Formation of the Pilbara railways

The Pilbara Railway Co. was formed on the 01/04/02 so the Hamersley Iron and Robe River Railways could be operated as one organisation and therefore deliver improved efficiencies to both Hamersley and Robe. The combined railways have a total track length of approximately 1100kms, which now services 7 mines [Tom Price, Paraburdoo, Brockman, Yandicoogina, West Angelas, Deepdale, Marandoo]. There are 4 car dumpers, 2 at Cape Lambert [1 single cell and 1 dual cell] and at Dampier there are 2 dual cell units [Parker Pt and East Intercourse Island]. There are a total of 3600 wagons, 35 Dash 9 Locomotives, 12 Dash 8 Locomotives, and 3 Alco Locomotives on site. The two railways were connected in March 2002, 71 kms from Cape Lambert and 78kms from Dampier by a 5.3km track called the Western Creek link. At the same time a 60km spur was constructed from the 363km Hamersley Iron Yandicoogina Branch line [Juna Downs.] to the West Angelas mine site in 7 weeks. West Angelas is 425km from Dampier/Cape Lambert. There is another 48kms of track duplication to construct [from Gull at the 105 km - Tunkawanna at the 153km.]. This work has just commenced and will be completed by the 31/03/2003. A new VAE Kinematic Gauge Optimisation [KG0] 1:20 Tangential Turnout is to be installed at the 153km on the Hamersley Iron line as part of this project. There are now a total of 319 turnouts in the network. These are made up of 1:8, 1:10, 1:12, 1:15, 1:20 A.R.E.A. and 1:20 1000m and 300m radius VAE Tangential turnouts. All of the 1:2Ds, 1:15s, 1:12s and 1:1Ds on the mainlines are on concrete and some of the 1:12s and 1:10s in the yards are also on concrete. Most of the Robe Turnouts in the yards are 1:10s with some 1:8s. All of the Robe turnouts have Sampson points whereas at Hamersley, most turnouts use a knife-edge stock rail and blade assembly. The majority of the Hamersley turnouts in the yards are 1:12s with some 10s and 8s. There are a total of 81 Swing Nose Frogs in operation throughout the system. One of these frogs has rollers incorporated under the tongue, to remove the need for lubrication.

• Record URL:
  https://railknowledgebank.com/Presto/content/Detail.aspx?ctID=MTk4MTRjNDUtNWQ0My00OTBmLTllYWUtZWFjM2U2OTE0ZDY3&rID=NDYxNQ==&qrs=RmFsc2U=&q=KEJvb2suQWxsVGV4dDooIkZvcm1hdGlvbiBvZiB0aGUgUGlsYmFyYSByYWlsd2F5cyIpKSBPUiAoUGFwZXIuQWxsVGV4dDooIkZvcm1hdGlvbiBvZiB0aGUgUGlsYmFyYSByYWlsd2F5cyIpKSBPUiAoUHJlc2VudGF0aW9uLkFsbFRleHQ6KCJGb3JtYXRpb24gb2YgdGhlIFBpbGJhcmEgcmFpbHdheXMiKSkgT1IgKFJlcG9ydC5BbGxUZXh0OigiRm9ybWF0aW9uIG9mIHRoZSBQaWxiYXJhIHJhaWx3YXlzIikpIE9SIChSZXNlYXJjaF9Qcm9qZWN0LkFsbFRleHQ6KCJGb3JtYXRpb24gb2YgdGhlI
• Authors:
  • Gurney J
• Conference:
  • Permanent Way Institution (PWI) NSW 2002 Annual Convention: Railways - Sweating the Asset
• Publication Date: 2002

Media Info

• Pagination: 6p. ; PDF
• Monograph Title: Permanent Way Institution (PWI) NSW, 2002 annual convention

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Mining; Railroad rails; Railroads
• ATRI Terms: Mining; Railway track
• Subject Areas: Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01711450
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• Files: ATRI
• Created Date: Jul 19 2019 2:25PM