Re: (VIC) Derailment @ Elders

["< Tell >" <telljb@OZozemail.com.au>]

"Exnarc" <gwrly@netspace.net.au> wrote in reply to Tell
who said:
> > I guess a lot of CR/ANR/AN enginemen who worked their
> > arses off in some of the worst conditions in Australia
> > would (grrrr..) when they hear from a Vic railwayman
> > that, [quote] "AN CR crews definitely did not need
> > skill to do what they did" [unquote].
> >
> > Your right, every system does indeed have its problems,
> > which is why VR and SAR do not exist today.

[Bob] 
> Terry, I know I'm a bit dim, but what are you trying to say here???
> 
> I don't see what your trying to say???
> 
> The reason SAR and VR don't exist is purely political.

[Tell replied]
Political is such a broad term these days that it masks
some of the real reasons why things change.
Of course it is political, nothing can EVER happen to
railways in Australia without politics.

When I said the Vics could not handle the long trains
that ANR began to shove over the border 25 years ago,
"Rod" thought I was attacking him and his mates.!
I was referring to, although my fault for not spelling
it out, the inability of the Vic Railway *system* to
move long trains due to some of the following;
+System that was designed to move people,
+Short crossing loops, 
+Antiquated signaling and train working procedures,
+Refusal to allow loco through working until 1979,
+The incredible delays for such a short route.

Yes OK, the Vics eventually did something about it, but
the movement of the majority of freight to road despite
the efforts of ANR/AN continued, at least NRC and
others are still trying to win some of that back.  
  
----Terry Burton
Alice Springs NT
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