Really nice to see the investments now coming with Inland Rail investment.

Toowoomba set to be freight and logistics powerhouse

Sure it seems a good thing but I fear it may be coming at the expense of inland rails final section.
It seems like the new idea is lets make Toowoomba the interstate rail hub and send everything onwards to the customer by truck using the freeway network (which now extends to this new terminal).
I tkink the final out come will be decided by future politics.

It is unusual in this day and age to see a rail company announcing it will be using a yard and rail line that won't be finished for at least another six years. As we all know, a lot can happen in the rail world in six years. I may well be over-reading the press reslease, but I have feeling in my waters PN will begin using the yard with narrow gauge services (not that PN currently has locomotives that can run to Toowoomba) prior to 2027.

It is unusual in this day and age to see a rail company announcing it will be using a yard and rail line that won't be finished for at least another six years. As we all know, a lot can happen in the rail world in six years. I may well be over-reading the press reslease, but I have feeling in my waters PN will begin using the yard with narrow gauge services (not that PN currently has locomotives that can run to Toowoomba) prior to 2027.

You think this may be unrelated to the inland rail and more about the NG?

It is unusual in this day and age to see a rail company announcing it will be using a yard and rail line that won't be finished for at least another six years. As we all know, a lot can happen in the rail world in six years. I may well be over-reading the press reslease, but I have feeling in my waters PN will begin using the yard with narrow gauge services (not that PN currently has locomotives that can run to Toowoomba) prior to 2027.

You think this may be unrelated to the inland rail and more about the NG?

No, not unrelated to the Inland Rail project, but given the timelines for Inland Project, it seems a very early commitment to using a terminal that won't have a standard gauge rail connection until 2027 (at best). By 2027 PN could easily have different owners, different management or different business strategies, and the Inland Rail construction could easily be running late. I'd like to think (and it's only an opinion) PN is at least considering ways to use a Toowoomba hub prior to Inland Rail arriving.

Advice for those down south not up to date on the Wagner family from QLD, since the original URL mentioned them with the Toowoomba / Wellcamp rail terminal.....

The Wagner family have a long history of putting their money where their mouth is......  

So called experts down south laughed at them many years ago with their plans for their private Wellcamp airstrip to handle Boeing 747 Jumbos to export local produce direct to Asia, yet the Wagner family built it and so heavy widebody freighters fly direct to Asia several times a week from the Wagner family's Wellcamp Airport. If in the area, the Jumbo is often on a Tuesday night as Cathay Pacific flight 2022 and usually the latest B747- 8 type, not the older B747-400s that Qantas operated.  

Biggest aircraft to Wagner family's Wellcamp Airport so far is the huge Antonov An-124 Ruslan  

Ditto for the brand new Wagner Wellcamp quarantine facility......

Advice for those down south not up to date on the Wagner family from QLD, since the original URL mentioned them with the Toowoomba / Wellcamp rail terminal.....

The Wagner family have a long history of putting their money where their mouth is......  

So called experts down south laughed at them many years ago with their plans for their private Wellcamp airstrip to handle Boeing 747 Jumbos to expert local produce direct to Asia, yet the Wagner family built it and so heavy widebody freighters fly direct to Asia several times a week from the Wagner family's Wellcamp Airport. If in the area, the Jumbo is often on a Tuesday night as Cathay Pacific flight 2022 and usually the latest B747- 8 type, not the older B747-400s that Qantas operated.  

Biggest aircraft to Wagner family's Wellcamp Airport so far is the huge Antonov An-124 Ruslan  

Ditto for the Wagner Wellcamp quarantine facility......

Great to see that something in this country seems/appears to have been a success.

A couple of artist renderings shown in releases by Wagners today indicate dual gauge tracks in the terminal, so presumably interchange with narrow gauge and access by narrow gauge is on the cards.

https://www.facebook.com/320404762181559/posts/933857060836323/

It is unusual in this day and age to see a rail company announcing it will be using a yard and rail line that won't be finished for at least another six years. As we all know, a lot can happen in the rail world in six years. I may well be over-reading the press reslease, but I have feeling in my waters PN will begin using the yard with narrow gauge services (not that PN currently has locomotives that can run to Toowoomba) prior to 2027.

There's no current NG track particularly close to the proposed site. The closest point would be Kingsthorpe, approx 8km as the pterodactyl flys. If they were to build a DG connection to Gowrie that would require at least 12km of track construction, which may not be redundant with the IR.

While New Hope isn't mining there are more paths on the NG from west of Toowoomba to Brisbane.

Sure it seems a good thing but I fear it may be coming at the expense of inland rails final section.
It seems like the new idea is lets make Toowoomba the interstate rail hub and send everything onwards to the customer by truck using the freeway network (which now extends to this new terminal).
I tkink the final out come will be decided by future politics.

Until road congestion becomes diabolical across all of South East Queensland's Motorway and Highway network.

Yes there are NIMBY's In the Scenic Rim Region complaining about the prospect of railway running through their area.

Hate to be that guy but I don't see any dual gauge track in those renders, just shadows.

Advice for those down south not up to date on the Wagner family from QLD, since the original URL mentioned them with the Toowoomba / Wellcamp rail terminal.....

The Wagner family have a long history of putting their money where their mouth is......  

So called experts down south laughed at them many years ago with their plans for their private Wellcamp airstrip to handle Boeing 747 Jumbos to export local produce direct to Asia, yet the Wagner family built it and so heavy widebody freighters fly direct to Asia several times a week from the Wagner family's Wellcamp Airport. If in the area, the Jumbo is often on a Tuesday night as Cathay Pacific flight 2022 and usually the latest B747- 8 type, not the older B747-400s that Qantas operated.  

Biggest aircraft to Wagner family's Wellcamp Airport so far is the huge Antonov An-124 Ruslan  

Ditto for the brand new Wagner Wellcamp quarantine facility......

The Wagners do step up with the cash but I hardly call a few flights a week a success for an airport.  it is nowhere near the top airports in the country by any measure.  Would love to see the income statement for the airport and see where its numbers are at.

Indeed, this terminal is perhaps part of the airport strategy just as much as it is part of any standalone strategy.

Bigger thing in this is that PN is now developing two terminals....

I wonder when the ACCC might start taking a look at intermodal terminals and comparing them to the grain export terminals that are (lightly) regulated to ensure third party access.

My point still is that the Wagner family from QLD carried through with their dream of widebody large air freighters exporting their region's farm produce directly to Asia, in a time frame that ensures it is at max freshness without the time delays from bothering with the usual capital cities. Note my highlighting the freight aspect, rather than bothering too much with passengers. Although there are some passenger flights to other parts of Australia, the Wagner family did convince Qantas to set up a pilot training college, despite other cities wanting that same substantial Qantas college instead.

My point still is that the Wagner family from QLD carried through with their dream of widebody large air freighters exporting their region's farm produce directly to Asia, in a time frame that ensures it is at max freshness without the time delays from bothering with the usual capital cities. Note my highlighting the freight aspect, rather than bothering too much with passengers. Although there are some passenger flights to other parts of Australia, the Wagner family did convince Qantas to set up a pilot training college, despite other cities wanting that same substantial Qantas college instead.

Continuing this branch line. As a Toowoomba resident, Wellcamp has made it practical to go to Melbourne for the day and much easier to go to Sydney for a day. I appreciate the past entrepreneurship of the Wagners and suspect they will have future ventures with further advantages to this region.

exporting their region's farm produce directly to Asia, in a time frame that ensures it is at max freshness without the time delays from bothering with the usual capital cities.

Really?  What evidence do you have to say that BNE export options were impacting freshness of produce?  It is a 2 hour drive from airport to airport - does that result in food spoilage?  

And given there are still multiple international flights a day out of BNE compared to a few per week at most out of Wellcamp, are the frequent air connections not better?

It is a 2 hour drive from airport to airport - does that result in food spoilage?

In theory, but heavy transport through the suburbs of Brisbane could take quite a bit longer. Whilst food mightn't spoil in two hours, you have to remember this is a 2+ hour extension of a trip that may already have taken some time. I do agree however that Wagners haven't solved any real issues, but they have shown foresight and are providing infrastructure for the future rather than waiting until it was needed 10 or 20 years ago and trying to catch up!

According to the following which is mostly quoted from the following URL from the Australian Aviation magazine's online articles (3 JAN 2018), the initial rationale for the Wagner Family's private Wellcamp airport was to enable local producers in the Darling Downs to export their goods to Asia and beyond via Cathay’s Hong Kong hub. Cathay Pacific Airways regional cargo manager for south west Pacific Nigel Chynoweth said (2018 quote) there had also been demand for inbound freight.

“Obviously opportunities to export fresh produce and chilled meat products directly into Asia was the driving force,” Chynoweth said in a statement. “But we have seen a steady growth in the number of businesses using the airport to bring items such as exhibitions, food processing equipment, aircraft engines and gas turbines, even a cheese shredder into the state.”

https://australianaviation.com.au/2018/01/cathay-pacific-and-wellcamp-airport-encouraged-by-first-year-of-freighter-operations/

My point on the proposed nearby rail yard is history has shown the Wagner family already were  prepared to make the very considered business decision to build expensive transport infrastructure such as their own expensive private Boeing 747 airstrip and backed up that decision to export local produce by actually building the airstrip. In the same way, the Wagner family are putting money into the new rail yard nearby.

Think it is encouraging to see investment with wellcamp people with a track record of making things happen. This sort of planning snd development with integrated logistics is needed more.