Re: The future of broad gauge was Ouyen - Pinnaroo line

[Michael Kurkowski <mk@netstra.com.au>]

David Head wrote:

>Since I do not know a bigger picture, I am curious as to the fate of our
>preserved locomotives. I do see SG increasing over time and while many
>lines may not  be 'worth' it now, some time in the future the benefits
>of  uniform gauge will hit when business want to go from  A to K without
>'gauge conversion' 
>
>I hope the present BG fleet - be it a A2 or a Z van will find some line
>to run on, as Steam Ranger has in South Australia.

I don't see why you can't convert current rollongstock from 5'3" to 4'8.5" 
without a little bit of work. My only exception to that of course, would be 
the steam locos that were designed for a certain guage and that's it.

That said though, would there be many loading guage issues with narrowing 
guage of said rollingstock? (i.e. Z van tips over and lands on person who 
steps onto running board because of a higher centre of gravity - okay, not 
that dramatic) I have seen Rail Tractors (RT's) that had been converted to 
4'8.5" when heading out west. Presumably tipping over wouldn't really be an 
issue, when you look at NSW who stick incredibly huge Tulloch trailers on 
4'8.5" without any problem.

Someone mentioned in a previous post, that the sleeping cars would need to 
be retired - What is the problem with them going over to the narrow guage 
(NSW narrow, not QLD toy guage).

Regards

Michael

-- 
Michael Kurkowski
Ph: 0416-044-124
Web: http://www.netstra.com.au/~mk

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