZIG Zag railway thet is in Lithcow New South Wales. Thank you for all your effort in making this video. I am not so much a rail fan as a fan of older machines and processes. I enjoyed this immensely.

[@tanithrosenbaum]

Regarding the automation of trains: Honestly, if anything happens to a freight train, a driver can't do much other than a full brake application either. With the enormous distances freight trains require to stop, it's usually impossible to stop before hitting an obstacle. Further, things like line speeds and block operation are either set and don't change or are done by the signaller, the driver really just more or less blindly follows the signals they're given. And all that can be transmitted via some sort of digital transmission to a computer just as well as via marker boards and light signals to a driver. Systems that continuously supervise a train's position and speed and display continuously updated speed information to be displayed directly in the cab, like the German LZB or the French TVM, and now the new ETCS have been around since the late 1970s. So, really, the technological building blocks have been there for quite a while. The only thing preventing fully automated operation here in Europe are trust issues and liability laws... 😃

[@GE_EMD6006]

Fantastic Video Man 😎

[@NC_YT_123]

Been waiting for this video for a while! you never disappoint!

[@henryfurlott2222]

Thank you for editing this video, as it's more work than people realize. Very well researched, with many relevant clips inserted to make it interesting.

[@DeanStalker]

What a great video! You've described our railways extremely accurately, which is sometimes rare to see from an overseas perspective.

[@ADF_Cable]

Great video! Thanks! I live in geelong an hour from Melbourne. Every 2 years in March the Steamrail has their workshops open, it's an amazing day of up close to steam! Well worth checking out if you're around. Liked and subbed Skippy, cheers

[@tomheadington4762]

As a brit this was a very interesting video thank you :) Just want to address your point about driveless trains. They do exsist elsewhere in the world, mostly on metro systems (I'm going to use london as and example as I know it best). The Victoria line which was built in the 60's has had driverless trains from the start (with an operator for the doors) which allows 36 trains per hour to operate in each direction. As for heavy rail, the crossrail project which links commuter lines from the east to the west has a "core" section under London where class 345 units are operated by a computer to enable 24 trains per hour in each direction. The same concept is applied north to south with Thameslink. The main reason for automation is simple. Speed. A human is not precise enough to know the exact millisecond to slam on the breaks to stop perfectly in the platform. Diverless trains are surprisingly safe.

[@charliemarkovic4301]

While posed to Robertson Barracks near Darwin, I used to volunteer as a medic escort on trains carrying vehicles to Port Augusta in South Australia. It was definitely not luxurious but it was one of the great rail journeys of the world. Also, they used to give us a couple of extra days off after the exercise completion.

[@RandomGuy0987]

16:53 that made me burst out laughing. Convict powered rail, love it. Great video.

[@mop9542]

Queensland Rail doesn't have a monopoly any longer. Back in 2009 the freight business was privatised, and given a 99yr lease over the "coal" networks and parts of the North Coast Line (Gladstone to Rockhampton). There are also several privately owned railways currently being planned and constructed that aren't even narrow gauge.

[@daveamies5031]

I hope you do make it to the land down under, if you do I highly recommend you visit the rail museum in Ipswich QLD, there is a lot of interesting stuff there, plan at least 2-3 days, so you can take your time and really soak in all the exhibits. You won't see all of it in 1 day even if you rush and what rail enthusiast wants to rush past glancing at an exhibit and not read the detailed information boards? (I'm not even a rail enthusiast and it took me 3 visits to see everything I wanted to see)

[@Reserve.s]

Fun fact: I volunteer at Steamrail! It's a pretty cool place with lots of heritage steam, diesel and electric locomotives! Steamrail isn't actually a railroad, but rather a heritage rail preservation society that operate their locomotives on the PTV Metro and V/Line tracks (public transport lines)! I do find Rio Tinto just a little crazy for using driverless trains, especially since they had a derailment earlier this year lol. Epic video though. Despite being an avid railfan, there were facts that I didn't know about until watching this video, such as the tea trains and T395 having a modified Santa Fe logo on it! But if you ever do come to Australia, you should definitely check out the Puffing Billy Railway! They're the only railway in the world where you can dangle your arms and legs out of the carriages! Jeez that's a long paragraph. Sorry for it being so long lmao 😭😭

[@HandyMan657]

Learning new things is always fun, thank you very much.

[@Tascountrygirl]

I really appreciated the incredible depth and width of knowledge in this video. As there always are small points to mention, The capital city of Victoria (Melbourne) is locally pronounced 'Melbn' with no long syllables.

[@flain283]

The mention of the indian pacific train brought back some memories for me. I was a passenger in the train that collided with the indian pacific in Glenbrook. I was headed to TAFE and it was the day i was supposed to present my project with the rest of my team for assessment. Suffice to say i never turned up that day. It was only the next day that the teacher believed my story, after they saw the nightly news. Things were different back then, no smart phones or anything like that, TV news was the news. What has stuck with me throughout the years, is whenever i travel on a train i always pick the middle carriage now. The train i was in that hit the indian pacific was a 4 carriage train, i was in the 3rd carriage. People in the first carriage died, as the indian pacific had a car carrier on the back of it - which sliced through the front carriage during the collision killing those at the front of the train.

[@RiffRaffMama.]

For a video by a non-Australian, this was excellently done. I live on the Warrnambool line and was surprised to hear that it was still steam-driven until 2005. And you're right, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I hope to see more of your videos on other aspects of Australian rail.

[@PushButtonStartMedia]

Aussie here: i was qualified to drive on a historic line in Cooma, New South Wales called "Cooma Monaro Railway" at 13 years old. We ran a 19km stretch of track to Chakola, where a river bridge called the Numeralla Bridge's footings sunk in the late 80's causing the line to close in 1989, 100 years after opening. We ran restored CPH railmotors that used to run mainline passenger services around the NSW lines, mainly in Sydney. They were effectively a 42' bi-directional wooden bus built in the 20's and converted to a GM 671 supercharged 2 stroke diesel engine from WW2 landing craft in the late 40's, with a twin-disc torque converter directly driving the bogey. We also ran several 1905 Fairmont "trolleys" or track maintenance vehicles, powered by flywheeled wisconson engines that topped out below 100rpm. The line has since been closed due to lack of funding, and is in the process of being re-opened as a yard-only museum with a mostly restored 1880's station and workers barracks, along with multiple pieces of rolling stock.

[@GarethJonesPilipala]

Another railway that experimented with bi-mode locomotives (battery and diesel) was the Snowdon Mountain Railway in Wales which acquired 2 locos in 2020. On the first train of the day, the diesel engine would provide most of the power for the climb (max 18.2%) to the summit at 1084 m above sea level. On the down run the battery would be recharged and provide power for the next up run. After about 18 months the locos were returned to the manufacturer (Clayton) as they didn't perform as planned.

[@JustPete65]

Great video..... One of the BHP train was a run away and had to be derailed

[@roobear78]

the driveless trains are are possible pretty much only in australia because like you said there in middle of nowhere,plus importantly the lines are long and straight mostly with minimal turns and are well maintained to boot

[@williambtm1]

Southern Plains Railfan, some 35 years ago, I worked with a team of individuals employed to dismantle a goodly number of railway line spur tracks that had become redundant. Hard work it was, you either fled into the scrub to get away from all the hard physical work, or you ended up as strong as an outback bull. We worked 7 days per week, except when a Tuesday was missing in any of the many weeks & months required to end up with a completely dismantled railway spur line. Back in those days, the spur lines could extend out to 80 miles from a major arterial railway line, some lines taking 12 moths to complete and leave the ground barren with just a graded ballast track showing where the railway used to traverse to that former railway station. I am now 75 years of age and have accumulated a vast memory of all the F---ups along with the very dangerous actions necessary to complete the job. Back in those days, I ran on hatred to keep me working all day every day. Yes, it was good old hatred that kept a bloke going forward. My workmates incorporated were social misfits as well as being the typical type of person that could cut a man's throat over a petty argument. There were also the cleanup contracts after the many Nullarbor Train line sections that had been in place prior to the wooden sleepers being replaced with much heavier concrete sleepers, along the entire Indian Pacific railway line across the hundreds of miles through Australia's hot & dry Nullarbor Plains. Wooden sleepers measuring" 257cm X 25cm X 13cm. (Or in imperial measurement = length 9 feet, width 10 inches, height around about 6 inches.) All were hardwood species of timber, which made them extra heavy. One of the Gorilla's employed in our mob, old Les, could carry a sleeper on each shoulder, now for a factual story of the old Gorilla known as Les. Back at camp and having a few welcome cold beers, one had to watch out for our Les. With beer in him, Les liked to sneak up on a bloke and put him into a bear hug, so you had to keep your eye on old Les, I chose a truck tyre lever as my deterrent to keep Les at a distance. Thankfully it worked. True story. If anybody is interested, please let me know in comments if you want me to explain a couple of the dangerous tasks that we relied-on were considered necessary?

[@mickellis8747]

I worked at Sigra rolling stock components in Penrith, Sydney for 11 years as the maintnance/fabrication man. I was pleased to see one of our brake hoses @10:59. I built the automated machine that cuts the hoses to length before crimping. Very well put together video, thanks.

[@geoffadams590]

What a really interesting and informative video. Well done, and thanks.

[@394824]

Travelling from Western Australia east by car in the 1950s was difficult because the road across the Nullarbor Plain was unsealed, it took days to dodge the giant potholes and there was no accommodation, just camping by the car or truck. To avoid that my parents would drive to Kalgoorlie, put the car on the train and get off at Port Pirie.

[@robert5018]

Thank you for the wonderful story of Australian Railways. Brought a few tears to my eyes, because of the beautiful countryside that I miss, being back in the UK.

[@ankles632]

You might want to have a look at the Normanton to Croyden line. AKA " The Red Rattler" Its totally isolated from the rest of Queenslands network and the "engine" has a gear shift.

[@doccortex1203]

Excellent, thanks for this

[@byteme11]

You might want to explore two Queensland lines called the "Gulflander" a totally isolated line running from Normanton to Croydon in far northern Queensland as well as the "Savannahlander" which runs from Cairns to Forsayth, again in far northern Queensland. You won't believe the track they run on. Around every blind corner is a bull or a kangaroo lying on the tracks, sunning itself. Another line worth exploring is the "Old Ghan" the predecessor to the current Ghan. It' ran from Adelaide to Alice Springs on tracks almost as bad as the two Queensland ones.

[@Techno-Universal]

There was also a huge amount of influence from the US in Australian railways and other areas like modern architecture in Australia after the Second World War.

[@concreteeeEEE]

Loved the video, amazingly informative.

[@Southern_Plains_Railfan]

Thank you!

[@ishure8849]

G'day SPR, An old friend of mine who I have morning tea with five days a week is the last man to drive H220 AKA Heavy Harry, it was built in Melbourne in 1941 at the Newport work shops. 220 was the boiler pressure it was a H class and only one was ever built and it still exists today and is the only locomotive to be heritage listed by the state, Cliffy will be 96 this April 👍.

[@andyhinds542]

I actually have Australian friends who are retired train drivers, plus one of my English friends whom I worked with emigrated to Western Australia in 2012 and he works on those iron ore trains. They could tell you a few things I can imagine.