Shunting at Wacol 17th November 2025

This video is dedicated to all railway staff, for their service to the community and their dedication to performing their jobs safely and protecting those who are unaware of the hazards around rail tracks.
(00:00) After a long wait with temperatures rising under the bright Queensland sun, 2195A and 2496H arrive at Wacol to shunt spoil wagons.
(05:10) After a wait for the shunters to discuss their moves 2195A and 2496H head to the Gailes (western) end of Wacol yard to clear a couple of tracks so they can park the spoil wagons ready for inspection.
(07:45) They pull a ballast plow out and set it back on a spare track as 2703 and 2304D pass with a loaded coal train.
(09:30) They then pick up 4 ballast wagons and another plow.
(10:15) They push back the ballast wagons and plow to join the first plow which was left on the track nearest to the main line.
(11:39) Once the shunters are aboard, the light engines head west in preparation to running back around to get the spoil wagons at the Darra (eastern) end of the yard.
(12:29) 2195A and 2496H come out from behind the trees and head towards the road crossing.
(13:20) an empty coal train passes as our light engines cross the road to get the first rake of spoil wagons.
(14:32) The spoil wagon are pulled out as a water truck enters the yard to fill the tanks of the railgrinder train stabled beside the spoil wagons.
(15:43) The shunter lowers the boom gates and checks traffic has stopped before the spoil train crosses the road.
(18:21) The shunter applies the handbrakes to the spoil wagons now at the western end of the yard.
(19:36) engines head back to pickup the second rake of spoil wagons. Two sets of points had to be reset during this move and both times the locos had to setback a bit so the shunter could change the points. I'm not sure why, perhaps because the shunter was on the opposite loco to the drivers?
(24:14) another pause to check traffic has stopped before crossing the road and get shunter onboard before getting the second rake of spoil wagons.
(25:45) silently pulling the second rake out of the eastern siding. (Silently because a gent paused to chat with me while I was filming).
(26:31) another short pause to check traffic on the road.
Note the water in some of the spoil wagons as the train passes. In a previous video, a shunter gets a shower from a spoil wagon stopping so quickly that a wave developed and washed over the end of the wagon. See this video at the 190:52 mark    • 2415 and 2902 shunting at Wacol 18th March...  
(30:20) Dedication to railway workers.