Railway Digest Magazine February 2022 Back Issue

Intermodal terminals key to capturing bigger market share for rail
Intermodal rail terminals are very much in the news at the moment with new facilities under construction and several recent announcements heralding future terminals where containers can swap between rail and road modes. John Hoyle takes a look at several such projects around Australia, either planned, under construction or recently opened.

Diesel locomotive exhaust emissions in Australia
There was some correspondence in recent pre-Covid issues of Railway Digest concerning both the black smoke emitted by older diesel locomotives and their relative fuel efficiencies. . Rail engineer, Basil Hancock takes a close look at the issues involved.

Echuca line upgrades
The twin towns of Echuca and Moama (on the NSW side of the Murray River) have a combined population of around 21,000 and there has long been demand for more rail passenger services. A Project to upgrade the Bendigo – Echuca corridor commenced in September 2021, with John Holland performing the track upgrades, and the line reopened in December. David Campbell reports on the project and the story behind it.

Timber railway pedestrian bridges of suburban Brisbane
On a recent trip on the Spirit of the Outback, while coming into suburban Brisbane, Larry Zanker noticed that works were well underway to replace some of the iconic pedestrian overbridges that once graced nearly every suburban station. He decided that he should obtain a photographic record of the rest of them before they disappeared

The Riggs Creek broad gauge loop
Opened on Sunday 1 June 1997 as a result of VicTrack’s railway rationalisation program on the north-east line, and closing only 11 years and six months later, the 800-metre Riggs Creek loop enabled broad gauge services to pass in the period leading up to the full conversion of the Seymour to Albury line to standard gauge.
Ewan McLean takes a nostalgic look .