3 ms·
Very true. As one person I know put it, "Australia is a few cities separated by an ocean of largely useless land." That Australia has managed to not only grow
by kposehn 15y ago
Very true. As one person I know put it, "Australia is a few cities separated by an ocean of largely useless land."
That Australia has managed to not only grow but thrive despite this is a testament to the people there. One great example is the Pilbara ore mining operations (BHP, Fortesque, Rio Tinto), that run some of the heaviest trains in the world. Even more interesting is that while the national Australian network has a tighter loading gauge and stricter load requirements, the Pilbara railways have the heaviest axle-load in the world at 230+ tons per car. For reference, in the US most trains are limited to 120 tons and in China 80 tons.
- caf 15y agoThose Pilbara trains are robotically driven, too.
- kposehn 15y agoActually they aren't - they did try though. Currently they use a single-operator ruleset. Locomotives have a refrigerator, hot plate, coffee maker and stereo with CD player and iPod hookup for the crew member. There's one on YouTube who has done cab rides all the way from the mine to Port Hedland. I think he is rather bored :D