The railway has received grants totalling $630,000 for works
on the turntable at Drysdale, bitumen on platforms at
Suma, Lakers, and Drysdale. A platform is to be
built MDC, lighting is to come all stations and a
storage shed is to be built at Lakers Siding. These
grants
have come from the State Government, the
Federal Government, City of Greater Geelong and the
Borough of Queenscliff.
The shed at Lakers Siding will allow the railway
to store its carriages and engines out of the
weather for the first time. The railway
in the past purchased two "Evans"
carriages from Queensland and has been offered a third carriage,
BU1141, which is privately owned. An appeal is presently
being made to members for funds to
acquire this vehicle.
Work to be carried out in 2007 on
restoring rolling stock includes the finishing of rail
motor DP28, the repainting of carriage ZA200, and the finishing of loco
T251. The railway would like to tender
to purchase C17 967 which is owned by the
Queensland railways and was last operated by
the defunct Beaudesert railway. The railway
has been able to multiple unit both of
its DP rail cars for the first time.
The miniature railway is carrying out
its usual track maintenance and is manufacturing 6
kg/m points to replace the existing 14 lb/yd ones
already in the track. Work is continuing on
the new Sanctuary Carriage storage sidings and it is
proposed to continue the replacement of the 14 lb/yd rail
and points with new rail.
The railway is looking at re-designing the
approaches to the Diamond Valley Station. The total length of
track is 4.6 km and the mainline with alternative
routes is 2.4 km. The railway has recently purchased
a petrol - mechanical locomotive 8120 modelled on NSW
engines. A new private member engine has returned to
the line in the form of a miniature F40 engine which
was out of service at Wagga Wagga.
A new publicity brochure has been printed.
Puffing Billy - Emerald Tourist Railway Board
Puffing Billy has welcomed to the Board of the ETRB, two
new members with the appointment by the
State Government of Mr. John Robinson and Mr.
Ray Leivers and farewelled Mrs. Janice Gasking. John
Robinson is a past Chairman of the PBPS and the ETRB and
Ray Leivers has been the railways CEO. With the
resignation of the former CEO, Mr. A. Stephens, Mr.
Leivers is again acting as CEO.
The railway has rescued a former narrow gauge goods wagon
6NM which was donated by a farmer who had it
on his farm. The vehicle is a narrow gauge cattle wagon
and although "tired" is capable of restoration and
will in future years join 13NM which was thought to be
the sole survivor and is operational on the railway.
The signalling at Menzies Creek is fully
operational and has resulted in several former signalmen
offering to operate the box there as the long walks to set
the points have now been eliminated by
the power operated points and interlocked signals.
Locomotive 12A is in the midst of its 10 year overhaul and
the boiler has been stripped from the frame and the tubes
extracted. The Royal Australian Navy from HMAS Cerberus
have been helping with this project.
Locomotive 7A has been repainted in Canadian Red as prescribed
in the railway's Heritage Manual. This was this engines
original colour and was never painted in the
green paint scheme while in the ownership of the
former VR.
At Belgrave a new Scullery has been built at the
station and a new gang shed has been built behind
the Infrastructure Office in Stanley Street.
In the workshop at Belgrave, a new Asquith radial drill has been
installed as well as a jib crane. Work continues on the large
Craven Lathe.
The day out with Thomas in February and March were
most successful and the next event will take
place in the spring.
The railway's 5'3' gauge transporter wagon No 129Q at Emerald has been
repainted for the first time since the VR last
painted it in the 1950's.
Steamrail
Like everyone in Victoria, the drought has
affected operations and Diesel hauled trains have had to
run much earlier in late 2006 and longer in 2007 than normal. The railway
had a most successful open day at Newport in March 2007.
Meanwhile work has continued on
engines and Y112 is to undergo a boiler inspection and
certification. Spare parts from this engine which were replaced in
its overhaul are to be used to restore to
display condition the "Nowingi Y' at Ballarat for
display at Mildura. This "Y" is a diesel powered engine
built on a former steam Y's frames.
K153 has had the smoke box repaired and associated
fittings were also restored or repaired. K190 is
operational and D3 639 has been boiler inspected.
R711 has been fully restored and repainted and
is being steam tested in running around the depot yard.
R761 has had some work done on it and is ready for
its start of the year steam testing.
A2968 has had its superheater header
tightened up on the tube plate and the 24 superheater elements put
into the flue tubes ready for fitting to the
header.
The Central Highlands Tourist Railway trading
as Daylesford Spa Country Railway
The highlight of the present
quarter has been to return to service
of 63RM after a full overhaul. The restoration took
four years of hard work and the rail motor looks
splendid in its heritage colours of VR
Red and Silver.
The railway reports that in 2006
they replaced some 360 sleepers and three points timbers, 105
signal wire guide pegs, 5 rail lengths, and 200 track bolts.
As well as the track work they completed the restoration
of a Comeng Inspection car rebuilt the Scarifier, and obtained
a tank car and a B Van.
The Victorian Goldfields Railway
At the start of 2006 the railway faced
a serious financial problem following the failure of the two
steam engines in late 2005 and the subsequent drop in
patronage. The extensive repairs to K160 were also a
serious drain on funds. To help overcome the problem the railway
sold a Departmental Residence that they had bought
in 1998 and this allowed the railway to pay all
outstanding bills and put away a substantial amount in
the bank. The railway's finances are now in a
sound position.
The railway has formed a signalling group to
maintain and service the mechanical signalling equipment. Regular
work is being done on maintenance of the track and
hundreds of sleepers have been replaced between Maldon and
Muckleford.
A full time Marketing Manager has been
appointed
and this has helped in an increase in passengers
of 23% over the last year. Patronage at Thomas
days has also been good and there has been an increased
awareness of the railway in print and on TV.
The railway had 60 driver experience courses
during the year and the addition of "Tambo" carriage has increased
the flexibility of the product and allowed a premium service to be
introduced. The railway was able to lease steam engine
J515 and diesel engine Y 133 from the Seymour Heritage
railway Group.
The decision was made to sell 7RM, a
Walker railcar, to the Daylesford Spa Railway. The railcar will
be restored to operational condition by the DSR and may from
time to time return for occasional trips form
Maldon.
The railway proposes to introduce on train
refreshments using the newly restored buffet car
"Lowanna" which is on lease and is equipped with a kitchen,
servery and has a diesel generator.
At Castlemaine the railway is working on the
need for regular access from the Bendigo Line having
electrical interlocking in the Castlemaine yard to reduce the
possibility of signalling errors occurring. They are thinking
about an outer home signal for trains from Maldon and this will
allow more than one train in their part of the Castlemaine yard
on a regular basis.
K 160 is having its annual boiler
inspection and a new brick arch is needed. A new set of shaker
grates is being made as well. The valve rings have been
repaired. J 549 is being worked on and the wheels are back in
Maldon for installation in the frame. Work is need on
the smoke box. Other work is proceeding.
Tramway Museum Society of Victoria
The Tramway held a further trams in the
Twilight event which was most successful. It has been
decided to hold it bi-annually and the next
will be held in 2009. Most work around the depot
has been trackwork but some maintenance of tram
cars has continued. Missing buzzers have
been fitted to Adelaide tram H 373 and the tram is in traffic.
Work on X2 No 680 is continuing and the roof
has been repainted and the final top coats of green
and cream are being applied. Work on Q 199 continues and
will be brown and cream when finished.
The door motors of Y1 612 are to be
repaired by the Melbourne Tramcar Museum at Haddon to help return the tram to
service as a winter one man tram. In order to
keep the right of way clear of vegetation and to
lessen the bushfire
risk, the Society allows local farmers ageist
their cattle on the reserve. This has been most
successful and has helped the farmers in the present
drought .
Walhalla Goldfields Railway
The repaired bridge
Photo Walhalla Railway
The damage caused by the bushfires in late
December have been partially repaired. The loss of
the small bridge which caused the railway to
suspend service between Thomson and Happy Creek has been
repaired and the entire line was reopened to traffic
on Maundy Thursday. While the railway was not able to
operate over the entire line, shuttle trips took
place between Walhalla and Happy Creek.
Walhalla Station
Photo J. Frost
Yarra Valley Tourist Railway
The Municipal Council has approved
the Feasibility study on the future of the railway.
Locomotive W250 has been fully restored and repainted
and is now able to perform shunting duties in
Healesville yard. The railway experienced an influx
of volunteers in 2006
Rail Motor RM22 has had its roof fully
restored and work is continuing on the restoration
of the interior of the rail car.
The right of way from
Healesville to Yarra Glen has been slashed and
weed spraying is now being done. A through works
trolley is now running the entire length of the
line each Wednesday to ensure that items are
now maintained.
A further GY wagon has been
obtained from Operation 707. One of the existing GY freight wagons has had its triple
valve refitted and is operational again. The VHNA vehicles are
being worked on for use in ballast train duties.
Many sleepers have been placed in the
track and attention has been given to the last
bend approaching Yarra Glen.
