Transportation of sugarcane by rail - ESALQ-LOG · sugarcane transport system •Bins are used for storage of cane at both harvesters and factory •Bins are relatively inexpensive,

Queensland University of Technology CRICOS No. 00213J

a university for the worldrealR

Transportation of sugarcane

by rail

Geoff Kent

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Acknowledgement

• Video footage used in this presentation taken

from an episode of the Canadian TV series

Megatrains

• Used with permission from the series producers

Megafun-Filmoption International

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Pre-condition

• The first step in achieving an efficient

transport system is to have ownership of

or control over it

• Control the amount of cane coming to the

factory

– How many harvesters are supplying the

factory today?

– How many bins of cane is each harvester

supplying?

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Characteristics of the Australian

sugarcane transport system• The factory takes ownership of the cane at

the harvester delivery point

– Usually close to the point of harvest

• The factory is responsible for the transport

of cane to the factory

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sugarcane transport system• Factory operates 24 hours a day

• Harvesters operate less than 24 hours a

day

• Cane transport system has to operate 24

hours a day to keep supplying the factory

• Cane needs to be stored by the harvesters

until the transport system is ready to

collect

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sugarcane transport system

• Bins are used for storage of cane

at both harvesters and factory

• Bins are relatively inexpensive,

compared to:

– Powered vehicles (trucks, locomotives)

– Labour costs

• Bins preferred for storage to avoid

need for expensive trucks or

locomotives with drivers to wait

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Why transport by rail?

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Cane railways in Australia• 18 of the 24 factories in Australia primarily

use rail for transport

– Haul about 32 Mt of sugarcane (93% of total crop)

• Over 4000 km of track

– About 3000 km of main line

– Longest haul 119 km

– Average haul between 13 km and 35 km

• About 250 locomotives

• About 52,000 cane bins

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The track• To start a railway, need ownership of or

easements over the land on which the railway

is to be built

• High cost of construction

• $300,000 to $500,000 per km

• Not including bridges, road crossings, etc

• Maintenance cost similar to operating cost

• Road has the advantage that the Government

pays the cost of building and maintaining them

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Narrow gauge railway

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Narrow gauge railway

• Narrow gauge

– 17 factories 610 mm

– 1 factory 1067 mm

• Modern track

structure

– Ballast on formation

– Concrete sleepers

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Trains

• Locomotives

• Cane bins

• Brake vans

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Locomotives

• 18 t to 40 t in

size

• Maximum

speed about 35

km/h

• Capacity about

1000 t to 1500 t

– Dependent on

terrain

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Cane bins

• Mainly 4 t to 10 t in size

• Traditionally 4 t or 6 t

• Now 10 t bin formed

with same dimensions

as 2 x 4 t bins

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Cane bin economics

• Most

economical size

is the largest

bin with small,

fixed wheelsets

• In 1988, 6 t bins

• Now, 10 t bins

have same size

wheelsets

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Brake vans

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Railway operations

• Two main aspects

– Ensuring safe operation

– Servicing the factory and harvesters

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Ensuring safe operation• Trains have a lot of mass

• When trains are in motion they have a lot of

kinetic energy and a lot of potential for harm

• Operating on single track, there is potential

for collisions

– Locomotive / locomotive

– Locomotive / bins

• Railway corridor also interfaces with roads

and harvester delivery points

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Control of railway operations

• Each factory has a

traffic officer whose

primary responsibility

is safe operation of

the railway

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The traffic office

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Train separation

• All locomotives

have GPS

tracking

• Many mills

display

locomotives on

map in real time

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Train separation

• Each network has a set of defined call

points

• Each locomotive must call the traffic officer

for clearance to enter a track section

• Radio communication is recorded

– Many mills record each clearance given with a

transaction number

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Road crossings

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Road crossings

• Risk assessments carried out at each

crossing

– Government roads

– Access roads (houses, farms, sidings)

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Delivery sidings

• Safety inductions carried out with

harvesters who share delivery sidings

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Servicing the factory and

harvesters• Objectives:

– Maintain supply of full bins to the factory

– Maintain supply of empty bins to harvesters

– Schedule trains to minimise costs

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Many infrastructure

constraints• Limited number of bins

• Trains have limited capacity

• Sidings have limited capacity

– Siding capacity generally less than train capacity

• Each locomotive run has to service more than one

siding for efficient operation

– Siding capacity generally less than harvester

allotment

• Each harvester has to be serviced several times

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Managing operations

• 17 out of 18 factories with railways use

TOTools to manage daily operations

– Keep track deliveries and collections to each

harvester

• Ensure each harvester gets its allotment of empty

bins

• Ensure all full bins are collected

– Manage locomotive runs

• Define how and when bin movements are made

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TOTools

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Use of single track

• Passing of trains

– Passing loops

– Junctions

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Typical railway operations

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Starting a run

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Sidings

• Many different

designs

• Many constructed

years ago for different

operations

• Preferred type for in-

field transporters is a

simple loop

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In-field transporters

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Rail switches

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Shunting

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The full yard

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Completing a run

• Run sheet returned to

mill

– At some sites done

electronically

• Electronic

consignment is also

being introduced to

avoid need to hand

over tickets

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Cane receival

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Cane receival

• Very compact compared

to road transport

• Tip cycle as low as 45 s

• Tip up to 30 t at a time

• More typically 10 t to 12 t

• Uncoupling and

recoupling mostly

automated

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The empty yard

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In summary

• Railways have a large capital cost for

establishment

• Efficient but complex operations

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Acknowledgements

• Megafun-Filmoption International

• Jim Kirchner (Wilmar Sugar)

• Australian Sugar Milling Council

• Mahmoud Masoud (formerly QUT)

• Mackay Sugar Limited

• Greg Tortora (Mackay Sugar)

• Steve Shorney (QUT)

• Paul Nicol (Isis Sugar)

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Transportation of sugarcane by rail - ESALQ-LOG · sugarcane transport system •Bins are used for storage of cane at both harvesters and factory •Bins are relatively inexpensive,

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