Re: Strategic Reserve.

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

The "steam" point was hypothetical. I was trying to get away from the military
sense of 'strategic', however.

Anyway, when I was a kid, my home town of Brisbane copped a massive flood which
managed to render the diesel-electric fleet in the city's main locomotive depot
immobile (the loco depot was in one of the worst-flooded regions), as their
electric motors were below the level of the water and any attempt to move them
would short-out the motors.

At the time, there was a fleet of about 50 diesel-hydraulic locos used for
shunting. They weren't affected by the floodwaters and were employed to maintain
a reduced suburban service until the diesel-electrics dried out.

That is what I meant by a "strategic reserve" - and such a fleet wouldn't need
an army of steam fitters, enginemen and firemen either.

Exnarc wrote:

> Roy Wilke <royboy@bit.dotnet.dotau> wrote in message
> 37CB9D2F.1B716EC8@bit.dotnet.dotau">news:37CB9D2F.1B716EC8@bit.dotnet.dotau...
> > No coal or oil - but can't steam locomotives also burn wood? Or anything
> that
> > can be burnt in the loco's firebox, for that matter? Diesels and
> electrics, I
> > take it, are a bit more fussy on what fuel they use.
> >
> > But getting away from the war-type thing, the idea of a railway retaining
> a
> > 'strategic reserve' of locomotives and rolling stock for unforeseen
> > emergencies sounds like a wise thing to do. Floods, for example. If the
> track
> > isn't washed away, the idea of retaining a handful of steam locos or
> > diesel-hydraulic locos for use in flood-affected areas wouldn't be a bad
> > idea.
> >
> > David Bromage wrote:
> >
> Of cause after you returned all these mythical steam engines to service with
> the Strategic Reserve of stored steam fitters, you could un thaw your
> Strategic Reserve of Qualified Drivers and Firemen.
>
> Bob.