Er, because Melbourne has a bureaucratic bunch of nutters called the
National Trust. Five years ago, the trust tried to have the modern Z1
trams scrapped in favour of retaining 60-year-old Ws. While this was
going on, the Z1s were let fall into disrepair and many were stored out
of service while the ancient clunkers trundled on. Some sanity prevailed
and the decision was made to renovate the Z1s and phase out most of the
Ws. The National Trust responded by forbidding the Victorian Government
to dispose of any more Ws. So several hundred are stored in various
places. Newport is one. I saw a whole pile in Thornbury depot last year
too.
Victoria could repay half of Joan Kirner's debts if it sold those Ws to
the US.
Why doesn't the government just tell the National Trust to shove it?
Dave McLoughlin
Auckland New Zealand