Re: WCR leasing R766?

[dbromage@fang.omni.com.au (David Bromage)]

James Brook (ajmbrook@ozemail.com.au) wrote:
> Les Brown wrote:

> > Why can we not have all R's restored James?

>     As I said in my original post on this issue, there simply aren't enough resources
> in Victoria to restore all the R's and ensure that they remain in service for many
> years to come. This includes finance, parts and especially volunteer labour.

WCR is not a volunteer organisation, so you can leave them out of the
equation. Replace R766 with R700 on the Steamrail list and you have the
status quo.

> > I remember Barry yard in Wales about 20 years when it was full of
> > rusting ex British Railways steam engines, now I 've been told that
> > there isn't a single one left, they've all been restored, bar one or
> > two, this means hundreds of steam engines back in operation.

>     You must remember that the UK has a much larger population of rail enthusiasts. In
> Australia, railways are a specialist hobby but it's a mainstream hobby in the UK.
> There is a much larger source of labour and money to maintain the steam locomotives
> that they have over there.

You should be looking at steam locomotives per capita rather than total
numbers. On this basis, we're still lagging the UK. And Victoria is way
ahead of NSW on total and per capita numbers. I think the leading state
per capita is Queensland, and only just behind on total numbers.

>     You can't restore and maintain a locomotive if you don't have the resources. It is
> better to have one working locomotive in good condition and five rusting heaps than
> six half rusted locomotives that barely work because we can't maintain them.

Again, resources don't come into the equation if two are owned by a
commercial operator.

Cheers
David