Rio Tinto Rail Access Road to Millstream-Chichester National Park and Dampier (By Simon)

We had an early start as we were driving the ~240km to Millstream-Chichester National Park via the Rio Tinto rail access road. This is an unsealed private road which follows Rio Tinto's rail network from the Tom Price mine to the ports in Dampier. To travel this road we had to watch a 20 minute safety video and obtain a permit.

The trip was fantastic, passing through some spectacular country, a couple of water crossings and more that 20 iron ore trains. These are a sight to behold and we stopped every time we saw one.

Here is some facts on the Rio Tinto rail network:
- Largest privately owned and operated rail system in Australia.
- Trains are 2.5km long and consist approx. 234 wagons.
- Pulled by 3 to 4 General Electric Locomotives each generating 4500hp.
- 27,376 tonne of iron ore per train worth approximately $3.5 million.
- Trains do 60kph loaded and 80kph empty on the return journey.
- The train drivers need to press a button every 50 seconds to confirm they are still alert.
- Trains run 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
- If a train happens to derail / crash, it is quicker to build a track around the crash site rather than clean the original (time is money in the iron ore business).

The road was very well maintained with some river crossings, minor corrugations and only a few small wash-outs to navigate around but the camper did see a lot of red dust and flying stones. The camper A-frame and underside look as if they have been sand blasted!

Late in the day we only had the Fortescue river to cross before reaching Millstream National Park. As we approached the river we saw the river was very swollen and the river crossing about 500 metres wide. My brave wife volunteered to wade across to check the depth which I am very glad she did! Most of the crossing was about knee deep but toward the end the road dropped away to be over 1 metre deep and flowing fast.

Not being able to cross with the camper in tow we tried a second entrance further down stream but this too was impassible. So we were left to camp beside the road only a couple of kilometres from our intended destination. It was, however, a glorious night with not a breath of wind, a spectacular sun set followed by a full moon and full assembly of stars!

The next morning we checked the river crossing again but the water level had only dropped 100mm. A little disappointed we left Millstream, stopping to climb Mount Herbert, heading for Python Pool, a permanent water hole about 30km north where we had lunch and a swim.

From Python Pool we got back on the sealed road and finished the remaining 100km to Dampier and then Karratha.

At Dampier we dropped in at the Red Dog statue and then drove around the ports where the iron ore is loaded onto ships bound for China, India, Japan and Korea.

As the sun started sinking we headed for Point Samson for our next stop.

Travel Log:
Tom Price to Point Samson: 482 km
Total Trip: 7882 km