Re: Alice-Darwin and East Timor

["Ian McFadyen" <imcfadyen@ozemail.com.au>]

Dear Bill

Only if they brought their own locomotives. I imagine - this is of course
all wild conjecture - that if Darwin were attacked, and people were
evacuated rail  as well as air - you wouldn't leave locomotives behind (and
you would probably rip up the tracks after you as the Soviets did in 1940.)
It is all a pretty improbable scenario in any case but the argument is that
rail is the fastest way of  transporting the sort of heavy duty equipment
which is used in emergency situations - tanks, ordnance, construction
materials, portable housing, etc. The wise move would be to make sure that
any line to Darwin or the north is constructed with greater than normal
width and height clearances.

Regards

Ian