Re: Tours Cancelled

[steam4me@enternet.com.au (Yuri J Sos)]

rflinder@my-dejanews.com wrote, and I selectively quote:

> I'am not a Director of Steamrail Victoria
>Inc. (I resigned inprotest last week). Thanks for the comments everyone, I
>think we do need to debate this and preservation generally before the crisis
>really hits!

What were you protesting about?  The cancellations?

>headboard

I don't like the headboard but I understand why it's there and I live
with it: steam with a headboard is better than no steam at all.  And
the private operators use headboards as well....eg the kindergarten
trains, WCR on its Warrnambool Cup Special to name two examples.  

I'd have to agree with Richard that I don't believe it makes any
difference to a passenger booking as to whether the headboards on or
not.

I rarely ride specials any more because of work and family commitments
and the fact that currently I spend time videoing these trains.  But
one of the reasons I turned to 'cading (long before I went into video)
was that if there was a running problem on these tours, the photostops
were the first thing cancelled - I got S&T of being on a train
whizzing past all these photo locations promised as photostops.  I
think there were cancelled photostops on the Mildura weekender
recently (had I been travelling on the train and missed getting a shot
of back to back Rs - how many times has that happened? - I'd have been
really p***d off).

Likewise I'd disagree with Mark that all the locos have to be black
(ie "authentic").  You have to look at the target market.  I remember
being at Bacchus Marsh filming the kinder trains a few years ago when
K190 arrived quietly light engine from Ballarat to triple head back to
Melbourne with the other two Ks.  Every child immediately spotted the
green engine and commented on it, wanted to go and look at it, be
photographed in front of or on it.

As far as the general public are concerned "black is boring" unless
it's a mini skirt.

Steamrail's, WCR's, 707Ops' target market is NOT the enthusiast
market: it's the general public looking for a train for an excursion
or a fun day out and the rail groups need to get out into the "general
public" market.   And that costs big bikkies to place ads in the right
magazines and convention manuals and so on.

       
Regards

Yuri
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Yuri J Sos
Melbourne VIC AUS

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