Swanston St tunnel excavation (Vic.)

The Victorian State Government just financed the restoration of an historic steam loco and found that Steamrail will no longer be allowed to run mainline steam locos on the Dandenong/Gippsland line because of weight restrictions on the elevated section they are now building.

If it cant handle a R class steam loco it wont be able to handle freight trains. There are also some ( unnecessarily ) steep grades where a heavy freight might get stuck.

I am unaware of any Broad Gauge steam locos being government financed. Steamrail spent 30 years fundraising and restoring to get their lastest steam loco (the A2 that recently ran to Warragul) restored. They did apply for and receive grants as any community organisation can but it was less than 20% of the restoration costs.

Morris, Is there a link for the article about steam locos being too heavy for the bridges? People were asking Steamrail when they were in town last weekend and Steamrail has written assurances that the level crossing replacements will be suitable for steam locomotives from when the project started (not that someone hasn't overlooked something). The other thing is the steam locos are actually lighter than modern diesel locos so if a steam loco can't go over the new viaducts due to their weight then the diesel locos are stuck too!

Apparently the weight limits on Skyrail will preclude running freight trains. The theory is that containers will be brought by rail from Gippsland to Dandenong and then trucked into Melbourne port.

atkipete wrote: Apparently the weight limits on Skyrail will preclude running freight trains. The theory is that containers will be brought by rail from Gippsland to Dandenong and then trucked into Melbourne port.

If It's true, it should be printed on the front page of every paper in melb !
These idiots running the state have a lot to answer for.. But then again there's
more revenue to be had flogg'n road users (trucks) for infringements so it's a no brainer from there point of view.

Bparo,
I don't know of a link. I read about it in a local newspaper. The article claimed that the State Government funded the resto of the A2 but, as you know, journalists never let the truth get in the way of a good story!

Re weight restrictions, all rumour, not fact.

Roderick.

They got some heritage grants to assist but most of the work was funded for by Steamrail and done with paid staff and volunteers. Most heritage or sports groups can obtain funding via grants for upgrades etc it's a matter of keeping the eyes open for what is available and advertised (or not advertised but on a website).
The other side of the coin is it is often helpful to let the local politican open, unveil or present something as the favourable press received often assists with your next grants application.
Not all grants are from Government either. When Puffing Billy was restoring the line from Lakeside (Emerald Lake) to Gembrook a community trust associated with Pakenham Blue Metals gave the railway a grant for the extension. The railway management knew they needed ballast so purchased it from Pakenham Blue Metals. The next year another grant was received and the same thing happened. It went around this yearly cycle until the line was finished

Roderick Smith wrote: Re weight restrictions, all rumour, not fact.

Roderick.

I bumped into an old mate that's working with the engineers and asked him about this, he was going to ask them about these claims as he was quite interested himself. I mightn't hear anything for some time as that chance meeting was the first for several years, but I'll do my best to follow this up.

This brings a lot of memories from my year downunder between 1986-1987 - I was based in Melbourne mostly and I'm vaguely familiar with the places. Back then I thought the Met was a good system but then I come from Israel where they have been talking about something similar for Tel Aviv since 1892 but only started in the late 2000s... :S And even that has not been free from controversy and delays plus digging up half of the city which made the traffic jams (bad even back in the 80s) even worse.

If you want to make yourself feel better about the situation in Melbourne, go here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Aviv_Light_Rail