Unit48.com containers

Unit48.com is an Australian  subsidiary of the Dutch based Unit45.com container company. In association with  Freightquip Australia, they now provide both curtainsided and drybox 48' units for the Australian market. Unit45 is Europe's leading innovator in the creation and manufacturer of container solutions.
In Europe, where the 45' unit is more common, as it provides better specifications in the loading of pallet cargo, while here in Australia the 48' is more common.
I first saw a photo of one on Wagonfreak's blog back in June. A chance today, to get out and see 7MP7 Trailerail, and there they were. About 10% of the train.

Horsham yard closes.

On November 1st, 2013, the freight yard at Horsham railway station, was closed to all freight traffic for ever. Victrack will decommission the yard when QUBE relocate to a road terminal at Dooen. There has been no rail freight out of the terminal for many months, and the Overland only stops twice weekly in each direction.
Community consultation now begins on what to do with the site; though, the council has indicated that the site is probably heavily contaminated, and the cost of clean up will restrict  any possible redevelopment of the site.

Most of the track in the yard will probably be removed, and as for the future of the goods shed, will it go the same way as the freight gate, whose foundations, are the yellow concrete pads in the above photo?

QUBE packing up to leave.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60627979@N02/10585442494/


All that remains, is poor 7334, still sitting at the end of the yard, as shown when IEV100 visited the yard in December 2013.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60627979@N02/11197686973/in/photostream/

Containers. How are they made?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7l6AQN1KV0

The attached Youtube video was produced by Big steel Box, and shows how a container is made.

FQX/VQCX plus others

The FQX, built by Victorian Railways, was introduced into service from 1969. A total of 435 wagons were built, coded 501 onwards. Both South Australian railways and NSW built wagons, utilising the same design. SDS Models a/ready produce the OCY, and Steam Era models produces a kit for the FQX, which when made straight out of the packet, produces the VR FQX/VQCX. A little work will turn this model into the SAR FQX/AQCX. The SAR built 120 units, and were allocated the numbers 1 to 500.
Two units, VQCX 607 and 657 were repainted in V/Line freight orange and grey, before the sale to freight Australia.
http://www.pjv101.net/fts/u01/af183.jpg

When National Rail was established, they wanted a light weight high speed container flat, resulting in them taking many of the SAR and VR versions, which were recoded to RQCX/Y. There are still many of these wagons operating, usually in road grime colour (the odd one been repainted). These retained their running numbers.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malleeroute/6689872593/sizes/l/in/photostream/
To produce a SAR FQX/AQCX, you have to remove the chain compartment furthest from the brake equipment: this were the brake wheel now goes. If wanting to undertake a full conversion, refer to AMRM Nov/Dec 1979.

AQCX modified from FQX

Further, some were modified, by having holes cut in their decks to reduce weight further, and were fitted with 70ton ride control bogies. These are coded RQTY.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malleeroute/6851221883/sizes/l/in/photostream/
http://www.pjv101.net/fts/u01/cy064.jpg
From Wagonfreak:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwMhdn0uD3cUjDUEWBX1XR440RENxzDcRFzKMqMs9W8uRmRuEG8nok6KGG4Gz0RZJAyurcEXHy8OhnjWebOHoneRWuOEfXbT2l_doOpWDRFQB5XesUZ40IkVaoBag1NHD2PVS7bHSQZmw/s1600/d-RQTY+%28Large%29.jpg

RQTY modified from FQX.

 Further still, some were fitted with a polar pack power unit, for powering reefer containers, these are coded RRTY. Most are still in service, without the polar pack, but the gap in the side of the wagon remains.
The best quality of the Steam Era kit, is that the plastic used is soft enough, so you can cut holes in the deck with little effort. If wanting to run the wagon fully loaded, then you can get away with not doing any deck work, but the sides need to be replaced with 0.04x.010 Evergreen strip. (One could file off the lashing rings from the SEM parts). 70 ton ride control bogies are available as a spare part from Auscision Models. If mounted straight to the body, the wagon will ride too high, some have to file down about 0.5mm.

Image: Auscision Models 70 ton ride control bogie.

These wagons are also in service with SCT, coded PQCY and painted bright red, (with end frames, for carring bulky loads, such as dressed timber) and QRNational/Auzuron, coded QQGY and QQTY, painted light grey. Both these types of wagons are un-modified VR FQX wagons.

Remember, the Steam Era kit does not have a correct underside. The additional parts to the girder frames can be added with some 0.01 thick strip. I used 0.08 wide. See below photo.

VQCX Underside.

Using the Steam Era kit, you can added to any Intermodal train. Now for a serious RTR model.  (Not the failed Powerline model).

Horsham Yard to close

The Horsham Mill street freight yard is to close for ever in November. Both Vic Track and ARTC have said that no further terminal leases will be give, allowing for the terminal to close. The then could be purchased by the Horsham Regional Council. The North Horsham residence are happy, as
according to the Wimmera Times.
"Horsham North Residents Committee has been lobbying the state and federal governments to decommission the site for 10 months.
Secretary Rae Nelson said the committee had wanted written confirmation from both VicTrack and the Australian Rail Track Corporation that the site would not be used as a freight terminal after October 31.
"This is what we have been working towards and now we have it," she said.
"To have a commercial enterprise removed from a residential area will be a big relief.
"The residents in close vicinity to the terminal will be free from the noise and dust and have a bit of normalcy again."
To put some geography on the situation; housing only makes up half of Mill street behind the terminal. On the rest of the land are Fuel depots, of which BP and Mobil are still very much in operation.
The Council  has a  aim  to remove the rail corridor altogether from Horsham. On one hand, it is requesting a return to rail passenger operations to the city, and on the other, a total removal of rail in the future. The proposed ARTC Horsham bypass, connects Dimboola with Murtoa.

The Wimmera Mail Times 18/9/2013

RELOCATION of the Melbourne-Adelaide rail corridor in Horsham could cost up to $99 million. 
A Horsham Rail Bypass Planning Report by consultants Aurecon has revealed the project would cost about $79 million if roads bridged the bypass route. 
It would cost about $99 million if the road crossings passed under the bypass, which could save up to five minutes in travel time.
The study included a new passenger railway station and estimated clean-up work on the contaminated rail corridor would cost up to $19 million. 
The report also found a potential $20-million saving for the Western Highway bypass if the rail bypass was completed before or at the same time as the road bypass. 
But Horsham Rural City Council chief executive Peter Brown said moving the railway could take up to 30 years. 
He said the report did not recommend any bypass routes.
“Before we could make a judgment we would really need to see where the Western Highway bypass lands and then we should give thought on whether further work should be done on the rail bypass,” he said. 
“The selection of the routes in the report was purely for costing purposes and there has been no work done on where we might actually put the route.”
Council decided to focus on improving passenger rail and the existing rail corridor, rather than working on its relocation at a meeting on Monday night. 
The move coincided with the release of the Horsham North Urban Design Framework, which found the rail corridor separated the neighbourhood from the rest of Horsham.

Oxford Diecast OO reach stacker

My Oxford Diecast OO 1/76 scale reach stacker has arrived Cat No: 76KRS001. Released just 11 days ago, it has made fast passage from the UK. Fully posable, the unit looks very impressive. The only down side is the hydraulic lines are painted on, and at full reach, the containers do not hang straight. It took a bit a careful arrangement to get the container to attach to the handling arm, but it does work.

The above photos shows attached to a C=Rail 40' standard container. Below, the comparison with my HO scale reach stacker.

Next, in Malcolm livery.

And arrived

There has been one other model produced. Atlas Editions reproduced the Konecranes reachstacker in Stobart blue. These models were released as part of a 'part works' series on Eddie Stobart models, and were made by Oxford Diecast.

http://www.eddiestobartmodels.com/LargeImages/Atlas_Editions/4649120_Konecranes%20Stacker_Stobart_Lift%201_Final_Large.JPG 

This model has been reported to be going to be re-released by the mid to end of 2014, Cat No: 76KRS003, under the Oxford Diecast banner.

Here is a real one, operating in  a SMV sales video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2XSgeOCXTI

Building an AQKY container twin set

The AQKY container twin articulated wagons, were converted from 63' AFKX flat wagons by Australian National Railways in 1989. These were originally SFKX flat wagons, built by South Australian Railways Islington workshops. 18 units were built for standard gauge running, passing to Australian Railroad group on privatisation, and now run with QRNational/Aurzon, coded QQPY. (see photo link).

 http://railgallery.wongm.com/albums/wagons/qqpy/E106_2293.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/greensleeves94/9382377984/sizes/h/in/photostream/

http://www.pilbararailways.com.au/wagons-westward/qrn/images/3mp1_100819/100819_5125.jpg

To build a set of these, you need two Steam Era Models FQX wagon kits. All that really is going to be used are the decks and head stocks. These are cut down to 144m in length, capable of carrying a 40' container each. The side sills are fabricated from strip of 0.15x0.08 glued to 0.04x0.08, flush along one edge.

The top half, in red, was a FQX that I already had, that was slightly warped, and the other three, obtained from Steam Era Models.
The underframe needs slight modification, as the bogies on the SFKX are about 3mm further back than on the FQX. The centre sill frame needs to filled in right next to where the bogie screw hole is, with some scrap plastic, and once dried, drilled out. I used some of Orient Express Reproductions', new Roller bearing bogies (these have full brake detail), which required a spacer to correct the height. (Not needed if using the Steam Era bogies). Originally, according to plan they were fitted with AN 3X2 bogies: two 50 ton and the centre was a 70 ton ex WAGR.

Almost completed the main conversion. Just need grade control parts, air hoses and brake wheel. If building an AN version, there are shunter steps and hand grabs to add. The brake lines cannot be seen, as on my drawing (A1 1-CM-45) they run inside the main spine frame.