Re: [VIC] Parallel run (was: Headboard 2000)

[dbromage@fang.omni.com.au (David Bromage)]

James Brook (ajmbrook@ozemail.com.au) won a Nobel Prize for literature by writing:
> Mark Bau wrote:

> > When were wooden cars in Vic. reduced to 80KPH and why?
> >
> > What would the authorities require to let them run at their normal speed
> > again?

> I think it was because they don't have roller bearings and they turn into
> matchwood in a collision.

Officially it's because they have plain bearings. In reality it's because
the old PTC didn't want 'that rubbish' running on their lines. 

It's compounded by the 65km/h limit on V cars, officially because they are
screw coupled. Much like the Pullman cars in NSW. But then I felt quite
safe travelling in V cars at 100km/h, and in the Pullman cars at a
substantial speed (between Tamworth and Werris Creek).

In a collision between a Comeng and an E car, the Comeng would come off
second best. The anti-telescoping bars (crash bars) on the E car would
slice through the Comeng. Had Cowan happened in Victoria, the deal toll
would have been horrific.... on the spark.

Cheers
David