Dominic Mazoch posted:Were they worn out? Other reasons for getting rid of them?
Dominic,
Unless someone from GE or BHP Iron Ore comments on this thread we can speculate on the reasons why these locomotives were scrapped. Here is my speculation.
AC6000CW was too heavy for other railroads in Australia, many still operating narrow gauge & broad gauge lines. The downturn in mining has forced BHP to be more efficient forcing them to scrap older locomotives & maybe they don’t anticipate the demand to reach the peak seen in the last decade when a lot of locomotives were needed.
Last decade there was a pressing need for iron ore (& other raw materials) driven by the growth in China. BHP had this captive rail infrastructure built to unbelievable axle loads (40 – 44 tons / axle) that is uncommon in other parts of Australia. At one time the demand for more locomotives was so urgent that they managed to get some EMD locomotives being built for BNSF that are still in the BNSF pumpkin scheme, not the BHP bubble scheme.
But now the growth in China has relatively slowed down driving down the demand for raw materials forcing BHP to be more efficient. These trains operate in one of the most remote places on earth. So remote that it is quite hard to find willing & qualified operators. I read on some online forums that these mining companies have to fly in personnel from the nearest population center in Perth (1,024 miles away by road) for 2 weeks on site followed by a 2-week break. The labor issue also influences the way these railroads operate. They couple 3 trains back to back to back, each with 2 locomotives & 100 ore cars, driven by 1 operator all the way from the mine to the port. Now both BHP & Rio Tinto have started operating autonomous (not remote controlled, think Terminator) trucks & Rio is also testing autonomous trains with GE Evolution locomotives.
These are just my opinion,
Thanks,
Naveen Rajan
