Re: QR going national?

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

"MattyQ" <matticueQ@corplink.com.au> wrote:
> 
> That's not the point I'm trying to make. All I ever hear is how stupid
> narrow gauge is and how wonderful standard gauge is. Why is it then that,
> given that NSW is the only state that has 1435mm as its PRIMARY gauge,
> Queensland still has longer, faster and heavier trains and a better
> performance record than NSW? Why is it that QR has 80km/h turnouts whereas
> Victorian broad gauge, which as logic would dictate, should have higher
> speed turnouts but only have 65km/h points as their fastest. Oh how
> restricting narrow gauge is.


Thanks to our colonial history we were lumbered with
three gauges and like it or not, the standard gauge has
become "the standard" on the Australian mainland, it
has plenty of shortcomings and some of those are not
likely to be resolved for a long time if ever, like
parochial state politics and pathetic axle loads.
  
The QR narrow gauge is an "isolated" railway simply
because it is not "standard", there is nothing
derogatory about that.
    
----Terry Burton
Alice Springs NT
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