Re: Strategic Reserve.

[Roy Wilke <royboy@bit.dotnet.dotau>]

I never laid claim to being professionally involved in railways, and was speaking
hypothetically.

However, "strategic" doesn't necessarily mean railways (and the 20th century proved
that railways are a front-line liability to an army - they are too easy for the
other side to disable/destroy).

I did mention, however, that steamers and diesel-hydraulic locos are much more
capable of wading through floodwaters than diesel-electrics and pure electrics (and
can recall how QR maintained many suburban services in SE Qld with diesel-hydraulic
shunting locomotives during the 1974 floods when a substantial proportion of the
DEL fleet was rendered immobile by floodwaters at Mayne).

THAT is what I meant by "strategic" - having a reserve of locomotives (which might
usually be employed for tasks such as shunting) which can be used to maintain a
service when an "Act of God" (such as a flood) renders most of the regular
main-line fleet of locomotives immobile.


"< Tell >" wrote:

> Roy Wilke <royboy@bit.dotnet.dotau> wrote:
>

(I painfully snipped myself here)

>
>
> Steam to the rescue.!!!
> Pure Gunzel/Model Railway stuff this.
>
> Want to know where the most potent section of the
> Australian Defence Forces are right now.?  Up here in
> the Top End of the Northern Territory, a long ...long
> way from the nearest railhead.
>
> ----Terry Burton