To the Zig Zag Railway people, and others such as Blue Mountains residents, transport companies, since the defence force has now admitted fault, I know what I would be doing if I was you, and yes, I would include the federal defence minister in that, as he or she (whoever it is this week) may not be responsible directly, but is responsible overall.
ISTR that the ZZR eventually bought some NSWGR cowboy carriages that later went to the State Mine.
Also we're the SX carriages purchased so that they would be fireproof? Would the ZZR consider something similar in the future?
Things like "builders plaques" or other metal fittings that did survive the fire. A friend had a couple of old carriages stored on his property , VIC high country. When the fires went through there few years back burning the carriages out, he sold the frames for scrap then advertised "the fittings" on forums EBay etc. I remember him ending up with somewhere around 10 grand.Unfortunately I can't see any such sale being viable given the recent theft of such 'collectables' from our carriages stored at Edgecombe which did survive the fire.
You would be surprised what people will buy of say EBay and the amounts they will pay for it , no matter what condition it is in.
It is only an idea that may help in some way.
Chris
Unfortunately I can't see any such sale being viable given the recent theft of such 'collectables' from our carriages stored at Edgecombe which did survive the fire.I would think that there may be a fair amount of items that are salvageable from the burnt out items, such as piping & brake equipment that would be useable on other items, at least as spares. Any sort of plates would be better held in location in a viewable museum on the property.
Not to suggest that we wouldn't have had a use for those 'collectables' if they hadn't of been stolen from our other carriages.
No, the first ironworks were at Mittagong, in 1848. There are interesting remains under the Highlands Marketplace, where the excavated foundations and relics may be seen in the underground car park. Refer http://www.fitzroyironworks.com.au/Correct, it was a monument to Lithgow's industrial history. It was here that the first iron and the first steel in Australia were cast.William Sandford established the blast furnace in 1886 and it continued production until 1928 when the entire industry was moved to Port Kembla.The site has now been developed as a park around the remains of the pump house and the foundations of the furnace.
No, the first ironworks were at Mittagong, in 1848. There are interesting remains under the Highlands Marketplace, where the excavated foundations and relics may be seen in the underground car park. Refer http://www.fitzroyironworks.com.au/Sorry, I forgot about it. Sorry about that. The lithgow must have been the 2nd one.
Regards
David (Bowral)
Working in insurance my opinion would be that ZZR press for the best settlement they can from their insurers in order to secure funds in the short term. However this should not be to the exclusion of an offer from the defence forces of substantial and ongoing assistance in remediation.
Normally one may only benefit from one party in an insurance claim. In other words you take your insurer's settlement or you accept an offer from the other side. The two are mutually exclusive. However there are extenuating circumstances and the ZZR is not in the same situation as two car drivers with bent Holdens. There has been an admission of liability which the insurers will surely act upon. But a part of the long term recovery could be negotiated to include material assistance in what ever form is felt appropriate.
I would start with some input into site clean-up and restoration of business as usual. If the logistics units could source and ship in some new accommodation vehicles (whether or not paid for by the insurer) then even better.
Probably a little left field but perhaps a portion of the insurance payout could go towards the construction of replica new build rollingstock built either at Zig Zag or possibly at the QR Ipswich workshops where some of the trades needed are still being used for the maintenance of the QR heritage rollingstock.
There is some possible good news on the horizon.I have been taken up with several issues concerning our situation since I last posted here on Railpage, and I have been meaning to post recent developments and happenings since then, but time has eluded me. However, concerning the ADF help referred to above I am very pleased to report good news on this development and I wish to acknowledge that in this post.
We have not been briefed on this offer at this stage, as the offer has been made to the state government, not us. We would imagine that there would be a lot of formalities to sort out first, but we hope that this offer is accepted.
Read the full story at:
http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/defence-offers-troops-to-blue-mountains/story-e6frfku9-1226748746633
I have quoted some important lines....and the quote from the Mayor of Lithgow below
Defence has apologised after admitting to sparking the State Mine fire, ....
It has reportedly offered 270 personnel to the fire-ravaged region west of Sydney, plus helicopters, engineers and trucks.
Lithgow Mayor Maree Statham says discussions with a senior official at Glenbrook defence depot about a possible partnership with the council and Rural Fire Service are at an early stage.
....
"It's a very difficult situation and playing the blame game is not going to fix the problem," she told AAP.
"They've apologised ... and it was obviously an accident."
She said a top priority would be the Zig Zag Railway, a local tourist attraction that had been set to reopen just before the fire.
....
"The Defence Department has confirmed an offer has been made but would not divulge the details"
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