The LNER Encyclopedia

Who needs trains?
I have been sent these pictures by a friend, I think it is just the thing we need in on our little country roads!

These are interesting statistics.

· There are 17 trucks with 3 trailers and 2 decks per trailer;

· Therefore there are 102 decks of cattle and there would be approximately 28 cattle per deck;

· This totals 2,856 head of cattle

· The cattle will weigh approximately 500kg

· The sale price for cattle at Longreach is approx. 165c/kg

· Each animal will therefore be sold at $825.

· Total revenue from this analysis is $2,356,200

· Another interesting fact:

o Each trailer has 24 tyres plus a dolly with 8 tyres

o Each vehicle therefore has 62 tyres (not including spares)

o For the 72 trucks there are 4,464 tyres on the road.

Road trains loading cattle at Helen Springs Station, north of Tennant Creek NT.

Reminds me of the old Johnny Cash record:

Fortissimo

Give me forty acres and I'll turn this rig around...

The way railway fares are increasing and comfort decreasing in the UK, who indeed needs trains....

Ah, well, Larry - you never know the way things are going they may well be turned into express busways before we know it.

The I'll get angry.

You won't like me when I'm angry.

I was showing these pictures to a friend yesterday, and he told me a tale of a lad on a motorbike that made the mistake of trying to overtake one of these road trains a few years ago. He apparently got disorientated in the dust cloud and hit the side of one of the trailers, obviously the driver never felt a thing, and his body was not found for 2 or 3 days until the next vehicle came along the road.

This happened to a driver I know.

There he was, truckin' on down the M1 in the rain when he pulled in for a snack, toilet break etc. When he got back to the lorry, there was a police cordon round it with screens. A motorbiker had ridden into the back of his truck and the rider and pillion passenger's remains were still embedded into the rear of the truck.

If this can happen with an old-fashioned 32-tonner, God help anyone overtaking these things on dirt roads.

G'Day Gents

Trying to overtake one of these road trains is suicide on a dirt road, the dust kicked up by one of the road trains makes it impossible to pass, all you can do, is fall back about a half a mile and enjoy the scenery, even on tarmac roads it is dangerous to overtake because of the amount of clear road you need to get past.

We were about 400k's south of Darwin one day with my wife driving ( I was dozing, after a 8 hour drive) when she came up behind one of these trucks, and after about 40 minutes still hadn't managed to pass it, she got so frustrated the she pulled over and let me drive, we caught the truck up again after a couple of miles, and luckily on a long down hill stretch, I reckon I was doing 90mph when I passed him ( no speed limits in the Northern Territory at the time) the worst thing about these road trains is the rear trailer, they have a tendency to sway about, and can move by about 5 ft either way, with the rear inside tires hitting the dirt on the side of the road every 200yds, that keeps you back a bit so you have to time your run to overtake.

manna

coachmann wrote:The way railway fares are increasing and comfort decreasing in the UK, who indeed needs trains....

Oh give me a Mk3 pleeeeese!

B1 and Gresleys, if we're fantasising....

Blink Bonny wrote:B1 and Gresleys, if we're fantasising....

The thing is Mk3s were so comfortable, loads of leg room, very smooth ride and quiet to boot, unlike modern stock which at the best is cramped and uncomfortable. Theres no reason why they should not be still building new ones. I would have thought that Gresleys would cost a small fortune each to build with all that teak, and I'm not sure their crash worthyness is up to modern standards either.

" O' give me a home where the Big Boys do roam , and the box cars are 80 foot long" ....

mr b

I agree with Coboman - the original Mk3s were excellent.

But I still want teaks.

Blink Bonny wrote:I agree with Coboman - the original Mk3s were excellent.

But I still want teaks.

well don't we all!

The Aussies like doing things BIG!
check out their trains.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LsuNWjRaAo

Coboman wrote:The Aussies like doing things BIG!
check out their trains.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LsuNWjRaAo

a broken brake pipe would take some finding with 600 plus wagons