Re: Letter received from Malcolm Kains (used to be STN KO)

[dbromage@metz.une.edu.au (David Bromage)]

Eddie Oliver (eddie.oliver@efs.mq.edu.au) wrote:
>Some of the remarks in recent messages re fear of vandalism etc. are
>very close to the mark historically. The paranoia about publicising
>STN's (and Working Timetables) substantially dates back to when rail pay
>buses were running around carrying considerable amounts of money. There
>was at least one incident where a pay bus was the target of a hold-up,
>with rather destructive consequences. It was claimed that the criminals
>would be all out there desperately hunting for a WTT or an STN to find
>out where their next target would be.

Compare this to Victoria in which the PTC (now VicTrack) _sells_ copies of
the WTT/MTP/NMP to the public through the Railfan Shop. RAC is missing out
on a great source of income here. WTTs could be sold through the ARHS shop,
although the CityRail WTT would have to be shelved under fiction. :)

As to STNs (S circulars in Victoria), the advent of the photocopier and
the fax machine means there will be oodles of copies around the place long
before the train concerned ever runs. Why do you think main line operators
don't run mystery tours any more? If your "mystery" train is to run on
Saturday, a small army of railfans will have copies of the schedule by
Thursday night.

Cheers
David