Is that a photo of the southern Aurora crash at Violet Town?

I can see the motorail on the train.

Granville and Violet Town two of the biggest in Australia.  Has Queensland experienced any major rail accidents over the years?

The history of rail disasters in Australia

Is that a photo of the southern Aurora crash at Violet Town?

I can see the motorail on the train.

Granville and Violet Town two of the biggest in Australia.  Has Queensland experienced any major rail accidents over the years?

The history of rail disasters in Australia

yep, that would be the Aurora. The carriages, motorail wagons and no visible locos all point to it being that

Neil

Chris briefly mentioned that they can now shut down a locomotive from the control centre.  Could anyone elaborate on this please?  Thanks.

Granville sticks in my memory. I was on an 8 week trip ( part business, part holiday) in the USA, and it was the only news item I heard from Australia in that whole time.

Granville sticks in my memory. I was on an 8 week trip ( part business, part holiday) in the USA, and it was the only news item I heard from Australia in that whole time.

It was front page with photos in Vienna as well. I happened to ring home that day and my Mother told me I would read all about it in the paper. I thought 'not likely' but checked a paper in a coffee shop and there it was.  It was 5 years later that I moved to live in the Mountains so was on commuter trains about that time every day. I later met a chap who lived in Faulconbridge, he was on that train and also on the Glenbrook accident train.

Has Queensland experienced any major rail accidents over the years?

QR had the Camp Mountain accident, that resulted in more deaths than Violet Town but fewer injuries.

Chris briefly mentioned that they can now shut down a locomotive from the control centre.  Could anyone elaborate on this please?  Thanks.

Has this been verified?

Has Queensland experienced any major rail accidents over the years?

QR had the Camp Mountain accident, that resulted in more deaths than Violet Town but fewer injuries.

Do you have a reasonable reference for reading?

QR had the Camp Mountain accident, that resulted in more deaths than Violet Town but fewer injuries.

Do you have a reasonable reference for reading?

Here's a QRIG spiel and the Queensland Police have a good writeup as well.

Thx

Here's a QRIG spiel and the Queensland Police have a good writeup as well.

Interesting that the QRIG report says that Guard Evans was recognised by the Board of Enquiry for his efforts in his attention to safety of the following train, and in assisting rescue work despite being in shock from the accident. However, the Police write up says that Driver Hind, Fireman Knight  and Guard Evans were all found guilty of lack of care and breach of duty, which seems pretty unfair on the guard. He could hardly be held responsible for the derailment, after which he seems to have done everything right.

Is that a photo of the southern Aurora crash at Violet Town?

I can see the motorail on the train.

Granville and Violet Town two of the biggest in Australia.  Has Queensland experienced any major rail accidents over the years?

The history of rail disasters in Australia

Surely someone is joking if  they claim they have a picture of the1969 Aurora crash by including a MotoRail picture. Problem is the Aurora did not have a MotoRail in 1969

The northbound goods train that the Aurora hit perhaps (probably) included car carriers.

The northbound goods train that the Aurora hit perhaps (probably) included car carriers.

Nailed it. From the ABC:

The northbound goods train that the Aurora hit perhaps (probably) included car carriers.

Nailed it. From the ABC:]

The freighter's wagons would explain it as that image shows more than the usual number of car carrying wagons on the Aurora. Could not check image earlier as that Railpage URL in the initial post would not open, so used the one that KRviator supplied.

I also just dug out the accident report and the freighter's wagons were listed as;
DETAILS OF DAMAGE TO VEHICLES :
ALX. 35  
OX. 23
SGX. 2
BKX. 11912
ALX. 21
ALX. 31
LLV. 11534

For academic interest, the two consists in the Aurora crash were:-

Southern Aurora.
S316
PHN2370
LAN2346
NAM2343
LAN2350
NAM2339
LAN2345
BCS2355
RMS2358
DAM2333
LAN2351
NAM2336
LAN2354
NAM2335
MHN2364

No. 428 Goods.
S314
ALX35
OX33
SGX2
BKK11912
ALX21
ALX31
LLV11534
LLV11018
BLX26
VLX242
VlX556
LLV9949
SKX10
SCE14511
VLX202
BKK11897
ALX226
GM1425
DDL31628
GHM445
BDL28619
PHN11676

The northbound goods train that the Aurora hit perhaps (probably) included car carriers.

Was Ford the only car company using rail for vehicles at the time or did Holden ship out of Victoria also?

The northbound goods train that the Aurora hit perhaps (probably) included car carriers.

Was Ford the only car company using rail for vehicles at the time or did Holden ship out of Victoria also?

In my experience, 1979 to 1983, Ford certainly sent a lot of cars from Upfield northbound on the standard gauge. However, I don't recall any going west on the broad towards Adelaide and although General Motors had a siding I, likewise, don't recall any loaded car wagons departing that siding in any direction during those years.

Neil

Thanks Valvegear.

Given that Violet Town was just over 50 years ago (7 February 1969) I thought that I would test my knowledge of the freight vehicles on the northbound goods train. This collision was around 13 years before I became deeply involved in wagon operations. I was not therefore directly involved in the reclassification of freight vehicles from their old 2/3 letter home system codes to the uniform RoA (Railways of Australia) four-letter codes.


The results follow. I hope that RP does not screw it up too much:

Vehicle as listed in 1969	RoA 'generic' four letter classification
S314	loco
ALX35	VMBX
OX33	AMOX/AMMX ?
SGX2	AOCX
BKK11912	NMKF
ALX21	VMBX
ALX31	VMBX
LLV11534	NLLF
LLV11018	NLLF
BLX26	VBBX
VLX242	VLCX
VlX556 (VLX)?	VLCX
LLV9949	NLLF
SKX10	VFKX
SCE14511	NQIX
VLX202	VLCX
BKK11897	NMKF
ALX226	AMBX
GM1425	HGM/NOGX ?
DDL31628	NOBX
GHM445 (HGM?)	HGM/NOGX ?
BDL28619	NOBX
PHN11676	NVMF

There are a couple that I am unsure of but hopefully someone here can clarify them. I am, as always, open to correction.

An interesting stupidity is that there is a PHN on both trains albeit that one is a passenger Powervan and the other a Goods Brake but at least they have unique numbers.

Also highlights the benefits of every piece of rolling stock having a unique number Plus the use of check letters of course.

The northbound goods train that the Aurora hit perhaps (probably) included car carriers.

Was Ford the only car company using rail for vehicles at the time or did Holden ship out of Victoria also?

I don't recall GM shipping cars out of Dandenong but I have a feeling that they did.

Otherwise, back in 'the good old days':

Holden used to ship car bodies (aft of the firewall) from Adelaide to the Electric Crane sidings at Spencer Street. These were shipped 'north-south' inside OAX  wagons with a top layer 'east-west' across the gunnels. I assume that these bodies went to Fisherman's Bend.

There was car traffic from Tonsley a/c Chrysler and later by Mitsubishi. Some of this went to Chrysler's Siding on the Upfield line.

Nissan and VW loaded cars at Westall back in the days.

Ford at Upfield was a major relatively recent traffic out of Upfield for Sydney and Brisbane. Block trains ran on SG several times a week. This traffic supported a big industry in car radios, batteries and spare wheels enroute.

Ford and Holden road hauled cars to Port Augusta for WA. This switched to Islington following SG into Adelaide.

Agricultural machinery was also loaded at Dandenong a/c International Harvester.

The foregoing is from ~50 years ago and is from memory so don't blame me if the detail is not 100%.

The foregoing is from ~50 years ago and is from memory so don't blame me if the detail is not 100%.

I was tempted to ask if it was 100 years ago and your memory was at 50%, but I thought I'd better not.

The foregoing is from ~50 years ago and is from memory so don't blame me if the detail is not 100%.

I was tempted to ask if it was 100 years ago and your memory was at 50%, but I thought I'd better not.

It just seems like 100 years ago but I thought that I had better add that 'codicil' in case there are any other bush lawyers out there.

I have been wrong before but, on the other hand, I may be mistaken in saying that.

Queensland also had the Midlander crash at Bogantungan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medway_Creek_rail_disaster

Of interest to some, the loco from the Camp Mountain disaster was repaired, and now sits plinthed at Injune, Central Qld.

The northbound goods train that the Aurora hit perhaps (probably) included car carriers.

Was Ford the only car company using rail for vehicles at the time or did Holden ship out of Victoria also?

In my experience, 1979 to 1983, Ford certainly sent a lot of cars from Upfield northbound on the standard gauge. However, I don't recall any going west on the broad towards Adelaide and although General Motors had a siding I, likewise, don't recall any loaded car wagons departing that siding in any direction during those years.

Neil

It was a train load of Chrysler 1967 VE Valiants, sedans and wagons (safari's) and perhaps other makes or later models, but I haven't seen any images to confirm.

See image:
https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ledawn/gid/slv-pic-aaa07848/2/ld000018

and

https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ledawn/gid/slv-pic-aaa07848/2/ld000023

Not sure why apparently new cars that were built in 1967 were on the train en-masse, but they were.

Mike.

The northbound goods train that the Aurora hit perhaps (probably) included car carriers.

Was Ford the only car company using rail for vehicles at the time or did Holden ship out of Victoria also?

In my experience, 1979 to 1983, Ford certainly sent a lot of cars from Upfield northbound on the standard gauge. However, I don't recall any going west on the broad towards Adelaide and although General Motors had a siding I, likewise, don't recall any loaded car wagons departing that siding in any direction during those years.

Neil

It was a train load of Chrysler 1967 VE Valiants, sedans and wagons (safari's) and perhaps other makes or later models, but I haven't seen any images to confirm.

See image:
https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ledawn/gid/slv-pic-aaa07848/2/ld000018

and

https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ledawn/gid/slv-pic-aaa07848/2/ld000023

Not sure why apparently new cars that were built in 1967 were on the train en-masse, but they were.

Mike.

Violet Town was 7 February 1969 and the VE Valiant was not replaced by the VF until March 1969. These would perhaps be the last of the VEs .
I don't know how the Chryslers from Adelaide got onto the SG in Melbourne ie whether they were manually transferred (driven) from wagon to wagon or via the bogie exchange (perhaps both)?
Maybe some other old bloke will know?