The presentation ‘Orange to Broken Hill Pt3’, produced back in 2007, covered rail operations at and through Broken Hill in 2004 through 2007.
As a result of the through Sydney to Adelaide standard gauge introduced in 1970, Silverton had moved from narrow gauge main line haulage between Broken Hill and Cockburn to local standard gauge ore transfer work in the Broken Hill district, predominantly hauling empty/full ore concentrate wagons between Broken Hill yard and the Perilya (formerly Pasmenco) processing plant south of Broken Hill, and then forming them up for haulage by other rail operators to the smelter in Port Pirie or to other overseas shipping terminals. Activity increased with the reopening of the North Mine railway line around 2007, with raw ore being hauled by rail from it to the Perilya processing plant.
Two subsequent events effectively forced Silverton to close its Broken Hill operation, these being (1) a fall in mineral prices in 2008 causing the North Mine to close again only four years after reopening and (2) the introduction of a triangle near the Perilya processing plant enabling ore concentrate trains to the east or west to depart directly from the plant. In 2012 CBH Resources reopened the RASP mine, but transfer and haulage for this activity fell to Pacific National.
In this presentation we will view Broken Hill rail operations in 2013, with limited flashbacks to scenes from ‘Orange to Broken Hill Pt 3’ for 2007 comparison purposes. (These have been deliberately left in 4:3 format to clearly identify them from 2013 footage). We will also see SCT entering the intermodal and ore haulage business and follow one of their 90 wagon ore trains as we move beyond Broken Hill towards Crystal Brook, Port Pirie and Port August. Locomotives seen include BL, CRS, DL, NR, SCT, 48/830 and 700 Class (and stored 35, 45, 48 and 80 Class) in the liveries of Australian National/Genesee & Wyoming, PacNat, SCT and Silverton, whilst passenger traffic is represented by Great Northern’s Ghan and Indian Pacific.
Approximate run time: 100 minutes.