Pittong Goods derailed

The goods train from Ballarat to Pittong came to grief near Linton on Tuesday 7th June 1983, when four VQCX wagons conveying containers came off the tracks.

T338 and T323 returning to Ballarat with 3 flat wagons at the front of the goods that weren't derailed, producing the unusual sight of a short doubled headed goods without a guards van.

The train was hauled by T338 and T323 with a consist of 14 bogie wagons for 563 tonnes. Both locos weren't derailed and hauled the forward portion of the train to Ballarat. This produced the unusual sight of double-headed goods with only a few wagons and no guards van arriving at Ballarat.

Re-railing of the wagons was undertaken the following day with the line reopening on Thursday 9th June with a temporary speed restriction at the site of the derailment. Y151 was used to assist with re=railing and returning the wagons to Ballarat.

Y151 runs bona out to the derailment site to retrieve the derailed wagons.

Y151 returns with the wagons that were derailed the previous day.

There were a few derailments on the Skipton line in its later years, possibly a reflection on deteriorating track condition from reduced maintenance. The following Facebook posts outlines the derailment that lead to the decision to close the line in 1985.

The derailment with T338 and T323 was reported in Newsrail.  Incorporating this incident into an operating session adds interest through unusual movements and cancellation of all regular scheduled goods on the Skipton line.