coalies collide

[aussiesteve]

G'day,
The latest ATSB prang investigation involves a coal train collision at the Kooragang Island coal unloader in the Newcastle burbs.
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications...r/ro-2020-013/
Some damage to locos and wagons, but no fatalities.
Kooragang is a massive facility.
And, the trains are also massive in length.
Will hafta await the final report to give details of just how this occurred.
The poor ATSB investigators are being kept busy during this virus period.
A number of recent incidents for them to investigate.
And, also giving me something to read while being stuck at home.
Steve.
PS,
link to the signal and track diagram for Kooragang;
http://www.sa-trackandsignal.net/Pdf...ARTC/AR538.pdf

[boilersuit]

Just had a look at Kooragang Island on Google Earth. It is truly a vast and complex facility.

[aussiesteve]

Us Lithgow lads never worked into Kooragang.
That is for the BIG coalies.
The size of the coalies dependent upon the actual source coal loader.
Ulan coalies being generally the biggest in the Hunter Valley.
We did briefly work into Port Waratah, the smaller coal unloader facility in the Newcastle burbs.
Even the coalies working to there were massive compared to our puny Cadia concentrate ore train from Blayney.
If it wasn't for the digging and exporting of black diamonds, the Newcastle region would be impoverished.
The Newcastle steel works near Port Waratah was closed some moons ago.
The 1997 Beresfield coal train collision was mammoth and amazing that nobody was killed.
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications...r/rair1998001/
As union cab committee rep, I got lumbered with the development of the Beresfield vigilance system that was mandated after the inquest.
A facet of the prang being deemed to be the then existing locomotive vigo system as being inadequate.
Mind you, it took the 1999 Glenbrook fatal Indian Pacific prang for management to get agitated about the implementation of the improved vigo system.
Steve.