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Front End Friday - Just over 10 years ago, CFCLA's Alco-powered 44208 and EMD-powered S300 were at the Canberra Railway Museum on 5 March 2015.
CFCLA was a rail leasing company that operated in Australia from 1998-2021, which then became Rail First asset Management. 44208 is now owned by milling company Manildra, while S300 is privately owned.
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Leased Rail First locos EL53/EL63 head Bowmans Rail empty container service train #4501S through the locale of Huddlestone, South Australia, on Friday 21 April 2023. The train is heading to Broken Hill for loading with zinc and lead ore.
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MZ1431 has not long worked into Junee Yard with 3314 intermodal shuttle from Harefield on 30 September 2022. Rail First's CM3302, still with Chicago Freight Car logo, waits to couple on to the consist as part of the lash up to take it forward to Sydney as train 3112.
The sale of sixteen former Danish Railways MZ MkIII locomotives to Australian private operator Independent Rail of Australia (IRA) in 2006 One of the more bizarre locomotive purchases of recent times.
Around 10 of the original 16 remain in service although their days are probably numbered, with new owners QUBE Logistics (since 2012) having a number of new locomotives on order.
The MZ MkIIIs were built in Sweden by Nohab between 1972-74 and fitted with an EMD 20-cyl 645E3 prime mover.
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Bowmans Rail units CM3308/3309 (leased from CFCL Australia) climb the grade out of Jamestown, South Australia, with #1501 empty Cristal Mining train heading to Kanadah (Broken Hill) for loading with mineral sands - Sunday 2 July 2017.
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Empty mineral sands train #1501 operated by Bowmans Rail on behalf of Cristal Mining and powered by a pair of leased MotivePower MP33C locos (owned by CFCL Australia) passes through Gladstone, South Australia, while GWA units ALF19/FQ04 load #5114 grain train bound for Port Adelaide - 2 July 2017.
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We chased QUBE grain 2363 for a short distance (about 10km) around Barmedman, NSW. The train was travelling at around 35km/h and that seemed to be about the same speed the clouds were travelling, because the clouds easily kept pace with the train and bombed'' 4 of the 5 shots we took.
The CM class locos are leased from CFCL Australia and were built by MotivePower, Boise, Idaho (model MP33C), powered by a Cummins QSK78 prime mover.
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Leased CFCL Australia units CM3308/CM3304, operated by Bowmans Rail, drop down through the curves at Huddlestone with the Cristal Mining containerised mineral sands train from Kanadah to Port Adelaide on 27 October 2016.
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The significance of the title will become obvious when part 2 is posted.
Surprisingly the CM (built in the US by Motive Power Industries) class are not the ugliest locos in Australia and the livery certainly helps lift the design.
CM3303/3316 are above the Goulburn River just beyond Sandy Hollow, New South Wales with a westbound empty ore train - probably QUBE operated train no.4867 - 5 October 2016.
Stabled at the ARHS (ACT) Canberra Railway Museum are former Victorian Railways S class locomotives S300/S311. Built by Clyde Engineering in 1957 and 1960 respectively they are now owned by CFCL Australia and were on ad-hoc hire to Espee Rail Services the commercial arm of the ARHS (ACT).
There has been little work for them of late and their mechanical condition is probably not the best. Hopefully one if not both will make it to the Streamliners gathering at nearby Goulburn in October 2016.
www.streamliners2016.com/
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Stabled at the ARHS (ACT) Canberra Railway Museum are former Victorian Railways S class locomotives S300/S311. Built by Clyde Engineering in 1957 and 1960 respectively they are now owned by CFCL Australia and were on ad-hoc hire to Espee Rail Services the commercial arm of the ARHS (ACT).
There has been little work for them of late and their mechanical condition is probably not the best. Hopefully one if not both will make it to the Streamliners gathering at nearby Goulburn in October 2016.
www.streamliners2016.com/
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VL358 undergoes a static power test at the CFCLA facility inside the Islington Worshops.
Maitland Steamfest
Rail freight has returned to the nation's capital, Canberra, with the commencement of the Espee Rail Services/Access Recyling train to Port Botany (Sydney) carrying scrap metal in containers for export.
Although the service started a few weeks earlier, a special run was made on Friday 6 March to launch the service, seen here at Bungendore on the Canberra branch behind CFCL Australia leas locos EL53/GL107.
Former NSWGR 442 class ALCo 44208 is on hire from CFCL Australia to Espee Rail Services and is based at the ARHS Canberra Railway Museum where it was seen on 6 March 2015.
Former Victorian Railways S class locomotive S300 shows of its classic 'bulldog' nose at the ARHS Canberra Railway Museum on Friday 6 March 2015.
S300 along with sister unit S311 is now owned by leasing company CFCL Australia and is nominally on hire to Espee Rail Services, though sees infrequent sue at the moment.
CFCLA lease locomotives line up at the ARHS Canberra Railway Museum on Friday 6 February 2015.
44208 is a former New South Wales Government Railways 442 class ALCo built in Sydney by AE in Goodwin in 1971; S300 is a former Victorian Railways EMD built by Clyde Engineering in Sydney in 1957; and EL53 is a relative spring chicken having been built 25 years ago by A Goninan in Newcastle, NSW, in 1990.
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In conjunction with the launch of a new freight service from Canberra on Friday 6 March 2015, a short charter train was operated from Canberra to Bungendore to carry guests attending the launch.
CFCL Australia locomotive 44208, a former NSW 442 class, did the honours and is seen preparing its consist prior to departure at the Canberra Railway Museum.
Former Victorian Railways locomotives S300/S311 are owned by CFCL Australia and are nominally on lease to Espee Rail Services (a division of the ARHS ACT Division).
Not much work for them at the present, but they are still operable and were photographed at the ARHS Canberra Railway Museum on Friday 6 March 2015.
With 6029 on the rear, HL203 and 4403 wear the track up the hill away from Picton as they head to Thirlmere for the 2015 Festival of Steam.
Picton, NSW.
Saturday 28 February 2015.
