September 24 - Toll NQX - the road transport arm of Australia based integrated logistics service provider Toll Group - transported five 129-tonne trains on five separate 2,200 km truck journeys across Australia.
Each locomotive measured 22 m long and was valued at AUD6 million (USD5.63 million). Toll NQX was tasked with trucking each valuable train from its manufacturing plant in Maryborough, Queensland across three states to Whyalla in South Australia.
The trains had to be delivered to South Australia by road, as opposed to travelling under their own steam on the railway, as Queensland has a different rail gauge to the rest of the country.
"Transporting heavy, oversize loads requires specialised equipment and often extensive planning with detailed strategies," commented John Gunning, Toll NQX south Queensland development manager.
"In each case the bogies were removed to bring the overall travelling height down to less than five metres so we don't interfere with overhead lines, and the wheels transported on two separate trailers.
"We built special steel frames so the trailer could receive the trains without the bogies on. That also gave us something to secure the locomotives to," Gunning continued.
Upon arrival in in Whyalla, two 200-tonne capacity cranes were on hand to lift the bogie from the truck and onto the tracks. The train was then carefully positioned on the bogie.
Gunning added that the trucks and their cargoes could only travel during daylight hours in each state; a police escort was required to travel in South Australia.
