Ruhrpott at the Sea
Next stop was Port Hedland as the 60,000km service was due. We camped 80km east and heard trains during the night. The railway bridge was just 500m away from our camp spot. During the day we saw further trains and several mine sites. Do you remember me talking about the long trains in Leigh Creek? Forget about them! They are much longer up here. Several trains boost 6 engines (3 in front and 3 in the
middle). Apparently BHP (a mining company) attempted a world record for the longest and heaviest railing. The train was 7.353km long, weighted around 99,732.2t (which is a net mass of 89,262t of iron ore). 8 locomotives and 682 ore cars were used.
Port Hedland is one of the biggest iron-ore exporting ports which operates 24/7. They can handle up to 4 vessels at a time which was a real benefit for us. It made the time fly while we waited for the return of our car. We watched the whole wharf processing (arrival, loading and departure of the vessel – not necessarily in this order). We read 
that it takes around 30h to fill the 300t cargo vessels. When we arrived at the lookout we already noticed one vessel with the tug-boats attached but it didn’t move. We asked us why and some minutes later the answer moved along. There was another vessel ready for departure and it left first. After this vessel passed it was all action and that vessel was out on the
sea 20 minutes later. But we didn’t have to wait long for the next action as the tug-boats guided two new vessels into the harbour. During the 4h waiting time we saw two iron-ore vessels departing, two new arriving while another was loaded and a smaller vessel (carrying solar-salt) arriving and leaving. So the salt loading happens much quicker than the iron-ore.
So long and good bye,
Cheers, Tom and Anja
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