[VIC] headboards, nameplates and non authentic liveries. (was: [VIC] Steamrail headboard)

[James Brook <ajmbrook@ozemail.com.au>]

None of this post applies to WCR as they are not a "preservation" group. They
are operating a modern commercial steam service and as far as I'm concerned
they can do what they like with R711 (and R766 when its converted). Also many
of the societies I mention do an outstanding job rebuilding and maintaining
steam and diesel locomotives with very limited resources. And without their
efforts we wouldn't have the variety and number of steam and historic diesel
locomotives in service today. In the overall scheme of things these are only
minor criticisms that if acted upon would enhance and increase the historical
significance of existing historic locomotives and rolling stock.

Roy Wilke wrote:

> And why don't Steamrail hang a little advertising sign on the side of
> the kiosk car and at the end of the train? Well, why are advertising
> signs in prominent places beside main roads and not hidden away down
> side lanes? Why is it that advertising space at the front of a
> newspaper and on an odd-numbered page costs more than a two-line
> classified on page 82? Why does a 30" advertisement on Channel Nine at
> 8:30pm on a weeknight cost about 1,000 times more than a half-hour
> infotainment programme at 3am on Monday morning on Channel 10?
> Correct me if I'm wrong, but probably because more people will see it
> when it's in a place where more people will look - which is why
> Steamrail etc. put a headboard on the front of a locomotive.

What's the point of being a preservation group if you don't try to preserve
the locomotives as accurately as possible within operational restrictions.
Why can't Steamrail compromise between heritage and advertising. What's wrong
with restoring the locomotives to their original VR condition (within
operational restrictions) and livery. Why couldn't they only use the
headboard on short distance tours and charters. On long distance trips like
full day tours and weekenders they could run the locomotive without the
headboard. Weekenders cost a few hundred dollars and I think for that sort of
money, passengers deserve to see a locomotive and train that is close to its
original condition. Also if the headboard is so vital to Steamrail's success
then how come the SRHC can survive without one on J515? I can remember the
photostop on the Kulwin tour last year where the organizer had the headboard
turned around. You should have heard some of the complaints from several
members who wanted to show off their big toy train with "Steamrail" written
all over it. I think they should turn the headboard around or take it off at
all photostops at least.

Its also a similar problem with naming locomotives. AFAIK the only named VR
steam locomotives were the S class and the only named diesels are the S, N
and a handful of other individual units from other classes. How can you
demonstrate to someone what an original VR locomotive looked like when its
got a shiny brass nameplate on the side? 707 operations do not require the
"City Of Melbourne" nameplate on the side of the locomotive for advertising.
It is simply there because someone thinks it looks and sounds nice to name a
locomotive. Its the same problem all over again with the SRHC. J515, B74 and
GM36 were never named while in VR and CR service. Naming a locomotive
diminishes the heritage value of it, because it's not in an authentic VR
condition or whatever railway the locomotive or item of rolling stock comes
from. Back in 1997 I took a photo of VGR's K160 on the Muckleford trestle and
it looks as if the photo could have been taken in the 1950's. Currently it's
in original VR condition. I won't make any comments on the naming of J549 as
I haven't seen the nameplate or its location on the locomotive, so please
don't ask for my opinion on this. The ARHS museum is the ideal place to
preserve locos in original condition but it has at least one locomotive with
a non authentic nameplate (X36). While I have nothing against the person the
locomotive is named after, I do have a problem with the nameplate. There are
other ways of honouring someone that doesn't wreck the heritage value of an
item.

At the CHTR they restore items correctly and if anyone has seen 63RM you will
know what I mean. There are no advertising signs or nameplates and it is
painted in an authentic VR colour scheme. Travelling in this railcar and
looking at this railcar is like stepping back in time because they have done
things properly. All their other railmotors and Y159 are also restored/being
restored to original VR condition. Its the same with Elecrail. All their
rolling stock is in an original VR colour scheme of some sort. The red tait
set or the preserved tait set look really nice without any advertising signs
or headboards. Apart from the image quality, its hard to tell the date of
photos of properly restored vehicles.

The average railfan couldn't care how a locomotive is painted so they
wouldn't worry about having locomotives and rolling stock in original
condition. As long as it has a boiler, wheels and emits smoke they are happy.
Other Victorian railfans like to see locomotives and rolling stock in proper
VR condition. By restoring the locomotives properly this can keep both groups
of railfans happy.


> And what exactly *is* a "non-authentic" colour scheme? If the
> locomotive is genuine and authentic, isn't the colour-scheme also
> genuine and authentic for the time you're looking at the locomotive?

How do you describe the maroon livery on R766? The VR never painted R classes
in this colour scheme. If you ignore the past when you "restore" locomotives
you are simply being an overgrown kid playing with an overgrown toy. The
whole point to preservation is to demonstrate to people what the past used to
be like. How can you do this with a maroon R class and a Steamrail headboard?
Anyway from a pure aesthetic point of view, the R classes look their best in
the red and black colour scheme without any bulky and rather tacky
headboards. Take a look at the R class photos in the Historical photos
section of my web site and see how much better they look without the
headboard or nameplates. The Steamrail carriages also have that yellow stripe
that the VR never used. While it served a purpose originally (it was used to
distinguish SRV cars from the V/Line wooden stock in the early to mid
eighties), it has been retained because some members think it looks nice.

You could say that I am some sort of hard-core heritage freak but all I would
like to see is some locomotives and rolling stock in their original (or close
to) VR condition, mainly because I never had the opportunity to see them in
actual service. For some of the older railfans its a case of been there done
that, but I haven't.


--
- James Brook -

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