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VK6BE > FUEL 15.05.08 02:09l 58 Lines 3124 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 112291VK6BE
Read: GUEST
Subj: Re: VK6BE > The Ghan & Great Depression
Path: DB0FHN<DB0FOR<DB0MRW<OK0PKL<OK0PCC<OM0PBC<OK0PPL<DB0RES<DK0WUE<I0TVL<
F6CDD<F6BVP<VK2TV
Sent: 080515/0003Z @:VK2TV.#MNC.NSW.AUS.OC #:37819 [Kempsey, QF68JX] $:112291VK
From: VK6BE@VK2TV.#MNC.NSW.AUS.OC
To : FUEL@WW
Yes Warren, I know, I know, I KNOW! There! I say it again, I KNOW! I have
been around for 85 years, I have been reading newspapers for over 75
years, I listen to radio and there have been many many films about the
Great Depression in theatres and more recently on TV. I was a child of the
Depression and have vivid memories of walking to school with bare feet and
ice lying on the ground in a severe frost..You really don't need to
educate me! I have not been listening to propaganda, my cold feet were not
propaganda nor was the bread and grape jam evening meal (the jam made by
my mother and the bread baked by her to save money! Often the butter came
from a sympathetic farmer.).
As for the Ghan we only heard vague stories about it as a steam train that
wandered over the sand to Alice Springs. There were other such trains. Try
those going through Meekatharra in the West,700 miles through goldmining
towns, time no object, Kalgoorlie to Esperance, both shorter routes of
course, the "fast" Albany Express - 300 miles which took 16 hours to
achieve the trip. 72 miles from Albany to Nornalup on the Nornalup Flyer -
8 hours with frequent stops on the return journey to load cabbages and
spuds.. The first time I rode the "flyer", described as a "fast mixed
goods" on the railway time table the train stopped in the middle of a
bridge over the Kent River. I stuck my head out of the window to see what
was happening and saw the engine crew changing their marron nets (marron=
fresh water lobsters but don't let us start that line of discussion again
please - yes they had claws).
In this state with its 3'6" gauge railways most have been allowed to run
to ruin. The metropolitan lines have been unpgraded to electric, the line
to Bunbury has been kept running as a comparatively fast service and
brand new lines to the northern suburbs and to Mandurah. The other lines
in country areas have mostly been allowed to fall into ruin and many have
been closed altogether. What a pity!
Anyway that has nothing to do with the Great Depression. Germany was a
different kettle of fish to the other countries since it was brought to
its knees as the aggressor in the Great War, and the Treaty of Versailles
made sure that it would suffer for many years.
Cheers,
Bob VK6BE.
>
> Since the Great Depression was worldwide to one degree or another
> conditions were pretty much the same and people and governments just did
> what they had to do in order to survive. We didn't stop at one railroad,
> we built an entire ifrastructure as did Germany both employing methods
> much the same but don't listen to the propaganda, it was no bed of rosy
> velts here either. (I can't resist a pun!)
>
> I have little knowledge of the original Ghan in the days of steam, could
> be a research project coming up. There is a historical society involved
> so that's a good place to start if I can find the rail head. I vaguely
> remember something about floods frequently washing out the tracks and an
> entirely new line built farther west, I think both are on that map I sent.
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