4Ds last run, March 2006
March 29, 2006
The double deck 4D train had a difficult career, failing often and being an orphan in the fleet, and by 2003 it was in storage at Newport. By 2006 it reached the end of the line being stripped for parts. This was definitely the 4D train's last run, from Newport to Simsmetal at Brooklyn. El Zorro's Y168 and W241 took the 4D away, with a small number of other freight wagons for braking purposes.
Apex quarry train
July 23, 2017
The Apex train carries gravel and other quarry products from Kilmore East on the North East line, to Westall in south-eastern Melbourne, Brooklyn in western Melbourne, and North Shore in Geelong. Originally operated by Freight Australia then Pacific National, in 2016 Qube Logistics won the contract.
B64 transfer by road to South Dynon
December 16, 2010
B64 was stored for a number of years at Ballarat East for / by Steamrail Victoria. In 2008 it was purchased by El Zorro and moved to Avteq to be rebuilt and recommissioned. For an unknown reason it was moved to the old FCL shed at South Dynon by road, coincidentally this shed has a number of container-mounted gensets with the El Zorro name on them. Two new ZDXF type container flats were also moved here and placed on the ground minus bogies.
Brooklyn wagon scrapping
June 05, 2010
Pacific National has started to clear out the multitudes of stored wagons at Tottenham Yard and selling them for scrap. A dozen or so at a time are being dragged at 20 km/h to Brooklyn, where they are being pushing into the VR tip siding to be cut up.
Deniliquin rice train
September 25, 2015
Currently operated by P&O Trans Australia (POTA), the train carries export rice from the Sunrice plant at Deniliquin to the Port of Melbourne.
El Zorro's final Warrnambool freight, October 2008
October 17, 2008
17 October 2008 was the last time El Zorro operated the Warrnambool freight, the locos were CFLCA liveried T377, VR liveried T378 and SSR liveried T376. Photos from Marshall through to Warrnambool, then back to Winchelsea - it sure was a long chase!
El Zorro grain trains
March 06, 2013
El Zorro operates a number of grain trains inside and through Victoria, on both broad and standard gauges, using a mix of hired locomotives and wagons
El Zorro to Morwell, October 2008
October 22, 2008
On October 22, 2008 El Zorro ran a test train to the Gippsland Intermodal Freight Terminal at Morwell, as a promotional event for local companies interested in using the terminal. The four container wagons were previously used on the Warrnambool contract: CQOY 2393 and three ZQLXs
El Zorro wagon transfer from Warrnambool, December 2008
May 18, 2010
El Zorro transfer sent T376 down to Warrnambool light engine on Wednesday December 3, 2008 to pick up some of their wagons from the yard. The train returned the next day. Back when they had the contract for running the Warrnambool freight they had a wagon with a cage at one end (ZFSX 12K) that got red carded and couldn't be moved. The second wagon (ZDXF 1) was left behind on the last run as the train was too long to fit into the loop at Camperdown.
Freight around metropolitan Adelaide
December 07, 2011
Freight trains around suburban Adelaide: the arrive from the north and east, and head for Dry Creek and the Lefevre Peninsula. The majority are standard gauge, the exception being the broad gauge Penrice stone train.
Freight in the Adelaide Hills and Mount Lofty
December 05, 2011
Freight action headed west from Adelaide, headed up the hills and east towards Victoria.
Freight west from Adelaide
December 03, 2011
Freight trains headed west across the plains from Adelaide bound for Perth and Darwin. With no low bridges or tunnels, there is nothing stopping double stack containers and high cube boxvans from operating.
Geelong broad gauge freight
May 17, 2017
Miscellaneous broad gauge freight around Geelong - there is stuff all these days
Geelong standard gauge freight
January 16, 2016
Standard gauge freight from around and through Geelong
GWA grain services
June 04, 2011
Genesee & Wyoming Australia have operated a number of standard gauge grain services through Victoria, usually with hoppers hired from CFCLA
Kensington grain
July 08, 2017
The flour mill Kensington at Kensington is one of the last to be rail served in Victoria, grain wagons are taken there on a regular basis, requiring a convoluted route through the suburban and freight lines, with a reversal in Melbourne Yard
Locos, light engines, and lashups
July 23, 2017
As the title suggests: Locos, Light Engines, and Lashups of various freight locos. There is a lot of smoking it up for the camera as well... ;-)
Log trains
December 30, 2011
Midway operates a export woodchip plant at North Shore in Geelong, with logs sources from Bairnsdale and Wodonga by rail. Y class locos are often used to shunt the wagons at Geelong
Long Island steel train
July 23, 2017
The Long Island steel train serves the BHP mill at Hastings, south of Frankston. Steel is transferred from standard gauge trains at the Melbourne Steel Terminal, just west of North Melbourne station
Manildra sugar train
July 14, 2017
Manildra Group moves sugar by rail from their plant in Grafton in NSW to their sidings at North Dynon in Melbourne. NGGF hopper wagons are used, which are attached to Pacific National intermodal or steel services.
Maryvale paper train
June 27, 2017
Photos of the Maryvale Paper train that runs from Melbourne to the Australian Paper factory at Maryvale, north of Morwell
Melbourne broad gauge freight
July 23, 2017
Miscellaneous broad gauge freight traffic through Melbourne - there isn't much these days...
Melbourne freight terminals
Freight terminals in Melbourne include the Melbourne Steel Terminal, Creek Sidings, and the remains of Melbourne Yard west of Moonee Ponds Creek; as well as North and South Dynon on the western side. Further afield are SCT Laverton and CRT Altona, and Austrack Somerton
Melbourne standard gauge freight
July 20, 2017
Standard gauge lines from Adelaide and New South Wales meet at Melbourne, running via the western suburbs right into the main freight terminals near the Port of Melbourne
Mildura freight
July 12, 2017
The Mildura freight runs from Merbein (just north of the town) to Melbourne and return for Wakefield Transport. The train is made up of standard and refrigerated containers, as well as a small amount of cement loading. Until recent years oil tankers, louvre vans and LCL containers were also attached to the train.
Mineral sands train
June 18, 2011
The mineral sands train is operated by El Zorro and runs on an irregular basis between Melbourne and Portland, to transport titanium and zircon mineral sands processed by Iluka Resources at Hamilton
North Dynon
June 21, 2017
Located between the main passenger lines at South Kensington and Dynon Roads, along with Moonee Ponds Creek and the Maribyrnong River, the North Dynon precinct includes the Agency Sidings and the P&O Trans Australia container terminal at 'T' gate.
North Geelong wagon scrapping
May 17, 2017
All kinds of wagons are stored at North Geelong Yard, in early to mid 2008 Pacific National started to scrap a lot of the older wagons. After a lull, work restarting with tank wagons and VHCA cement hoppers in 2010, with more tank wagons being scrapped in March 2011. Scrapping of hopper wagons commenced in late 2014.
Oil shunts
May 02, 2008
Shell Refinery at Corio despatched fuel by rail until early 2008, with the last destinations being Mildura and Shepparton. Before this time Y class locos usually took the wagons to and from North Geelong Yard
Pacifc National grain trains
July 20, 2017
Grain is a major freight traffic in Victoria, but drought has cut the level of traffic in recent years. Trains operate on both broad and standard gauges, with the main destinations being export terminals at Melbourne and Geelong, as well as Portland, and a number of domestic flour mills
Port of Melbourne
March 29, 2017
Trains and railway lines at Melbourne's Appleton and Swanson Docks.
Qube grain trains
July 12, 2017
Rail freight company Qube Logistics operates a handful of grain trains on the standard gauge in Victoria.
Road Transferable Locomotive
September 25, 2011
Back in the 1990s V/Line acquired a single Road Transferable Locomotive, capable of hauling a number of rail wagons, then heading off by road to the next job. Freight Australia repainted it and used it for a number of years, putting it into storage at South Dynon around 2004, and then pulling bits off it by 2009. The rego plate is MVORTL, white on green "Victoria on the Move".
Sadleirs Logistics
June 01, 2017
Sadleirs Logistics move freight by rail with their fleet of RLSY louvre vans, attached to Pacific National intermodal services.
SCT Logistics trains
July 20, 2017
SCT Logistics got their start running east-west freight trains between Melbourne and Perth via Adelaide, with services to Parkes later added. SCT wagons were also attached to Melbourne-Brisbane QRNational/Aurizon services, until the commencement of their own services on the north-south route. SCT has also operated shorter trains to a logistics facility at Barnawartha near Wodonga, and container trains to Dooen near Horsham.
SCT wagons
January 12, 2017
Various container wagons, box vans and refrigerated wagons as used by SCT Logistics on their Melbourne - Perth - Adelaide - Parkes services.
SCT wagons - Dooen freight
January 11, 2017
SCT Logistics mixes their own container wagons with wagons hired from CFCLA on their Melbourne-Dooen freight service
South Dynon
April 20, 2017
Located between Dynon and Footscray Roads, along with Moonee Ponds Creek and the Maribyrnong River, the South Dynon precinct includes the Pacific National operated Melbourne Freight Terminal and Melbourne Operations Terminal, plus the South Dynon Locomotive Depot.
Southern Cross Station works trains
August 18, 2006
During the Southern Cross Station redevelopment works short trains operated between the station and the Creek Sidings at North Melbourne, carrying spoil, asphalt, and other materials. CFCLA and SSR T classes were the usual motive power
Tocumwal freight
April 30, 2017
Container service between Appleton Dock in Melbourne and Tocumwal, loading also being attached / removed at Mooroopna (Shepparton). Originally operated by Pacific National / Patrick PortLink, in recent years Qube Logistics have also operated a parallel service.
Tottenham Yard
May 15, 2017
All sorts of stored and damaged wagons clogging up Tottenham Yard in Melbourne's west, with a few operational ones thrown in for good measure
Track machines
February 29, 2016
Pictures of ballast tampers, ballast plows, sleeper wagons, rail layers, overhead wiring trucks, rail grinders and other trackwork machinery and trains
V/Line hired locomotives
March 13, 2017
Occasionally V/Line has motive power shortages or failures, and need to hire locomotives from other operators for use on their own trains. In the photos here it is Freight Australia / Pacific National as the hirer
Wagons and containers
Photos of various freight wagons - if I know what train they are on then the photos are sorted into albums by operator and service, otherwise they are in albums by wagon code. You can view the new wagon and container photos in the order they were uploaded at this page.
Warrnambool freight
May 17, 2017
The Warrnambool freight carries containers between Melbourne and the Westvic depot in Warrnambool, usually running Monday through Friday. Operated by Pacific National, El Zorro took over the contract in April 2008, before PN won it back in October 2008. The train length is constrained by short crossing loops and often runs during the day on the down trip due to pathing issues beyond Geelong
Waurn Ponds cement train
January 17, 2016
Since the 2000s the main cement traffic in Victoria is from the Blue Circle Southern works at Waurn Ponds, outside Geelong. The major destination of the traffic was Lyndhurst in the south-east, which last saw a train in 2009, and Mildura and Somerton which saw the cement traffic end in December 2015.
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