Re: Vale Vic Steam (and all special trains?)

[penlund <penlund@optushome.com.au>]

Hi all

RTA is a small Victorian based group that has been running tours for
well over 25 years. It was started by a guy called Geoff Cargeeg in
Melbourne.

Their tours often utilised equipment during periods of layover etc so
that costs could be kept down. As a ficticious example, they would use
the loco and cars of a Horsham pass that layed over on Saturday to head
off on the Mallee lines to Yanac etc during the day.

They had only small numbers and frequently used DERMs etc. I went on
some of their trips & they were different & fun.

Peter








Graeme wrote:
> 
> Slightly off topic,but Who or what is the Rail Tourist Association?
> I went looking for a web site and had a look in the yellow pages but not a
> mention.
> "Frank Jones" <fjones@pipeline.com.au> wrote in message
> 3ac0a1bc.13219287@news.pipeline.com.au">news:3ac0a1bc.13219287@news.pipeline.com.au...
> > On Mon, 19 Mar 2001 08:30:48 +1100, "Stuart Thyer"
> > <s.thyer@anatomy.unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
> >
> > >>Vale Rail Heritage in Victoria.
> > >>
> > >
> > >While I'd like to deny things you wrote Graeme, they are all true. The
> worst
> > >thing about it is I can't remember the last time I actually got involved
> in
> > >a restoration project; fighting the BS just to get the next train out the
> > >gate is all many of us seem to do now days. No one seems to be putting
> their
> > >hands up to help with this kind of help, and who can blame them.
> > >I only hope I can hang in long enough to see to the end of the crap, but
> > >then I thought that in 1996.
> > >
> >
> > There is no doubt that the current situation in Vic. post
> > privatisation is an absolute shambles.
> >
> > Operating even the simplest rail tour in Vic. is now a organiser's
> > nightmare, with the great number of different entities one now has to
> > deal with (most of which don't seem to know who is exactly responsible
> > for what). Of course, all the demarcation (and other) problems only
> > surface 2 days before a tour...
> >
> > The Rail Tourist Association ran a tour with a FA X class to Colac
> > last year. Basically a very simple tour, a day trip in 1 crew shift
> > with loco and 1 car about 150 km each way, clear of regular services -
> > no more difficult than a return trip to Bendigo. There were major
> > problems with crewing (which operator had crews qualified in X class
> > locos?), and carriage accreditation (the originally proposed cars were
> > 'accredited' but this may or may not be recognised by the particular
> > operator. We were told that if there are 20 different operators, a
> > particular item of rolling stock has to have 20 accreditation
> > certificates!!).
> >
> > To their credit the Dept. of Infrastructure called a meeting in Dec.
> > last year to try to address some of these issues. Virtually all
> > interested groups were represented. Many raised issues such as:
> > - organising a tour months in advance only to be told 2 days
> > beforehand that no crews are available;
> > - lack of operating agreements of common rolling stock on various
> > operators' lines (try running a K class to Camberwell these days!).
> >
> > It was noted that virtually no thought had been given to heritage
> > train operators when the system was privatised - although some of
> > these issues have at least been recognised and moves are being made
> > towards resolving some of these problems.
> >
> > Many problems arise from the 'accredited operator' status (or
> > otherwise) of the various groups. You see, *none* of the groups in
> > Vic. (unlike say RTM in NSW) are accredited operators in their own
> > right. They thus have to nominate someone (e.g. FA, VLP) to provide
> > crews and be the 'accredited operator' on their behalf.
> >
> > Not only are there insurance issues here (what happens if there is an
> > accident - who would become responsible?), but also we have the
> > problem of the OPR (Operational Penalty Regime), where operators are
> > fined for late running. What happens if an Steamrail special fails at
> > Ballan and delays a Sprinter? Well, VLP will be looking to recover its
> > penalty from the operator - but Steamrail isn't the *accredited*
> > operator, FA might be. Hence FA becomes the 'meat in the sandwich' and
> > hence technically liable for the fine. Of course, FA in turn would
> > probably be looking to recover their fine from the 'real' operator,
> > and the fines are apparently quite substantial.
> >
> > On a recent suburban DERM tour the RTA was left in NO doubt as to its
> > fate if we ran even a few minutes late - several checks were known to
> > have been made on our progress during the day.
> >
> > I understand that VLP has recently decided it will no longer be
> > responsible for special trains, I would imagine probably because of
> > the OPR and other issues. Certainly FA's attitude to special trains
> > seems extremely reluctant and (in the light of the above paragraph)
> > even antagonistic.
> >
> > Other problems arise because of clauses in the privatisation contracts
> > stating that heritage operators are to be given X km of free track
> > access. But if VLP is the 'accredited operator' on behalf of Steamrail
> > for a particular tour, then effectively VLP has to grant free track
> > access to itself -- but VLP isn't a heritage operator and isn't
> > entitled to it!! Thus a contradiction is created in the operators'
> > lease agreements.
> >
> > What a mess we have created... Kennett's legacy?!?
> >
> > I'm sure the road transport sector won't mind watching the rail
> > industry either self-destruct or sink in a sea of regulation over the
> > next 5 or 10 years....
> >
> >
> >
> > Frank Jones
> > President RTA
> >
> >