Acacia Ridge to Bromelton Upgrade

[ozbob]

Some photographs of some representative sections of dual gauge line south.

The third rail runs from the southern home signal at Acacia Ridge south to Bromelton, as you can see the third rail is not secured only positioned with clips on about one sleeper in 30 or so, the dual gauge points are not in place as yet as the pics at Greenbank shows.

Acacia Ridge south






Greenbank




















The shots of Kagaru show the remains of the two water columns, the loop that was at this location has been removed and the station buildings, staff hut are also long gone.






Pub lane












Flagstone








Bromelton






Photographs mufreight 5th April 2010

[frereOP]

OMG Hicksville.  Despite the concrete sleepers, the track looks like something out of the 1800's!  Obviously designed for red rattlers but catering for the XPT.

NSW owns the track (does this mean its technically NSW territory too?).  So who is doing the upgrade State Rail or QR?

[Jon Bryant]

Vistied family at Bundanoon near Bowral over Easter and was amazed to see the dual freight/passenger line in full use.  Full speed freight and passenger train day and night.  There was noise but it was not disturbing.   It was fantastic to see full speed freight trains in action.  It was a sight to behold.  The line looked first class not like the above.

[frereOP]

Full speed freight?  How fast was that?  I think I have some video of a freight train passing through Watford Junction and it was flying.  I'll try and find it and post a link.  Then again if you have access to my Facebook page I have video of a Pendolino passing through there as well.  9 carriages long and 4 seconds to pass through the full length of the train works out to be 200kph through the station!  This link MAY work!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=248642419298&ref=mf

[mufreight]

The upgrade is being done by ARTC,
The line from the Queensland/NSW border was originaly built and owned under a joint QR/NSWGR and the Commonwealth agreement and operated by NSWGR.
At the present time the line is now leased to ARTC and under third party track access avaliable for use by any accredited operator, at the present time mainly QR National, Pacific National and Country Link.
Actual ownership of the line is now I understand by the Queensland Government.
With the dual gauge to Bromelton being brought into service it is possible that on the standard gauge SCT will also operate and QR, ARG and PN Qld will operate over the NG.
As for the standard of the line while it is undulating train speed for loco hauled trains of 115 kph is pretty good by Australian standards as is the 23 tonne axle loading permitted on the line and 125 kph for the XPT is again by the general standards of rail in this country is right up there, more modern rollingstock could be operated at higher speeds

[somebody]

slight nit pick: if the XPT is limited to 125kph, that isn't the train's fault.  It can, depending on the current level of paranoia in NSW do 160km/h, most notably on the Broadmeadow-Maitland stretch.  That's the only real long straight stretch on the run as far as I am aware.

One other nit pick, there has been common access to Acacia Ridge for a few years as I understand it.  If SCT wanted to run trains to Acacia Ridge, nothing should stop them.

Let's hope the Bromelton terminal will handle 1800m trains.  It seems that longer trains are far better for economics, although I doubt there are many crossing loops for them.

[ghostryder]

Somebody

Most loops are between 1000-1600m but there are a few loops under 800m in length.

cheers

scott

[somebody]

It's still possible to get those trains through in a single direction as an over-length service with de-facto priority.

But the main reason you might want to do it is that loops can be lengthened.  If the yards in Sydney and Melbourne can handle the long trains, why limit train length in the long term by limiting the length of train that the yards can handle?  It's a much more feasible upgrade than double stacking.

[ghostryder]

Pathing and timing of the run would be the critical part as south of Casino where there are an additional 4 xpt runs to contend with and south of Dungog you start running into cityrail runs.

cheers

scott

[somebody]

True, but not far past Dungog you hit double track (at Telerah, near Maitland).

When you say 4 XPT runs you must be counting both directions of the Grafton and Casino XPTs.

[ghostryder]

Somebody

Well yes when you look at the timetables there are six Xpt runs that run part or all of the North Coast during the course of the day. Below are the runs and timings they are meant to run.   

NT34 Ex Casino 19.30 arrives Sydney Central 06.52        NT33 departs Sydney Central 07.15 Arr Casino 18.44

NT35 departs Sydney Central 11.35 Arr Grafton 22.10     NT36 Ex Grafton 06.30 arrives Sydney Central 16.38

NT31 departs Sydney Central 16.12 Arr Brisbane 06.30    NT32 Ex Brisbane arrives Sydney Central 21.06

The Dungog services commence at 04.50am from Newcastle with the last run from Dungog departing 7.40pm for Newcastle. Mindaribba Paterson Kilbride Wallorobba loops are all 1500m long or there abouts.

One hurdle that would have to be worked around carefully would be crossings of trains at the various loops if a 1800m train was involved, as some of the loops have private or public level crossings at either ends or not far from the loop locations so there maybe some locals that might not be to happy if there only acess is blocked by a train awaiting the arrival of a late runner.

cheers

scott

[verbatim9]

Next stage electrification down to Newcastle

[ozbob]

Here is a typical timetable click here!

From http://www.artc.com.au/Content.aspx?p=160

[tomato]

Thanks for the photos of this trackwork .....

Best place to get an idea of ARTC's plans for this portion of " the North South Corridor " is http://www.artc.com.au/library/RIS_2.2.pdf

2008-2024 Interstate and Hunter Valley Rail Infrastructure Strategy   ( 30 June 2008 ).

Page 33            Table 8 (edited) - Performance outcomes for the North-South Corridor.

             Melbourne - Sydney       Sydney - Brisbane       Melbourne - Brisbane       Brisbane - Adelaide
Capacity (Superfreighter pairs per week)

2009            10                                  8                                    16                               2

2024            74                                    92                                 77                                 5


ex Table 6 - Key performance characteristics of the North-South Corridor, 2024.

Train Lenght : Melb- Syd 1800m     Syd-Bris (Chullora to Acacia Ridge) 1500m

[colinw]

I know I'm resurrecting an old thread ...

I was down Bromelton way over the weekend accompanying my brother-in-law on a 4WD excursion, and noticed that several months on there is still no 3rd rail in place at Bromelton.

Dual gauge sleepers were in evidence on the line, as seen from both Sandy Camp Rd overbridge, and Beaudesert - Boonah Road overbridge a couple of km north of there.

The first place where we noticed actual 3rd rail in place was at Kagaru, and (from our limited views of the line) it appears to be complete all the way from there to Acacia Ridge.  Some dual gauge turnouts were noticed stacked sitting by the track at Greenbank.

It appears that this project has not much progressed, if at all, since OzBob posted mufreight's excellent photos above.

Does anyone know the status of this project, and when (if ever) we may expect to see actual 3'6" traffic down the interstate line?  I really hope this isn't a white elephant.

cheers,
Colin

[ozbob]

PROPOSED STATE DEVELOPMENT AREA DECLARATION:
BROMELTON

--> http://www.dip.qld.gov.au/docs/library/pdf/sda/BSDA_info_sheet.pdf

[colinw]

The dual gauge line construction down that way still appears to be stalled.  It appears that 3'6" gauge rail is intact as far as Greenbank loop, but the dual gauge turnouts for the loop are yet to be installed so the furthest point south of Acacia Ridge that a 3'6" gauge train could access is the northern end of Greenbank loop.  South of Greenbank, the 3'6" rail ends somewhere around Kagaru.

[mufreight]

As the project is being funded and carried out by ARTC perhaps they have used the funds already allocated and are now waiting until SCT commence construction of their facility at Bromelton or one of the industrial facilities in the new Government industrial park requires rail facilities before they carry out further work on the project.
On last look at the work most of the ng rail was only sitting in place and had not been clipped down, seemed that about one sleeper in 10 was clipped down to keep the rail located in place.

[ozbob]

http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2012/11/16/bromelton-state-development-area-approved

Media Statements
Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning
The Honourable Jeff Seeney
Friday, November 16, 2012

Bromelton State Development Area approved

The Queensland Government today announced the approval of the Bromelton State Development Area (SDA) development scheme.

Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jeff Seeney said there had been significant public consultation on the scheme resulting in changes from the draft.

"This development scheme allows the Coordinator-General to coordinate land use within the Bromelton SDA to ensure we maximise the economic potential of the area," Mr Seeney said.

"The Bromelton SDA is unique because it is the only area available for industrial development in South East Queensland with direct access to the national standard-gauge rail network."

The Bromelton SDA is located seven kilometres west of Beaudesert and was declared in 2008.

Mr Seeney said roughly 1,800 hectares of the 15,000 hectare Bromelton SDA was earmarked for industrial development.

Industries that could be housed in the Bromelton SDA include freight and logistics operations, medium and large-scale manufacturing and warehousing activities with road and/or rail requirements, industry support services, freight and logistics servicing depots.

The Bromelton SDA development scheme has been prepared in conjunction with the Scenic Rim Regional Council's Bromelton Structure Plan which has now been finalised through associated amendments to the Beaudesert Shire Planning Scheme 2007.

"Approval of the Development Scheme for the Bromelton SDA allows development proponents to lodge applications for material change of use with the Coordinator-General," Mr Seeney said.

"The Scenic Rim Regional Council's planning scheme will regulate development other than material change of use within the Bromelton SDA."

Queensland's Coordinator-General Barry Broe said the Queensland Government, Scenic Rim Regional Council and major property owners had worked well together over the past few years to prepare a plan for the State Development Area.

"The development scheme is the result of an integrated and collaborative approach to planning and I would like to thank the Scenic Rim Regional Council and major property owners for their contribution in planning for Bromelton."

[ENDS] 16 November 2012

[nathandavid88]

Just noticed this on the Gold Coast Bulletin website:

Fund puts $3b into Beaudesert hub

Martin Rasini   |  12:00pm November 20, 2012

THE evolution of the Beaudesert area into Queensland's industrial heartland is set to begin, with Eureka Funds Management seeking partners for a $3 billion development.

The funds manager holds a 747ha parcel at Bromelton, 6km from Beaudesert, and has launched a search for expert partners to help deliver a major industrial precinct with national gauge rail-truck interchange terminal.

Construction could begin as early as the 2013 second half.

The land is part of the 15,000ha Bromelton State Development Area, declared in 2008, of which about 1800ha is earmarked for industrial use.

Eureka set the scene for the hub in April, 2006 when it invested $14.3 million to secure its landholding and its latest action follows zoning approval for the project this month.

The company's fund manager, Gavin Norris, said the 480ha hub would form the major part of the planned precinct.

"With rezoning achieved, Eureka is seeking partners that can contribute the appropriate expertise to maximise the development and operational potential of this nationally significant infrastructure," Mr Norris said.

"The hub will be designed to provide for its tenants a world-class rail terminal to transload, switch or cross-dock the movement of freight and bulk product.

"The terminal will have the capacity to handle more than one million lifts a year and the park will provide close to one million square metres of logistics and manufacturing warehousing."

The precinct is expected to deliver up to 30,000 jobs.

Mr Norris said construction was expected to start as soon as the second half of 2013 after finalisation of infrastructure agreements with Scenic Rim Regional Council and government agencies.

Eureka development manager Andrew Simons said freight volumes were expected to double within 15 years and the hub would unlock a return on Australian Rail Track Corporation's $4.1 billion upgrade of the Brisbane-Melbourne rail corridor.

"Every freight train we run from Brisbane to Melbourne will take 100 trucks off the road and use a third of the fuel per tonne, meaning less congestion, safer roads, cleaner air, and a viable logistics alternative for industry," he said.

Mr Simons said the hub had been planned in collaboration with the Government and Scenic Rim Regional Council and was identified by the Federal Government as critical national logistics infrastructure.

It will feature 280ha of general industry land, 200ha of rail-dependent industry, and 900,000sq m of logistics floorspace.

It will provide direct access to national standard-gauge and Queensland narrow-gauge rail lines and accommodate trains up to 2km long.

There also will be direct links to the Mt Lindesay Highway and Cunningham Highway freight routes.

[Stillwater]

.... accommodate trains up to 2km long: not from the north though 

[ozbob]

From the Couriermail Quest --> The $55.8 million dual gauge rail line from Acacia Ridge to Bromelton remains unfinished

IT'S the multi-million dollar economic stimulus project no government department will take responsibility for.

The beginnings of a dual gauge rail line was laid from Acacia Ridge to a proposed freight centre at Bromelton south of Brisbane, as part of a $55.8 million scheme announced by the former Rudd Government in 2009.

But five years later the dual gauge line is unfinished, with train enthusiasts saying that unused crossings are rusting away.

On October 22, 2009, a press release from former infrastructure minister Anthony Albanese said timber sleepers between Acacia Ridge and the Queensland border would be replaced with 105,000 concrete sleepers.

While they were replaced, rail enthusiast Allan Ward said this track was only secured to one sleeper in "every eight or so (and) crossings are still lying by the side of the track".

Rail Back on Track's Robert Dow said he was curious about the status of the Bromelton freight centre.

"Our roads are being pounded by trucks when their loads could have been moved by freight," he said.

A spokesman for Australian Rail Track Corporation, the body that leased the rail corridor, said it was asked to dual gauge the track as a condition of its agreement with the State Government.

A Queensland Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning spokesman would not say when the freight centre would open.

"The Queensland Government is continuing to work closely with the local council, developers and infrastructure providers to realise the potential of the Bromelton state development area and deliver on the government's election promise to grow the Queensland economy," the spokesman said.

[ozbob]

Disagree, perfectly reasonable comment.  The points etc. cost a lot.  They should not have been placed out to rust if they were not going to be used.   Stored away in a bulk warehouse would have been preferable.

Keep in mind, press will always go for the 'if it bleeds it is read type editorialisation' ..

[ozbob]

Train enthusiasts are perfectly free how to comment how they see fit.  First hand observations will beat comments from overseas I am afraid.

You fail to realise that the enthusiasts would have said a lot more than what was published.  As I suggested before editorialisation occurs, don't get too excited with media constructs.

Good yarn!!

[mufreight]

As of the weekend before last when a visit to Greenbank was made the points at both ends of the loop were sitting exactly where they have been for the past three years the pivots and the slide plates for the blades are rusted and pitted, yes they can be recovered but will need dismantling and cleaning up and then reassembling to be fit for purpose.
The third rail where installed is only fastened to the sleepers about every eighth sleeper with the rail joints either fishplated usually with two bolts where fishplated and rail ends just butted together and clipped to the sleepers for many joints.
At Bromelton where the intermodal terminal is proposed some earthworks have been carried out but most of the site is a sea of weeds.
Any suggestion of running overhead between Acacia Ridge and Bromelton is in itself an absurdity as the overhead would then ensure that it would not be possible to operate double stacked containers into Acacia Ridge from the south as is proposed with the inland rail link.
If electrified commuter services are to ever be operated to the South of Acacia Ridge in the existing corridor then of necessity they will operating on a separate ng track in the corridor, the dual gauging of the present line was supposedly for freight operations not passenger services.

[ozbob]

Thanks mufreight for those observations the other weekend.

That confirms the piece that reads  "with train enthusiasts saying that unused crossings are rusting away"

They are rusting away! 

[SurfRail]

I would anticipate that it isn't just exposure to the elements, but the fact that no maintenance is being carried out on them because they are treated as some kind of enduring stockpile but out in the open.

Turnouts have working parts which need lubrication and regular use or they will degrade.

Hardly the most obscene thing about the project, but symptomatic of the thinking involved.

[ozbob]

Sad indeed.  The third rail is not even usable.  What a charade ....

[Fares_Fair]

.... accommodate trains up to 2km long: not from the north though 

INDEED ... #2TRACKS needed up there

[mufreight]

We all know that if ARTC did some house keeping, these points would be packed up and stored in a yard outside stacked on top of each other, just like everywhere else.

So for ARTC the choices are, leave them in situ which is a bit unsightly but loss of the asset is unlikely as they are heavily and generally of limited resale value parts to would be thieves or spend money on moving them to be stored. Likewise for the 3rd rail. Anyone who has worked in big/medium/heavy industry and dealt with SAP or similar accounting and asset management systems will know full well why they are left exactly where they are.


But what is the point of the original article?
1) Are they trying to highlite the blatant waste of money by the govt of the day who started this project which is now a white elephant?

2) Are they trying to convince the current govt to finish the job despite there being no customer at Bromo for the NG trains?

3) Do they want the materials removed and used elsewhere acknowledging the project is currently dead?

What do they want the ARTC to do with this equipment and who will pay for it? As a far away but still taxpayer I think we are entitled for this?

The Inland now has a timetable and I suspect ARTC has known for sometime so when the time comes the rust will be cleaned up, rails bolted and additional clips put in place as part of that project and funding for the same.

And we have all seen track not used for months to years be re-instated including points and a number of years ago a few sets of points sat by the track on the Cleveland line for nearly a year before installation so I suspect these will be ok.

A far more logical option is to install them then they would be maintained so the slide plates and pivots would not deteriorate further and the surface rust on the rail head of the third rail would be the only possible problem, it would also release for use elsewhere the two sets of carriers that they are currently sitting on to slide them into place for use elsewhere.