What's new
DPR Forum

Welcome to the Friendly Aisles!
DPRF is a spin-off of dpreview. We are a photography forum with people from all over the world freely sharing their knowledge and love of photography. Everybody is welcome, from beginners to the experienced professional. From smartphone to Medium Format.

DPRF is a community for everybody, every brand and every sensor format. Digital and film.
Enjoy this modern, easy to use software. Look also at our Reviews & Gallery!

Bulk steel freight train

Pete_W

Pete_W

Well-Known Member
I am travelling for the week with my wife while she does some work in a few regional towns. This afforded the opportunity to get the camera out and chase a few trains.

Unfortunately the weather today was poor, wet and cold. Nonetheless I captured a few photos that I liked.

This is QUBE Logistics train 3WM7 bulk steel, taken between Junee and Wagga which is just over 500km from Sydney.

QUBE's 3WM7 heading south between Shepherds and Bomen by Peter Watters, on Flickr

3WM7 on the viaduct by Peter Watters, on Flickr
 
Nice! Interesting and substantial cargo. Cool. I like the heat waves (the first pic). So... how did you do this? Same train (007) but two distinct/different locations. Even the weather conditions look slightly different. So... snap a shot... and then hustle to the next vantage point via foot or other means? What does 3WM7 represent? The route? Looking on the web, the lead locomotive appears to be a Downer GT46C. Reading a little more, in Australia, it seems that each operator also has a unique "class" designation for what are essentially the same unit (with possibly some minor differences)? For example, "QH" for Qube, "TT" for Pacific National, etc. You guys down under like to make things a little more mysterious! :)
 
Upon closer inspection... looks like it was raining (#2) -- and not raining (#1). More mystery! Maybe you have a fast car? LOL.
 
Per EXIF... Pic #1 = 11:08 AM. Pic #2 = 11:21 AM. Maybe you do have a fast car... and the ability to get in/out of the car quickly and shoot... or the track snakes around the hills (and the road doesn't)... or something!
 
Good deduction work there! Yes, it was a cold and wet day and these are photos of the same train in two locations - I chased the train.

I saw it departing from my car but couldn't find a place to pull over and take a shot so I decided to chase it. I took the local road that followed the track so I was driving alongside the train for a while. I got stopped at some roadworks for a few minutes so the train got ahead of me but then it slowed down going up a long hill so I was able to overtake it and pull over a few kilometres up the road and wait. After I got the first shot, I hopped back in the car and drove to the second location, a viaduct that I had taken train photos at before. My car does go fast, and the train had a heavy load and the tracks do snake around the hills.

Regarding the rain - yes, the first shot the rain had stopped when I took the photo. The second shot it was starting to rain heavily again.

The meaning of the train number 3WM7:
  • the first digit indicates day of the week (1=Monday, etc), this was Wednesday = 3
  • the second character denotes origin, in this case W = Wollongong (this is where the steelworks factory is located)
  • the third character denotes destination, in this case M = Melbourne
  • the fourth digit is a sequential number indicating order of departure
Regarding the locomotives, these aren't the Downer EDI Rail GT46C but rather UGL Rail model C44aci, which is similar. You are correct that each operator gives them their own "class number", so in this case they are QL class (Qube Logistics). I don't know why they do this. Here is a wiki page with the different operators of the C44aci locomotive:
en.wikipedia.org

UGL Rail C44aci - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Thanks for the insight. Excellent. I can see myself doing the same thing. Chasing the train. LOL.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top