[VIC] High speed tours (was: [VIC] Parallel run (was: Headboard 2000))

[James Brook <ajmbrook@ozemail.com.au>]

Stuart Thyer wrote:

> No James, if we were trying to lose customers we would have tried to run the
> tour with wooden cars. There is no 80kph path to run in either direction in
> the North East. Had we not had the steel cars, the tour would not have taken
> place or would have taken place in a rake of air-con cars. If there were
> more crossing places in the North East it would still be possible to run at
> 80, but now that the infrastructure has been destroyed you run fast or don't
> run.

Ok, this is fair enough in the north east. I actually got the impression from the
letter that you had decided to use the steel cars just to have a slightly later
departure time. Maybe you should have mentioned in the letter that the reason for
using the steel cars was because you couldn't get a path. If I was stuck in a BK on
the wrong side, I wouldn't be too happy and I would see the entire trip as a waste
of money. Even if you can't use the wooden cars for this trip there are other
possible tours for the wooden cars. I haven't been for a tour in the Steamrail
wooden cars since 1998 and I haven't been on a tour with any wooden cars since the
ARHS/ARE Echuca round tour in March last year. I was in Queensland travelling from
Brisbane to Cairns in wooden compartment cars with decent windows during Steamrail's
Maryborough trip so I missed it. I know the F class trip last year wasn't a
Steamrail trip, but this was an obvious one for the wooden cars as the loco couldn't
go faster than 30kph. The Steamrail suburban ramble tours were always popular and
they are an ideal chance to use the wooden cars for railfan trips.

> So you can either be grateful for a little forward planning that buying
> those cars means tours like this can happen or you can continue to bemoan
> how good things were in the 'old days' of preservation.

I have no objection to some tours being run with these steel cars and they do have
their place. However, I would like to see the wooden cars used where possible. This
doesn't seem to be happening at the moment and Steamrail aren't running any true
railfan tours. If Steamrail tried to run at least one railfan tour (eg: Quambatook
trip in 1997) with the wooden cars every year then I wouldn't complain.

> We all want the 'old days' of preservation, plenty of steam crews, lots of
> places to run to, a less unhelpful railways to run on and plenty of places
> to cross but from here on, this is as good as it will probably ever get.

> The K cars will be repainted sometime too, back to blue.

It will be good to see them back in the blue and gold.

--
- James Brook -

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