Railroad Australia - Series 2 (ATOM Study Guide)

Synopsis

In Season 2, Railroad Australia heads deeper into the lives of the drivers, crews, and maintenance teams on some of the world's heaviest and longest trains across the toughest and most inhospitable continent on the planet. Larger than life returning character Bernie Baker faces the worst storms in a generation to deliver eight retro diesel engines to a massive rail event years in the planning. It's then a battle with the elements 1000 kilometres across the outback to pick up 90 coal wagons from Broken Hill. Wannabe train driver James Gray bought his own locomotive when he was just 16 and spent two decades restoring it. But to make his lifetime dream come true he wants to be a qualified driver. First he must prove to a gnarly Instructor nicknamed Jaws that he's got what it takes on one of the most spectacular coastal lines in Australia. Playtime's over. Now it's for real. In the remote Pilbara desert, hundreds of kilometres from another soul, driver Jeff Wilson battles rain, fire, heat and traffic to haul a massive 2.7 kilometre, 250 wagon iron ore train across the scorching desert to the port. With the heaviest axle loads in the world it's like riding a 37,000 tonne rollercoaster downhill. In a Man vs Machine grudge match, steam train driver, Alf Grigg, races his Fire-breathing locomotive against cyclist son, Brendan, and 200 other riders through the mud-spattered Victorian landscape. Who will be the victor? In regional New South Wales, Southern Shorthaul Railroad are testing their modified grain wagons, battling against time and the weather to get the shipment to port on schedule. Will they succeed?

Curriculum Links

Railroad Australia (Gareth Lee, Ian Withnall, Mike Hoath, Nicola Larkin, 2017) is a series of 6 x 44-minute episodes, each focusing on three stories of railway people facing problems in delivering their loads to remote parts of Australia. Individual programs within the series can be used with middle and senior secondary students (Years 9–12) to engage students in a variety of curriculum areas:

• Geography: The variety of the Australian environment. How do weather, distance, climate and environments affect individuals and communities? Civics and Citizenship What is good citizenship? How can people be good citizens in their everyday lives? English What qualities are needed for individuals to respond positively to the challenges they face?
• Media Arts: How do filmmakers construct effective documentaries?
• Economics: What are the contributions and costs of the railway industry to the Australian economy?
• History: How did the Industrial Revolution affect Australia?