Railroad Australia | Episode 1 | FD Real Show

[Music] they are the kings of the australian outback we've got to concentrate all the time some of the biggest trains in the world if things go wrong with these things normally makes a big mess on epic journeys through a hostile continent i don't know what we're going to do is slow down and blow the horn [Music] a nation depends on them oh god boys and the teams that keep these metal monsters on the tracks hauling huge loads of food freight and mineral riches across incredible distances we are out in the middle of nowhere that's for sure big trains big country [Music] on railroad australia on board one of the toughest rail journeys on the planet a super train crossing the scorching australian continent the major concern is we could have derailed running non-stop for two days because sometimes you don't make it it's man and machine in the ultimate endurance test on the rugged west coast an ore train 100 wagons long the workhorses of a billion dollar industry but what happens if the trains stop shutting the railway down's not a very fun game and riding the roughest rails to nowhere it's when their fur touches the train and it starts getting close a vintage outback train still running picking up the strangest passengers having a long drawn out death in the sun [Music] at the maintenance sheds of melbourne freight company sct logistics three locomotives are getting ready for a marathon 6 000 kilometer trek starting in melbourne across to adelaide and then over the continent to the most isolated city in australia perth and back again like going from london to new york by train nearly two kilometers long as tall as a two-story house these super-sized trains supply australia's most isolated city if they don't get through the supermarket shelves start to empty we've got four and a half thousand tonne and we've got about 1650 meters at top speeds of 110 kilometers an hour the drivers have plenty to worry about gusting winds that could blow their double stacked containers off the rails track buckle from the blistering heat floods washing away the tracks from under them the train came apart and at that stage we didn't know what was wrong [Music] it's tough out there first thing i'm going to do is check the level in the oil level in the compressor and graham smith has to make sure these long-distance workhorses can face this hostile country we just have just a general look around to make sure there's no pipes leaking or there's a few rubber pipes there to make sure they haven't split there's already been a casualty on the trip back from perth a wheel set on one of the towering refrigeration wagons needs replacing changing this wheel because of these spores the chunks of metal that have been missing from the wheel as it rolls over the rail makes a thumping noise so a thump thump thump thump and that ruins the track surprisingly enough it's easier to change one of these than it is to change a car wheel as long as you've got a forklift i've got a locomotive that weighs 126 tons on top of me at the moment uh especially on another ball plane these locomotives will unfortunately hit camels camels and other wild animals sheep and stray cattle they make one hell of a mess just wash it off and send it out again loading up these mega trains are machines with incredible strength lifting 30 ton containers like cardboard boxes inside giant cold rooms milk ice cream and other perishables are loaded into refrigerated cars out on the desolate nullarbor temperatures can reach a scorching 50 degrees and more inside these wagons it will stay at -18 it's not just the desert that needs crossing between melbourne and perth there are also the adelaide hills the adelaide hills are horrendous steep grades that push a train to its limits long windy there's a lot of curves locomotives hate curves they try to climb up over the rails these hills are tough in the dry water on the line can cause havoc the sct train is due here in a few hours and the forecast is for rain [Music] from melbourne 4 000 kilometers away to the mighty ore carriers of western australia the biggest and heaviest trains in the world stretching up to four kilometers in length they snake through the wilds of the outback over red-hot dirt each train load can be worth up to two million dollars a nation's economy depends on keeping these wheels turning night and day at the carrara mine site 400 kilometers northeast of perth giant loaders are hard at work filling over 100 wagons of a bulk or train carrying iron ore magnetite it's a massive operation last financial year we shipped 9.4 million tons and it's george savelle's job to keep it all moving keeping these trains running between the mine and the port of geraldton 200 kilometers away getting it off the trains and into ships bound for the hungry steel mills of china george is the boss of a multi-million dollar operation half million dollars a day just in rail costs alone but today he's got problems [Music] a dangerously high tide and its surging currents have closed the port for those that haven't heard a tidal surge before it's um it's a fairly heavy storm current that comes out of the southern oceans and for us unfortunately champion bay where we have our port is perfectly positioned to funnel the tidal surge the extreme tides have brought the loading of the bulk ore carrier illawarra fortune to a standstill with other empty ships standing idle out at sea at this stage george's trains are still running so is the high-tech unloading facility tipping two wagons at a time taking less than two minutes to empty a set right now ore is flooding in mountains of it but it's not going out and that's a huge problem the whole time that that vessel sits there and we're not loading it is time that we're filling the shed and starting to get towards capacity if the illawarra doesn't sail on friday morning we'll be staring down the barrel of shutting the railway down from the west across the continent to the tropics of far north queensland get ready for one of the wildest train rides you'll ever take along some of the roughest track and toughest terrain in the outback this is the savannah lander and lee johns and will kemp are its drivers [Music] i've never ever got up in the morning and thought uh then i work it's like no other job spectacular scenery down there you've got yourself a crocodile bashing along century-old bush tracks stopping to help stranded strangers all in a day's work for this extraordinary relic from the past will and lee's outback adventure starts in the cairns rail workshops before the sun has risen right uh sitting back call me they're heading out on an 800 kilometer round trip they'll be traveling from cairns in tropical far north queensland 420 kilometers west to the old gold mining outpost of forsyth it's wet outside and there's a mountain range to climb before they hit the outback light rain can can be a little problematic with the wheels spinning a lot um so where we're heading up this morning up the mcallister range towards coranda uh through rainforest areas so what you get then is the leaves from the trees in the rainforest laying on top of the track wheels go over the leaves crush the leaves into an oil and then mixed with the water of course becomes very very slippery [Music] uh the right hand side is going to give you the good views thank you [Music] high up in the mountain range the weather is closing in welcome aboard the savannah lander for whatever you're doing this week is various different trips on board whether you're going to marieba or crander if the rain gets any heavier these passengers may not be going anywhere it's a clear evening in melbourne but at the sct depot it's the weather 700 kilometers away that's the concern okay thanks mate it's raining in the hills outside adelaide and that could mean trouble for this train the adelaide hills have probably got a one in 40 grade which is about as steep as you can get but with the length and the weight of our train the actual drag makes it a harder journey for the guys mechanic graham smith has to make sure his locos are well armed for the fight this box here has i think it's 76 kilograms of sand in there plenty of sand for when the wheels start slipping supply sand through here out the nozzle and spray sand into that area there after 24 hours of prepping and loading 3mp9 is ready to get going destination perth more than 3 000 kilometers away drivers mark wolverson and paul matli will be in charge of the first leg of this cross-continent marathon they'll do the first leg out of melbourne and you should have the release and we're right to go over you should have a signal any second roger i think thanks control paul will drive i like to go when you get the light driver while mark does the paperwork and communicates with track control two sct spotters will watch every inch of the train as it rolls out of the depot checking for anything that could cause a problem an open door a loose hose a noise that isn't right the train is pulling its own crew car its own mini hotel with five air-conditioned bedrooms shower kitchen and a lounge area so it is a home away from home boss andrews sometimes joins his crew on the perth trip to keep him in touch with the problems his drivers encounter 1652 meters for a gross weight of 5043 tons that's a big train see you on the return 3mp9 is picking up speed but it's an unusually rough noisy ride through melbourne's outer suburbs we're probably doing about 60 60 odd kilometers an hour at the moment uh that rate will take us about 15 to 20 minutes to clear the outskirts of melbourne when you're out on the nullarbor mainline speeds 110 kilometers an hour when we reach adelaide uh four drivers will get on they will have their own crew cars similar to this one uh though they take it through but perth is three days away and three mp9 is about to run into trouble [Music] uh when they arrive back in adelaide another two drivers will remove them to bring them through the porsche 3 000 kilometers away near the port of geraldton another train laden with 7 000 tons of iron ore magnetite has arrived at the carrara port facility a dangerous high tide has stopped ships being loaded but the trains running to the port are still being emptied yeah roger that's all good this is the vital link between the mine and the dock side yeah 761 that's pretty good there um can i get your loco brakes on when you're ready watch that local brakes replay these tippers can unload a 100 wagon train in two hours lasers are used to guide the cars into exactly the right position for tilting today the tipping is being controlled by mark horne his computer's monitoring the movement of every wagon but this morning the punctual arrival of each train is giving carrara operations manager george savelle a big headache the ships can't be loaded and the ore stockpile is growing into a small mountain we only have so much shed room in gerald and once that shed room is full we have to shut the railway down shutting the railway down is not a very fun game [Music] at this stage we've got room for two trains to fit in the shed and then we may be looking at cancellations and george's day is about to get worse back at the mine one of the loaded drivers has also run into trouble i just heard his noise in the cabin and um i looked down the temperature gauge and there was she was up where she wasn't supposed to be and yeah then i got out had a look and seen the leak andrew williams perth bound freight train has got off to a bumpy start and then another two drives what'd you get then it's hit something hard and the emergency brakes have locked on yeah sorry andrew we're pulling up mate we've lost their air okay air pressure that runs from the locomotives through the train keeps the brakes off the wheels when it's lost the brakes clamp on automatically this train is going nowhere yeah geelong control three mp9 at elders lara we've lost our ear mate just letting you know over yeah there's a fair jump in the track um so we could have uncoupled some wagons that's happened in this section before it can be quite rough roger thank you we're going back to investigate i'll let you know guys have to pull the train to a stop now and then they'll get out and they'll walk the train until they find what the problem is [Music] the major concern is he could have derailed then another trade could come along and run into the wreckage yeah just a uh hose bag that's come undone made about six in the front while the fixing of a loose air hose is simple now the drivers must pump the air pressure back up and the air should be coming up to get this train moving again this is what we call the hose band and this allows the air to go through the continuous through the whole train and with that come apart all the brakes have come on because all the air's escaped from the train it's pretty unusual for that to happen but it can happen that's pretty lucky actually that's so close to the front because as you know we're 1.6 kilometers long and uh murphy's law is it's normally right at the back but lucky this time [Music] no more excitement okay boss you like excited [Music] 3mp9 is rolling again 30 kilometers down 3 000 kilometers and more than half a continent still to cross from melbourne 3 000 kilometers north to tropical cans where drivers lee and will and their savannah lander train are struggling through the karanda ranges their passengers are ready for the ultimate outback adventure but the train has to make it over the mountains first and today that may not be possible steady rain is making what's usually a slow run into a constant battle for traction that greasy track sure is causing a bit of havoc at the moment nature's various elements are conspiring against them rain forest leaves full of oil have settled on the tracks add water and a slippery film covers the rails greasy tracks and a steep climb are the train's worst enemy what i'm doing because i'm staring at my speedo down here which is i can see when it starts to of course jump up i can notice that my wheels are spinning so what i have to do is i have to get off the throttle really quickly and allow them to uh settle back down and then just gently reapply the throttle just hopefully hopefully i'll get some traction so we can continue up this hill the passengers have no idea about the struggle lee's having up front uh yeah still slipping you can build up a leaf over over a period of a couple of weeks and then of course that little bit of rain like we said before it's just really bad so it makes it really hard to manage if we do start to spin i just quickly jump on this little pedal on my um right foot down below and that drops some sand underneath those drive wheels so um i've been using that a bit this morning i'd be surprised if there's anything in there we've got pretty powerful engines in these these days um but it still only gets powered through one single axle so the the power going to that one axle just just tends to send it a little bit crazy but i've been this is a bit right here where i've been stuck before still only halfway up the range and losing momentum on the worst part at the carrara mine george savelle's day has just gone from bad to worse on top of a closed port that could shut his railway down one of his loaders has sprung a leak and is out of action yes you're looking there dale fluid is spilling out from underneath i think we just spray a bit of coal and leak so i'm just going to jump up top and have a look cause i might be coming out around the aircon there somewhere can i get someone straight down the rail for a slow to 74's got a coolant leak a loader down when there's a train waiting to be filled is bad news george has to keep the operation running at both ends if the tide changes they'll start filling the ships and this train will have to go the huge steel buckets on these machines eat through the 10 metre high stockpile in amazingly quick time it's fast and furious but it also has to be precise every scoop has to be delivered into the rail wagon the right way the metal bucket can never hit the train the cars well the hoppers only sit on there by a little central pin that's more the weight bearing down on them that holds them there so you know if we make contact with that there's every chance we could we could probably knock it off the pin and dislodge it and so we've got to get cranes in and all that left it back on each load has to be the right weight so i've got dirty bucket now this is going to weigh the dirt [Music] and spread the right way if you can't get that right there's potential of what they call a push-pull effect um so as one's one wagon's fully loaded and it's pulling it the airline's trying to push it and your light wagon that's inside there's potential for it just for the effect that it could lift off the rails [Music] two loaders doing the job of three puts more pressure on the drivers but despite the deadlines getting the job done right and safely is always more important than getting it done quickly fast work by the on-site mechanics gets the loader fixed in just under an hour get it back on the run and load this train and center on its way the trains continue to run for now but the port is still closed the surging high tide has now turned into a super low tide we've now got low water levels in the harbor off the back of the surge you get atmospheric pressure and so on pushes the water down you get less tide in the harbour than what's expected if the low water continues we may have to sell the boat light and that means dead freight for the company we'll pay for space on the boat that we haven't used stockpiles are continuing to back up on shore the storage sheds are now close to capacity another 7 000 tons of ore is the last thing that's needed if we get any other surge or any other weather events come in now we could have the boat stuck in here again and that'll shut the railway down outside melbourne sct freight train 3m p9 is on the move again after hitting a bad piece of track advice control and they've given us your clear to keep moving despite the unscheduled stop the train is back running on time just before the victoria south australia border they'll swap crew a midnight changing of the guard the next team will need to be fresh for what's ahead all right [Music] [Music] yeah all right and we're ready to roll as soon as we get a signal green on top mate on the green the new driving team is ricky graham and andy bishop ahead of them is one of the toughest stretches of rail track in australia be a fairly challenging time between them and adelaide are the adelaide hills 50 kilometers of sharp bends and steep grains you go up and down a fair bit but then you actually pull the train up towards mount lofty which is the top of the adelaide hills they're tough work for any train but for this 1.6 kilometer long monster weighing over 5 000 tons they can be a nightmare sometimes you don't make it sometimes you stall unfortunately and of course you get up then you're going to come down so yeah that's a challenge too you're braking it comes down to momentum and uh making sure you hit the bottom of a of a dip and track speed so that you can keep your momentum up to uh crest over the top of the hill and rain is the last thing they need a good downpour it can cause hassles without traction before the hills they have to cross the murray river on a narrow bridge built nearly a hundred years ago and that's quite spectacular because you've got no guardrail out around part of the actual bridge as the train slows it's an eerie experience on approach there's nothing between them and the 30 meter drop into the blackness below [Music] climbing up now after the bridge they hit the adelaide hills the serious climb has started and ominously the rain is back the rain's getting heavier now i feel like slipping a bit more the train's going around quite a few curves and creates a lot of drag on the train so it compounds the amount of tonnage we've got we've got 25 bombs in there at the moment ricky needs to keep the momentum going or risk stalling i've stalled a couple of times on the hill actually close to me up from mount lofty chad embarrassing but uh sometimes you can you can restart your train and lift the load again or sometimes you might have to get um rescued by the cavalry so they might send out another locomotive and i'll attach the front and help you pull you over over the top or a train might have to come from behind and give you a bit of a push up the hill yeah i've struggled with 20 kilometers an hour so as long as it's still moving i can feel it actually struggling momentum is everything but they're slowly losing it the train speed is dropping fast keep going forward the three locomotives are pulling a massive 62 wagons the wheels are screaming out for more traction so to create a bit more adhesion if we stop or then we're in trouble at the port in geraldton there's finally some good news for rail manager george savelle the tide has turned and there's now enough water to support the loading of the illawarra fortune at the moment we're going to fill the boat to its capacity 70 000 tons have to be loaded before the next high tide when this ship is due to sail that will be more than five million dollars worth sitting in these holes we think we'll get our friday morning we think we'll be able to keep the railway running but there's also bad news with another 100 wagons of iron ore magnetite heading towards the port there's a problem with the unloading machinery all emptying of the trains has stopped supervisor mark horn has a warning message on his screen tipping can't go ahead those two green lines if they're not up wagon's not in position he'll have to find a way to nudge the car into alignment go into manual and uh just bump it forward [Music] it's still not right it seemed to have a fault in the position it doesn't want to come down they've started to load the ship the huge stockpile is disappearing there are other ships that also have to be filled and if mark can't get his loading problem fixed soon they'll run out of all on the savannah lander lee is still struggling with wheels slipping in the wet the motor on their vintage train is working overtime straining up the steep grades it's a grind on wet tracks lee has been manually laying sand the sand being uh blasted by air underneath that the wheel trying to get traction so the sand is just like grip so it gets done there it crushes the sand down and creates something for it to stick to rather being just steel to steel it gives it a little bit of a bit of grip and it's doing the trick the track in front starts to flatten at last he's getting full traction picking up speed soon the train they call the silver bullet is firing again [Music] but with speed comes danger the savannah lander is a once a week service car drivers forget that it runs it's the last thing people expect to see you really are just dyson with death certainly don't stop on a five cent piece if you do drive me in front of us we put the emergency brakes on but the wheels most times lock up and they just start sliding you're still doing 40 50 60 k's an hour [Music] at the next town will has an important job to do i'll get it yeah from here on there are no electronic signals it's too remote instead a primitive rail safety procedure from the 1830s is still used once we get to this point things get pretty old-school next to his mobile phone sits a more basic way to communicate the wooden staff you run a relay you carry a batten and then you pass that batten on as you go and we need the baton or staff to use that that piece of track so that says material armor then as long as we've got this we know that there's no other trains on the line anywhere between matilda and armaden because they would have to have this in order to be there with this piece of wood on board allowing him to travel holder of the baton will gets the savannah lander underway knowing for sure that his train is the only one on the track which is just as well as will spots something that makes him stop i just saw something i just want to double check [Music] will started out life as a zookeeper which comes in handy on a bush train it looks like there's a little fruit back a little red flying fox just caught on the barbed wire fence on the left-hand side and you know yeah i know a lot of people think they're pests but having a long drawn out death in the sun no animal deserves that there's a good reason most people would leave this helpless animal to its fate [Music] some australian bats carry a deadly virus that can make a simple scratch fatal to humans but will isn't going to let this little fella suffer so the important thing with these is if you're not immunized don't touch them like will you're only protected if you've had a common rabies vaccination it gets almost impossible to untangle the poor little fellas but if the hole's not too big there's no skeletal damage then it shouldn't take too much at all luckily for the new passenger help is just down the track at the next stop so a uh a friend of mine um marjorie she's a wildlife carer just over at the post office that she runs will and lee hand the fruit bat over to the post mistress i i don't think the hole in his wings too bad [Music] her shop sometimes doubles as an animal shelter marjorie has just the right packaging for her feisty new friend all right stay in there there you go um done thank you marge that's all right soon the savannah lander is back on its way still more than a day away from its destination the passengers already have a story to tell about the day they rode through the outback in the batmobile [Music] at the carrara loading facility in geraldton george savelle has a new problem holding up his multi-million dollar supply line the tippers that empty the oar trains aren't working in the control room operator mark horn is trying to find out what's wrong lowering clamps his computer alerted him to the problem now it needs human intervention i seem to have a fault in the position it doesn't want to come down so i'll probably call off a sparky and get him to save me disruptions like these can stop the trains and the filling of the ships there's one parked offshore the galaxy patiently waiting its turn delays are hugely expensive yeah give me a minute i've got a wagon not in positions this fault needs to be fixed and fixed fast my um position arm won't go down can you have a look and see what i'm doing wrong [Music] i'm looking for the uh the alignment of the plant so the things that hold the train down when it doesn't step these super efficient machines can empty this train in less than two hours but when something goes wrong technology can be your enemy it has its little glitches has its moments i think the technician can't find anything that's obviously wrong that leaves the computer as the likely culprit it is after all the drama [Music] all it takes is a simple mouse click to get the multi-million dollar unloading operation up and running again copy pierce and teenies have finally got all heading towards the shed yeah cheers mitchell crisis over good news george has managed to keep the trains running we'll get the illawarra out to see and we'll bring the galaxy in and maintain continuous operations the wagons tipping and the ship sailing okay signed off we're ready to go good work [Music] perth bound 3mp9 is struggling through the punishing grades of the adelaide hills steady rain making its fight for traction even harder bit of rain around at the moment so the track's fairly greasy despite having three locomotives at full throttle it's slow going at times on this notorious climb the train speed has dropped to below 10 kilometers an hour so it's a lot of balance between the train dynamics to control the train speed but driver ricky graham has managed to keep momentum not much but enough to suggest he's winning the battle with the mountain there's one last climb before they're out of trouble one last push to the top it's a snail's pace but at least they're moving that end down the other side down through balear and down through to adelaide [Music] adelaide's outer suburban stations are a welcome sight as 3mp9 picks up speed heading into the south australian capital another welcome site is the rising sun it's been a long night but this train still has a long way to go the next leg of its journey is a 2 000 kilometer slog across the infamous nullarbor plane it gives you appreciation of just how big and wide australia is and how much nothing there can be out there and the desert will have its own unique dangers waiting for them [Music] next time on railroad australia three mp9 charges towards perth but no one told the farmer moving his sheep we've come along to 110 and wiped out big train even bigger mountain is 12 000 horsepower enough and will and lee find another difficult passenger but this one is even harder to handle

Channel: FD Real

Views: 66,877

Keywords: Free Documentary, Reality Shows, Reality TV Shows, Show (TV Genre), Documentaries, Factual Entertainment, Factual Television, non-fiction, Best factual series, FD Real, FD Real Show, Railroad Australia, Railroad, Rocky Mountain Railroad, Railroad Documentary, Australian Railroad, Outback Railroad, Railroad Worker, Railway Documentary, Trains, Train Documentary, Working Men, Most Dangerous Jobs, Australian Outback, Australia Trains, Railroad Australia Full Episodes

Id: SdBRCKZOI3s

Length: 44min 7sec (2647 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 25 2022