2015 Derailment Incident

THE Roundhouse at the Goulburn Rail Heritage Centre on Braidwood Rd resembled a bomb site on Monday morning after two freight train wagons derailed.

The wagons of the Aurizon train contained canola and derailed from the tracks of the roundhouse’s turntable at approximately 11.30pm on Sunday, causing a large amount of the material to spill everywhere. Goulburn Loco Roundhouse Preservation Society treasurer John Proctor told the Post a “fair bit” of damage to infrastructure occurred, with electrical equipment in the roundhouse’s turntable at risk.

There was also major damage to the control cabin of the turntable and the canola wagons were also badly damaged. Roundhouse secretary Colin Grose said the damage to the turntable would have to be repaired to its original standard as the site is of heritage significance. “We don’t have an idea as to compensation at this stage as investigations are still continuing,” he said. Four engines were pushing the train into the siding with a combined horsepower of approximately 16,000hp.

An Essential Energy spokesperson told the Post the derailment caused the roundhouse’s safety protection equipment to trip a switch. An Essential Energy crew then attended the scene at 11.55am on Monday to isolate the supply and ensure it was safe, and reenergised the system again at 3pm.

Aurizon, previously known as QR National, is the company that maintains freight operations around the site. A spokesperson from the company confirmed the extent of the damage. “Aurizon has confirmed two wagons of an Aurizon grain train derailed at about 11.30pm last night (Sunday) during shunting activities near the roundhouse in Goulburn,” a company spokesperson said. “One of the wagons is on its side and an amount of grain has spilt from the wagon. We have confirmed that heavy equipment is on its way to the site to remove the wagons.

There were no injuries to staff and there are no delays to other train services. The engines of the train did not derail during the incident. Aurizon is still investigating the cause.” The company did not comment on whether the correct procedure for shunting was followed on Sunday night. Procedures state that the train driver must reverse the train whilst a second crew member guides it from outside the cabin, ensuring that any infrastructure is out of the way and that track points are correctly placed. On Sunday night, the points were not in the correct position causing the collision into the roundhouse and subsequent derailment.

Mr Grose said the Roundhouse would be out of action until at least Friday, with the wagons to be removed by tomorrow. “We have a lot of artefacts here of interest, and should reopen to the public soon,” he said. (C) http://www.goulburnpost.com.au/