In 1984 the ABC produced a documentary for the television series "A Big Country" detailing the efforts to re-open the Glenreagh to Dorrigo railway by museum members at that time.
For those that havent yet seen it, here it is...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO-5vRVZZrc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

And here is one done by the Investigators in 1989.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFf0VSqSEzk

And here is one done by the Investigators in 1989.

1989? how time flies. A 25th year anniversary coming up in 2014.
Maybe the ABC 7.30 report will do a "Dorrigo revisited" report?

Well perhaps time will fix this problem? Jones looked to be at least 50 in that 1989 Investigators report that scumcock links to.

This whole thing reminds me of a case a couple of years ago. Just north of Melbourne an eccentric bloke inherited a property with a huge mansion. His great love was old cars. As he'd inherited a fortune, he bought up cars and took them home. When he died the executors found a derelict 20 room mansion and many hundreds of old cars rusting away all over the property.

So the executors ran a huge car auction and even though many of the cars were past restoration (they had been sitting out in sun, rain and frost for decades), most of them were bought and only a few had to be sent to the crusher. After cleaning up the grounds and getting rid of more scrap metal and literally tons of broken glass, the derelict mansion was auctioned and sold for several million. I had a look at the house when it was on sale and the leaking roof had trashed most of the rooms on the top floor.

Anyway, there are strong parallels with Keith Jones here. He got the money to collect in a different way to the owner of Mintaro and his passion is trains not cars. But when he dies in the next decade or two, there will probably be a similar free for all when the executors of his estate stage a huge sale of the derelict locomotives and rolling stock.

Link to article with more photos: http://shotbymatt.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/car-graveyard-mintaro-monegeeta/

Well perhaps time will fix this problem? Jones looked to be at least 50 in that 1989 Investigators report that scumcock links to.

Anyway, there are strong parallels with Keith Jones here. He got the money for the property and his collection in a different way to the owner of Mintaro and his passion is trains not cars. But when he dies in the next decade or two, there will probably be a similar free for all when the executors of his estate stage a huge sale of the derelict locomotives and rolling stock.

Yes, those cars are no different to trains.
There was a similar car horder in the USA. Alexander Miller
There is a medical condition for compulsive hording.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsive_hoarding
Many people collect things, but sometimes it becomes a problem for a small minority.
The point where it becomes a problem for an individual is where the collection has become so large they cannot look after it and cannot part with it. The collecting also takes over the individuals life, they want to have total control and will not let others manage it.

Just because he's "saving trains" and has a "supporters club" (museum members) which is a attempt legitimize the "collecting" doesn't hide whats currently going on at Dorrigo.