Foreign locos (was: Pendennis Castle)

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

Michael McDonald wrote:

> Good on him (the said NZ enthusiast)!  He's doing more than most in running
> steam hauled excursions on Tranz Rail tracks.  Joe Bloggs doesn't care
> whether it's a J,K, or SAR NC-24 at the sharp end - as long as he is getting
> a good deal for his money.  If the policy is successful it raises more money
> that can be channelled into NZ preservation and will increase interest in
> preservation of NZ locos.

What about the people who do care about heritage and the loco that is hauling
the train? You are right that probably 95% of the passengers don't care what it
is, as long as it is a steam loco but sometimes the 5% who would have traveled
behind an historic NZ loco could make the difference between the trip being
economically viable or not. The argument that "Joe Bloggs doesn't care..." is
used to often to justify taking the easy way out of something simply because
heritage is a little bit inconvenient. I am sick of hearing the "Joe Bloggs
doesn't care..." argument because you are not the only one who falls back on
this old cliché. I have heard this used as justification for just about
anything. As for your statement that this generates money for getting other NZ
locos running, most of the revenue from these trips would probably be spent
maintaining the foreign locomotives. Only a small percentage would be available
for restoring NZ locos. If it is a commercial operation then I don't think the
commercial operator would bother returning NZ locos to service if they can make
more of a profit out of running foreign locos. The money that is currently spent
on the foreign locos could be used to maintain NZ locos that are more
historically significant to the country. As they are still steam locos this
would make Joe Bloggs happy. People interested in history would also be happy
because it is a NZ loco instead of a South African loco. Running NZ locos where
possible would satisfy more people than running foreign locos. I know for a fact
that I will not be rushing up to Cairns to see a foreign loco hauling SX sets up
the Kuranda line when I have been up there in wooden cars behind BB18 1/4 1079.
If the operator was using a BB18 1/4, PB15 or any other Queensland loco then I
might be more interested in going up there to see it a few years from now.

--
- James Brook -

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