- National News
ATHRA - Association of Tourist and Heritage Rail Australia
Meetings
A full meeting of ATHRA took place in Mt Victoria, New South Wales, over the weekend of 15 - 16
October 2005.
Items
which were discussed included Rail Safety and Rail Reform, the new Standard
ME79, and the Rule Book Alignment project, which is being run by the DOI
Victoria for all jurisdictions. In addition, Rail Skills and the Career Council,
the Australasian Railway Association, Training and Promotion of the sector were
reported upon. Insurance was a major topic.
As
well as the domestic affairs of the Association for discussion, a major
Strategic Plan has been prepared for the Association by Linqage International for the future
of the National Association. The report is a major report of 44 pages and sets
out possible goals and objectives for the Association for the foreseeable
future. These include goals on Core Function, Marketing, Finance, Governance,
and People. Several new affiliate and Associate members were accepted.
ATHRA Alerts
The Association has set up a system of "Alerts" to immediately draw
to member's attention urgent changes which are taking place in the rail
industry. Alerts No 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, &10 have already been issued. For
details please see the ATHRA website. Click Here
Victorian News
Each year new problems arise for the Victorian
Heritage Rail sector and 2005 has been no exception. The year just
past (2004) was the year that the new medical conditions were introduced
and this year (2005) is the year of the new Transport Safety Act.
The National Transport Commission has prepared
a Model Act for each State and Territory to adopt and the State Of
Victoria has jumped the gun and introduced its own act which differs
from the Model Act. The Act has received the second reading in
Parliament but has now been laid aside to February 2006, to allow it
to accommodate the inconsistencies to the Model Act . A Power
point presentation has been prepared by the NTC and can be viewed
here.
Click Here
In addition to all this
activity by the regulator, work is proceeding on a new Rule book for
the whole of Australia which will
have a spill on effect to Heritage Rail. The fact that we use the
older safe working systems has caused this Committee to agree that
we need our own Rules but we need to keep them consistent with those
of the Commercial companies for safety sake.
Another area causing difficulties is the
training of staff as this is also undergoing great change.
And just to add spice to our activities,
Insurance has also been a headache with the Government advising that
the support from the VMIA will cease at the end of December 2005.
Vale Peter Walker
We record with great sadness
the death of Peter Walker who was in turn a Delegate to this
Association, Records Officer and an Examiner in Safeworking. Peter
was active in all that he undertook and was meticulous in setting up
the ATR's database on railway examinations. We will miss his input
to our deliberations and record with thanks all that he did for the
Heritage Rail movement in this State.
News from our Members
Alexandra Timber Tramway
Following a theft of a tram on the Melbourne tram
network, security of the Museum's vehicles has become a priority and
all vehicles are now locked on the running lines where storage sheds
are not available.
The Museum has acquired two locomotives, one a 3' gauge
rail tractor of the TACL type manufactured by Malcolm Moore of
Port Melbourne. The other unit is 4wDM built by Kelly and Lewis at
Springvale in the 1940's. This engine was named "Flora" and had an
interesting working life starting on the Captain Cook Graving dock
in Sydney and then being re-gauged to 4'81/2" and used to dismantle
various standard gauge railways in NSW.
At the Alexandra Station a portion of the platform coping has
been replaced and storm damage from a big storm on 30 August
repaired. Some sleepers in the main line have been replaced
buildings repaired and the grounds tidied up.
A major Craft Market in Alexandra has returned to the town
and the market has reopened in the Station grounds and will be
monthly from now on.
- Australian Railway Historical Society - Victorian
Division.
The Division had an interesting talk in September on the
development of the Pichi Richi Railway.. The half yearly Great
Railway Swap Meet took place in August and had a good response from
patrons. The next Swap Meet will be on 18 February 2006.The Museum has
taken delivery of a Hitachi Motor car and this is being restored as a
major exhibit. Another carriage to receive attention is the Torrens
car and quite a bit of wood work has been replaced inside the
carriage. New decorative panels have been made to replace the
original ones which were beyond repair.
-
Ballarat Tramway Museum
September saw the centenary of electric trams in Ballarat
and was
celebrated by several events. The first event was the launch of a
book on 21 September in the Ballarat Town Hall on the history of the
Ballarat Tramway written by Alan Bradley. Then on Saturday 24
September a dinner was held at the Sebastopol Bowing Club which is
located on one of the former Ballarat tramlines.
Ballarat Tramway Centenary 25 September 2005
Photo J. Frost
On Sunday 25 September 2005 the day was celebrated by the
operation for the first time of Bendigo Tram No 17 in Ballarat
which has just been restored in Bendigo. This is an original ESCo
tram and is the only operational tram from this company. The
restoration by the Bendigo Tramway Museum is to their usual high
standards. As part of the festivities the horse tram was run from
the gardens Loop to St Aidan's Drive and electric trams 17, and 28
ran to the War Memorial end of the gardens. Later tram 26 also took
up the running.
Ballarat Tramway Centenary 25 September 2005
Photo John Frost
- Bellarine Peninsula Railway
The railway now has two employees with the employment of a part time
Marketing Officer and a Site Manager and Work for the Dole Scheme.
No 4 Engine has passed a full boiler inspection and many small jobs
were carried out on the engine while this was in process. Klondyke
is programmed to return to service this month. V1209 is out of
service and is to be stored. T251 is to be restored to service as a
matter of urgency.
Rail car DP28 is to be refurbished and returned to service by
Easter 2006.
RM76 and PL127 which were on the Beaudesert Railway until
that railway failed, are now on the Mary Valley Railway in Queensland and
are being painted up there.
Friends of The North Australian Railway at Adelaide River
The railway has acquired a former railcar that operated on the
railway up to closure. This unit, NDH6 was a Diesel Hydraulic
unit built for running on 5'3" in South Australia. This carriage was
regauged and was air-conditioned. The intention was for the
unit to run as an independent set on a commuter service, but on
arrival the idea was scrapped and the drive shafts were removed and
the units ran as air-conditioned carriages to the end. The car
is now at Adelaide River and looks to be in very good condition
Other work at the precinct has been to the rebuilding of the
"Stanley Williams" hut which is being restored and has had a
new concrete floor poured. It is hoped to use the hut as a display
shed.
A picnic for 150 people took place at the precinct in July as
part of a car rally, the Rejex Rally. The new kitchen met all needs and was a great
success. A day later, the traditional Picnic Day was run and
this also was a great success with music, food, races, and a fair
ground train on site.
A caretaker is now on site and the railway has achieved Income
Tax Deductible gift Status.
Puffing Billy - Emerald Tourist Railway Board
An emergency Management seminar has been held to continue the
development of staff and the actions which have to be taken in
such situations. This will be later followed up with an
emergency exercise.
Each year nature provides a bountiful harvest of fallen trees
for firewood and enables the line to be kept in light-up wood
from our long right of way. To use these lopped limbs and
fallen trees regular firewood collection trains are run and take
3 - 4 hours in duration. A nostalgic fan trip was run in July to
Gembrook using a suitably "dirtied" engine and using some
freight vehicles and clerestory carriages. The outing will be
repeated later this month.
The Museum is again open for inspection when staff are present
to show visitors over the site. These days are the 1st and 3rd
Saturdays of the month only. The group is working on the
re-erection of the former Kilmore gang shed and the first
trolley has taken up residence. The size of the shed has been
doubled.
"Early days" The re-erected gang shed at Menzies Creek.
Photo John Frost
A new building has been erected at Emerald as part of the long
term development of this station and is used for the railways
successful "Thomas" weekends. Mornington Railway
The Feasibility Study is still in progress and is nearing
completion. It has been decided that the house at Moorooduc
will become the Society's headquarters and will be used for many
purposes.
Carriage 57BE is back in service after being repainted and
with new roof covering. It is being used on the Wine train. Carriage
45BE is in the shed for restoration and work has started on the
roof. Two BCPL carriages have been rescued and need major work to
return them to service in the future.
Work is continuing on the upgrade of the standard
of the track and work has reached Wooralla Drive. In addition road
No 3 at Moorooduc has been rebuilt and road No 4 needs similar
attention.
The Wine train has proved to be most successful
and a New Year's Train is planned.
Steamrail
Locomotive R766 is to be re-gauged to run on
standard gauge track and a contract has been entered into by Locomotive
R766 Inc with the Hunter Valley Rail Trust to undertake this work. The
engine will need to be re-accredited to run on standard gauge. The
engine will be based mainly in NSW with the work to be undertaken in the
Steamrail Newport Workshop.
R761 has been used to train additional steam
drivers. Engine K190 is receiving a refurbished steam delivery pipe
from K184. D3 639 has had little running this year
in order to conserve the engine tyres. A2 986's driver
side injector has been completed and the swing links on the loco
bogie have had their bushes replaced.
Work on diesel S313 is nearing completion..
Work on carriages is also continuing and
38BE has been completed and 11 AS has taken its place in the
workshop. This carriage has had the entire body sanded and the roof
needle gunned with rusted areas of steel cut out and replaced.
The car will be painted red and gold. Carriage 700BK which has flats
to the wheels has had its wheels replaced with those from 714BK and
has been returned from Seymour. 17BE is the next carriage to be
overhauled and will be the fifth for 2005.
Six electric Hitachi carriages have been acquired
and a range of spare parts from scrapped units obtained. These
carriages are part of the first stainless steel carriages supplied
to Victoria. Two additional carriages are being sought. There
are sufficient carriages to allow a three car set and a four car set
to arranged. Some work has also been carried out at the Ballarat
Steamrail depot to clean up the area.
A successful trip to Maryborough was run in
September and K153, Y112 and D3 639 were all used. K153
and K190 were used on a series of steam shuttles to Hurstbridge.
- The Central Highlands Tourist Railway
The Railway has been granted Museum Accreditation through
the Museum Victoria's "Museum Accreditation Programme" (MAP) .
This is the first time a Heritage Railway in Australia has been
granted this accreditation.
The Museum has received a grant of $4,763.50 from the Building
Better Regional Museums. This will provide some much needed storage
cabinets and stand and plastic cover for Model of a 280hp Walker
Rail Car. In addition blinds for the Daylesford Station Building
will be provided to reduce the amount of ultra violet light reaching
the documents and items.
Other grants received were from the State
Government and the Shire council for the preparation of a Business
and Marketing Plan
Work has been continuing on the restoration of DERM 63RM and it
is hoped that the railmotor will be operational by Christmas 2005.
Reconditioning the roof is now complete and a new cowling
manufactured and fitted. The roof ventilators have been refitted.
The railmotor is being repainted. The gear box is being
repaired and has not been easy to achieve but is now completed.
The service has been run by 91RM and has been provided with no
major problems. 28C has received some preservation work which
involved the sealing of the roof and an external coat of paint.
Tramway Museum Society
The Museum has applied to acquire an Adelaide H class tram. The
tram sought is No 373 and this car is presently in service. A
limited amount of spare parts have also been sought.
Restoration works have continued on the Q class tram No 199 ,
Ballarat No 17 and tank car No 7. A total of 13 trams are available
for service and work is also continuing on Y1 612 and this car will
soon be trafficable.
Repair work to the caretaker's residence has been made trees
removed to make way for the ladder track to link the Exhibition shed
into the main trackwork. Sleepers have been obtained for the fan in
front of the Exhibition Shed and rail placed on top.
The Museum hopes to re-erect the former Batman's Avenue tram shelter
adjacent to the Exhibition Shed and the mainline and through two
bequests this is now closer to effecting. Plans are now being
prepared and costing worked out.
It is planned to run "Trams in the Twilight" on Saturday 25
February 2006.
Yarra Valley Tourist Railway
B75 has been bought by four members of the
Yarra Valley Railway. The loco will be transported from Bendigo
to Seymour and made available for hire with the hope that one
day the engine will visit the Yarra Valley Line or even come on
a reopened line from Lilydale. W250 has had its engine run and
this in in good condition. Preparation to repaint the loco is
proceeding. RM22 is to come from Williamstown and will be used
on the line. Lineside clearance is going on
the running line up to the block post. Some fill has been
obtained and placed near the turntable. At Yarra Glen the
station surrounds have been improved and a new roof truss placed
in the station building to replace one damaged by fire many
years ago. This will allow the roof to be completed.
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