In case anybody is interested about the aftermath of the Edith River derailment I've picked up a few updates.
The train in the incident was the second service to pass through there after the floodwaters caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Grant first hit, about seven hours after the first one went through. It was an Adelaide-Darwin (northbound) mixed freight service with copper concentrate and containers. It looks like the crash was caused by undermining of the track on the southern embankment which then gave way under the train's locomotives, with the damage to the bridge being caused by derailed wagons being dragged along it.
This is an aerial shot of the crash scene, the missing bit on the left is an embankment on the southern side which has been washed away. The three locomotives (brand new EMD-powered GWA001, FQ02 and the 41-year old CLF6) can be seen on the track in the top-right corner of the picture, having been violently uncoupled and emergency-stopped which caused minor injuries to the two crew, both in the leading loco GWA001. The drivers had to be rescued by helicopter primarily because the road links (rail runs roughly parallel to the Stuart Highway) was also cut off by the next river to the north.
This is the crew car, converted from an old South Australian passenger DMU, which was thankfully unoccupied when it went off the upstream side of the bridge and was then slammed into the bridge pylon. The crew car was the next vehicle after the three locomotives...
The owners will probably be less than impressed with a leased container wagon being returned in this condition...
The current state of things is that freight is being carried as far north as Katherine, the last town with sidings to the south of the Edith River site, and then going by road north to Darwin. One lane is open on a temporarily relaid road on one of the bridges just downstream of the damaged rail bridge.
The forecast of things is that the line is possibly going to be open again at the end of January, which reflects the high priority of this transport link to the Top End. It is unlikely that the design of the bridge will change, it will probably just be repairs, a relaid track and a rebuilt approach embankment on the southern side. If having the primary freight link to Darwin out of action any longer was possible it might be possible to rebuild it with a shorter embankment and a couple of extra bridge spans, since the bridge faired quite well with the flood event.
