[much snippage]
The basic answer appears to be:
>The regular crew plus a pilot driver if the regular crew are not certified
>for the loco. (this applies for all above trains).
Which means at least a 50% increase in crew costs for the operator.
>> - A special train hauled by a preserved Y class diesel.
>VLP crew. VLP has 4 Y class so certification for locos would not be a
>problem.
The crews working the Y class locos are quite often restricted to pilot
working as a form of punishment.
>> - with a visiting 36/38/59 to Albury.
>> - with a visiting 36/38/59 to Ararat.
>3801 ltd have their own crew and would probably supply their own.
I doubt 3801 Limited would be able to use their own crews in Victoria.
>Eventually as long as you are certified in the loco and the track you will
>be able to run the train. It won't matter who you work for. Each Rail
>Operator with crews will be able to negotiate to run any trains as long as
>they have locos and crews available.
Hopefully even volunteer crews will be able to work on the main line as in
NSW.
>Another poser - since September 7th, 1997 no VLP trains travel to/from
>Ballarat via North Shore. IF the line via Bacchus Marsh is unusable for any
>reason do the VLP drivers require a pilot driver from Ballarat to North
>Geelong ?
I think that's more a traffic problem than a partitioning problem. North
Geelong C - Gheringhap is a bottleneck at the best of times. My guess is
all the Sprinters now go via Ballan to free up some more pathways for
standard gauge freights.
Cheers
David