Скачать или смотреть NR120 & NR11 Yarrabandai Loop NSW. Wed 06th Apr 2022

A very late running 3SP7 has been summoned into Yarrabandai Loop by ARTC Train Control at Junee NSW to cross a one hour early running 3YN2, normally this cross would take place at Kiacatoo Loop if 3SP7 would have been running to schedule (due Yarrabandai at 0930hrs). The die has been set for 3SP7 as it will have to cross 3AB6 at Kiacatoo (due 1217hrs) adding further to the late running, it will be a long trip to Perth WA for this train.

Loading is reasonably good on 3SP7 this morning with only a few empty spots and some empties at the rear. The train is near maximum length of around 1,800 metres and thus will occupy most of Yarrabandai Loop which is 1,920 metres long. Usually there are quite a few removal company containers on this train but only one belonging to Allied Pickfords is aboard the train today.

Yarrabandai General store can be seen in the video, it was established during settlement and was the Post Office agency as well. The widow of Tom Lees, (the man who dug Carlachy Tank between 1897 & 1898 for the railways) took over the business when Tom died at the young age of 46 years in 1907 and moved here with her four daughters.

Some time after the end of WW-II local farmer and business man Bill Yetman purchased Yarrabandai Store, then owned by Jack Butler, today Yetman's name can still be seen on the store awning. It's not clear as to when the store closed but it was probably in the late 1980's into the 1990's. Yetman also had a store at Ootha in the same period. The location now serves as the local NSW TrainLink bus stop.

In the glory days of steam Yarrabandai was a busy location, at one time there were two long crossing loops, East Loop and West Loop. West Loop was built in 1941 at a length of 1,000 metres to supplement the war effort. East Loop was already established at the time, West Loop was lifted and removed in the 1970's and East Loop was upgraded and extended to 1,920 metres and is the current loop in use today.

A Stock Yard/Goods Siding, Loading Bank and Silo Siding were also in use with the concrete S024 type silos built in 1932 with a 2,400 ton capacity. The D150 type Bulkhead shed was added in 1967 with a 15,000 ton capacity. The grain facilities have were closed around 2014 but ARTC still use the Silo Siding (accessed off the Loop line) to store ballast trains and track work machines. In June 2010 ARTC reconfigured the yard and the signalling was upgraded.

Yarrabandai opened on the 01st of March 1898 and was named after a nearby pastoral property and sheep station (Yarrabandai Creek Homestead). The passenger platform, which shared the Loading Bank was closed some time in 1973/74. Today, Yarrabandai is home to around 12 residents in the former village area.

NR120 was the last of the class to be built by Goninan's being delivered new on the 08th of December 1997 from the Bassendean WA factory to National Rail Corporation. It was named "Taree" after a major town in NSW, the name plate has since been removed by Pacific National after overhaul and repaint.

NR11 was handed over new on the 02nd of February 1997 by Goninan's at their Newcastle NSW factory to NRC. Unlike NR120 it wasn't named. The NR class are GE model Cv40-9i series and powered by a super turbo charged 16 cylinder four stroke GE 7FDL-16 prime mover delivering 4,000hp. Published track speed is 115KMh.

Pacific National took over the National Rail Corporation purchasing it from the government in February 2002, the sale also included "FreightCorp" the NSW government freight train system.

1040hrs on Wednesday 06th April 2022.