Prospector Train

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Prospector
The Prospector railcars through Binduli Triangle near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Manufacturer	United Goninan
Entered service	28 June 2004
Number in service	2 units of 2 cars, 1 unit of 3 cars
Operator	Transwa
Specifications
Maximum speed	200 km/h, 160 km/h service
Gauge	standard gauge

The Transwa Prospector is a standard-gauge passenger train operated by Transwa that runs between Perth, Western Australia, and the Goldfields town of Kalgoorlie.

History

The Prospector replaced the narrow-gauge overnight passenger train called The Westland that ran on the older Eastern Railway route. The original Prospector railcars first entered service in November 1971. These Comeng-built units consisted of five power cars WCA901 through WCA905, and three non-powered trailers WCE921 through WCE923. They cut the 14 hour journey to 8 hours, and travelled more than 20 million kilometres and 2.6 million passengers over their 32 years life.^[1] The original railcars were being retired on 29 July 2005. In 2008 they were purchased by C.D. Dodd Scrap Metal Recyclers and are now stored at their Forrestfield property. One of the power cars is at the Fire & Emergency Services Authority training academy in Forrestfield. It is used as a site for heavy rescue training.^[2]

A new new-generation of railcars entered service on 28 June 2004, costing $56 million.^[3] The new railcars are built for a top speed of 200 km/h, but track conditions currently only allow a maximum speed of 160 km/h.^[4] The new railcars were built by United Goninan at their factory in Broadmeadow, New South Wales,^[5] and consist of three driving cars WDA001 through WDA003, three driving cars without buffet WDB011 through WDB013, and a motored non-driving car, WDC021. These form two units of two cars, and a third which is three cars long; an additional two-car unit of the same design operates the AvonLink service.

The new Prospector railcars features air conditioned saloons, reclining seats, an entertainment system and standard mains power outlets for passengers to connect laptops and other equipment during the journey. For train crew they have a computerised operational status system, showing the identity of each carriage connected; as well as engine, brake and door control; and electricity supply. This computer system can reset passenger initiated or smoke detector alarms, and is viewable on the display in any driving compartment.