Queensland has a fascinating network of sugar cane railways stretching from Bundaberg in the South through to Mossman in the North. 17 sugar mills have railway networks with over 4000km of track across the state. All the mills use 2ft gauge track, except for Pioneer Mill which uses 3ft 6in gauge track.
Locomotives are diesel hydraulic, with ages ranging from 70 years old to brand new (2023 built). Some locomotives have been converted from former Queensland Rail 3ft 6in DH class, or New South Wales Government Railways 4ft 8 1/2in 47 class.
Wagons are unbraked and some trains operate with a remote controlled brake van at the rear of the train to provide additional braking force. Trains can be up to 1km long, consisting of up to 200 wagons with a weight of approximately 1000 tons.
Some trains require two crew members however many locomotives have been converted to driver only operating and can be switched to remote control operation for shunting.
This video contains footage taken in August 2023 of Plane Creek Mill. This mill is located in Sarina (just South of Mackay) and is owned by Wilmar Sugar.
I didn't have much success finding trains on the mill's network during daylight hours (in fact, I saw more trains the previous night whilst driving into Mackay (when I wasn't looking for them) then the next day when I was trying to find them!).
This video shows trains around Koumala and Mount Christian which I came across whilst driving to Mackay. I didn't catch any loco numbers or names.
First up we see a loco shunting loaded bins out of the siding near Mumby St, Koumala. After running around the bins and shunting them back onto the rest of the it's loaded train, the loco departs across the Bruce Highway and the gauge crossing over the North Coast Line.
Finally we see a loco and brake van with a lengthy rake of empty bins at the Mount Christian Road level crossing on the mainline to Karloo. Unsually the loco was propelling the brake van.
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