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Australian tourist line shuts down for good
Sad. There’s been talk of V/Line eventually returning to Leongatha, but it does not seem likely in the short term (the last scheduled regular passenger train left Leongatha in 1993 if I remember correctly).
Part of the South Gippsland line may eventually be reactivated by extending the current electrified Metro service eastward from Cranbourne, but anything beyond Carnbourne East or Clyde may eventually be reclaimed and disappear, like so many Victorian branch lines in the past decades.
Very sad.
Maybe forever, but not “for good”.
That is very sad, distressing news. I have seen the signs of membership-aging elsewhere in railway preservation efforts and volunteer organizations of many types. There has to be a more concerted effort to reach out to younger membership candidates, finding ways to include them, energize them and get their vital support. It’s that or the program(s) and preservation efforts simply die, and the monies spent on earlier work are wasted. It’s a pity that not all museum and heritage railway operations can be as successful as the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec (for example), but that organization stands out head-and-shoulders above so many others anywhere on the planet for its dedicated and active membership. There are others worthy of note, of course, but given that we live in a time where younger people demonstrate extremely short attention spans and a love of all things digital – not hands-on, sweat-inducing preservation – is just as distressing as this news. So, how do we start reversing the trend?