>Regards,
>Tom
Hi Tom
It almost sounds like another Victorian Government
success story does it not, 200 to a handful.
Trouble is after 36 years of living in Central
Australia I have a long memory for the past.
To be fair to NRC, AN began shedding Employees after
the Standard Gauge arrived that is true and it was
inevitable, but in the Narrow Gauge days there was a
large Workshop which carried out Minor and Major work
to Rolling Stock etc. Major Locomotive work was always
done at Port Augusta.
AN built a modern Service facility with the new
Standard Gauge and employed a large number of people
carrying out repairs to "Red Carded" wagons and minor
repairs to Locos and other equipment. There were Track
Maintenance people and host of other employees, they
are all gone now.
AN's Passenger Station opens up just before the Ghan
arrives so the Private Contractors full or part time
employees can handle the Train, and it closes after it
leaves.
What we will never know now is the extent of "down
sizing" (don't you just love that word.!) AN would
have done if there had been no NRC.
See the problem is, "rationalisation" when taken to
extremes gives the Economic hard liners and others a
warm inner glow, but it leaves a lot of people on the
scrap heap with those with jobs paying the Social
Welfare Bill. Outright feather-bedding is to be
condemned, but is there a cut off point where we
start to say enough is enough.?
>From my reading obviously not.
Cheers
----Tell
Alice Springs NT