Only in Australia will you see this
Road Trains
This is a recent email sent regarding the cattle trains at Helen Springs Station.
Photos are of the trucks loading cattle. Scroll down.

There are interesting statistics.
· There are 17 trucks with 3 trailers and 2 decks per trailer;
· Therefore there are 102 decks of cattle and there would be approximately 28 cattle per deck;
· This totals 2,856 head of cattle
· The cattle will weigh approximately 500kg
· The sale price for cattle at Longreach is approx. 165c/kg
· Each animal will therefore be sold at $825.
· Total revenue from this analysis is $2,356,200
· I wonder how many tyres would be involved in this equation.

(I know how many tyres there are, and what the approximate replacement cost for all of them too...but let's see if anyone can work it out)

Road trains loading cattle at Helen Springs Station, north of Tennant Creek NT .

Now that's a Road Train...!

Camel...via Vince

Great pictures Vince! I heard about the road trains, and new they were big, but you just can't appreciate the size until you see something like this. That one would stretch from one end of my town to the other
I'm going to guess that there are 1054 tires, but I have no idea what they each cost

Very Cool Pics.

cbsweeney wrote:

Great pictures Vince! I heard about the road trains, and new they were big, but you just can't appreciate the size until you see something like this. That one would stretch from one end of my town to the other I'm going to guess that there are 1054 tires, but I have no idea what they each cost

Yep...1054 tyres, and at approx $850 a piece...well I'll let you do the math.

Cheers, Vince

cheap tures $2-300 good quality is as you say $800ish great photos.

Don't know about Aussie but the Road Users Tax here would wipe out any profit wouldn't it Elvis?

Is there a road tax when there is no road?
Mighty clever idea, that's even smarter than CO²-taxes

ok where do the cattle come out??? looking at the photo it looks to be out front right hand side??? our unload out rear door and you butt the units together the front pen walks right the way out the whole unit to get to the rear. If these units rear unload the ramp is not in the photo because there are no whellmarks heading directly away from the ramp shown.

I believe the cattle are loaded through sliding side gates on each level of the trailers Elvis. As each level is unloaded the ramp would be moved up or down as required, then the truck moved till the next trailer is in position.

This I believe is the standard over here, controlled by the Govt for safety of the critters mate. Having a single standard also makes it easy for manufacturers of the trailers, loading facilities, and receiving facilities to build a product that is standardised all over the country.

As an aside, below are the truck configurations approved for use in appropriate parts of Australia. Just match up the configuration with the description.

A is a B-double.

B is a B-triple.

C is a double road train. A "Pocket road train" is similar, but with shorter trailers and dolly drawbar.

D is an AB-triple.

E is a BAB Quad.

F is an ABB Quad.

G is triple road train.

H is a 2AB Quad.

K represents the largest road trains operating in Australia, and therefore, the world. Called a "Powertrain" or a "Body and six", these machines operate at The Granites Gold Mine in the western Northern Territory, and are used in place of 200 t (197 long tons; 220 short tons) dump trucks, because of the distances involved on the haul run. A 600 hp (450 kW) 19 L (1,200 cu in) Cummins engine powers the prime mover, whilst a 400 hp (300 kW) Cummins engine is installed in the rear trailer of the B-double, driving through an automatic transmission, giving a total of 1,000 hp (750 kW). Weights of 460 t (453 long tons; 507 short tons) are achieved with ore loading in side-tipper bodies on a 100 km (62 mi) round trip. As these trucks operate on private property, they are not subject to governed weight and length rulings, but instead are utilised in the most efficient way possible.

Cheers, Vince

Ok Vince, I would like to see you back-up the "K" configuration into a parking stall.

You havent lived until you've had to try and pass one of these on a dirt road, or worse still have one of them pass you from either direction......

Best to just get off the road.

Ominivision1 wrote:

Ok Vince, I would like to see you back-up the "K" configuration into a parking stall.

Mate, I don't even want to think about doing that let alone do it...it would be impossible.

Last time I drove from Brisbane to Mt Isa we had to pass a number of road trains...luckily on the black top. Still scary though. My youngest daughter was driving and she had never even heard of a road train until we encountered one on the open road. All she could say was..."That is a big-assed truck" over and over as she was passing it.





Elvis...you can see the loading gates on the sides of the trailers in the second video mate.

Cheers, Vince

that side loading looks good but wouldnt work over here. some places we go to you back your truck n trailer around corners into the ramp. your figure A is a B train over here very common figure C is an A train not seen very often any more.figure K is a truck and trailer if you cut it off after the 2nd unit the most common of all. 44,000 kgs is the usual maximum overall weight. I have a payload of 27,000kg on my basic unit with tub tipping gear.all the other ones you have shown are no go over here the roads just wouldnt handle them and you couldnt go anywhere cause the plurry things wouldnt fit!!!