The Trackside Videos’ presentations Crossing the Blue Mountains and Main West Line Pt 1 looked at operations on the Main West between Central and Lithgow and Lithgow and Orange respectively in the early 2000s. Main West Review Pt1 looks at operations between Sydney and Bathurst on the Main West today in 2018.
Gone from the scene are Freight Australia (which was purchased by Pacific National) and ARG which withdrew after losing the Manildra Group contract to Pacific National (PacNat). Newer operators include QUBE, Fletchers, FreightLiner and Southern Shorthaul Railroad (SSR) whose combined operations include intermodal, coal, grain and ore concentrate freight trains. Passenger equipment seen in this presentation includes V sets of Transport NSW TrainLink (between Sydney and Lithgow) and XPTs and Endeavour sets of CountryLink.
Freight locomotives seen in action in this presentation period include BRM, C, CM, CEY, G, CL, NR, T, 11, 81 and 82 Class in the liveries of Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia (CFCLA), Consolidated Rail Leasing (CRL), PacNat, QUBE and SSR.
Approximate run time: 104 minutes.