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Other listings: Queensland Rail -- Urban Trams -- Queensland sugar cane -- Overseas sugar cane.

Cane Trains around South Johnstone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WodhFZGsAPg&feature=youtu.be -- fmnut -- Published on Dec 4, 2014; First in a series of Cane Train videos taken in October 2014. This one is in the region around South Johnstone/Innisfail showing trains serving the South Johnstone mill. An interesting feature is the short stretch of street running through the village on the approach to the mill.
Tully Mill tour and trains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UvrKSLku1Y -- fmnut -- Published on Dec 4, 2014; A video walk-through taken on the Tully Mill tour with some scenes of Tully Mill cane trains. October 2014
Tully Sugar 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H83ovLm_jcM -- fmnut -- Published on Nov 7, 2017; We spent a day and a half on the Tully Sugar network. This year the job running north to Jaffa/El Arish was running at night, so we focused on other areas. We were rewarded with catching trains at two of the "kangaroo" lever crossings at Birkala and Feluga, as well as several of the branch lines south of Tully.
Invicta Dalbeg Line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSBNwlpO9OA -- fmnut -- Published on Oct 30, 2017; Another one of my goals this year was to cover some of the outer reaches of the various networks that I didn't get to do last year. One of the longest runs is Invicta Mill's Dalbeg line which reaches 74 miles from the mill. It also has some interesting engineering features with several long viaducts and some deep cuts.
Proserpine Mill 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTXw7ijmBQI -- fmnut -- Published on Oct 28, 2017; Wilmar Sugar took over the Proserpine Sugar mill a few years ago. I was always fond of their yellow/red paint scheme. Given the homogenizing of the Queensland sugar industry into 3 big groups, it is only a matter of time before these unique schemes fade from the scene. My goal this year was to get as much activity of locos in the old scheme as possible, and I was fairly successful.
Victoria Mill Abergowrie line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcVkBP38_-w -- fmnut -- Published on Nov 3, 2017; In keeping with our wish to explore new ground on the cane lines, we caught a rake of empties heading out from Ingham on the Abergowrie line of Victoria Mill, which runs for nearly 30 miles. Note the use of bogie bins with 4 axles for this relatively high speed long distance run. After reaching the end of the line we caught a second job working about halfway back to the mill.
South Johnstone & Mulgrave Mills 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqh9CFJB6mQ -- fmnut -- Published on Nov 2, 2017; A heavy tropical storm hit north Queensland a few days after our arrival. This rendered the cane fields too wet to cut in many areas. We caught some South Johnstone crews delivering empties and gathering what few fulls had been loaded before canecutting ceased. We arrived at Mulgrave to find it shut down with the last fulls being brought into the yard. Mossman was also shut down forcing a radical change in our plans.
Victoria & Macknade mills 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMvAHHEEluc -- fmnut -- Published on Nov 2, 2017
Sugar Cane Railway/QR Crossings - Meadowvale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UcbflOnffg -- fmnut -- Published on Dec 8, 2014; South of Rockhampton, the QR line is electrified and higher speeds are permitted than further north. In order to increase track speeds for the "tilt trains", this drawbridge arrangement was devised so there is no break in the running rails for QR. All signals are color light.
Pioneer Mill 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b7RyMXDHbo -- fmnut -- Published on Nov 3, 2017; We covered Pioneer quite well last year, but we were able to catch a job working at Brandon as the molasses/raw sugar train passed on the QR main line. We then headed south to the dual gauge line and were lucky to catch a Pioneer train working a loading site, with a brief chase back towards the mill. We now have jobs from all 3 mills (Invicta, Pioneer, Kalamia) working on the dual gauge stretch.
Inkerman Mill 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUah29HCr58 -- fmnut -- Published on Nov 1, 2017; One of Inkerman Mill's longer runs is out to a large bin loading site at Poli's, near Kirknie. This is nearly just across the Burdekin river from Clare on the Invicta system. This little EM Baldwin loco has arguably the best horn I have ever heard on a cane loco.
Bally Hooley Steam Railway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZDDxAniUSQ -- fmnut -- Published on Nov 7, 2017; This line was formerly a portion of the Mossman Mill network, used to carry raw sugar to the docks at Port Douglas for loading onto coastal shipping. The once rural line is now surrounded by high end resorts and country clubs. The locomotive shown in the video is a former Mossman Bundaberg-Fowler tank engine.
The Cane Cutters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8J0loFYTVs -- statelibraryqld -- Published on Jun 11, 2009; Mid 20th century narrated film showing the daily tasks of cane cutters in North Queensland, Australia. It is the time when the cane was still manually harvested with machetes - stoop, chop, straighten, top - stoop, chop, straighten, top. An Australian National Film Board production directed by Hugh McInnes.
The Cane Cutters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2D3ioAH6_4 -- NFSA Films -- Published on Aug 29, 2011; This short film takes a look at the life of Queensland sugar cane cutters. It shows itinerant workers contracting with a cane farmer, cutting the cane and loading it for transport, from early morning to dark. Other sequences show the cutters in their quarters eating as much food as they need to carry out a tough job. The film is straightforward in its approach: cane cutting is hard work although the pay is good and the industry itself means much to the thriving state of Queensland. Made by The National Film Board 1948. Directed by Hugh McInnes.
The Australian South Sea Islander Collection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmz4e2flozU -- Queensland State Archives -- Published on Aug 6, 2013; While images in this video show a superseded version of the QSA website, the information is still of value and could be useful for your research. We will be updating the video in the future.; In the year that marks the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first South Sea Islanders to Queensland, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has added 67 historically significant items from Queensland State Archives' collection to its prestigious Memory of the World Register. This video discusses the historical significance of the records as well as how to research them.
History of the Australian Sugar Industry History compilation of old footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqX4K1E8NOM -- CANEGROWERS -- Published on Nov 10, 2009; A short compilation of historical footage of the Australian Sugarcane Industry compiled by Kim Thackeray, CANEGROWERS.
History of the Australian Sugarcane Industry "They're all half crazy": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIbRdZ9x7Q4 -- CANEGROWERS -- Published on Mar 26, 2014; Produced in 1995 this video chronicles the evolution of mechanical cane harvesting in Australia. The historical content spans the period of harvesting by hand through to the mechanised cane harvesters which were in operation at the time the video was produced.
Austoft 1940-2004: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFihN_vXcvA -- Dan Patch -- Published on Jul 17, 2017; A short history on Austoft from 1940- 2004.
Safety Guidelines for Harvesting and In Field Transport of Sugarcane (2000): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orIFRVXr-cM -- CANEGROWERS -- Published on May 20, 2015; An oldie but a goodie, we've run out of DVDs of this safety during harvest movie, so we have published the content free on YouTube for those of you who have asked for a copy. This clip also includes safety around in-field transport and sidings.
Austoft Powerhaul and Powertrail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x3hOr4pzTI -- Dan Patch -- Published on Jul 17, 2017; Video from 2004 showing Austoft Cane transporters Powerhaul and Powertrail.
Austoft Sugar Cane Powerhaul transporter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vG6Jo16h2Q -- Dan Patch -- Published on Sep 26, 2016, 0:58; Pulling cut cane out of Tyndale, NSW Australia during early spring 2016.
Austoft Sugar cane haulout transporters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ae2RRoyTNc -- Dan Patch -- Published on Sep 26, 2016, 0:47; Austoft Powerhaul transporters and modified 6x2 Morrison Hydraulics units hauling out cut cane at Tyndale near Maclean, Northern NSW operated by Brushgrove- Lawrence Cane Growers Co-op.
John Deere CH570 Sugar Cane Harvester: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc3O5ZkbVqg -- Dan Patch -- Published on Jul 21, 2016, 0:51; John Deere CH570 sugar cane harvester, Murwillumbah Northern NSW July 2016.
Sugar cane harvester in Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G0uXAotfc4 -- lukei22 -- Published on Jul 14, 2013, 4:18; A brand new 3522 with two john deere 7230R - carta elevating bin haulout cuting for Invicta mill, Burdekin. This is the first 3522 to be used in Australia.
Australia sugar cane harvest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5x28nnKK8s -- Gary Kemp -- Published on Nov 8, 2013, 5:10; Multilift Truck at Rocky Point Mill dropping a empty bin and loading a full bin.
Australian Sugar Cane Harvest Truck Unloading at the Mill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD0b1dValMw -- Gary Kemp -- Published on Nov 30, 2013, 5:00; Australian Sugar Cane Harvest Truck Unloading at the Mill.
Sugar Mill Tour, Queensland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3wybPWf9I0 -- odinzoltan -- Published on Aug 19, 2014, 9:45; The video was taped in Hi8 while we vacationed in Queensland in 2002.....apparently not in Bundaberg as the sub-titles depict.....and thanks to `Mark'..It has now been identified as `Farleigh Mill' in Mackay.
2016 Queensland Sugar Cane crushing season [Mill by Mill, Isis to Mossman]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkYG5wPaMnA -- Queensland Cane Trailer -- fmnut -- Trailer published on Nov 19, 2016, other parts about the same time.; A trailer clip for my series on Queensland sugar cane railways from October, 2016. The series covers every active mill tramway from Isis in the south to Mossman in the far north.; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA6s1mv2v4U -- Part 1 of the series on the 2016 Queensland Sugar Cane crushing season. Isis Central Mill is the last independent cooperative mill in Queensland. Video was taken on the main line between the mill and Cordalba as well as on the branch line to Childers.; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd3ucyDr2BI -- Part 2 of the series: Bundaberg Sugar's Millaquin and Bingera Mills. While trains on the Millaquin network proved elusive (2 scenes from 2014 were included for more coverage), we were able to catch the run from Wallaville depot to Bingera, and chased it all the way back on the return journey. The final scenes are on former Fairymead trackage starting at the Meadowvale drawbridge crossing of QR.; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5YDx7uVz4c -- Part 3 of the series: Wilmar Sugar's Plane Creek Mill. We begin in the mill town of Sarina with some night shots at the mill and outside our Motel (if you are planning a trip here the Tramway Motel is the place to stay!) In the morning we caught empties heading for Koumala, following him up the branch then back, crossing over QR and returning to the main line after waiting for a northbound to pass. Then we followed the remote train south to the end of the line at Karloo and back north as far as Yukan. The portion of line from Koumala to Karloo was laid in 1995 to eliminate cane haulage by Queensland Rail on their main line. The remote trains run to 400 bins and 1800 tons, all unbraked stock, with just the 2 locos and a remote brake van for stopping power.; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLm3YzBw_NY -- Part 4: Marian Mill is part of Mackay Sugar, its lines generally run north and south of the Pioneer River to the west of Marian. We spent most of the day on the scenic line to Finch Hatton, with both the Walkers and EIMCO locos working the line. Mackay has 4 EIMCOs, with the prototype (now working for MSF Sugar) being constructed in Zimbabwe. Finch Hatton is a usual assignment for one of them, account of the steep grades on the line to the east. Their unusual appearance is a big contrast to the more conventional cane locos.; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vrSM1Q2ATM -- Part 5: Racecourse and Farleigh Mills are also part of Mackay Sugar and have connections to each other and also to Marian Mill. Farleigh is notable for running long trains with DPU helpers similar to Plane Creek. I have included a few previously unpublished scenes from 2014 to fill out the coverage. The lines have a number of interesting features such as large the road/rail bridge over the Pioneer River near the former Pleystowe mill, a timber decked road/rail bridge over QR, and a huge rock cut dating to a 1994 grade reduction project. Unfortunately this last is on private property with gated access.; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSOrvVYLvpA -- Part 6: We only got a brief look at Proserpine Mill's railway, as we were in transit from Mackay to Ayr and I wanted to stop at Bowen to catch a coal train. We were fortunate to catch the little Clyde along the QR main after a brief circle of the mill revealed little activity. Inkerman Mill is served by QR, with raw sugar and molasses going to Townsville for export. We came upon a unique mailbox post and I couldn't resist operating it. Some cane fires are shown both in daylight and after dark. The Burdekin region is the only place where this practice is still done regularly.; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hyREcAdveM -- Part 7: Re uploaded this with the sound track fixed. Pioneer Mill is the only cane railway in Queensland built to 3' 6", the same gauge as the bulk of Queensland's rail network. The line is configured like a large rectangular loop with the mill at the top left and shared dual gauge trackage with Kalamia Mill on the right and Invicta Mill across the bottom. Some of the bin transfers are dual gauge also. There are also multiple spurs off the loop. We were fortunate to catch the Walkers steeple cab loco originally built for the Aramac Shire Tramway. The big B-B Walkers conversions were a simple job for this line, not having to be regauged. Also of note is the Brandon crossing/catch points, the only cane crossing in Queensland with both lines having the same gauge.; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q82IXjYfy8A -- Part 8: The cane railways of these two networks [Kalamia & Invicta] are connected and share a portion of their track with the wider gauge Pioneer network. Even though they share the same gauge, the Willison couplers are not directly compatible, an adapter must be used. Together these three mills serve a huge area on the north side of the Burdekin river. Kalamia Mill is also noted for its dual gauge connection to Queensland Rail, over which QR trains haul raw sugar and a mill loco hauls QR molasses cars with the use of an adapter wagon. Unfortunately I was not able to get video of this process, but there are other views of it on YouTube. Invicta's main line was extremely busy on the two days we visited, with trains backing up heading towards the mill waiting for empties to go south.; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI-BxeDaNuM -- Part 9: These two mills [Victoria & Macknade] have an interconnected rail network. One interesting feature is the diamond crossing of the QR North Coast Line in Ingham town. This is the only location on the QR network where the signals are normally set for the cane railway, not the QR line. The signal box is no longer manned 24/7, and a signalman shows up about 20 minutes before train time to open the cane railway catch points and clear the signal for QR. I spent quite a bit of time at this location trying to catch QR trains, which accounts for the large number of shots. The Spirit of Queensland was running 3 hours late so it was just a continuous parade of cane trains until it arrived. Also of interest is the haulage of raw sugar on an extension of the cane network from both mills to Lucinda, where the longest loading pier in the southern hemisphere extends 5.76 km into the bay in order to reach deep water so the largest bulk vessels can be accommodated. This is the only network that exports bulk sugar this way, as the others use either QR or trucks.; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4J1tm6SS9w -- Part 10: Tully Mill is owned by the Chinese food conglomerate COFCO and all of their output goes to export by truck. On our 2014 visit we toured the mill (see my video "Tully Mill Tour and Trains" also on YouTube). This visit I wanted to focus on the north end of the network, the area known as El Arish. After some shots around the mill, we went up to the top of the hill where the Tully cane line crosses QR on an overhead bridge. After losing the train for a while, we caught up with them again at the and of the Sanderson's branch and chased back to the top of the hill. We were fortunate to catch the Spirit of Queensland at the Jaffa diamond,. After some non-rail tourism, we wound up the day with Tully 6 entering the mill from the south.; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKZ0gBAwQcY -- Part 11: South Johnstone Mill has an extensive rail network, incorporating lines from the former Goondi, Mourilyan and Babinda Mills, the latter providing a connection to fellow MSF partner Mulgrave Mill. The southern end is only a short distance north of the north end of the Tully system. We spent two days on this network, starting with the street running in South Johnstone and working north to the Mirwinni area. The second day we worked the south end at Japoonvale and Silkwood, where a pair of units are kept at a small enginehouse. Until 2007 bins were gathered at Japoonvale and road trains operated over a tortuous steeply graded line to the mill. This line is now only used to gather cane from branches. A new and much flatter connecting line was built east of Silkwood to a portion of the Mourilyan network and a new QR crossing installed at Boogan. This is where we ended our coverage on day two.; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q903iH9pJSg -- Part 12: Part of the MSF Sugar (Thai owned) group, Mulgrave Mill also has an extensive network, incorporating trackage from the former Hambledon Mill south of Cairns. We begin with a look at the mill and its rotary dumper, some shunting around the mill yard, and catch a few trains heading north along various lines. The final sequence begins with the duck under at Redlynch, with a QR Kuranda Scenic train and then empty bins heading for the Barron River delta, and a return chase around the west side of Cairns all the way back to the mill. Of note are the locos with cut down cabs (Hambledon and Redlynch) that were modified specifically for this service.; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JYoImuBCDo -- Part 13: The final installment in the Queensland Sugar Cane series, Mossman Mill is now part of Mackay Sugar, so some locos are in the green/yellow/red of that company while some still remain in Mossman's traditional blue/yellow scheme. The most unique feature of this line is the absence of traditional cane "bins", the mill having switched to an intermodal system back in the late 1960's. The cars are actually small bogie skeleton flats and the cane bins can be transferred to trucks for loading in the field. The cars with panel slides are the older style and are generally used now like conventional bins being loaded at outlying points by cane tippers, while the newer mesh side bins are used in the slide-on/slide-off manner, chiefly at the large bin transfer station at Cassowarys. The various branches are very scenic with a number of road/rail bridges, some of them wooden decked. Perhaps the most interesting feature is the street running down Mill St. in downtown Mossman. This line funnels most of the traffic from the north of town into the mill. The line is also notable for currently having the northernmost rail line in Queensland at the terminus at Bamboo. (There were other rail lines north of here but they are now abandoned.)
Sugar Cane Harvester - Haulout in Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Lg4HBDCUco -- lukei22 -- Published on Oct 22, 2017; A John Deere 3520T with two new JCB 3230 Fastrac - RB Engineering Smarthauler cutting south of Ingham for Victoria Mill
sugar cane haulout in australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhSPc6WBiog -- lukei22 -- Published on Aug 1, 2009; A case ih powerhaul unloading into bins at a siding in the tully mill area
Sugar Cane Haulout in Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2C6lnGeCSE -- lukei22 -- Published on Sep 24, 2016; An Artic John Deere 7230R - tri axle carta bin haulout unloading into Units (Bins) for Tully mill
Sugar Cane Train in Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4484jcYJQEM -- lukei22 -- Published on Dec 25, 2017; Unloading Sugar Wagons at QSL Bulk Sugar Terminal, Lucinda
sugar cane truck in australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtiDlFMzmFw -- lukei22 -- Published on Jul 22, 2009; A zarb transport b-double unloading cane for over the eton range into 14 tonne cane bins at the ex north eton mill yard
sugar cane truck in australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrBST1cqhZ4 -- lukei22 -- Published on Aug 31, 2010; A troncos b-double with a load of kennedy cane unloading at the transfer station at south johnstone mill

last updated: 24 April 2018.

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Other listings: Queensland Rail -- Urban Trams -- Queensland sugar cane -- Overseas sugar cane.

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