The grain, initially sourced form south Australia, has been forward sold and industry sources say the train has 102 wagons and five engines. It’s just one wagon bigger than a train that broke the record two months ago. 

To cope with track logistics the train will be split in two when it reaches Parkes. 

GrainGrowers regional coordinator, South Australia, David Evans explained that much of the grain had been loaded from a depot at Crystal Brook. 

Crystal Brook is home to one of Cargill’s GrainFlow facilities. 

“From a growers point of view it would certainly be a spectacle to see,” he said. 

Mr Evans said there was plenty of talk about this train in the industry and there were people who had travelled long distances just to catch a glimpse of it on the tracks. 

He said an interesting fact about the train was the fact drought conditions prompted grain to be moved in what could almost be described as a “reverse” direction.

In a regular year the grain from Crystal Brook would make its way into the export market. However, in this instance it was flowing back along the supply chain to help out those in drought. 

AWB has labelled the record size grain haul a history making feat for the ARTC network. The previous record was 101 wagons, which was also loaded at the same site just two months ago.