Re: [Vic] Fast train services to go ahead, says Govt

[Craig Haber <albatross@harnessnet.com.au>]

Hi,

Maurie Daly wrote:

> On Tue, 3 Oct 2000 19:10:12 +1000, "Steve" <hursteau@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Well what is the value of the trains?
> The major value is in the loco fleet of which the best locos are the
> Gs .
> There are 33 Gs of average age 14 - 15 years.
> Whats a G that old worth?

Depends.  If it's ex-overhaul and hence has an economic life of
1,000,000kms ahead of it, it's worth big bikkies.  If it's due for major
overhaul and has no economic life, it's worth bugger all.  The age of the
loco is IMHO irrelevant.  The important things are
a) how much life in it till its next overhaul
b) its ability to earn revenue

A G class (or any other loco) ex-major overhaul is essentially new (yes
it's not new by design, but in terms of economic life, it starts again with
a life of 1,000,000kms), so replacement value is probably now $4 million
(or more since the dollar plunged!).  OK, it may not have the revenue
earning ability of a new loco, maybe over the next 1,000,000kms of service
(to its next overhaul) when considering its higher fuel consumption and
limitations compared to a new design loco, it may earn 75% of what a new
loco could earn.  That makes it worth $3 million.

What difference does it make that a G is 15 years old and an X is 30 years
old if it has the ability to earn heaps of revenue in the years to come?

And ultimately, the loco (or anyting for that matter) is worth what someone
else will pay for it.

> Well , based on the most recent sale of similar HP locos ,the ELs were
> sold to CFCLA for $650K each and the ELs were only 6 years old .

If (as was suggested) the EL's were due for major overhauld when sold,
$650K is a substantial price (given that to put economic life back into
them by doing the major overhaul will cost a packet).

> That makes a G worth less than 650K.
> All the rest of the loco fleet is so old ,it would be worth its scrap
> value only,maybe a bit more for the X class.

Based on that, for example, the 4 S class are scap value, a few thousand
each.  But to their owners, the S class are earning thousands of dollars a
day in revenue.  What does that make them worth?

Regards,
Craig.
--
Craig Haber
albatross@harnessnet.com.au
Rail Operations Officer, West Coast Railway
Web Page Developer, Railway Enthusiast, Essendon Football Club Fanatic
http://www.harnessnet.com.au/ch/
I haven't really lost my mind - it's backed up on disk somewhere......