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BDA
Chief Commissioner
Joined: Oct 17, 2003
Last Visited: Dec 1, 2008
Location: Sydney
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Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2003 8:40 am
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The Old Main North.How bad was the origional alignment.Would it be a better proposition to rebuild it as far as Wallangara and deviate round the steep grades north of there, rather than persist with the North Coast snake pit ? What sort of potential could it have with a bit of money spent ?
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awsgc24
Minister for Railways
Joined: Feb 18, 2003
Last Visited: Dec 2, 2008
Location: Sydney, NSW
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Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2003 9:03 am
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| BDA wrote: | | The Old Main North. How bad was the origional alignment? Would it be a better proposition to rebuild it as far as Wallangara and deviate round the steep grades north of there, rather than persist with the North Coast snake pit? What sort of potential could it have with a bit of money spent? |
The old main north to Wallangarra was built to the Whitton standard of 1 in 40 grades and 12 chain (240m) curves. Major climbs are Cowan Bank, Arglen tunnel, Woolbrook bank and Ben Lomond bank, to mention a few. The summit is near Ben Lomond at 1377m. It would be difficult to improve these grades without worsening the curves and increasing the length of the line.
An inland line via North Star and Goondiwindi on the Queensland side would be much better graded, and would be quite promising for Melbourne to Brisbane traffic. There is an increase in distance of 100km.
The North Coast route as far as Grafton was built to an improved post Whitton 1910 standard of 1 in 80 grades and 15 chain (300m) curves which suited steam engines. The Uniform grade connection from Casino to Brisbane has a ruling grade of 1 in 66 compensated and 12 chain (240m) curves. The highest point is 271m at Border Loop.
If the 1 in 66 standard were adopted for the whole line past Stratford where coal traffic operates, it would be possible to improve curves and gradients and line length. A few 50km cutoffs would also be promising.
If existing 1 in 80 grades are regraded to 1 in 66, then this tends to improve the curves and shorten the line.
Improvements to the North Coast line can be carried out bit by bit, unlike the North Star route, which requires a gulp of money in one hit.
On the North Coast, desirable crossing loop extensions can sometimes be made in conjunction with curve improvements, where the old line becomes the Loop, and the new straighter line becomes the main.
One size fits all?
_ Railway gauge _ _ _ _ : Mostly YES; Almost always 1435mm _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ : except sugar cane trams, rocket launch pads, telescopes.
_ _ Shoe/hat/ ring sizes: NO_ _ _ _ _ .
May use SUW 2000 VGA to bridge break-of-gauge.
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