What a waste of money. This money should be put into getting the line straightened instead.

NSW Freight and rail customers in the loop with $21.5m project

"Sometimes we’d have 30 minutes wait while trains pass each other"
30 minutes? Try running a freight train from Mildura to Ararat!

BG

What a waste of money. This money should be put into getting the line straightened instead.

NSW Freight and rail customers in the loop with $21.5m project

Was this section originally double line until 'relatively' recently?

What a waste of money. This money should be put into getting the line straightened instead.

NSW Freight and rail customers in the loop with $21.5m project

Was this section originally double line until 'relatively' recently?

Its says west of Lithgow to Blaney (~100km), so if there is one between Bowenfells and Tarana (32km), yes!

What a waste of money. This money should be put into getting the line straightened instead.

NSW Freight and rail customers in the loop with $21.5m project

If you can save a freight train 20-30 minutes with the construction of a couple of loops for $20m or track straightening which will probably cost $200m and save 10-15 minutes, which is better value for money?

What a waste of money. This money should be put into getting the line straightened instead.

NSW Freight and rail customers in the loop with $21.5m project

Was this section originally double line until 'relatively' recently?

From rydal to tarana was double line.

What a waste of money. This money should be put into getting the line straightened instead.

NSW Freight and rail customers in the loop with $21.5m project

If you can save a freight train 20-30 minutes with the construction of a couple of loops for $20m or track straightening which will probably cost $200m and save 10-15 minutes, which is better value for money?

line straightening would save more then 10-15 minutes. It would be more like an hour if the line got straightened.

What a waste of money. This money should be put into getting the line straightened instead.

NSW Freight and rail customers in the loop with $21.5m project

If you can save a freight train 20-30 minutes with the construction of a couple of loops for $20m or track straightening which will probably cost $200m and save 10-15 minutes, which is better value for money?

line straightening would save more then 10-15 minutes. It would be more like an hour if the line got straightened.

1 hour time saving Is very unrealistic !

What a waste of money. This money should be put into getting the line straightened instead.

NSW Freight and rail customers in the loop with $21.5m project

Was this section originally double line until 'relatively' recently?

From rydal to tarana was double line.

From Rydal to Sydney was Double line.

How much of the old Double line sections west of Wimbledon exist? Likewise west of Blayney.

Putting two crossing loops in place may save some time but seriously how much in the overall scheme of things?

It was double track all the way to Kelso.

It was double track all the way to Kelso.

Oops, It certainly was, don't know why I only picked Rydal except that was the station mentioned.

Double line from Spring Hill to Orange East Fork 12 km's

So that now leaves the double track between Gresham and Murrobo and we have it all.

What a waste of money. This money should be put into getting the line straightened instead.

NSW Freight and rail customers in the loop with $21.5m project

If you can save a freight train 20-30 minutes with the construction of a couple of loops for $20m or track straightening which will probably cost $200m and save 10-15 minutes, which is better value for money?

line straightening would save more then 10-15 minutes. It would be more like an hour if the line got straightened.

You're up to $500m at least now, quite probably more, to cut the 2hr transit between Bathurst and Lithgow to 1 hour and then get stuck at Lithgow for 4 hours instead of 3 waiting for the metro curfew to end  

What a waste of money. This money should be put into getting the line straightened instead.

NSW Freight and rail customers in the loop with $21.5m project

If you can save a freight train 20-30 minutes with the construction of a couple of loops for $20m or track straightening which will probably cost $200m and save 10-15 minutes, which is better value for money?

line straightening would save more then 10-15 minutes. It would be more like an hour if the line got straightened.

1 hour time saving Is very unrealistic !

The bathurst bullet takes an hour and 6 minutes and so it would probably save 30 minutes on a new straight alignment for a passenger service but a freight train is going to take at least 30 minutes longer then the bullet and so 40-45 minutes is surely possible.

What a waste of money. This money should be put into getting the line straightened instead.

NSW Freight and rail customers in the loop with $21.5m project

If you can save a freight train 20-30 minutes with the construction of a couple of loops for $20m or track straightening which will probably cost $200m and save 10-15 minutes, which is better value for money?

line straightening would save more then 10-15 minutes. It would be more like an hour if the line got straightened.

You're up to $500m at least now, quite probably more, to cut the 2hr transit between Bathurst and Lithgow to 1 hour and then get stuck at Lithgow for 4 hours instead of 3 waiting for the metro curfew to end  

It is rumoured that there may be some money coming to address that issue. In the mean time, this is long overdue and badly needed. 'Shame we are spending money undoing decisions made in the recent past.

What a waste of money. This money should be put into getting the line straightened instead.

NSW Freight and rail customers in the loop with $21.5m project

If you can save a freight train 20-30 minutes with the construction of a couple of loops for $20m or track straightening which will probably cost $200m and save 10-15 minutes, which is better value for money?

line straightening would save more then 10-15 minutes. It would be more like an hour if the line got straightened.

You're up to $500m at least now, quite probably more, to cut the 2hr transit between Bathurst and Lithgow to 1 hour and then get stuck at Lithgow for 4 hours instead of 3 waiting for the metro curfew to end  

It is rumoured that there may be some money coming to address that issue. In the mean time, this is long overdue and badly needed. 'Shame we are spending money undoing decisions made in the recent past.

Yanks singled line many tracks when traffic levels fell to a level where double tracks could not be justified. When traffic levels rose they re-instated the second track. Remember the NSW western line was singled a long time ago now and the savings in not maintaining 2 tracks may go a long way towards in building new loops.

At sodwalls there is the old 1870 alignment which could be rebuilt. Bridges are still there and modern diesels shouldn't have an issue and it would take off a few kilometres from the journey. Heck you could use the current alignment to hold extremely long freight trains while the xpt, xplorer or the new regional trains zipped through on the shorter rebuilt 1870 alignment.

What a lot of people forget is the geography in that part of the world . Assuming the money was available you could make the rail corridor follow the road corridor - but then anything that isn't a bullet or an X won't get up the hills . Take a look at the trucks on the grades in that part of the world .

Many of those deviations were to address grade issues like it was on the southern and other rail corridors .

The big issue between Bathurst and Lithgow now days is the lack of track capacity , the slowest trains out there are the ones waiting to cross opposing movements . The X and now the Bullet carve up most other things out there because they have priority . I don't think most of you can appreciate what its like to sit at places like Tarana on an up train - for an hour or more - waiting for two down trains to get across from Wang .

At sodwalls there is the old 1870 alignment which could be rebuilt. Bridges are still there and modern diesels shouldn't have an issue and it would take off a few kilometres from the journey. Heck you could use the current alignment to hold extremely long freight trains while the xpt, xplorer or the new regional trains zipped through on the shorter rebuilt 1870 alignment.

Part of that alignment has been washed out, the other aspect is how much of the old embankments would need to be redone, if the long eased curve section was left in place with the old alignment brought back into operation, it could well be used for bi directional running.

A better but more costly option would be bring a new section into operation from west of the old Sodwalls station and run to where the old alignment cut in on the Lithgow end.

The problem with the Western line from west of Wang is that the whole of the line is in need of upgrades, trouble is while having a new crossing loop brought into place in two locations, its only band aid fixes, and like so many other main lines grade easing and realignments are what is really needed.  A new long loop at Sodwalls will only be a band aid solution and in reality why not bring the whole section from Tarana through to Wang, or at least to the top of the grade near that GWH bridge? Doing that as well as curve realigning would be a huge benefit overall and go a bit of the way towards making rail more competitive.

What a lot of people forget is the geography in that part of the world . Assuming the money was available you could make the rail corridor follow the road corridor - but then anything that isn't a bullet or an X won't get up the hills . Take a look at the trucks on the grades in that part of the world .

Many of those deviations were to address grade issues like it was on the southern and other rail corridors .

The big issue between Bathurst and Lithgow now days is the lack of track capacity , the slowest trains out there are the ones waiting to cross opposing movements . The X and now the Bullet carve up most other things out there because they have priority . I don't think most of you can appreciate what its like to sit at places like Tarana on an up train - for an hour or more - waiting for two down trains to get across from Wang .

The grade issues were with steam trains in 1918 and not a modern freight train with 3 or 4 x 4000hp locomotives in 2018. Certainly the X's could use the original alignments without an issue and freight trains could use the current wiggly lines.

What a waste of money. This money should be put into getting the line straightened instead.

NSW Freight and rail customers in the loop with $21.5m project

If you can save a freight train 20-30 minutes with the construction of a couple of loops for $20m or track straightening which will probably cost $200m and save 10-15 minutes, which is better value for money?

line straightening would save more then 10-15 minutes. It would be more like an hour if the line got straightened.

You're up to $500m at least now, quite probably more, to cut the 2hr transit between Bathurst and Lithgow to 1 hour and then get stuck at Lithgow for 4 hours instead of 3 waiting for the metro curfew to end  

It is rumoured that there may be some money coming to address that issue. In the mean time, this is long overdue and badly needed. 'Shame we are spending money undoing decisions made in the recent past.

Yanks singled line many tracks when traffic levels fell to a level where double tracks could not be justified. When traffic levels rose they re-instated the second track. Remember the NSW western line was singled a long time ago now and the savings in not maintaining 2 tracks may go a long way towards in building new loops.

The allocation of funds for this project would have much more to do with the up-coming election than it would with any savings generated by the rationalization. Some rationalization was probably justified but the current arrangements are a special brand of stupid.

Neither of these 'new' crossing loops with have any affect on the running times of any train, Freight or Passenger traveling between Lithgow and Blayney.
All the new Crossing Loops will do is allow better crossings to be made instead of having them stand where they do now.
One single crossing can make an immense difference in the over all traveling times.
Of an afternoon, 7LE heading to Kandos to double number 8 back to Lithgow.
It was due to cross 68 Railmotor one section before Kandos Works which meant the crew had to ride back Pass on Number 8 arriving well over an hour after the arrival of the Railmotor in Lithgow and sign off.
If they could jump just ONE section. they could arrive at the Works and catch 68 Home.......
Just 5 minutes made the difference.

I wouldnt fancy sitting out there at Sodwalls waiting for the Yowies to come and have their 'wicked ways' with me............

Neither of these 'new' crossing loops with have any affect on the running times of any train, Freight or Passenger traveling between Lithgow and Blayney.
All the new Crossing Loops will do is allow better crossings to be made instead of having them stand where they do now.
One single crossing can make an immense difference in the over all traveling times.
Of an afternoon, 7LE heading to Kandos to double number 8 back to Lithgow.
It was due to cross 68 Railmotor one section before Kandos Works which meant the crew had to ride back Pass on Number 8 arriving well over an hour after the arrival of the Railmotor in Lithgow and sign off.
If they could jump just ONE section. they could arrive at the Works and catch 68 Home.......
Just 5 minutes made the difference.

I wouldnt fancy sitting out there at Sodwalls waiting for the Yowies to come and have their 'wicked ways' with me............

No passenger trains stop at Sodwalls in 2018 and so if your looking to catch a train from sodwalls then you are out of luck. Their isn't even a station or even a platform any more.

I'm not sure what railmotor 68 is but kandos is on a completely separate line from where the loops are being talked about and again only one historic passenger train has run on that line on a special tour day / weekend in recent memory.

Shortening the travel distance for the bathurst bullet can make a difference in how it gets pathed through Sydney. If using the original alignments could allow freight trains to move forward and allow passenger trains a faster journey then that is great but reducing travel times and distances is much more important.

Time yes , distances questionable .

I don't get the these crossing loops won't alter the running times of any trains bit . If you are a section or two ahead of what the current infrastructure allows when you finally get the green how can you be no better off ?
In case you are wondering yes I have run trains through that part of the world . And yes I have sat at places like Tarana for an hour or so waiting for two trains to get across from Wang .
Yetties are ok , they devour non route qualified gunzels though ...