Re: Rail line preservation

[Eddie Oliver <eoliver@efs.mq.edu.au>]

Les Brown wrote:

> If the Federal (Feral?) Government can waste $20 million restoring the
> long closed Queenstown-Strahan rail line that will NEVER much of a
> tourist attraction 'cause its too far from bloody anywhere, and will
> be far too expensive to run and maintain

I'll bet if you took a vote in most tourist industry circles as to the
attractiveness of the Tasmanian line versus one from Bowser to
Beechworth, the Tasmanian option would win by a ratio of about 99 to 1.
The "1" would represent solely the tourism representatives in the
immediate area of Wangaratta and Beechworth.

The Tasmanian line has the potential to be a major tourist feature in
the midst of what is already one of the most tourist-developable areas
in Australia. A broad-gauge line in the Beechworth area would be "nice"
but would have very little tourist impact, especially since the rail
preservation scene in Victoria is already so well represented by such
things as Puffing Billy, Maldon and Queenscliff.

The Tasmanian project is one of the most inspired rail
preservation/regeneration projects anywhere in the world, and can be
promoted as such. Indeed granted that so much of the Tasmanian economy
is dependent on tourism already, such a feature will have very positive
economic benefits.

Eddie Oliver