The W44 Concentrate Train conveyed lead and zinc concentrates from the Zinc Corporation-owned mines at Broken Hill, New South Wales

Broken Hill, New South Wales

-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...

 to the new Sulphide Corporation Cockle Creek Smelter

Cockle Creek Smelter

Cockle Creek Smelter was a zinc and lead smelter located at the northern end of Lake Macquarie near Boolaroo New South Wales.The smelter was built in by Sulphide Corporation Limited in 1896 and the first attempts to refine zinc using the Ashcroft Process began in 1897 and was abandoned shortly...

 south of Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

.

In August 1961, the Sulphide Corporation opened a new smelter based on the Imperial Smelting Process. The plant used high grade concentrates from the mines at Broken Hill and as they were owned by the same controlling interests these came from the Zinc Corporation and New Broken Hill Consolidated Mines.

To haul the concentrates the New South Wales Government Railways

New South Wales Government Railways

The New South Wales Government Railways was the government department that operated the New South Wales Government's railways until the establishment of the Public Transport Commission in 1972. Although later known officially as the Department of Railways, New South Wales, it was still generally...

 modified 80 G class open wagons by permanently closing the bottom discharge doors to form the GC wagon. These were run in block trains of 16 wagons making a load of 1020 LT. These were hauled by a single 49 class diesel electric locomotive

New South Wales 49 class locomotive

The 49 class were branchline diesel-electric locomotives order by and operated by the New South Wales Government Railways, similar to the 48 and 47 classes. When they were ordered from Clyde Engineering at Granville, New South Wales they were ordered in 3 batches, each of six locomotives: 4901 to...

 for the section Broken Hill to Parkes

Parkes, New South Wales

- Transport :Parkes has a local bus service provided by Western Road Liners, which acquired Harris Bus Lines in March 2006. The Indian Pacific also stops twice a week, as well as the Broken Hill Outback Xplorer service, run by CountryLink, which heads to Broken Hill on Mondays and Sydney on...

, the loading being 200 tons greater than the maximum allowed for the 49 class. At Parkes, haulage was taken over by a single AD60 class

New South Wales AD60 class locomotive

The AD60 class was a class of steam locomotives operated by the New South Wales Government Railways in Australia. They were built with the 4-8-4+4-8-4 wheel arrangement. They are commonly considered the most powerful Australian steam locomotives although the NSWGR 57 class was actually slightly...

 Garratt

Garratt

A Garratt is a type of steam locomotive that is articulated in three parts. Its boiler is mounted on the centre frame, and two steam engines are mounted on separate frames, one on each end of the boiler. Articulation permits larger locomotives to negotiate curves and lighter rails that might...

 with another steam locomotive to Molong

Molong, New South Wales

Molong is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, in Cabonne Shire.Molong is located on the Mitchell Highway about 300 kilometres west of Sydney and about 30 kilometres from the city of Orange. It is elevated at 529 metres above sea level. At the 2006 census, Molong...

 where a heavy duty AD60 took over to Lithgow

Lithgow, New South Wales

Lithgow is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia and is the centre of the local political division City of Lithgow. It is located in a mountain valley named Lithgow's Valley by John Oxley in honour of William Lithgow, the first Auditor-General of New South Wales.Lithgow is...

. An electric locomotive took the train from Lithgow to Gosford

Gosford, New South Wales

Gosford is a city located on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, approximately 76 km north of the Sydney central business district...

(the then limit of electrification) where an AD60 would take over the haulage to Sulphide Junction the entrance to the smelter.

The rail link to the smelter was an important change in the pattern of transporting concentrates from Broken Hill as previously they had gone by sea to Cockle Creek. In the 1970s changes to the smelter allowed lower grade material to be used which was sourced from other mines and the running of W44 declined along with the scrapping of the steam locomotives.

The smelter itself ceased operations in 2005.

Railfan interest

The combination of heavy freight engines and the running times of the train, daylight through spectacular scenery, made the W44 Concentrate train a popular photographic target by railfans documenting the last phase of steam engine use of the New South Wales Government Railways.