Railroad Australia | Episode 3 | 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 at the middle of nowhere that's for sure big trains big country [Music] on railroad australia fields of fire the heat is on there is a lot of pressure to get sugarcane to the mill and things can go wrong that's why we've got to be on our game a missing train we're exactly is at the minute you know they're waiting to load and could miss the boat you've got a port window and that's what you've got to stick to yeah i can't have him blocked this train's got to go out this afternoon and an intruder on the tracks hey will will you're up stops an outback adventurer [Music] in the sugar fields of far north queensland farmers are setting fire to their crop a burn off to get rid of excess vegetation known as trash leaving only the tough flame resistant stalk rich in sugar to be harvested as the fire rages across one field in another approach cane driver ray stinger giles and his offsider michael mcneil are hauling bins of freshly cut cane to the mill all this walking keeps you fat eh they haven't found an easier way obviously i've got a 40 ton loco with a brake van on the back you've got about 1 600 tonne behind you so that's a lot of weight and you've got to know what you're doing and when you got to do it sugar is a two billion dollar industry in these parts it is a really constant battle making sure that the trains are on time and keeping them going out so the whole factory can keep on going an entire region depends on drivers like stinger getting the crop from the fields to the factory as fast as possible the longer it stays burnt without sand into the mill and getting crushed the lower the sugar content of the cane the less money we get [Music] the ticking clock piles the pressure on stinger and his fellow drivers he's returned this load early but tomorrow's another day it's a great relief really to go all that way up there and give back before the end of our shift tomorrow's trip will be the toughest setting out from the sugar mill at guru near townsville traveling 100 kilometers south to milleroo and return collecting from one of the remotest farms the lines through the fields are rough and basic they have a 200 kilometer round trip the sky today is clear but the forecast for tomorrow is for fog stinger and michael are in for a tough day heading north west to the old gold mining haunts of the early pioneers where one of the great characters of australian rail the savannah lander is halfway through a four day journey deep into the outback after traveling from cairns to the old gold mining outpost of forsyth drivers will kemp and lee johns are setting out on the return leg back to the coast it's all about just making time today a 10 hour run ahead of them all that looking at pretty scenery and stopping at creeks and all that sort of thing sorry can't do it they have a strict deadline to get back to home base in cairns but before they set off will needs to go shopping for what could be the most important purchase of his life just at the um little gem dealership in my surprise my girlfriend partner whatever you want to call it you've been with her for about seven years now and you know it's time to to step up to the plate and that sort of stuff okay gorgeous isn't it just it's fantastic just hopefully she hasn't changed her mind from any previous agreements [Laughter] but there's a long journey and a lot of work to be done before he gets to make his proposal big day today it's the last day it's the most tiring it sometimes can be a very trying day good morning everyone g'day welcome aboard lee is up front for the start of the long haul 400 kilometers back to cairns but keeping the savannah lander running on schedule isn't easy the tracks are unfenced and the cattle are willful and unpredictable pushing some cattle up the line here but down over on the right hand side you can see why they're hanging around down here there's a creek they're not the brightest animals if you've got 50 of them on the on the left and you've got five on the right you know the five on the right are going to go to the left so we tend to miss them but um yeah it's not not uncommon to have them right up against the front of the train as you're cruising along the last thing will wants is a holder or even worse a damaged train that can't make it back there we go i thought so going across onto the rides after crawling through the cattle lee hits the throttle but even in cruise mode his eyes are trained on the track he's done this run enough times to expect the unexpected suddenly he spots something on the tracks hey will will you're up lee hits the brakes he fears he's run something over just gone past it it's probably behind us hopefully didn't move will has to race back to investigate from west of cairns 2 000 kilometers south to dubbo new south wales where crews at the fletcher's freight depot are working flat out to get a train loaded and moving in just a few hours the train is due to depart dubbo for a 500 kilometer trip east to the port in sydney these containers have to be full and on the train by early afternoon for an overnight journey to port we've got to be away by 2 30 today so we get back into port for six o'clock window in the morning trouble is the train they're supposed to be loading hasn't arrived operations manager sean magnussen is trying to find out why not throw our train on the gps where it exactly is at the minute you know the news from train control isn't good we've got our train which is only about six k's out of town here and we've got an all train track control could give the coal train priority what happens is that broad meadow might let him go through first and then we'll have an hour and a half wait sean can't afford to lose 90 minutes of precious loading time yeah i can't have him blocked this train's got to go out this afternoon the three fletcher's locomotives waiting just down the track are towing empty containers but when the train gets to the fletcher's depot they have to be taken off before full containers with meat cotton and wheat can replace them he's going to lock us away is he if sean can't negotiate a green light for his train how long are we going to be blocked for he's looking at expensive delays it's costly we have to truck boxes into the port 100 boxes at the fate of sean's freight train is in someone else's hands but this morning sean is in luck that's all right mate train control gives him the break he needs and lets the fletcher's train through first now the race is on to assemble a 1.2 kilometer train in just a few hours yeah g'day mate it's bernie on 8148 how are you i'm doing just fine thank you sir veteran driver bernie baker is in charge for the first leg for 4197 ton oh look at all those 100 ton wagons all right we're going to know we're alive tonight then that's good it's heavy and long the three locomotives will be pulling 62 wagons over the great dividing range 1100 meters high nearly 100 kilometers across no place for a train this size in the north queensland cane fields a crop is being burned now it has to be harvested and transported to the mill quickly before the sugar content starts to drop comedy currently the yard for millard stinger is one of the drivers who has to make sure this happens there is a a lot of pressure but from the time it's harvested till it's crushed it's quite critical in the sense that uh the sugar content deteriorates in the cane and things can go wrong that's why we've got to be on our game so that you can get your run done in a reasonable amount of time [Music] stinger and his offsider michael have done their train checks but a thick fog is rolling in threatening to bring things to a standstill you've got to be more aware of what's happening when it when it is foggy you've got to give yourself a little bit more room to slow down visibility from the train is terrible i can see his headlights that's a train in front of them on the same line hey it's gravity uh the siding they're going to isn't visible until the very last moment but we're going to go off to the right because there's only one line in and out of the mill and if you have a major derailment here it's going to stop the logos coming from bringing the cane back to the mill and then stopping the locos delivering the next lot of empty bins to the contractors so it'll slow the whole process up after the trains pass stinger and michael continue to nurse their train through the fog it's probably uh probably the worst fog we've had i would say visibility would be down to about 20 meters yeah at this speed their chances of getting to their consignment of cane on time are not looking good but the fog shows no sign of lifting soon to make matters worse ahead are two busy roads we're just about to cross the bruce highway the train might be going slow this morning but the traffic isn't yeah uh fog's pretty thick hey comedy loco we're just going to come through moana park heading towards claire we just got to make sure that there's no problems going across because obviously if we have a dear element on the highway it's going to stop traffic as well you do a lot of damage not only to machinery but life and limb as well you know there are no boom gates on this section of the road only warning lights stinger has the lights on his loco blazing but the fog is thick and the motorists are in a hurry [Music] the driver spots stingers train at the last moment a close call stinger's going to have a nerve-wracking trip if these conditions don't improve soon from foggy north queensland to the east coast of new south wales and the inland centre of dubbo and we're right to go [Music] oh you ready anthony the giant fletcher's meat wheat and cotton train is loaded and moving [Music] it's 62 wagons long and has a 500 kilometer journey ahead of it part of that over the great dividing range one of the steepest climbs on australia's railways as it crawls out of the depot workers check that all wagons are fit and ready for the difficult job ahead so they're making sure no hand brakes and that are on everything's making the noises that it should no air legs in the hoses and things like that as well say hello to jimmy the inland climate on the route bernie's taking can throw up extreme conditions sometimes freezing yeah you've got frosty rails aren't quite working properly sometimes so hot the track um can buckle just because of the heat bernie's had first-hand experience with track buckle this scary footage was shot from the cabin of a train he was driving the locos wheels came off the track but bernie managed to pull up before a full-scale derailment incidents like that remind bernie how important his job is these logos are worth what five five five and a half million dollars each it's just not even damaging your loco you know their logo's got to be taken out of service you've got to find a logo to replace that one so there's higher charges plus the repairs well that's up we get paid for keeping ourselves alive and everyone else alive around us you know not paid for our good looks which is just as well [Laughter] i'd be broke if i got paid for looks bernie has a town to get through before this big rig builds up speed for the first serious hill so we've got what we call big kalua she's pretty steep just make sure you have good run-up [Laughter] [Music] here we go [Music] bernie has the easiest part of the journey an eight-hour hall to the top of these mountains it will be night when they get them and another fresh crew will take over for the difficult descent down the range in the dark the savannah lander has had to make an unscheduled stop in the middle of nowhere lee spotted something on the tracks it's up to will to check it out yeah i'm just running back now the train ran over the top of a mystery creature but it may have survived it's a snake i don't think you got him anyway that's the good news luckily will's an ex zookeeper who knows his reptiles so yeah it's little followers just sitting in the middle of the track it's a little blackheaded python not venomous but not a pet either he knows my affection for these guys often likes to stop to make sure that he hasn't injured it and it doesn't look like he has it all it's fine all good all good yeah lovely [Music] baby yeah this year's i'd say it's up to you snap you got a good heart [Music] will's girlfriend who he plans to propose to when he gets back to cairns is also a wildlife carer that's given him an idea i've asked mel to come down to ken station tonight when we bring the train in i've told her that i actually ran over a snake and i've i've damaged his tail and that it's going to need veterinary intention put the bag down on the ground reach into it inside the bag there's no snake of course but there's a ring pull it out and hopefully it all goes well pretty nervous for now will needs to keep his mind on the train and the track in front there are roads out here that the savannah lander has to cross but no level crossings or warning lights nothing to alert a motorist that a train is coming we dreaded the burke development road crossing 100 kilometer an hour speed limit a lot of road trains use it the only thing we've got protecting ourselves is of course a giveaway sign it's a nervous moment big trucks over 40 meters long can do 100 kilometers an hour on this road visibility with this crossing too isn't the best until you sort of get right on top of it so really important to slow it right down and make sure everything's clear before you proceed [Music] after the crossing they can make good speed will's proposal is still on track but there's one last hold up he can't avoid the odd train that came through they were still still more than happy to get out and uh and rob it [Music] yes train robbers after some easy pocket money best thing to do is stay seated the legend of ned kelly australia's most famous bushranger lives on people think this is a joke we had a passenger laugh last week he got his head blown off they take anything they take gold coins they take five cent pieces they take werther's originals [Music] that's some of the most irresponsible parenting i've ever bloody seen in the sugarcane fields stinger's train has avoided the traffic but he's still battling through thick fog how did this fog have lifted an hour or so they're heading for a cane farm on the edge of the growing area it's the longest trip of their roster if anything happens here if we have a derailment or any uh hold up we have four other logos behind us won't be able to get out 70 kilometers down the track on the farm stinger is trying to get to the harvest is going full throttle the sun is blazing and has finally blown away the fog that was hampering operations visibility's back to normal really you can see for kilometers before stinger and michael can pick up the cut crop there are empty bins to drop off at other farms let me know when you've hooked up i'll get you to come back about one then uh we're going to be dropping 54 uh empties head further up where we're picking up some more empties and then going up to six dropping off 87 and start picking up from six i believe the track stingers train is running on are narrow gauge just two foot or sixty centimeters wide half the width of regular lights it makes river crossings like this even more precarious there is a wind monitor that gives traffic a indication of how fast the wind is uh whether or not we can cross on it's only 100 feet from to the bottom i'd say gives me a thrill every time i go across it stinger and michael drop off their last load of empties now the train shortens dramatically it's just loco and brake van it makes for a cosy and quick run until the next bridge [Music] the combined weight of the logo and the brake van is uh about 80 tons and it's not straight down that combine weight on that one span on the bridge they have to be uncoupled and make the crossing one at a time loco first and then the brake van by remote control the brake van should release automatically when stinger hits a button in the loco the brake bag didn't come uncoupled from the location but today it's not going according to plan some logos the couplings they catch whether it's on a corner or it's on a a lean or whatever still attached it's not coming off i don't know what we're gonna do after an eight hour 250 kilometer run through the inland bernie baker's freight train has reached the edge of the blue mountains where there'll be a crew change big fella how's it going the new drivers will be in charge of getting the train safely down the mountains to the port of sydney yeah bangers and match man's got to eat man's got to eat see you mate all right see you then okay the trip will demand constant vigilance from drivers mick grantham and simon briggs in control of three locomotives holding back the weight of a train more than a kilometer long we need three engines three of them all doing poor working and we've got uh they're four and a half thousand horsepower each [Music] they'll be descending more than a thousand meters down steep grades with 62 wagons carrying 5000 tons of freight pushing from behind but before the descent there's one last climb we're in full power now going up the zigzag bank which is a one in 40 gradient which means that for every 40 meters we go along it goes up one meter steel on steel you haven't got much friction compare that to rubber on a car tyre against bitumen you've got a lot of grip but steel on steel there ain't the train disappears into the first of a series of century old tunnels they're built in between 1908 and 1910 there are nine more after they get through this one so it's one of the places you've got to be a little bit careful with the train the water drips through the tunnels you get it on the rails as well i tend to not come up through in full power anyway there's a little bit less ask of the wheels on the rails you can't take it for granted don't take nothing for granted the next signal just around the corner here is just before the big drop so that's the start of it it's all downhill from here 60 kilometers of hard braking we're going to take our time that'll uh make things simple that way if we go a bit slow then you're not going to burn out your brake shoes it's pretty much for the next hour just slow running downhill with the brakes on these trains have two braking systems and on a descent this steep they'll both be working overtime that's the air brake the red one's the automatic brake handle which works the brake shoes on every wheel of the train the second system is called dynamic braking the three locos generate electricity which runs motors that drive the wheels it works back through the traction motors traction motors stop being a motor and they start becoming a generator to keep the train from running away downhill the drivers reverse thrust so the engines are working against the train instead of driving it you can't just put the brakes on and off willy-nilly you've really got to plan your applications out it's the early hours of the morning but mick and simon are wide awake guiding this giant through the mountains keeping its speed constant the braking just right they're quite steep you could mess this up fairly easily the train and drivers work hard on this 60-minute downhill stretch it's maximum strain if something's going to break this is the time it's so tough on the trains that safety authorities have installed a sophisticated detection unit at the side of the tracks to check nothing's wrong it picks up hot wheels it picks up on bearings it's got drag detectors so if there's something hanging down from the wagon it'll pick that up as well and they'll give us what type of alarm it is what they think's wrong what wagon it's on what axle number [Music] will is back at the controls of the savannah lander which is still five hours away from its destination of cairns after four days on the train the afternoon shift is where you've got to be the most alert it's also the shift where you're probably feeling the most drained fatigued and ready for a weekend but his most important task is ahead proposing to his girlfriend with the engagement ring that's in his pocket and everywhere he looks love is in the air so he's attracting his female now well it's pretty similar to what we do isn't it see a pretty girl you like jump up and down and carry on like an idiot the train reaches the mountain range outside of cairns and that's about as dry as they get in the wet season obviously they flow a lot more from here it's a steep and spectacular descent towards the sea through a series of historic tunnels this is our tunnel number 15 the longest tunnel on the range just under 500 meters in length six men alone died in the construction of this tunnel pretty dangerous work all done dynamite will pick some shots will's asked his girlfriend of seven years to meet him at the station oh you need to see the ring he hopes to propose right there on the platform and to do it he has a cunning plan i've wanted to ask her something for a while and you know that black-headed python that we uh ran over today i i told her i've we injured it so sweetie can you please meet me at ken station and uh and i'll i'll give you the black-headed python and you can take it straight home i'm gonna put this ring in the bottom of the snake bag if she says yes cheer if she says no come give me a cuddle cause i'm probably gonna need it i'm nervous as buggery the savannah lander is back in cairns and will is only minutes from proposing to the love of his life will's going on adrenaline and excitement and nerves half a dozen level crosses to go will be saved she gave him all the right signals but the same can't be said for traffic control this is the longest bloody red light i've ever had to wait for you're gonna have to radio yeah i just got to get on the train control guys about this red light sorry oh yeah control just um stopped short of cs14 we've just got a red light there over uh yeah this comes down to the the fact that this rail motor is too light to be detected on the circuitry that they've got set up for these level crossings in cairns no sorry no still got a red over always last level crossing before you knock off on a saturday oh god i don't know what we're going to do stinger and his train are on the wrong side of a bridge the brake bear didn't come uncoupled from the locate with the brake van so close he's too heavy to cross he must uncouple it if you can't get the brake man uncoupled from the logo you've got to get the mechanics or the navis or the boilermakers to come up and do it it should just be a matter of flicking a switch but the switch isn't doing its job the brake van won't let go first go i had at it i was doing about 10 kilometers an hour and the brake man wouldn't come unhooked they're on a tight deadline stinger has to think on the run you're not allowed to have the loco and the brake band which is a combined weight of 80 tonnes or more on the span at one time he hopes if he accelerates quicker he can jolt it free [Music] not this time but on the next run his plan works the loco makes the crossing to the other side we were lucky we were able to solve the problem there and then and save a lot of inconvenience to a lot of people stinger then uses a remote to bring his brake van across [Music] it's the last hurdle before stinger and mick get to pick up their final bins of sugarcane right are you right to come back couple of couplings okay we got them all it's like a racing car pit stop stinger and michael have to be in and out in the quickest possible time ah can we start pulling out yeah with more than 100 bins in tow they're back on the move again but something isn't right the wheels behind stinger are screaming out so we've got down onto the uh level track the back of the train's still giving us a bit of a push because we're still coming downhill at the back but uh that's just about stopped and it's almost time to put the power back on so that we can keep going forward the fletcher's freight train is safely down the mountain cruising through the sydney metropolitan system on its way to the port but the job is far from over the drivers now have to break the train up to go to different yards i've got to make sure i cut off at exactly the right spot if i don't cut off at the right spot then the wrong wagons end up in the wrong place and it just gets messy from me it should be routine that's what we're up to [Music] have you got the brakes on me one of them is there's a deafening sound at the back of the train that's got simon worried there's a lot of noise coming from one of the wagons up here i can hear it coming down the line there [Music] it's not entirely healthy and we've been on for a little while too it's definitely something wrong with the brakes we'll um see what we can do with it they have limited time in the shunting yards so this problem with the brakes needs to be fixed mick can you just give it a full service once it's fully equalised then knock them off simon asks mick to pump more air through the system to see if they can unlock the rogue brake set that doesn't clear it i'll cut the wagon out mate yeah i pulled the release lever and it went in and with time running short simon decides to disconnect the vans brakes all together we'll isolate the brakes on this wagon and put some cards on it just so that it's defective the clock's ticking the train has to be broken up they'll have to shunt around the faulty wagon the solution is fast and brutal [Music] a dramatic end to a difficult journey that's taken this mega train 500 kilometers from farm to port across a mountain range and into the docks on time [Music] soon these containers will be on ships sailing to markets around the world in cairns the savannah lander is stuck at a level crossing waiting for a green light they've got like this timeout sort of feature that's like four minutes until it turns itself off it might do it itself and then we clear will's proposal will have to wait like the train so many signs will you sure you want to do this all right 5 39 just four minutes but [Music] there's seems to be some sort of a ghost in the machine should i get closer i don't have to get closer to it finally he gets permission to move on yeah oh wrong platform look i'm really surprised there's so many signs they've given us the wrong bloody platform [Music] will's girlfriend could be waiting on the other platform or maybe she's given up waiting i can't see it yet then relief as he spots her hi it's in here yeah oh a little blackhead he's not well [Applause] will you marry me [Music] [Applause] it's been an eventful ride one the passengers will never forget a 400 kilometer trek through the wilds of the outback with surprise stops along the way and finally a platform proposal i better go and get the luggage off [Music] the end of a journey and the start of a new life couldn't have gone any better i don't think stinger's cane train is making worrying noises they've a train of fully loaded sugarcane bins but the wheels are screaming yeah um give us a minute and this is the culprit wheels jammed by a forgotten breaking block stop block salooning a plank of wood could have derailed stinger's day you're right oh yeah stop block we're still in there mikey took off to go get the ticket and he didn't pull the stop block out we're dragging along a bit but he's still on track to complete his delivery yeah you like to take him outstanding there's a lot of cane here now close to 13 1400 that's more than 30 000 worth of cane not a bad day's fishing now they have a 100 kilometer trip back to the mill no stops based comedy approaching miad as they arrive at the mill out in the fields another fire is being lit in a few hours stinger and his cane train will be heading out again they won't stop until the harvest is over it's been a good end of the day because the week would have been another half an hour later we would have to wait all the afternoon shift like i would go out would be two hours by time we go back to the mill makes me happy day's done eh thank you [Music] next on railroad australia stopping the oar trains to fix the tracks [Music] on this line time really is money so every hour is down was about a million dollars wasted crossing the continent no place to run out of fuel and meet the characters that keep a famous outback train running i'm a thomas tank engine fan gone wrong

Channel: FD Real

Views: 51,527

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: 0j_boH2yAHk

Length: 44min 7sec (2647 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 08 2022