Re: Dorrigo 19th Century Treasures

["John Kerley" <deaftech@ozemail.com.au>]

James Brook <ajmbrook@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
3A13C1CE.B7D4C75F@ozemail.com.au">news:3A13C1CE.B7D4C75F@ozemail.com.au...


> John Kerley wrote:
> >
> > I find the slagging off of railway preservationists by those who want to
> > play trains extremely tiresome.
>
> Who said I was "slagging off"? All I have said is that maybe Dorrigo
> should stop collecting everything in sight until they are in a position
> to preserve their collection properly, ie: undercover. I think it is a
> valid suggestion that maybe Dorrigo should put their resources into
> their extensive collection, rather than leaving it out in the open as
> they aquire more items that are already preserved elsewhere in NSW.
>
James, my irritation is with those who try tell preservationists who have
put in the hard yakka and money how to run their railway, museum etc.and in
particular, the manner in which they express this opinion.  As you correctly
say I am a Puff volunteer (score 10 out of 10 on my test on Australian
Preserved Railways!).  Indeed I spent today guarding up there having been
disturbed from my slumbers at 8am with an SOS phone call saying the guard of
the 10.30 pass had phoned in sick (actually it was his wife), can you help
out? (no clever clog comments about slumbering at 8am please!)

The point of this is that when you put in the hard yards, you are entitled
to decide how your assetts are deployed.

Your comment about PB only collecting narrow gauge stuff is not strictly
correct.  The museum at Menzies Creek was established as a "Steam Museum"
i.e. the operative word being steam and hence a variety of steam objects
were collected in the early days, at the same time as every conceivable bit
of narrow gaugeanna.  Later on there was an intense debate about whether
this general steam theme should be continued with most of the museum workers
who had put in the hard yakka wanting to keep  the exhibits while the
railway's leadership wanting to divest some of them.  This resulted in the W
class being sent to Pichi Richi on the understanding, if I recall correctly,
that restoration be started in 5 years  It would be interesting to know what
in fact has happened.  The point here is that the democratically elected
leadership's view prevailed, even if some of us did not like it. But they
also have put in the hard yards, they are not outsiders.

Your comment about Britain having more resourses that Australia, misses my
point altogether.  I am simply saying Britain today has a magnificient
collection of steam engines  today because one particular scrap merchant
decided to keep the locos in the sixties instead of scrapping them for an
immediate return as the others did.  Furthermore he still resisted scrapping
them later on even though some so called preservationists called for him to
do so.  No doubt he gained a very good return because of his forsight.
Because there was this reservoir of locos, as groups through the seventies
and eighties raised the resources, they had a place where they could obtain
them.  If they had not been saved in the first place, no amount of resources
would have resurrected them.

Ironically, if those who believe Dorrigo is unviable are proved correct, and
it does go belly up, it will then become NSW's Barry. All those other groups
who allegedly have their envious eyes on the collection will be able to put
their money where their mouths are and be able to then thank the Dorrigo
pioneers for their forsight in saving the collection in the first place.
Somehow, given what they have been through already, I think this is an
unlikely scenario.

Cheers,

John Kerley
> >
> > After all the bad press, I was very pleasantly surprised to see how
> > extensive the collection was and especially how well preserved it was,
> > through the use of copious amounts of grease etc.
> >
> > I have been involved in, and getting my hands dirty in, the railway
> > preservation movement for nearly forty-three years.  When we started out
we
> > believed, rather naively, that we would have the first eight miles of
our
> > railway reopened in two or three years and the remaining six or so a
couple
> > of years later.  In fact it took nearly 41 years to achieve our mission
of
> > restoring the whole railway.  The point here is that "Rome was not built
in
> > a day" or that railway preservation and restoration takes a long time,
but
> > that you will get there in the end.
> >
>
> I am guessing you're involved with Puffing Billy, as you haven't
> actually told us which group you are with. Puffing Billy has been much
> more selective in what it restores when compared to Dorrigo. Puffing
> Billy has only saved narrow gauge items and this is where it differs
> from Dorrigo. Dorrigo seems to think they can preserve everything even
> remotely significant in NSW. Dorrigo hasn't concentrated on just
> mainline, branchline, industrial or any other type of railway. It is
> touch and go as to whether one museum for the whole state will be
> viable, without having two like in NSW.
>
> >  Please note the order of the words "preservation" and "restoration".
If
> > you do not preserve in the first place, you will have nothing to
restore.
> > On our railway we still have several locos and numerous items of rolling
> > stock, which were saved in the fifties and sixties, awaiting
restoration.
> > Indeed one carriage returned to service this year after a forty year
wait.
> >
>
> And if you collect too much, you will never have enough resources to
> look after all of it.
>
> >
> > Another example of the need to preserve first was the Barry scrapyard in
> > Britain (Wales to be precise).  For years after the initial "good" locos
had
> > been salvaged, there were many who said "scrap the remaining hulks -
they
> > will never be able to be restored".  Some of those in the clamour were
> > existing restorationists and preserved railways who mistakenly thought
that
> > this would reduce competition.  Fortunately the scrap yard owner ignored
> > these philistines and eventually all the locos from Barry were saved,
thus
> > giving Britain an unparalleled collection of steam locomotives.  Also
> > fortunately, the older preserved railways woke up to the fact that new
> > preserved railways actually add to their market.  Having travelled on
one
> > railway, the punters say "I liked that, lets travel on another railway."
> > The opposition is other leisure activities, not other railways.
> >
>
> Comparing Britain and Australia is like comparing tomatoes and rocks.
> The two countries are completely different in the amount of resources
> available for railway preservation. In Britain, railways seem to be much
> more popular than out here in Australia, both in the numbers of railfans
> and with the general public's attitude. We have the problem of railways
> being a very specialised interest without much support from the
> government or the public.
>
> Our population is also spread out over a much larger area. It wouldn't
> take that much to drive from one end of the UK to the other. As they
> have a much higher population density and a much lower amount of
> travelling required to reach the preserved railways, they are likely to
> get more visitors and more volunteers. In Australia most of the
> population doesn't even go outside the capital cities, which is a
> problem for preserved railways in regional areas. It is also partly the
> reason for Puffing Billy's success in Victoria as it is the only
> preserved railway in Australia with minimal travelling time from the CBD
> of a major city.
>
> The attitude that we can copy the UK is ludicrous as we don't have
> anywhere near the level of resources of the UK.
>
> >
> > I believe future generations will thank the foresight of the Dorrigo
> > preservationists for persevering against overwhelming odds to maintain
the
> > unique collection that they have acquired.
> >
>
> This is only if they are able to maintain the collection in a better
> environment than out in the open. If they continue to collect a large
> number of items then they may not be able to fully maintain their
> collection.
>
> --
> - James Brook -
>
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