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The other side of the world

You are here: Home > Forum > Miscellaneous > The real thing (anything else rail-oriented) > The other side of the world

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The other side of the world 17/07/2015 at 04:46 #74304
Mattyq
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Whilst you guys in the UK are suffering a heatwave, this is what's happening in Australia!!





Borenore is a Train Order Block Point located 290km (180mi) west of Sydney on the Main Western line towards Broken Hill and Perth. Sadly, this beautiful little station is no longer served by passenger trains.

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The other side of the world 17/07/2015 at 12:40 #74324
Jersey_Mike
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Does that still function as a block station or is the line CTC?
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The other side of the world 17/07/2015 at 13:23 #74326
TimTamToe
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" said:
Whilst you guys in the UK are suffering a heatwave, this is what's happening in Australia!!





Borenore is a Train Order Block Point located 290km (180mi) west of Sydney on the Main Western line towards Broken Hill and Perth. Sadly, this beautiful little station is no longer served by passenger trains.
My friend did say she'd brought the British winter over with her to Oz. I think she's as annoyed as the rest of you Matty

Gareth

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The other side of the world 18/07/2015 at 04:23 #74353
Mattyq
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" said:
Does that still function as a block station or is the line CTC?
Hi Mike,
This line runs under NSW Train Order Working (TOW) between Orange and Parkes. Borenore is just a Block Point that divides a long section to allow following trains to bunch up. Opposing trains cannot cross (meet) here as it is straight through Main Line only. There is not enough traffic on this line to warrant having a CTC system.

For the record, TOW here is nothing like the old US T&TO system. Every train gets an Order, similar to Track Warrant (which they have in Tasmania).

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The other side of the world 18/07/2015 at 05:14 #74354
Mattyq
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" said:
My friend did say she'd brought the British winter over with her to Oz. I think she's as annoyed as the rest of you Matty

Gareth
To be brutally honest, I am annoyed - that I don't get to see it. I'm in Newcastle (140km north of Sydney) and there's no snow here so I'm missing out. I love the snow as I don't get to see it much. Mind you, I only need to driver 2hrs to get to a snow-capped peak.

What the deal is here (that I should have explained in the first place) is that it is so cold here, it is snowing in places it rarely or never snows. Also those areas that usually only cop a very light smattering of overnight snow that usually melts soon after sunrise is getting foot-deep snow lasting days. Like this place which is right on the Queensland/NSW border. Yes, sunny, tropical Queensland!!



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The other side of the world 18/07/2015 at 06:58 #74355
Ron_J
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Very interesting. How often does it snow like that in Australia? How is the railway coping with it?
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The other side of the world 18/07/2015 at 07:45 #74356
TimTamToe
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" said:
" said:
My friend did say she'd brought the British winter over with her to Oz. I think she's as annoyed as the rest of you Matty

Gareth
To be brutally honest, I am annoyed - that I don't get to see it. I'm in Newcastle (140km north of Sydney) and there's no snow here so I'm missing out. I love the snow as I don't get to see it much. Mind you, I only need to driver 2hrs to get to a snow-capped peak.

What the deal is here (that I should have explained in the first place) is that it is so cold here, it is snowing in places it rarely or never snows. Also those areas that usually only cop a very light smattering of overnight snow that usually melts soon after sunrise is getting foot-deep snow lasting days. Like this place which is right on the Queensland/NSW border. Yes, sunny, tropical Queensland!!
Yeah when she said I thought she just meant it being cold but she was like no snow as well, it was hard to believe until you see the pics because as you say snow doesn't (usually) stay long if it ever falls in Oz but You're very welcome to take our winter's snow this year but seriously it is an extremely rare and strange weather pattern you've been having recently. I know when I was over in 08, I was trapped in Rockhampton by the flooding there and Mackay which at the time was the worst for decades, yet now each year seems just as bad.

Gareth

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The other side of the world 18/07/2015 at 10:45 #74357
Mattyq
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" said:
Very interesting. How often does it snow like that in Australia? How is the railway coping with it?
To directly quote you "how often does it snow LIKE THAT..", not too often, at least in the vicinity of rail lines. As far as snow goes in Australia generally speaking, we do have mountain ranges in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania that have ski fields, however, they are strictly winter only. There are no places in Australia where it snows all year round (although I have encountered summer snow in Tasmania).

There are some rail corridors in Australia where winter snow is regular but not usually so heavy. I think we're looking at the effects of climate change here - not sure. None of our railway systems (that I'm' aware of) are designed for operation in snow. We don't have any point heaters or the like and, as a result, trains tend to suffer somewhat when snow like this sets in.

One thing I did forget to mention in the OP, the photo was taken by Bernie Baker - a legend in the Australian railway community (photo used with permission).

Not fat ..... fluffy!! (G Iglesias)
Last edited: 18/07/2015 at 10:48 by Mattyq
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The other side of the world 26/08/2015 at 03:54 #75449
Mattyq
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Whilst surfing Youtube, I stumbled upon these video's.

This first one shows train action at Leura and Katoomba in the Blue Mountains in July. The serious snow doesn't start until the 5min 20sec mark. In the scene from 8min 19sec, the building in the foreground is Katoomba Signal Box which is still in use (sadly, not for much longer). Click here to view the interior of the box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vgNcrhKJeo

This one shows something a little more iconic - kangaroos - but in the snow (warning: no trains)!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHjTdcLERGw

Cheers!

Not fat ..... fluffy!! (G Iglesias)
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