Re: How many NR locos are now written of?

["David & Jan Winter" <winterd@nospam-icenet.com.au>]

May I add a little here:

My next door neighbour was an interstate truckie - ticketed for road trains
(oh, by the way, they are now "long vehicles" in the Perth Metro area 'cos
the recently retired Transport Minister said we had no road trains on
suburban streets, see?).

He is now out of work. Driver's hours reg changes in SA and elsewhere "east"
have had the effect of totally changing the structure of long distance
trucking; from solo or 2-up to relay drivers driving the maximum leg
possible in one shift by one driver. Apparently, at the WA-SA border,
companies now have drivers based, ready to take over rigs as they arrive.

This change obviously will further push the modal split east-west towards
rail. Maybe NRC aren't totally and completely bloody minded in seeking a
substantial stable of locos, but I can't believe that Australia was 120
locos short of the national industry's needs!

DW