Over the last 15 years, considerable change has occurred to both operations and operators of trains on The Main South (earlier aspects were covered in the presentations The Main South Line Parts 1 thru 6).
In the late 1990s National Rail and Freight Corp merged to become Pacific National (PacNat), in 2003 Austrac when bankrupt and its rail operation were taken over by Freight Australia, about the same time Queensland Railways (renamed QR National) took over Interail, and in 2006 and 2008 both Freight Australia and ATN Access respectively were acquired by PacNat, leaving at that time only 2 major freight operators on the Main South. In 2010 El Zorro started making inroads into NSW grain operation as a ‘hook and pull’ operator for both Grain Corp and Australian Wheat Board (AWB) owned grain trains while in April 2011 ARG/QR National returned to grain haulage in NSW.
Also in the timeframe mid to late 2000s, the almost archaic ‘block telegraph’ system of safe working (used for Moss Vale to Wingello & Harden to Wallendbeen) was replaced, as were the old upper and lower quadrant signals on the Main South Line, with colour aspect signals, and effectively Junee took control of all movements south of the Sydney Metropolitan area to the Victorian Border under Centralised Traffic Control (CTC). With this change, all signal boxes on the Main South effectively became unmanned or in some cases even completely eliminated.
With PacNat in the 2007 timeframe having a stranglehold on major Sydney goods yards like Enfield, Chullora and Auburn, QR National leased the track associated with the former Cluther coal rail operations at Glenlee (which ceased back in the late 1990s) and uses this as an attach/detach location for its Sydney (Yennora) intermodal traffic travelling on its services between Brisbane and Melbourne. As well as viewing this operation, we will review Allied Mills’ move from its Dulwich Hill grain operation to Maldon in 2008 where it uses rail to supply grain to this facility, Ingham’s stock feed rail operation established at Berrima in 2002 and view the potential 2011 salvation from the demise of Goulburn as a major railway centre brought about by the CFCLA purchase of the Goulburn Railway Workshops and QR National/ARG re-entry into NSW grain haulage as we move south from Macarthur (Sydney outer metropolitan area) down to Goulburn.
Locomotives seen in action include AN, CLF/CLP, EL, G, L/XL, LDP, NR, VL, 421, 422/DC/2000, 80, 81 and 6000 Class whilst passenger equipment includes XPT, Explorers and Endeavours.
Approximate run time: 97 minutes.