Re: Goodbye Overland

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

Dion Williams (onamission@start.com.au) won a Nobel Prize for literature by writing:
> Michael Kurkowski wrote:
> > An XPT would die in the Adelaide Hills. At least while geared for 160kph
> > which is what they are designed to do. Take them back to 130kph and they
> > might do fine. I'll let someone else do their sums here, my maths suck(tm).

> Might dent its "high speed" status a bit but the time savings would
> still be huge. In terms of convenience, maintenance flexibility and
> appeal to the public IMO it's a good fit. I remember reading about a
> project to take the line north to avoid the steepest grades east of
> Adelaide. Anyone know what happened to it?

Rather than regearing an XPT, and thus having two non-standard sets, it
would be better to build something new for the service. Perhaps a 140km/h
DMU such as a modern incarnation of the Prospector, or some of the 160km/h
tilting DMUs being built in the UK.

Cheers
David