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Australia’s Zig Zag Railway shutting down
THAT’S A SHAME.
There is still a chance as reported below in The Daily Telegraph June 07, 2012.
THE Zig Zag Railway’s steam engines could soon be back on track after the state government stepped in to help deal with safety issues that shut the popular tourist attraction.
Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said: “The Zig Zag Railway holds a special place in the hearts of many in NSW and I have instructed Transport for NSW to provide its expertise to the organisation to see if it can meet the necessary safety obligations.”
I’m hoping that Zig-Zag manages to survive. It’s worth a visit if you’re ever down that way.
I hope operation could continue. I rode the Zig Zag in 2008, and its place in the history of Australian railroading makes its historic significance worth the effort.
That’s the problem these days here in Australia, a lot of the railroad museums are running out of volunteers as their current volunteers get too old and not many young people are joining. I suspect it’s very similar in the US. When I lived in Sydney I was a volunteer at the Syndey Tramway (Trolley) Musuem and was perhaps the youngest volunteer there who wasn’t in the high school youth program.
Incidently the Syndey Tramway musuem’s official name is the South Pacific Electric Railway, out of hommage to the old Los Angeles system.
I have been on the train many times at Lithgow its always beeen a must do for train nuts and I really hope they can save it!
Was there only on Sunday afternoon (2 days ago) and rode on their ex-Queensland Railways 2000 class railmotors. Our group had a most enjoyable time and were amazed at how much knowledge the volunteers had regarding the historical aspects of the route. Being a long weekend, we managed to ride a rare night service which was spectacular for photography with their semaphore signals, signal boxes etc and even got a tour of their depot where we got to view the steam fleet. The volunteers at Zig Zag are to be commended for their efforts and with the support of the rail enthusiast community, I am sure their services on this scenic line will continue.
They’ve still got diesels. That line sounds like it’s more for the trip than whatever’s pulling the train.
Volunteers are good to have, but boiler work and other railroad operations require highly skilled workers for safety reasons. As schools are eliminating “hands on” shop classes and apprenticships, these workers are increasing hard (and more expensive) to find as older workers are retiring.