Iron ore line part 1

[Aidan McCarthy]

Hi,

Visited the Iron ore line today on the Saldanha - Elands bay section. We picked up a train of empties leaving Saldanha and chased it until loop 1 (the loops are only numbered no names) where it crossed a loaded train coming down. Chased the empty train the Elands bay and waited hopefully for a loaded train to chase back to Sadanha but this never materalised. I have attached a couple of photos.

I have posted this in the electric section as the line is electric and the lead loco is a 9E but the majority of the motive power is made up of 34 Class diesels

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Interesting picss - thanks Aiden.

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

Great pics. The 15E's are due at Saldanha soon.

[allanroy]

interesting pictures, why do they use electric and diesel together?

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

Allan , they are very short of 9E's on that line. They have increased the length of the trains and do not have enough electric power to pull them , hence the Class 34's. Hopefully when the 15E's arrive that will be a thing of the past. It will be interesting to see if the mix the 9E's and 15E's in one train. Enjoy your trip tomorrow. We will expect many photos.