Railway Digest Magazine December 15 Back Issue

The BHP Billiton Dash 8 Locomotives
The last Dash 8 locomotive working on the BHP Billiton iron ore lines out of Port Hedland was withdrawn from service in July. Since many of these locomotives were rebuilds of Australian-built Alco locomotives, a link to the earliest days of the Mt Newman Mining railway has been lost. Peter Clark takes a close look at the rise and fall of an interesting locomotive type that played a significant role in the development of the Pilbara’s iron ore railways.

One Man’s Dream – A National Trunk Railway for Australia
As a civil engineer, Dr Ken Davidson specialised in transport network planning and practiced in that area for over 50 years. The concept of an integrated and consistent national rail network first emerged for him 40 years ago in Canberra, when, being responsible for its transport network, he became frustrated by how badly the National Capital was served by rail. His concept for a National Trunk Railway System, which he describes in his article, emerged 25 years ago as a transport planner’s response to this network issue of fundamental importance to the effectiveness of Australia’s transport task.

Four days beside the permanent way
In late August, Ewan McLean left his home in Victoria and headed north to NSW, initially to photograph the AK Test Train on the Boree Creek line. However, over a four-day period, Ewan covered a lot of ground and saw and photographed a lot of trains, from Benalla in northern Victoria to Goolgowi on the northern edge of the NSW Riverina District.