The presentation Hunter Heavies (produced in VHS format back in 2001 and later converted to DVD-R format in 2006) covered the introduction of Freight Corp’s 82 and 90 Class into Hunter Valley coal operation in the mid 1990s through early 2000s. It also covered the entry of National Rail into Hunter Valley coal haulage with push-pull NR coal operations for Macquarie Generation late in the same period.
Since that time, Freight Corp and National Rail merged to form Pacific National, and their Hunter Valley coal haulage passed back to the 82 and 90 Class, with 81 providing backup. The lightweight Pelton coal haulage was, and still is, retained by quad 48/PL class (refer to the presentation Quads to Pelton). Interail, now part of QR National, broke this PacNat monopoly when it successfully tendered for haulage of coal from Duralie to Stratford in early 2001 and then won a second contract for hauling coal from Newstan to Vales Point Power Station (refer to the presentation Hello Interail).
This presentation, Hunter Review 2009, shows how coal haulage has changed in the Hunter Valley in 2009. We see that, in the Northern Hunter Region, QR National are, in general, operating 74 wagon twin 5000 Class powered trains while PacNat have moves to triple or quad motive power (using various combinations of G, 81, 82, 90 and/or the 92 Class) on trains up to 91 wagons in size. We also review the new facilities that have opened, including the Ashton, Mt Arthur and Wambo coal loaders and the Antiene coal unloader.
Locomotive classes seen in this presentation include G, PL/48, 81, 82, 90 and the new Goninan GE 92 and 5000 class in the liveries of Freight Corp, NSWGR, Pacific National, QR National and SRA while passenger equipment includes the Explorers and the new Hunter railcars of CountryLink and CityRail.
Approximate run time: 105 minutes.