The run-down state of NSW rail branch lines was highlighted when about seven wagons of this loaded GrainCorp grain train derailed last Wednesday about five kilometres south of Coonamble on one of the lines farmers have been fighting to retain.
It is understood the ballast gave way in wet weather causing the track to spread and the train to crash through the sleepers and the wheels to sink into the ground.
GrainCorp unloaded the derailed wagons onto trucks the following day and the wagons have now been removed.
The track is nominally class five which limits train speeds to a maximum of 20 kilometres an hour, but the NSW Government in August announced a $33 million upgrade of the Dubbo to Coonamble line that would lift it to class three by 2014.
The track runs through "Orroroo" owned by Jim and Carmen Hiscock.
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