Sperry Days

Half way through 1977 I was asked if I wanted to go to Dampier in Western Australia (WA) - actually I was told I was going, the question was rhetorical. Hammersley Iron (HI), with whom Automation Industries (AI) had a contract, needed help with a problem. The rails in their track were quite literally wearing out under the high loads of the ore trains. They decided that the way to combat this attrition rate was to get get stronger rails. To this end they purchased a consignment of rails made from high tensile strength alloy steel. The rails would be welded into continious lengths by a Westrail welding crew onsite at Dampier. AI would provide an "expert", yours truely, to ultrasonically hand test all the welds.
	This is a weld that cracked as I was testing it. The high alloy content of the steel meant that defects in the welds were common. In conjunction with the "springiness" of the steel
SRS140 at "Five Mile" the main service depot for Hammersley Iron's rail fleet
	Some of the local scenery
SRS140 passing the site of a recent derailment. In most cases the wagons are just pushed aside by a bulldozer and the track relaid. Bogies and wheels are recovered but the wagons themselves will be cut up for scrap.