Railways and Tramways of Australia

High-powered electrics

 

Pacific National operated its first coal train to be hauled by electric locomotives on 17 July 2009.

 

Coal haulage in Queensland is a huge undertaking. The Central Queensland Coal Network (CQCN) is the largest coal railway network in Australia, comprising over 2500 km of railway lines. It services more than 40 mines and has railway connections to ports at Gladstone, Hay Point (around 40 km south of Mackay) and Abbot Point (around 25 km north of Bowen).

 

Pacific National ordered a fleet of AC-traction electric locomotives, which became the 71 Class, as part of the development of its coal business in Queensland. They were built by Siemens Mobility at Munich in Germany using the same design as the 3800 Class that were being built for QR National. They have a Bo-Bo-Bo wheel arrangement, which means that they have three four-wheel bogies. With 4000 kW available for traction, they are the most powerful locomotives in the Pacific National Fleet.

 

The first loaded coal train hauled by 71 Class locomotives was loaded at Moranbah North. It had 7101 and 7102 leading and 7103 in the middle of the train. They hauled 120 NHAH coal wagons to Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal at Hay Point. Pacific National’s new coal trains were equipped with Electronically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) braking. This system uses simultaneous braking that reduces stopping time, providing greater control and improving safety.

 

An initial order was placed for 23 of the 71 Class locomotives and all were in operation by August 2010. Subsequent orders took the total to 42. They are busy working coal trains on the Goonyella system in Queensland.

 

The 71 Class provided the high-powered electric locomotives that Pacific National needed in Queensland.

 

View

Footage of 71 Class locomotives operating in distributed mode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBj2kfxDdYU

 

Bibliography

P Clark & C Walters, ‘Pacific National in the Queensland coalfields’, Railway Digest, vol. 47, no. 10, October 2009, pp 25–7.

‘PN Queensland’, Motive Power, no. 66, October 2009, pp 26–7.

‘Queensland’, Railway Digest, vol. 47, no. 10, October 2009, p 14.

B Russell, ‘Queensland electric locomotives: a change has come’, Motive Power, no. 74, March 2011, pp 38–49.

‘Siemens delivers first PN 71 Class locomotive’, Railway Digest, vol. 47, no. 4, April 2009, p 8.

C Walters, A guide to Australasian locomotion, 2023 edn, Australian Railway Historical Society (NSW Division), Sydney, 2023.