Road trains from Australia (7 photos)

How many of you have at least some experience with the car-Long-certainly knows how many problems come when you have to stand up for loading / unloading. Of course, the large volumes that allow transport trucks, pleasing and significantly save time and money, but do not always have good access to the destinations. Typically, the driver of the truck requires a truly jeweler's art, for that would be to drive a car in a very narrow passages.

If you go back to one of my favorite parts of the world - Australia, where the space between the settlements really huge, we can see that the trains on the continent and are used at 100%. Straight, flat track contribute to this. They - kings, princes of the desert, sitting behind the wheel of the largest truck in the world, able to pull themselves up to 500 tons of cargo at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour!
Most of these trucks for hauling a huge trailers - French origin, as the plants "Mac" were at one time bought by "Renault". Truck Mack, the pride of the brothers John and Augustus Markov, was born a hundred years ago in New York and began to be used for other purposes since 1903. The first "Poppies", decorated with original logo with the image of a bulldog, equipped with 4-liter engines. They were widely used during the First World War, and in 1924 began to use the most popular in Australia. The first diesel engine appeared in 1938. Becoming increasingly popular operating on compressed air starters - more powerful and reliable than traditional power.



2000, Western Australia. Kenworth C501T - tractor driven by Steven Matthews, 79 trailers to move the length of 1018 meters at a distance of 8 km. The total mass of 1072 tons!

Road trains provide all transportation to three-quarters of the continent. Truckers spend in their spacious cabs of trucks 24 hours a day. There is a bed length of 80 cm to 1 m, TV, VCR, radio, cell phone and a refrigerator, where drinks can be cool for many hours.



The road, which runs between the states of South Australia and Western Australia, especially deserted and depressing. On hundreds of kilometers of range are no roadside cafe, a single gas station. But they are not needed - because the fuel tanks of the same Mack hold up to 2,000 liters of fuel.

The only thing you're worried - as if not to break the wheel or fall asleep at the wheel. And then, and another happens very often, and if one of the wheels burst behind, so do not even notice, and another roadside cafe arrive only on rims, and that is where you notice that it is time to change the wheel. They will not stop no natural barriers, and in the way of this train is better not to get caught. These mechanical monsters, it seems, are blind and deaf to everything that surrounds them. Nothing can stop them.



White reflector positioned in a row at the top of the windshield, are clearly visible in the dark. The driver of the oncoming vehicle from afar knew that the monster he is approached. He knows better than at this meeting, to slow down and pull over to the side of the road, or it can simply blow away from the road the flow of air. Feeling even more acute if you dare to overtake such road trains. This is a risky maneuver, as the car, according to the laws of aerodynamics, beginning to press to board trains. Perhaps the most dangerous event - it is overtaking the famous triple trailer, character of roads in the Northern Territory. Articulated vehicle, the length of which is not less than 52 m, at a speed of 100-110 moves km / h. Add to this the 75 th - to have time to "come up" because of speeding trains, and even 75 meters - with a reserve should be back on the road ahead of the vehicle. The Northern Territory Government in its recommendations for tourists notes before starting to overtake train, which travels at a speed of 100 km / h, the driver must be absolutely sure that the road ahead is clear for at least a kilometer.



2006 Queensland. Mack Titan - tractor trucker John Atkinson passes 140 meters, dragging 113 trailers with a total length 1474 meters and weighing 1,300 tons! Assembling a record train took about six hours

Another sign of local roads - from time to time on the sidelines you can see a special loading ramps stacked on it "pile" empty trailers. Such a ramp - a common phenomenon in major roads, well, in the province are often replaced by a simple mound of earth or gravel. On the side of the highway and can often be seen standing alone empty trailers. Such a trailer waiting to pick up again to the truck on the way back, as long as it is not necessary for him to worry, no one is stealing and not steal.





Despite the fact that most of the trucks have no more than 4 trailers, and meet the real giants. In 1999, the town Merridin (Western Australia) hit the Guinness Book of Records. Marleys Transport Company was the longest road train in the world: the driver Greg Marley dragged 45 trailers a total length of 610 meters as much as 8 km. In 2000, Kalgoorlie (Western Australia) set a new record. Five thousand spectators watched with delight as the composition of the 78 trailers overcame a distance of 8 km. This record lasted until 2003: far from Mangindi (New South Wales) "debuted" trailer 87 trailer length 1235 m. The new record of the state, boasting the longest trains in the world, was not long in coming, and again it happened in Kalgoorlie . The length of the train at this time amounted to 1 442 m. Finally, more recently, in 2006, in Clifton (Queensland) set a new world record: 104 trailer with a total length 1474 m 3!

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