Preliminary report published 19 November 2018

Sequence of events

On 30 March 2018, at about 1440 Eastern Daylight-saving Time, [1] a 16 t jumbo (steel) coil [2] fell from Pacific National (PN) freight service 6WM2, which was traveling south toward Melbourne, Victoria on the east track of the Defined Interstate Rail Network (DIRN). [3] After falling from 6WM2, the coil struck and caused damage to both tracks before coming to rest between, and obstructing both tracks at about the 204.5 km mark [4] near Winton, Victoria (Figure 1). Subsequently, at about 1450, V/Line passenger service 8615, traveling north on the west track, struck the tail of the coil and the damaged west track at a speed above 100 km/h, but did not derail. The driver of 8615 notified the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) [5] train control that they had struck the coil and reported minor damage to the train and no injuries to passengers.

Source: Google earth, annotated by the ATSB

Loading at Port Kembla, NSW

On 27 March 2018, Bluescope Steel loaded jumbo coil number 1H8S2486 onto the ‘A-end’ (trailing) cradle of PN wagon number NQJF-21574 along with another coil in the ‘B-end’ (leading) cradle. Information provided to the ATSB by Bluescope Steel indicated that coil 1H8S2486 weighed 16.04 t, was 1.93 m in diameter, 0.8 m wide and comprised a wound sheet of 3.2 mm gauge steel that was unitised with steel strapping (two circumferential and two radial straps).

On 28 March 2018, loaded wagon NQJF-21574 was inspected by PN terminal operators and moved to South Yard, Port Kembla, New South Wales (NSW). On 29 March 2018, the wagon was marshalled as the 35th wagon of train 6WM2.

Train 6WM2 comprised four locomotives hauling 75 wagons for a combined length of 1,275.3 m and total weight of 5,131.8 t. The train was inspected by PN terminal operators who provided a completed brake certificate [6] to the outgoing train crew. Train 6WM2 departed Port Kembla at 2354 and received a roll by [7] inspection from PN terminal operators with no issues reported.

Journey

Train 6WM2 was a scheduled service carrying steel products from Port Kembla (Wollongong) to Melbourne Freight Terminal. Train 6WM2 travelled north from Port Kembla to Sydney Freight Terminal before traveling on the DIRN for the remainder of its journey to Melbourne.

On 30 March 2018, at about 0300, train 6WM2 arrived at Chullora, NSW for a crew change with a two-man crew from Junee, NSW relieving the Port Kembla drivers. The disembarking crew reported that the train was running well and conducted a roll-by inspection of the departing train with no issues reported.

At about 1055, train 6WM2 arrived at Junee for its second crew change with a two-man crew from Melbourne taking over. Again, the disembarking crew reported that the train was running well and conducted a roll-by inspection of the departing train with no issues reported.

On its journey from Junee to Wangaratta, Victoria, train 6WM2 crossed [8] passenger train ST24 and freight train 6MC7, who both conducted roll-by inspections of 6WM2 with no issues reported. Closed circuit television footage captured from a platform at Wangaratta Station at about 1427 identified that all jumbo coils on train 6WM2 were present and not grossly out of place. The quality of the footage was not sufficient for the ATSB to determine whether the unitising straps were still attached to the coils on wagon NQJF-21574, but it did show that the incident coil in the trailing cradle had not unwound, tipped or shifted drastically.

The incident

At about 1440, train 6WM2 passed the incident site (204.5 km) at a speed of about 76 km/h. Track grade leading to the incident site was relatively flat and the driver had been maintaining moderate traction power (throttle between notches 2 – 5) for approximately 2 minutes prior to the loss of the coil. The drivers of 6WM2 reported nothing remarkable about the train’s behaviour at the incident location and were not aware that the coil had fallen off at that time.

At about 1448, train 6WM2 proceeded south and crossed the northbound V/Line passenger service 8615. The crew of 8615 conducted a roll-by inspection of 6WM2 with no issues reported.

At about 1450, the driver of train 8615 saw the coil obstructing the track and applied the emergency train brakes. Train 8615 subsequently struck the unravelled tail of the coil and associated damaged west track at a speed above 100 km/h, but did not derail. Figure 2 shows the damaged west track (foreground) and jumbo coil between the tracks (background). The photo is oriented southbound towards Melbourne on the west track. This is facing against the direction of travel of train 8615.

Source: ARTC

After bringing the train to a stand, the driver of 8615 advised ARTC train control that they had struck a steel coil from 6WM2 and that there was significant damage to the west track. In response, ARTC train control applied signal blocks to both tracks and requested that the drivers of 6WM2 stop and investigate their train.

Post-incident inspections

At about 1454, the driver in control of 6WM2 stopped his train at the next suitable location, coming to a stand at 190.475 km. Between 1517 and 1600, the second driver inspected train 6WM2 and reported to ARTC train control and PN that a coil was missing from the 35th wagon, NQJF-21574. The driver also reported that 39 trailing wagons had been damaged to varying extents. The damage to trailing wagons included damage to steps, handbrakes, brake cylinders and bearing caps, and the driver advised that 6WM2 would not be able to continue without repair.

The driver of V/Line passenger service 8615 inspected his train and determined that superficial damage had occurred to the locomotive and that there were no passenger injuries. Train 8615 continued its journey to Albury without further incident.

Subsequent inspection of wagon NQJF-21574 was conducted by ARTC in Violet Town, Victoria on 4 April 2018, and by the ATSB at PN’s West Melbourne Yard on 22 May 2018. The inspections, shown in Figure 3, identified:

that the rubber mat was dislodged from one face of the A-end coil cradle

witness marks on the exposed metal surface of the A-end cradle

a break in the wagon frame under the B-end cradle.

Source: ARTC (top and bottom right images) and ATSB (bottom left image), annotated by the ATSB

Investigation progress

As part of the investigation, the ATSB has interviewed the crew of train 6WM2, reviewed operational information from both rollingstock operators and the infrastructure manager, and analysed information recorded on the on-board recorders for both trains. Further, the ATSB conducted an inspection of wagon NQJF-21574 at PN Yard, West Melbourne and observed jumbo coil loading at Port Kembla. The investigation is ongoing and further analysis work to be completed includes:

examination of the loading, load restraint and examination processes with respect to jumbo coil wagons

review of the frequency and mechanisms of historical occurrences of jumbo coil load shift

examination of possible dynamic forces acting on the wagon

analysis of the effect of wagon condition on the incident

analysis of the track conditions, both historical and on the day, present in the vicinity of the incident

gather further information from involved parties.

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The information contained in this preliminary report is released in accordance with section 25 of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 and is derived from the initial investigation of the occurrence. Readers are cautioned that new evidence will become available as the investigation progresses that will enhance the ATSB's understanding of the accident as outlined in this update. As such, no analysis or findings are included in this update.

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