Thanks Zec- nice shot!!
Meanwhile in North-Western Victoria, a more minamalistic approach to the provision of a goods service: a Y, a single wagon (doubtless superphosphate), and the obligatory Z constitute the Down Patchewollock.
The half buried track is a feature of the line - in even the shallowest cuttings 'drifting up' was a constant problem as the incessant wind dropped it's load of sand. Earlier in the line's history the problem was constant, partly due to completely inappropriate agricultural practices imported from wetter, greener lands - specifically harrowing and fallowing, the twin practices leading to exactly the same problems as created the American 'dust bowl' of the early twentieth century, but also as a result of the railway's own early attempts at mitigation which completely misunderstood the problem: The wind dropped the sand in cuttings because the air pressure lowered as the 'void' was crossed, and attempts to sort the issue by building miles of 'sand fence' simply served to lower the air pressure in the lee of the fence even more, resulting in even more sand dropping out of the wind exactly where it wasn't wanted. Later attempts to solve the problem by growing trees and shrubs along the railway reserve worked better, but the best result of all was as the 'sand fences' fell into disrepair, the resulting 'lattice' structure actually worked really well, so the dilapidated fences remained in place long after they might otherwise have been removed....
Lecture over!
Later the same day, the Up Patche was caught crossing the Hopetoun-Patche Road just north of the previous location...
Andy
Meanwhile in North-Western Victoria, a more minamalistic approach to the provision of a goods service: a Y, a single wagon (doubtless superphosphate), and the obligatory Z constitute the Down Patchewollock.
The half buried track is a feature of the line - in even the shallowest cuttings 'drifting up' was a constant problem as the incessant wind dropped it's load of sand. Earlier in the line's history the problem was constant, partly due to completely inappropriate agricultural practices imported from wetter, greener lands - specifically harrowing and fallowing, the twin practices leading to exactly the same problems as created the American 'dust bowl' of the early twentieth century, but also as a result of the railway's own early attempts at mitigation which completely misunderstood the problem: The wind dropped the sand in cuttings because the air pressure lowered as the 'void' was crossed, and attempts to sort the issue by building miles of 'sand fence' simply served to lower the air pressure in the lee of the fence even more, resulting in even more sand dropping out of the wind exactly where it wasn't wanted. Later attempts to solve the problem by growing trees and shrubs along the railway reserve worked better, but the best result of all was as the 'sand fences' fell into disrepair, the resulting 'lattice' structure actually worked really well, so the dilapidated fences remained in place long after they might otherwise have been removed....
Lecture over!
Later the same day, the Up Patche was caught crossing the Hopetoun-Patche Road just north of the previous location...
Andy
Last edited: