Toll NQX forced to deliver trains by road from Queensland to South Australia due to Sunshine State's distinct rail gauge
September 24, 2013
Toll NQX has been forced to haul five 22-metre trains on the back of trucks from Queensland to South Australia due to differences in rail gauges.
The 129-tonne trains, each worth $6 million, were hauled from Maryborough to Whyalla on five separate 2,200km long truck journeys spanning three states.
Toll NQX manager John Gunning says the trains had to be delivered to South Australia via truck as Queensland has a different rail gauge to the rest of Australia.
He says the heavy oversized loads required specialised equipment and extensive planning.
“In each case the bogies were removed to bring the overall travelling height down to less than five metres so we don’t interfere with overhead lines, and the wheels transported on two separate trailers,” Gunning says.
“We built special steel frames so the trailer could receive the trains without the bogies on. That also gave us something to secure the locomotives to.”
The last train reached Whyalla within a week, with two 200-tonne cranes lifting the bogies from the trucks and onto the tracks, before the locomotive could be lowered onto the bogies.
Gunning says the loads travelled during daylight hours only in each state and required a police escort in South Australia.
