air compresser cars on Pilbara Railway, AUS

Hi
what's the first car(s) behind the engines?





First I thought it's something for MoW (Maintenance of Way),
but if you look closely to the second picture, you maybe see a big air pressure tank and an air compresser in a boxy case !?!
Did I see it correct ?

Why did the need these air compresser cars anyway ? And why at the head end ?
At the rear end they maybe make more sence, specially when they can refill the brake pipe via remote control.
Like a FRED or EOT device that beside it monitors and reduces brake pipe pressure, it also can refill the brake pipe.

Ok, this FRED would be a little bit harder to setup at the rear end of the train

Bye

Hi Taurus , i dont know for sure , but to me they do look like maintenance cars . I notice none of the other trains have them . Either weed spraying units or water blasting or something along those lines .
Hopefully one of our Australian contributors cabn shed some light on what they are .

I don't know about the cars, but I can NEVER get enough of those Pilbara cabs.

All I can see in those pics is two locos.

George , on my computer , the second picture shows the locos and the first 2 and 1/2 cars . perhaps if you click on the photo it will open up the full side photo .

Komachi , knowing the australians thyeve probably got a full size bbq in the cab !

give http://www.railpage.com.au a try.

Also do a google search - pilbara train fleets.

David Benton wrote:Hi Taurus , i dont know for sure , but to me they do look like maintenance cars . I notice none of the other trains have them . Either weed spraying units or water blasting or something along those lines .
Hopefully one of our Australian contributors cabn shed some light on what they are .

Are weeds a problem up there? I thought it was a very arid desert.
Are there any passenger cars for these trains - like the ones in Mauretania?

David Benton wrote:Hi Taurus , i dont know for sure , but to me they do look like maintenance cars . I notice none of the other trains have them . Either weed spraying units or water blasting or something along those lines .
Hopefully one of our Australian contributors can shed some light on what they are .

Are weeds a problem up there? I thought it was a very arid desert.
Are there any passenger cars for these trains - like the ones in Mauretania?

They are air compressor cars and are used to keep the train brake released during unloading operations when the locomotives are not attached.
They are placed on the rear of the loaded consist, the images you see are empty rakes returning to Seven Mile yard at Dampier.

BHP, Rio Tinto and FMG all use compressor cars.
Car Dumper Four at Fincuane Island for BHP is the only place in the Pilbara that i'm aware of where the locos stay attached to the rake and they use plain old empty 'index cars' on the front of the rake, rather than a compressor set on the rear.

Even Comalco, on Cape York Peninsula (bauxite railway) have compressors and air receivers built into the end waggons on their rakes.

george matthews wrote:

David Benton wrote:Hi Taurus , i dont know for sure , but to me they do look like maintenance cars . I notice none of the other trains have them . Either weed spraying units or water blasting or something along those lines .
Hopefully one of our Australian contributors cabn shed some light on what they are .

Are weeds a problem up there? I thought it was a very arid desert.
Are there any passenger cars for these trains - like the ones in Mauretania?

BHP have a car called the Sundowner, which has a very big history on the BN.
This coach was a gift to the then Mt Newman Mining Company from Amax who were a partner in the joint venture to celebrate the first 100 million tonnes of ore from Newman in 1974 (they have since sold their part).
The coach once belonged to the Burlington Northern railroad and was part of a railcar set called the General Pershing Zephyr which ran from St Louis to Kansas City. It was built in 1939.

It used to work 'shopper' trains, operating from Newman to Port Hedland and return to enable BHP employees a chance to travel to Hedland for shopping. ANd also for residents of Hedland to head to Newman for a weekend away.
These services finished several years ago, but the Sundowner still sees use as a corporate enterainer car.

Some more images of this car can be found here:
http://www.railways.pilbara.net.au/bhp/ ... owner.html