Re: Dorrigo 19th Century Treasures

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

Tony Gatt <baulko@tig.com.au> wrote in message
8v4cbj$3rd$1@bugstomper.ihug.com.au">news:8v4cbj$3rd$1@bugstomper.ihug.com.au...

> In previous years the decision was made by PB to start towards Gembrook.
> This became the vision, and after hard work and a lot of money, the line
is
> in place with all its structures for all to enjoy. Although I have not
> contributed to this in the "donation" sense, the money paid for a ride has
> contributed to top up the coffers for more PB projects.

If only this were true!  Unfortunately most of the money from fares simply
goes to maintaining existing operations and indeed last financial year they
did not even do that  with a loss of nearly $600,000 on train operations.
Even after the profits from refreshments and sales, the loss was still
$340,000.  The leadership of the railway has long had a policy, a wrong one
in my view, that all new projects have to be funded from other sources such
as fundraising and goverment handouts.  This is the way the Gembrook
restoration was achieved.  As a consequence of this flawed policy, the
proceeds from our every increasing fares have gone to subsidise mid-week
running and not to acheiving restoration objectives that many of would like.

> Had other Major opportunities come up, PB management may have decided to
> re-direct the funds for the purchase of whatever, but would never have
lost
> sight of the "goal" being Gembrook.

As indicated above, this would not have been the case.
>
> Dorrigo, on the other hand have been "spruking" for years, and all they
have
> is an extensive collection.
>
> Why have they had to spend $250k or thereabouts on court proceedures.. had
> they followed their "goal", the MEMBERS money could have been better spent
> on preservation of the line, or restoration of the equipment, like it was
> intended..
>
> I realise it is not an overnight thing, as with anything you have to work
> towards your goal.
>
> PB generates its own funds, funds that will pay for the restoration of the
> Garratt, but those funds would not have been possible if you all spent the
> money purchasing every NBH ever built, or Every Na, or every NG loco known
> to man. Certainly you wouldn't have been getting up in the "early" hours
of
> the morning to Guard the train to Lakeside, you would have been getting up
> to guard the collection.

Again, as mentioned above this is simply not the case.  The reason the
Garratt is taking so long is that all expenses have to come from
fundraising.  I would dearly love the leadership to spend fare revenue on
the Garratt restoration. And  in the early days money WAS spent purchasing
EVERY NBH ever built.!!! and every NA that was existant as well as many
other locos of varying heritage - timber locos, gas works, sugar tram locos,
etc., etc.  Have you ever been to the Menzies Creek Museum?  And yes, I have
got up early (well, in my terms) many times to "guard" groups around the
Menzies Creek Museum.
>
> And if things do go pear shaped at Dorrigo, all the "contributors" are the
> ones who will have to face the loss. THey are the ones who should be
banding
> together as a team to prove us all wrong, after all, it is their money.
>
> If they have no intentions of running a train, then say so.. I for one
don't
> have the time to physically contribute, but if I parted with my money, I
> would certainly want to have a say, and I am certain I am not the only one
> who would like to be guarding (with a uniform and whistle) a train on the
> line to Dorrigo.
>
>
> Tony.
>
I don't know all the ins and outs of the Dorrigo saga but I assume, given
the legal processes that they have been through,  that the present
leadership must have the support of the majority of members.  As indicated
above, there is a lot at Puff that I don't agree with and indeed at  last
year's AGM a sufficient number of members were so upset with the direction
things were going that significant changes were made to the leadership.  If
you don't like the direction an organization is going, the answer is simple.
Become a member if you are not already one and then try to get a majority of
members to support your view.

Cheers,

John Kerley