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Road Trains and other sights |
Site Home : Travel : Australia : The Outback : Road Trains
Ayers Rock Wycliffe Well Devils Marbles Road Trains etc
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Road trains are, well, pretty much that. Trains that drive on the
road. Imagine the biggest eighteen wheelers that you can see in the
US. Now daisy chain two or three of these, and start that on the road.
That's a road train.
Road trains use the biggest tractors one can fine, with all the fixing - usually Kenworth or Mack, I didn't see too many Peterbilts. And behind that come the trailers. Commonly three trailers, fairly often four. Between the trailers is what is called a "turntable dolly", which is basically the turntable portion that is usually seen only at the back of the tractor in the US, only it's on a dolly, a set of axles that you can attach to the back of a trailer in front of it. Most axle sets are 3 axles, which is a change from the 2-axle US standard, probably to better cope with tire blowouts on these very long stretches without any help. Also, all tractors come with very large dual gas tanks on each side, for the same reason. And of course, the ubiquitous bull bars - which are actually put to use more often than truckers would wish, I am quite sure. We saw countless dead roos and some dead cattle during our trek. Road Trains somewhat to be feared. They are very long, which makes them rather difficult to pass. They also displace this huge wake, which makes them also a bit of a hair raising experience to cross - not to mention flying gravel. Our windshield was broken by a rock flying in the wake of a Road Train, shortly after we left Alice Springs. When in doubt it is recommended to pull over to the side in a situation with a road train. They can take up to 20 minutes to get up to speed, and a non-trivial amount of time to stop. So, it is not a good idea to trifle with them. Just a few pictures - I have more and will put them up if there is popular demand.
I will finish the Outback section with a few random shots...
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You have some interesting photos here, if you want some more, let me know. As soon as I can get a scanner set up, I plan on scanning some for myself.
Peterbilts are few and far between in Australia. They are incapable of carrying the gross weights allowable on the Australian road network, and so, may only really be found down the east coast of Australia where road-trains are illegal.
Four trailer road trains (or quads, as they are colloquially known) are really only common on bulk freight, either in the stock (cattle), earthmoving and mining, and fuel transport. Apart from that, nearly the entire western half of the continent, excluding the southern portions of South and Western Australia, uses triple road-trains only. This is because general and fridge freight is quite light, and r-t limits for triples are 53.5 meters, so 3 trailers are all that is required.
Certainly, they are large, heavy vehicles, but the are no harder to drive than a single trailer truck. Unfortunately, too many people make a big deal about passing or being passed by them, and with the below average driving skills of most people, they panic. When faced with an oncoming road-train, just stick to the fog line or edge of the bitumen. Don\'t decrease speed, as this makes the oncoming driver too wary of what your intentions are. As for being over taken by road-trains, the best course is to hold your speed, as most of these drivers know the roads like the back of their hands, and will know when and where the can safely overtake. Don\'t hit the brakes and pull over to the side of the road, as this panics the following driver, and road-trains have a nasty tendency to \"whip\", that is, the third trailer has over-exaggerated movements, and while the prime-mover may miss you, you may get side-swiped by an errant third trailer. I have seen it happen many times, and it is never a pretty site, especially considering help may be four or five hours away.
Happy motoring, and I hope to hear from you soon. Remember - trust in the road-train driver - he knows his job!
---- Dave Stuart -- dave_4975@hotmail.com 08/20/2003
Love pictures and measurements of road trains. I build trailer models for a hobby and Australian trucks and trailers are far more interesting than North American units.
I live in cattle and grain country in Canada so I see a lot of trucks and trailers every day so they become common place.
Please add more pictures and measurements if you can, I know I would appreciate it.
Building a triple cattle road train (boat trailers)in 1/87th scale. Would like to build more if I can get good pictures and measurements.
Will be back to your site often, keep up the good work.
John McKinnon
P.O. Box 1047
Picture Butte AB T0K 1V0
Canada.
---- John McKinnon -- kenworth904@shaw.ca 10/02/2003
yeh wont see many peterbuilts over hear in australia only in the south
as the are not the most popular truck hear, ulike the mack titan, kenworth t900, western star 4900 ect, and the kenworth k100 cab over that pull b doubles. in australia we call the \'tractors\' prime movers.
---- bob \'western haulage\' aus 01/27/2006
