Gympie Station

[Ari 🚋]

So as we all know the north coast line used to pass through Gympie, but was realigned to bypass it and reduce trip times. As part of that, Gympie services were changed to terminate at Gympie North instead. My question is, why? It's not like they needed to pass through Gympie at great speed given that they were stopping, so it seems only logical to keep them running to a station in the middle of town rather than a new spot on the outskirts. I'd imagine it's a lot more attractive to catch a train from a central location in a heritage station than at a single concrete platform in the bush. Was there any reason for the move?

[ozbob]

" The Gympie bypass removed the steepest grade on the entire North Coast line, reducing the grade from 1 in 45 (~2.2%) to 1 in 100 (1%). "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_electrification_in_Queensland

[Stillwater]

Gympie North Station is equipped with a staff lunch room and toilets and is a full-length platform for the two return SEQ passenger services weekdays and the Tilts, including the Spirit of Queensland.

A free QR shuttle bus meets every passenger train stopping at Gympie North Station, connecting to a bus stop outside the Gympie Sovereign Cinemas and opposite the Goldfields Plaza Shopping Centre, beside the edge of the main CBD. The old rail alignment into and through town now forms part of the Mary Valley Heritage Railway, based at the old Gympie Railway Station, which is the largest timber station building in Queensland.

After running through the suburbs, the MVHR Line runs parallel to the realigned NCL for about a kilometre south of Gympie before shooting towards the Mary Valley towns, ending now at Amamoor (used to be Imbil). There is now no connection between both lines at that point. Access from the NCL into Gympie is from just north of Gympie North Station, via Banks Pocket, past the cattle saleyards. It is not electrified, which is why regular passenger trains cannot run all the way into Gympie.

The Banks Pocket connecting track is used regularly as storage for old freight wagons, which become a target for graffiti artists.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Expanding on the length. The SOTO and Sunlander had to make multiple positioning moves to use the station/blocked the main line as they used to carry freight and car wagons both of which are no longer in use along with the proper sleeper carriages with self contained rooms (you can note the Roma street platform length which can accept the DTT and ETT with some room left over which was typically the maximum length used at the time). Also sped up thru services quite significantly along with taking a route that was less flood prone/open to damage. Government was also in the process of changing how it's freight depots were handled and Gympie was one such facility that wasn't needed anymore (the Gympie yard was quite extensive compared to now).

Freight train speed was also another big problem as there are a number of slow points. More powerful and louder locos were getting put onto the NCL with the intention of using electric locos for freight movement which became the norm.

[Gazza]

I think to avoid the running costs of separate stations and having to electrify the track down into Gympie town.

Some aspects of Gympie north seem dumb... Why does it have to be so far down a dead end Road?

[HappyTrainGuy]

I think to avoid the running costs of separate stations and having to electrify the track down into Gympie town.

Some aspects of Gympie north seem dumb... Why does it have to be so far down a dead end Road?

Land was cheap and there was plans for future development out that way.

Only problem was later on TMR then reserved the same land for development as part of the Bruce Highway upgrade despite not knowing the alignment. People were reluctant to build on property, buy property or upgrade infrastructure out that way due to the future highway.

Work has started but for the last 2 and a bit decades locals knew a highway was going through but had no idea where it actually was.
https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/projects/bruce-highway-cooroy-to-curra/bruce-highway-cooroy-to-curra-section-d

[ozbob]

For your interest:

Queensland Parliament Hansard  1986  page 3919

https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/events/han/1986/1986_02_27.pdf

PROPOSED DEVIATIONS—NORTH COAST LINE, CABOOLTURE TO GLADSTONE
Initiation
Hon. D. F. LANE (Merthyr—Minister for Transport): I move—

"That Mr Speaker do now leave the chair and the House resolve itself into a
Committee of the Whole to consider the following resolution—

'That the House approves of the working plans and sections and books of
reference of the proposed deviations of the North Coast Line at Eumundi, Gympie, Oakhurst-Aldershot and Benaraby-Parana,'"
Motion agreed to.

Committee

Hon. D. F. LANE (Merthyr—Minister for Transport) (2,16 p.m.): I move—

"That the House approves of the working plans and sections and books of reference of the proposed deviations of the North Coast Line at Eumundi, Gympie, Oakhurst-Aldershot and Benaraby-Parana."

Honourable members may recall that, approximately 12 months ago, I announced to the Chamber that approval had been given for the preparation of a detailed scope of work, estimates and economic evaluation of the proposal to electrify the railway between Caboolture and Gladstone as stage 4 of the main line electrification project. I am pleased to be able to say that the project, which involves electrifying 475 route kilometres of railway between Caboolture and Gladstone, has now been approved by Cabinet and will proceed forthwith.

The estimated cost of the project, in total, is $307m, and this expenditure is expected to generate about 300 000 man-weeks of employment in Queensland during the construction phase.

The scheme will take advantage of the traditional benefits of electric traction compared with diesel traction, as well as the effects of advances in technology. These traditional benefits include high performance locomotives and electric multiple units, lower maintenance costs and shorter maintenance times, as well as lower operating costs in terms of energy consumption. As with stages 1, 2 and 3 of the main line electrification project currently under way in central Queensland, stage 4 will take advantage of modem technology, such as microwave radio and optic fibre communications systems, as well as state of the art electronics in both the new locomotives and the electric multiple units. Recent events in the oil market only go to show the volatility of prices for oil and, while there is what may amount to a decrease in oil prices in the short term, there could quite easily be an increase in prices of a similar magnitude.

The central Queensland electrification project will reduce the State's dependence on diesel fuel by 90 million litres per year, while stage 4 will see a further reduction of 28 million litres per year, giving a total saving in diesel fuel consumption of almost 120 million litres by the year 1990, which is 60 per cent of railway fiiel needs.

On completion of the project, Queensland Railways will be able to offer an improved service for both passenger and freight customers, at the same time continuing along the path of improved efficiency, with a significant reduction in operating costs and a further reduction in the State's dependence on liquid fuels as an energy source. Queensland will be the first State in Australia to have not only most of its major mineral railways electrified but also to electrify a significant portion of its general freight and passenger trunk route.

To achieve these improvements, it is necessary to improve the route of the railway between Caboolture and Gladstone in a number of locations where very steep grades Proposed Deviations—North Coast Line, Caboolture to Gladstone and sharp curves have plagued railway operations for many years. Three of these locations are the subject of the documents that presently lie on the table of the Chamber, with the fourth location—Oakhurst to Aldershot—included as a means of avoiding along-standing operational constraint at Baddow.

The Eumundi deviation is almost 10 km in length. The deviation passes through an area of deep valleys and high, steeply sloped hills and escarpments, and enables the steepest grades on the section to be reduced from I in 50 to I in 90. The new route crosses the Maroochy River and Yandina Creek, All road/raU intersections will be grade separated, Eumundi and Nandroya crossing loops will be eliminated by the deviation. A new crossing loop and passenger shelter wiU be constmcted part way along the deviation, and access to the station will be from Sunrise Road, I place on record my appreciation and that of the Railway Department for the co- operation extended by the local member (Mr Gordon Simpson) in locating the route and ensuring that it was a practical and suitable route that caused the least possible interference to local landholders.

The Gympie deviation is almost 8 km in length, commencing just south of Monkland station. As with the Eumundi deviation, all road/rail intersections will be grade separated. Two crossing loops will be provided on the deviation, A station building wiU be provided on the northemmost loop to provide facihties for Gympie passengers, Gympie railway yards will be retained to provide goods facilities for the area.

The Benaraby-Parana deviation, just south of Gladstone, is almost 16 km long, commencing just north of Benaraby station and finishing near the junction of the North Coast Line and the Moura short line at Parana. All road/rail intersections will be grade separated. The existing Toolooa crossing loop will be eliminated and a replacement loop will be provided on the deviation.

The Oakhurst-Aldershot deviation commences just south of Oakhurst station. The deviation is almost 7 km in length. The present Baddow station will be bypassed and a new station complex provided on the deviation at a site north of the present Oakhurst station. I assure the Committee that, as a result of the deviation, the service to the people of Maryborough will be improved.

The estimated cost of the four deviations is $54.6m. This expenditure will produce immediate benefits to the region in terms of employment generation as well as the long- term benefits associated with the achievement of the long-term goals of the electrification project.

... continues

[ozbob]

So as we all know the north coast line used to pass through Gympie, but was realigned to bypass it and reduce trip times. As part of that, Gympie services were changed to terminate at Gympie North instead. My question is, why? It's not like they needed to pass through Gympie at great speed given that they were stopping, so it seems only logical to keep them running to a station in the middle of town rather than a new spot on the outskirts. I'd imagine it's a lot more attractive to catch a train from a central location in a heritage station than at a single concrete platform in the bush. Was there any reason for the move?

So there you go AOB.  It is clear why the Gympie deviation was done.  Part of a larger project, the electrification,  to improve operations on the north coast line, particularly easing the grades and achieving a better alignment. As pointed out in part by HTG above, and as I highlighted wrt the grade on the Gympie section that was bypassed 1:45, Eumundi had 1:50 grades bypassed.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Ironically freight is now diesel hauled again as the electric locos were reassigned for coal traffic.

[SurfRail]

I would like to see a big push to electrify the NCL to Bowen and the rest of the Goonyella-Newlands line to Abbot Point.  That would mean most coal operations except for the Moura line would be electric, and most of the route km of the NCL to Cairns, and there would be secondary electric routes between Rockhampton, Mackay and Bowen.  That should provide a bit more of an impetus to get electric traction in use north of Gympie. 

The eventual replacement for the current tilt train fleet could be a single fleet of say 10 bi-mode trains of varying configuration (including sleeper cars in some of the consists running longer distances).  These would run under the wires north from Brisbane to wherever the wires run out.  That would allow delivery of a more intensive service between Brisbane and the nearer north (Maryborough and Bundaberg), replacement of the SOTO, and even short trips between cities north of there to better suit local commuting.  Then just get rid of the Westlander and the Inlander and focus on what is left, including pushing the wires further to at least Townsville. 

I expect you could have multiple regional services per day to Hervey Bay (extension from Mary West to somewhere around Eli Waters) and Bundaberg - maybe every 2 hours for each in the off-peak.  Some of the Bundaberg trips would be provided by trains going as far as Rockhampton (a few a day) and at least 2 a day each way between Brisbane and Cairns. 

Anything to Toowoomba would be part of the urban system and might also be bi-mode but would be configured more for commuting like the interurban stock, so no buffet car, luggage car etc.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Considering the reluctance over the years from TMR refusing to fund simple projects such as wooden/steel sleeper replacement to boost track speeds I wouldn't hold my breath. Not to mention north of Rocky is Aurizon NCL owned territory.

[SurfRail]

^ What parts of the NCL do Aurizon operate north of Rockhampton?  (I thought they only were responsible for the little bits around Jilalan and Bowen where the Goonyella and Newlands systems touch the NCL on their way to Hay Point and Abbot Point - and Jilalan already has wires up, just not on the NCL tracks.)

Can't imagine they would care if the State funded electrification of the mainline anyway since it would save them capex and fuel the further it goes.

[Stillwater]

Bi-mode train technology should be something that someone in state government should be monitoring. Does anyone know the current life left in the Tilts? That way we could assess the timeline for replacements, no doubt requiring the usual pre-feasibility studies etc. We should remember also that the time from ordering to delivering might be about 5 years. Is it an idea to have bi-mode trains on the tracks at the time of the Olympics?

[HappyTrainGuy]

^ What parts of the NCL do Aurizon operate north of Rockhampton?  (I thought they only were responsible for the little bits around Jilalan and Bowen where the Goonyella and Newlands systems touch the NCL on their way to Hay Point and Abbot Point - and Jilalan already has wires up, just not on the NCL tracks.)

Can't imagine they would care if the State funded electrification of the mainline anyway since it would save them capex and fuel the further it goes.

Sorry. My mistake. Not sure why but for some reason I thought the aurizon NCL extended from Parana to Mackay.

[SurfRail]

^ No probs.

There's certainly not much chance of the wires going further in the short term, which is a shame.