Article: Angry landowner wants end to kilometre-long trains

[p858snake]

Angry landowner wants end to kilometre-long trains

A north-west Queensland resident says kilometre-long trains are blocking access to his property for hours at a time.

Jay Mackenzie has to cross a rail line to enter his property at Cloncurry, in north-west Queensland, but he says a kilometre-long train has regularly blocked the road since late last month.

The new trains are owned by Pacific National and carry magnetite from Xstrata's Ernest Henry Mine to the Port of Townsville on the state's north coast.

Mr Mackenzie says each time the train stops in town, he and his family cannot get in or out of their property.

"Trains have always used this but they haven't been as long and they haven't been as frequent," he said.

He says he was not told the trains would block his access.

"My daughter was waiting two-and-a-half hours the first time," he said.

He says Queensland Rail is not acting fast enough.

"It's turning into a bit of a talkfest," Mr Mackenzie said.

He says the train should be split in half while the magnetite is being loaded.

"It would save a lot of frustration when people are trying to get home or get places," he said.

"We just don't have the time to go the long way around all the time - I just don't understand why they don't do it."

He is calling for an immediate solution.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/23/3223843.htm

[Golliwog]

Do they actually stop the trains to load them? I would have thought they would be something similar to the coal trains where they just keep them moving slowly through. I would assume the solution is probably going to involve constructing him a new driveway further down the line. I doubt they'd go to the length of building him a bridge, and I say good luck trying to convince a rail operator to run a shorter train.

[mufreight]

If they are loading out of a bin the train would load on the move but if loaded by endloaders it would be a stop start process which would be slower.
It is possible that they might construct a road parallel to the line with a crossing beyond the length of the train as much for their own convenience as the landowners.

[petey3801]

"We just don't have the time to go the long way around all the time - I just don't understand why they don't do it."


So, enough time to wait for a few hours for the most convenient entry/exit to the property, but not enough time for the long way around? Rightio...

[p858snake]

"We just don't have the time to go the long way around all the time - I just don't understand why they don't do it."


So, enough time to wait for a few hours for the most convenient entry/exit to the property, but not enough time for the long way around? Rightio...

I don't know where this line is or how the property, but if this is a rualish property the time it takes to get around might be a issue, I know someone who if they want to take the back way it's a 2hr(ish) drive to the back gate (from their normal entrance).


I would like to see what happens if emergency services is called to the property....

[mufreight]

Waiting 5 or even 10 minutes for a train to pass so that one can access their own property is not unreasonable an hour and a half or more is unreasonable.
Extrata has a moral if not a contractual obligation to provide an alternative access for the landowner as that access was pre-existing the operation of their now longer trains.
Put the boot on the other foot and have the landowner block the rail line with a large tractor for a couple of hours blocking the train from accessing the loading point and see what the response would be.