Railroad Australia | Episode 2 | FD Real Show

[Music] they are the kings of the Australian Outback they've got to concentrate all the time some of the biggest trains in the world things go wrong with these things makes a big mess on Epic Journeys through a hostile continent [Music] a nation depends on them 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 at the little nowhere that's for sure big trains Big Country [Music] on Railroad Australia a 13 000 horsepower super train that's what lies ahead of us the mountains up against the mountain range from hell we get paid big bucks for this one danger on the tracks how do you stop a 5 000 ton Juggernaut Farm is moving a hole in their sheep over the track and we've come along with 110 and wiped out half this earth and the Outback Heroes with train troubles the main air pressure is dropping up and down a little bit and a showdown with one of the locals early morning at the Port botany docks in Sydney the last containers are coming off a freight train that arrived overnight bringing thousands of tons of produce from Inland New South Wales the minute the last container is off the race is on to get the train ready for the difficult return Journey Sydney docks up and over the Great Dividing Range to its Home Depot in dubbo 500 kilometers away the name stamped on the train belongs to this man Roger Fletcher he used to lease trains to pick up containers from his sheep farm and Freight Depot but a year ago took the plunge and bought his own locomotives a multi-million dollar punt he hopes will pay off we're a family company that started from scratch I only started with a couple of thousand cheap on the road and we just built the thing up we're not a multinational but we try and keep control of what we got his workers are racing to fill containers with bulk meat wheat cottonseed and other produce to sell to the World Market it has to be done before the train arrives from Sydney but lying between the train and the depot are these the spectacular Blue Mountains are known for their Wild Beauty thank you but for trains they're a killer some of the steepest grades and sharpest Curves in the country [Applause] lose an engine on the Relentless Mountain climb and you're in trouble it will take three locomotives each with more than four thousand horsepower to do the job if things go wrong with these things it's uh normally makes a big mess [Music] shunt driver John otiernan I just checking the compressor oil has to make sure they're fit and ready for action these trains here go a long distance calling heavy loads so um yeah we check these every day it's all good okay [Music] my job great again after the engine check jono and his shunting partner Andrew brick known as bricky have to put the train together three meters just a one meter and ribeye well I mean it's red light here three-step protection in place shunting is one of the most dangerous operations on the railway those locomotives weigh 134 tonne each David coming jono if something does roll away goes wrong because you've turned a blind eye or something or not followed through on all safety aspects yeah fatalities do happen air brakes have to be disconnected there's a lot of uh flies everywhere takes your shins out anything else knees stuff you really do need right to mate you're away fantastic jono and bricky have assembled a whopping 62 Wagon Train that's over one and a half kilometers in length now it's time to take on the mountain from Sydney down to Adelaide where a freight train is about to track over two and a half thousand kilometers across the continent to Perth transcontinental freighter 3mp9 started its journey in Melbourne headed west to Adelaide and will now cross the Great Wilderness of the nullarbor plain to the Western Australian Capital nice day for us and uh yeah well hopefully we get there in two and a half days cookie is is one of four drivers for the next 32 hours he and the others will live and work on the train when they're not up front in the Loco home is the crew car where they eat and sleep this is the Box we carry all our stuff in light just for uh for the trip we're pretty good cook song yeah we're fantastic Cooks on this Mammoth 5 000 kilometer round trip they're going to need to carry their own Fuel and lots of it we have 52 to 53 000 liters of fuel there are no Bridges tunnels or roads where they're going so the train can be double sized upwards containers stacked on top of each other like Lego at six meters high these box cars are some of the biggest in the world they're twice the size of an average boxcar they're the same length they're just at twice the height so that they can get twice as much against 72 pallets in there double decking operation is fast and efficient the locomotives and wagons on this train are worth 25 million dollars the cargo another two million that's a lot of money and there's a tight deadline for loading we have a window of three hours to turn it around to get it out the last wagons of 3mp9 are ready to be shunted onto the rest of the Train by the time it makes its Mega journey across the nullarbor it will be Towing 72 wagons a train that measures nearly 1.8 kilometers the equivalent of 18 football pitches double stacked loaded to the maximum with food and other vital supplies for the distant city of Perth do an air test and then we'll continue on to Perth 3mp9 has been loaded on schedule and is on its way it's a good start to a tough Journey everything on time but on this route with two and a half thousand kilometers of desert Wilderness ahead thing can happen heading north to Almaden 170 kilometers Inland from Cairns where the Savannah Lander is on day two of a four day trip to the old gold mining town of Forsyth on a unique Journey that's always full of surprises drivers will and Lee have already conquered a tropical mountain range in the rain stopped to rescue an injured fruit bat and had a near miss with a motorist welcome aboard the Savannah Lander all those just joined us and welcome back to our regular sound passengers the Savannah Lander and its passengers have spent the night in Sleepy Almaden a Dusty one hotel town that still relies on this weekly service the train is old and the tracks it's traveling on even older the whole Railway line was built to a really really minimal standard whatever the least amount of work they could get away with is what they went with the rails on this Century Old Line are light and uneven you can visually site down at you know one's higher than the other and there's little kicks and dips in it all over the place the terrain is hard and unforgiving if there's a sign of trouble now is the time to find it if you're looking underneath this if you see anything bright shiny and silver that's probably something that's wrong so you look underneath if everything's black and dirty everything's where it's supposed to be it's an all clear for the 1960s train they call the Silver Bullet [Music] it's time for this Outback classic to hit the rails hopefully it's going to be a tough day at the controls but he wouldn't Swap this job for anything and I've been doing this now for eight years and it's still different [Music] say good day to everyone in the morning head off it's good I really like it it's not long before the Savannah Lander hits the worst section of track Lee's prediction of a rough ride is spot on in this rugged country there could be anything on the tracks a spotter car that can drive on Rails has been sent on ahead looking for danger we left Mount surprise this morning pretty early and he'll make his way across all the way to Forsyth um and what he's doing is just check and making sure there's no trees down making sure there's no large rocks or landslides in the area you can check for rocks and landslides out here but you can't predict the wildlife well to your right [Music] the Blue Mountains rising from sea level to more than one thousand meters it's a tough place to put a railway line but train drivers Simon Briggs and Mick Grantham have taken them on many times before that's what lies ahead of us the mountains with 1.2 kilometers of train dragging behind these mountains are a huge test of man and machine it will be a long and slow battle more than 100 kilometers of winding track ahead some of the steepest grades trains this long can manage which started the climb when we get to Valley Heights the grade stiffens again so it'll get steeper again the engines are working a bit harder now we're starting to wash off some of our speed so we're currently in Notch eight which is Full Throttle and we're doing 51ks an hour but they're accelerating at 8ks an hour a minute so it's a fairly steep climb up here for a little bit ahead is the first of a series of tunnels that help cut a path through the rocky Terrain the Train's horn has to be sounded before they hit the darkness a vital warning to workers who may be on the line the tunnels are more than 100 years old dark and damp it's one of the nicknames for them was the rat holes because it was like going in and out of a highly little Burrows with visibility low Simon and Mick have to be especially vigilant one down no one to go train is now is now the range it will take a punishing hour to break the back of the mountain pass an hour at Full Throttle maximum pull The Three Locos combined 13 000 horsepower is fully engaged as the train grinds its way to the summit if it loses momentum here it could be dragged down to stalling speed stop now and getting this monster started again will be a nightmare from just west of Sydney down to south Australia where freight train 3mp9 has left Adelaide and is snaking its way Westward Bound for Perth which is still two days away with cookie at the controls slowly building the huge train up to its top speed of 110 kilometers per hour after extra wagons were added for the nullarbor crossing it's now a colossal 1.8 kilometers long weighing 5 000 tons a giant of a train cookies pushing it to maximum throttle when he gets a warning from Train control it's a farmer moving a herd of sheep and he hasn't advised control so he doesn't know that we're coming he doesn't know there's any trains in the area and a train we're crossing has reported it so we just need to show a bit of caution on a train this size going this speed stopping isn't an option Farms moving oh they're sheep over the track and we've come along to 110 and wiped out half concerned so yeah it's a little bit dangerous animals on the track are a common problem out here drivers have to deal with them nearly every shift cookie and Ryan passed the train that warned them about the Sheep on the track already dropped their speed down to under 70. but if the farmer hasn't got his sheep off the line by now things could get messy if we see him hopefully be able to slow down before we hit him [Music] the Savannah Lander is carving its way across the grasslands of the North Queensland Outback sharing the rails with the local Wildlife well so you're right it's when their fur touches the train and it starts getting close both will and Lee used to be zookeepers Wildlife is it's a huge part of my life it's a passion something that I've just had forever I still get to talk about wildlife and educate a lot of the people on the train about it it's just in this sense the wildlife is out there if you come and walk two common wallaroos on the right hand side there's time for one final close encounter this time with humans before the Savannah Lander pulls into its destination of Forsyth we leave here at 8 30 in the morning so be over here before then it'll stay overnight here but before it does there's a local tradition that has to be observed yeah we're gonna have a ride on the train of course we're going to let them come for a little bit of a trip around the angle with us this only takes five ten minutes max [Music] but they love it they're here every week [Music] time to rest up ahead of its 400 kilometer return Journey [Music] and heading back to Cairns take us two days to get there um overnight tonight man surprise it's a small train with a big reputation and you're never too old to take a ride oh what's on me yeah Savannah Lander yeah we've been dying to get on it dying to get on us that's a bit of bloody wood for me to knock on things could get interesting you'll see 95 years old not bad [Music] it may be the home run but Lee and Will won't be coasting up ahead is one of the Train's trickiest climes what we're doing is we're climbing out of Forsyth up the Newcastle range which is our highest point of the Savannah Lander trip [Music] we do have a common Wallaroo on the bridge why are you guys out of there hey this part Here is known as high bridge funnily enough it's a little uncommon for us to have Bridges this High out this far west most of the bridges that we're going to go over are quite low these Timber bridges are made from local trees felled more than 100 years ago they're still standing strong but need to be inspected every year for termites which could weaken them they're sturdy and stable but Lee's taking no chances it's a long way down to the rocks [Music] from North Queensland down to West of Sydney where the Fletcher's freight train has finally climbed to the top of the Blue Mountains and is changing Crews for the last leg of the journey inland waiting to take over is veteran driver Bernie Baker and his partner Anthony kiss good morning morning yeah well your brother hey good man had two on the last she's bunched up brakes are just releasing there so it should be sweet Tony's a legend among the crews he doesn't just drive trains he collects them and today Mick has a present for him oh cool oh beautiful we've been hanging out for that Beauty thanks Mickey see you mate beautiful it's a miniature of one of the other trains Bernie drives another one for his collection [Music] an awesome healthy 62 wagon empty container train [Music] wave Bernie's a self-confessed train nut [Laughter] and has been since he can remember all I wanted to do was finish school so I could join the railways I was in my blood sea because Dad was a driver hey some more photographers [Music] Bernie's own train spotting Adventures nearly cost him his life trying to photograph a train from what he thought was a telephone pole monkeying up the pole oh my god oh I was done I'll stack my neck up between the wires and got electrocuted spent two months in a coma and blew the leg off so I lost lost my right leg there below knee yeah woke up out of a coma One Stop too many what kind of a nut job Chase's trains and takes photos of it not me train is due to make it back to base in dubbo late this evening to pick up thousands of tons of freight for the return Journey but at the Fletcher's Home Depot 200 kilometers away I just got a major breakdown mate on my cotton picker things aren't running so smoothly operations manager Sean Magnuson has lost one of his conveyor belts that load the containers had a bit of a break in the end roller the stub axles broke torn off last night thank you this Consignment of cotton seed has to be packed and locked into containers by the time Bernie's train arrives the train can't be held up these containers have to get to the docks in Sydney on time we're loading about 75 containers today in total we've already got about 120 already packed if they're late the ships will sail without them I'll just sitting inside here we'll make a new shaft and put your bearings on it and hopefully we'll draw back together again and going by nine o'clock hopefully Bernie's train is on its way due to arrive in a few hours if Sean can't fix the conveyor belt in time this cotton seed won't be going anywhere the drivers of 3mp9 cookie and Ryan have been warned there could be a flock of sheep on the line you think if it was going to be any that would have been at that level crossing back there they've been scanning The Horizon for signs of trouble but can see nothing to be there's somehow in The Paddock here but I can't see any around the truck we've just gone past the 49 so let me obviously move them so it should be all right to pick up speed and go back to normal audio control just going past about a 50 kilometer Mark and there's no sign of any sheep um out here so yeah she's all good cookie and Ryan's shift in the driving cabin is about to end we've done well we haven't hit anything it's looking good in each eight-hour shift the Locos will travel more than 600 kilometers and burn through 6 000 liters of diesel having the driver relay means these trains can go virtually non-stop across the desert country I'll drive for four hours and then Darren will take over for the next four this train is heading into one of the loneliest places on Earth [Music] but not much else drivers joke about it being UFO country long ago the new driver Phil had an encounter that wasn't so funny about midnight one night and we went across through a cattle grape and next thing a big light shot down from above us let out the hole area right across outside the whole locomotive and then it was gone it was only there for a Split Second it's almost like a helicopter life we looked out the window and there was no helicopters or anything I don't believe in you advice no I can't explain what they was so it was an unidentified flying object I'm keeping to myself people think I'm nuts [Music] [Applause] just over the blue mountains west of Sydney the Good Run Of Fletcher's drivers Bernie and Anthony has come to an end track controllers are holding them in a siding to make way for a passenger train to pass them on the single track section of the line that's him now just let him blown you now oh time to break out the afternoon scones this is great [Music] crawling through the Rolling Hills again Bernie gets to admire the full length of his 1.2 kilometer train back of it hi they're going to tried good very colorful there's boxes things aren't so relaxed at the Fletcher's Depot in dubbo yeah right we'll have it over at the workshop where operations manager Sean Magnuson is trying to get a broken cotton packing machine together again if the conveyor belt isn't fixed in time there'll be five less containers holding 120 tons nearly forty thousand dollars of cotton seed Bound for China that won't make it but we'll take this over to the workshop are you right for the minute to do that as night falls the repair job continues the pressure's on to fix the conveyor belt the Savannah Lander is cruising towards its next stop but Lee's gauges are telling him he has a problem so I'm just noticing that the main main air pressure is going between 100 and 125. it's uh just dropping up and down a little bit as we're getting along air pressure is what powers the brakes lose it and the brakes will automatically lock on so I was just wondering if I could hear any air leaking out anywhere what tends to happen when you come up out of Forsyth you've got a lot of really tight curves and can put a lot of pressure between the two units will gets the job to check it out can you go stand in between until we can hear like one of the hoses leaking yeah foreign [Music] or anything if you want to pull up and have a look at it yeah mine the Savannah Lander makes its first unscheduled stop neither driver wants to take a risk out here uh Lisa's got to go and check a hose pipe there's just a little abnormality there are no mechanics to call on it's a problem they'll have to fix themselves you can sort of hear a little hiss [Music] Melbourne to Perth freighter 3mp9 is about to enter one of the world's biggest wildernesses this is one of the last electronic signals its drivers will see yeah because the remoteness there's no power out here to run signals we're going to go underneath Stuart Highway which goes to Alice Springs so once we go under that that's the last major road we'll see until we get to about cowgirli which is uh another 1400 kilometers away it's a single line for the next 1 000 kilometers and it has to be shared the only place these super trains can pass is in sightings just long enough to fit a 1.8 kilometer train they're called Crossing loops and out here they serve another purpose drivers use them to check each other's trains for problems as they pass I see a door open or some ropes hanging down or something like that MP9 you're all there complete all right thanks for that uh you're all complete to your flashing on the end thank you after the Crossing it's time for a late night crew change in the nowhere cookie and Ryan will do the graveyard shift [Music] next leg is unique ahead of them is the longest straight stretch of Railway line in the world but we're keeping our maximum speed at 110 there'll be a few little dips and little ups and downs but other than that it's just a straight track 478 kilometers of dead straight track on the other side of the continent in New South Wales Bernie and his driving partner are looking out for stray animals that could wander onto the tracks at any time look at him where's he's mating uh rock wall with me I'll show you were the worst they go underneath I get tangled around all the traction Motors you know that are on the axles and they start to cook [Music] lucky for them there's something cooking in the cab that smells good [Music] Bernie's diet's about to take another hit oh [Music] in his perfect job with the perfect dinner it's moments like these Bernie relishes have a look at that Anthony bro we get paid quick bucks for this Bernie may be enjoying the ride but at the Depot operations manager Sean Magnuson and his team are still frantically trying to fix the cotton loader it's been down for four hours they've managed to rebuild a broken shaft but they need to fit it and get it working before Bernie's train arrives [Music] holding that holding there [Music] it's been a tense race if we can get him started but when Sean fires up the loader again but she's up and running it looks like they've won sweet ass boys finally they can load up the remaining cotton seed to make to make them so this box is now packed we should be okay you know work together as one and we'll be right we'll get it through after a 500 kilometer Journey up and over a notorious mountain range Bernie's train has made it safely to the depot on time ready to be loaded for a quick return to the docks tomorrow we're here it's been a long day shut them down Tire up and go home [Music] the train lover Bernie can't wait to do it all over again it is a bloody good job it is really really a good job in the outback the Savannah Lander is still out of action [Music] Lee is trying to find out why he has lost air pressure let's sort of hear a little hit air hose just as we can get too is a lot of I don't know whether you can see a little dust builds up in the seals so um every now and then that sort of creates a bit of an issue so you just get in clean it out it's hot Dusty work but eventually Lee discovers what's wrong a latch that keeps the back door closed has been malfunctioning there we go it's powered by the Train's air pressure system and is the reason for the unusual readings on his gauges the back door wasn't quite latched so um yeah the little little trip switch that goes on that just letting go every now and then and the Savannah Lander is soon back on track yeah this is uh Mount surprise now we've been told there's about 70 odd people that live here but Lee and I have only ever met six passengers will stay the night in the local hotel but will and Lee have an after work engagement so yeah I mean we were always happy to do something a bit different when the train pulls up out here will and Lee can always rely on an invitation for a get-together but tonight's Gathering down by the creek isn't what they expected there's dogs on chairs what's going on here I figured we'll come in here to help Doug do some some sort of mustering or something like that is he's pretty loose with his terms across the telephone but we got out here and he's he's got some some good friends of his uh that are visiting they've been sitting on the chair for 20 minutes while cattle dogs on chairs might be a laugh what's lurking in a water trough is not [Music] must have jumped in there out of the creek yeah I'll see him in here from time to time but after going non-stop through the night cookie and Ryan are across the nullarbor but still a day away from their destination of Perth so far we've traveled about 700 guys um so during the night which is a pretty good effort cookie has a present for the drivers of a train in a siding waiting for him to pass yeah mate um just passed the location ahead sign do you want a paper no yesterday's newspaper it's not a very good roll up but that'll do for him if they want a favor we'll throw one out [Applause] [Music] I have a good trip fellas 12 hours later after running almost non-stop for two days the train is back to civilization having crossed the continent well we've nearly traveled two and a half thousand K's so yeah we're looking forward to having a rest in a bed that doesn't move and uh yeah we'll have a have a nice shower and rest up for the way back I'm very tired looking forward to getting off [Music] behind the Locos 72 fully laden wagons that have been hauled across the country to do the same by Road would take more than a hundred trucks yeah 4 664 tons of train from Melbourne to Perth arrived safely at forestfield Depot Melbourne to Perth more than 3 000 kilometers the end of one of the world's longest train Journeys that's shut them down and go home [Music] while the Savannah Lander is safely parked up for the night in Mount surprise its drivers will and Lee are risking it with one of the locals at a nearby cattle station the freshwater crocodile is trapped in a water trough we'll get a rag or a something that's wrong on his head he's gonna bounce fresh water Crocs may be smaller than their saltwater cousins but they can still pack a punch thank goodness there are train drivers around [Music] you got that part yeah man the fight come around all the way so you can get out I'll go in you go out foreign part of the creek here that way he looks alright nice one so if you wanna pull it back off first you're right yeah foreign go on go go go go on this unique Outback train its drivers and passengers have crossed a mountain range save the fruit bat given way to a kangaroo on a bridge Crossing and rescued a Croc and their journey is far from over next on Railroad Australia there is a lot of pressure Kane fires and Kane trains a race to the mill and things can go wrong that's why we've got to be on our game Bernie's brush With Disaster thank you and a hold up on the Savannah Lander we had a passenger last week he got his head blown off

Channel: FD Real

Views: 62,119

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: hFFxuVuPzqc

Length: 44min 7sec (2647 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 01 2022