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ATR News


News from the Tourist Railways

Edition No 46

 

 30 June  2010


National News

ATHRA - Association of Tourist and Heritage Rail Australia

Meetings

The next  ATHRA meeting  is to take  place  in Perth at the ARHS WA Division Rail Museum Bassendeen Perth: The dates  of the  meeting are as follows: Annual General Meeting and Board Meeting Friday  3rd September 2010, General Meeting Saturday 4th September 2010 and if required Sunday 5th morning only

ATHRA Alerts

The National Association has set up a system of "Alerts" to immediately draw  members' attention to urgent changes which are taking place in the rail industry.   Alerts No  47- 49  have been issued  in 2010. For details please see the ATHRA website. Click Here


Victorian News - ATR

The Bellarine Railway is  co-operating with Puffing Billy and the Walhalla Goldfields  Railway to  develop packages called "The Great Railway  Experience of Railways  of Australia". It is  hoped to make them more desirable  to  national  and  international tour groups. The  packages will not  only  focus  on the railway  experience but  other experiences and packages in the towns of the railways, making the visits to  the destination fulfilling and complete.  Railway  Experiences and Town Packages will be assessed  on a locomotive star  rating system. All railways  will be audited by an independent body  to  create their star  rating.
 
A trial of 12 months will start in Victoria and  if successful will gradually extend to  other  railways  throughout Australia. This  is  loosely based on the Welsh  "Great Little trains  of Wales".
 
Tourist  and Heritage Legislation
The State Government has introduced legislation  into Parliament  to  provide legislative  backing to  Heritage rail in  Victoria. The  legislation will remove the  need for  Orders in Council for those railways  operating under them  and will provide a framework to improve the sector  in the  long term. The Act  will not  affect  the Emerald Tourist  Railway  Act and the  operation  of Puffing Billy. However, this legislation creates an anomaly  in that the  ETRB reports to  the Minister for Tourism  and the  other  Heritage groups to  the  Minister for Transport.

News from our Members

Australian Railway Historical  Society - Victorian Division.

The Museum still remains closed  owing to  OH&S issues on the site. The group reports that  the February  Swap Meet  was a great  success at  the  new venue. The  next  swap meet is to be  held on Saturday  21 August  2010.

Newsrail

The April issue has  an article on the genesis of the Bellarine Railway  and its  commencement from  the Geelong branch of the ARHS. The early days on the Belmont Common Railway  are covered in the article. In the  May Issue the  major  article  is the story of Wangaratta Station and lines and  a further article  is  on the  ill fated DRC railmotors. The article  in the  June magazine was on the Melbourne yard which  was the  hub of  railways  in Melbourne for freight movements for over a century.


 Ballarat Tramway Museum

The tramway  once again took part in the Begonia Festival over the Labour Day  weekend. The weather over  the weekend was not  kind and  only 4,378 passengers were carried. This  was the  lowest  number carried since 2004. All travel over the weekend was free due to  sponsorship. The Easter figures  were    more encouraging with  505 passengers carried above average  for  recent years. This season  the  lake actually has a little  water  in it and the  flower beds in the gardens  have  plants  in them rather  than bare earth. It  is  hoped that  the  lake may have sufficient water in  it  by  2011 to  allow  boating on it again.

The tramway has been offered custodianship  of several W class trams by  Victrack and theses trams are  865, 924, 861, and 969. These trams are  in  operating condition but  due to  storage space needs the  latter  two  trams have  been placed in store at  Newport  Workshops.

Over the weekend of 8 and 9 May  the Ballarat  Heritage weekend was held  and with  the financial support of the Ballarat City  Council  Horse tram No1 was able to operate  over the weekend. The Museum  carried 2,500 people over the two  days with  the horse team carrying just over 1,000 passengers, and average  of 40 people a trip. Operating from the  Garden Loop to Carlton Street, electric tram No 26  ran  the  service while horse tram No 1 ran from the  loop to  St  Aidan's drive. To  run the  horse tram the  overhead  to  St  Aidan's  Drive needed to be  isolated. No  26   is  painted in the  old  livery of chocolate  and  cream.

Horse Tram No 1 at Ballarat Botanic Gardens

Around the Depot

Tram No 27  is being repainted  with  the saloon and  motorman's windows revarnished. One damaged  side panel relating back to  the SEC days  has been  removed  for replacement.

The armature from tram No 38 has returned from Bendigo and the wheels, which are  in Adelaide,  have  been re-profiled. The repainting  of the  underside of No 38  has been  completed. Tram No 466 , which  was on loan  from Bendigo has been  returned there.

The body of M&MTB tram No 121 has been  stored for a long time at Newstead and as there is  no  prospect of its restoration the  body has been  transported to  Gisborne where  it will be used to house and display  a telephone collection.

Track work continues to  receive attention when required  and three rail joints have  been  dug out and replaced and welded into  position. On a different  note, an A form sign from the tramway was stolen  and was noticed by a resident in a backyard. A subsequent visit  by  police  recovered it and  other  removed items which  were returned to  their rightful owners.

 


The Bellarine Railway 
 
2010 sees the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the Geelong Steam Preservation Society. The railway  was originally set up  in Geelong  on the flood plain of the Barwon River.
 
The railway is seeking additional funds to allow it to  complete a number of major projects  more  quickly.  These include Lakers Siding Station, the restoration  of Pozieres, Vulcan #4 and  other  works.
The railway has had an Economic Impact  Study undertaken to  determine the effect of the railway on  the region. The railway is looking forward to  the  new Government Legislation on Heritage Railways. The  railway  was host  to  the filming  of "Coxy's Big Break" in April.
 
In March  the railway  held another fun run against Thomas at Drysdale Station. Thomas losing every race against  the children. The railway played a big part in the Queenscliff Sea Food  Festival and provided a new platform, 56 trains over 9 hours and carried nearly 4,000 passengers. The railway works closely with  the  local municipal council and to  accommodate the  people wishing to  access the  town for the festival. A local  farm was utilised at  Suma Park  and a 110m platform was built for the event.
 
 The number of  Blues trains has increased from 34 to  40  trains a year and  the group charter business has been  good  over the  last year. The  Seaside explorer trains have  been suspended for  business reasons and the extra wear  and tear caused to the  two rail motors. It  is  hoped to replace the mid week  service later on with a  steam service.
 
Drysdale Station
Part of the  long term planning for Drysdale station is the  construction of a roundhouse there to  house some  of the railway's engines  and display  them to  the  public. In the  meantime  it  is  hoped  to place  on display on the sidings at  Drysdale some  rolling stock with  walking  paths  and  guides to  explain the vehicles.
 
Engines
Pozieres is closer to  steaming with  the boiler proving to be serviceable  with  the brakes and wheels being freed up. The tyres need turning.
Locomotives X20 and V8 have had repaints
 
Carriages
Carriage SP8 is undergoing a rebuild  and the carriage  will become a spare for the  Blues Train set. BBl10 suffered a graffiti attack  but the  cleaning has left  the  paintwork damaged.
The railway is  changing its  brake  blocks  over to  the composition brake  blocks and these  have extended the  life  of  the blocks some 2-3 times and reduced cost by some 20% to  30%.
 

 
Bendigo  Tramways
The tramway  had a successful Easter with  three service trams running on the  line  as well as shuttles on Easter Monday during the  parade of floats.
 
Work has started  on the $3.1m upgrade  of the Depot, the  oldest  working tram depot in Australia.  The  new depot access track curve from Hargraves Street into the depot has been  completed. The depot extension works have  now started as well as the work on the depot track fan. The  new track is  fitted with modern rubber casing to  reduce noise.
 
The group has been involved in an internal  debate regarding the  use  of the historic trams or  the  more modern ex Melbourne sliding door trams in normal  traffic. While the debate continues it  is worth while pointing  out that  the  youngest of the sliding door trams are already 55 years  old. In themselves  museum pieces now!
 
Tram no  84, which  was built for the Prahran  and Malvern Tramway  Trust, took part in the centenary  of Malvern tram depot. This tram and No 44 are painted in the livery of that  body. No 84 last  saw traffic  in 1965 and was specially restored for the centenary of the depot. Also  on display  was tram No  44, a maximum traction  tram,  which  was also  a former Prahran  and Malvern tram. This tram  ran  a number  of trips from  the depot  to  Dandenong road.
 
P&M Tram No 84 at Malvern Depot
 
The tramway  has  now  placed at  all tram stops timetables similar to  those displayed at  Melbourne tram stops. The actual  tram stop sign is similar  to  the  old red tram stop  sign  used in Melbourne in the M&MTB  days.
 

Diamond Valley  Railway

The railway has been  busy with  several  activities. A new gazebo  has been  built  in the  parkland  near  Meadmore Junction. The new major  building  is the carriage and inspection shed alongside the W. G. Pert workshop. The  new shed has  a specially dedicated paint room.  All the tracks in the new shed have  been laid  in concrete.

In February  the railway  reported  that  passenger numbers were some 64,000 people carried and that  December 2009  and January 2010 were 3,000 above the  previous period. Over  2,893,000 passengers  have  been  carried  since opening.

It  is  planned to  extend the  platform  and the verandah at  the Diamond Valley  Station. Once this  is  done  platforms No 2 and 3 are to be  demolished  and then  reinstated with new foundations and tops.

 Overall  the  normal  maintenance is continuing with work  going on to  remove the 14lb/yd points and replacing them with 6Kg/m material  and cascading the  old points  into  yards following the  usual  railway  practice. Attention to  the appearance  of the railway is a priority and where  necessary  paint work is  being  refreshed and   post  and rail fencing replaced where  necessary. A resident wombat  has not  helped the grounds programme  by  lifting up  tree guards and eating what  ever the animal fancies.

The railway is  unique in that  all signalling  is  controlled from signal boxes and  is mainly colour light automatic signalling. The  main signal box  is  large and presents a challenge to  the signal men on duty due to its complexity.

The  railway  owns  a significant  amount  of  rolling stock  but relies on members to  provide additional  engines and stock  for peak times. On the  locomotive front  the W class engine is  being rebuilt for  use as a  shunter and  it  is  planned to  use the frame  of the XG engine to  build a CO-Co type engine. S301 from the Meadmore days  is being rebuilt with  a diesel engine and will be a true diesel electric engine.. The carriage sets  are also  receiving attention. New bogies are to be fitted to  the BG  set.

The railway  has adopted  a very  nice system of  honouring departed members with  a special lift out  in the  magazine  "Diamond Rails".

The railway  had another successful community  day until the rain  set in and  the  line had to be closed at  7.20pm due to  flooding  of the track. A total of 1135 passengers were carried. Easter  saw a large number  of engines in steam and the Easter Bunny  paid a visit to  the delight  of  children.

 

Friends  of the North Australia Railway  at  Adelaide River

The railway  reports:-

 It is 125 years this month since Chief Engineer, Henry Mais, of the South Australian Railways signed the design drawings for the PALMERSTON & PINE CREEK RAILWAY.  These drawings were then used to call tenders and the contract was let to Charles and Edwin Millar in 1886.  Millars completed the 145 mile line to a good standard in 1889  (two years ahead of schedule).

The Narrows Bridge.

You will recall that the bridge at the Narrows has been treated with Rust Converter and a start was made with metal primer on Clean-up Oz Day. Last week, Peter Poole,  who is a very busy bloke, offered that if we gave him a pot of paint he would complete priming the bridge over Easter.  That was an offer worth pursuing and the paint was delivered on Thursday.

As we drove in to Darwin from Katherine yesterday afternoon we noticed that, sure enough, the bridge has been primed.  The colour is similar to the original Red Lead that was used by Dorman  Long who supplied the ironwork from the Newcastle UK bridge. (They later supplied the steel for Sydney Harbour bridge in 1932).What we need now is someone to touch up the Bridge Identification Number "4" on each abutment. 

The Narrows Bridge

Photo Adelaide River

Phone Lines at  the River. 

Last Saturday we were fortunate to have a visit by Rex Hales. Rex guided us in the installation of telephone cables to the Visitors Centre and the caretaker's donga and other locations.  This was a full days work and with Rex's knowledge has set us up for the "information age."  We will now be able to have internet access in the Visitors' Centre and our research centre.  Again it was a project that has been in the making for many years with conduits being installed progressively as trenches were open.  Saturday was the culmination.  Apart from expertise, Rex supplied lots of hardware.

A side benefit was that we ran a Public Address line from the station to Sid William's so that we can communicate better with our visitors at our major event

NILES WHEEL PRESS

Restoration of the 1925 NILES wheel press is progressing. Work has started to clean and understand the hydraulics. All of the oiling points have been opened and inspected (they are brass which has been painted, which we will not touch until it is secure).

The main operating control wheel was found to be (1) stuck so that it would not turn and (2) it was missing a square key.  Leo Izod provided a 5/16" tapered Gibbs key and Peter Cornell machined it to fit.  We then used Pete's 4ft long Stillson and lots of grunt to free the valve (it was like a bathroom tap that "someone" has turned off too hard). We then cleaned out the hydraulic fluid reservoir (an open trough that was filled with muck).  A rotary wire brush was used which caused lots of dust but did the job.

The next step is to free the drive motor, gearbox and hydraulic pump. Ken Seymour at St Kilda Tramway Museum in Adelaide is our consultant on this project.


Mornington Railway

The railway  reports;

Way and Works

The railway has finished selective re-sleepering in the cutting up (i.e. the railway 'up') from the Horse Crossing. Parts of the railway that are in cuttings are the worst due to dampness, and this one was no exception. Over the length of about 225 meters, the gang replaced 69 sleepers, most of which were total scrap. We have now moved to the section from the down Moorooduc points to Wooralla Drive, and replaced 12 sleepers, with 15 to go to the gate. This section, also in a shallow cutting, gave us some difficulties in the form of a large root that had practically replaced one sleeper

K 163 Boiler Lifted Off 

The original plan to install a replacement boiler on K163 called for the locomotive to be withdrawn from service after the last running day in February 2010 so that the boiler swap and related work could be performed. It was actually withdrawn several weeks before that. The reason for this was  the state of the ash pan. The ash pan was known to be badly rusted and had the potential for hot coals to fall through gaps in the weakened steelwork and onto the track. The engineering team commenced work on removing fittings, cladding, part of the cab and the fastenings which secured the boiler to the locomotive's frame. The work was duly completed by early April. Jacks were then placed under the boiler and it was raised a small distance from its seating to ensure that it would freely separate from the frame when the cranes came to totally lift it out.

 On Wednesday 31 March, with two cranes in attendance and watched by a crowd of interested onlookers, K163's boiler was finally lifted out of the locomotive frame and placed on the ground nearby. A number of other heavy lifts took place on the same day while the cranes were in the area. The restored K191 boiler was brought out from under the covered area where the rebuilding work had been carried out and it was placed in a position where it could be easily lifted into K163 when required. K163's boiler was then placed in the covered in work area where it will be rebuilt as necessary for fitting into our second steam locomotive

Following removal of K163's boiler, the engineering team focused on removal/replacement of the springs and numerous other suspension items. In addition, other components which were much more accessible while the boiler was out of the frame were inspected and remedial work carried out on them wherever necessary. It was also a good opportunity to inspect and perform any required maintenance on the main driving wheel brass and white-metal bearings.

Within the next week or so, work will commence on re-assembling the springs and suspension components with the aim of lifting the replacement boiler into the frame in late June.

Carriages

Since June last year the Carriage Department has undertaken extensive repair and repainting jobs to our fleet of vintage carriages & guard vans.

 Passenger carriages 24AW, 45BE & 57BE have all been repainted and old signage has been replaced with new removable signs which will make future repair and repainting easier. It was with a great deal of satisfaction that we returned 57BE to service on Fathers Day 2009 to mark its 100th birthday.  Also 98G, our party carriage, has undergone the same make over as the other carriages. The guard vans, 5CV and 604ZD although having a repaint, still require some additional repairs which will be carried out over the winter months.

Currently 27BU is in the shed to undergo a face lift, after which we will have 4 passenger carriages of a very high standard. (I have heard from some of the conductors that the passengers have remarked on how well turned out our carriages are. This feedback makes all the hard work worthwhile). Guards van 20Z is also going to have extensive repair and repainting.

Locomotives

T334 - In Service

This loco has been sharing the running day duties with T411 and when not out on the line many hours have been spent bringing the loco back up to a high standard with a lot of maintenance work being performed. This includes ongoing maintenance, cab improvements and a fair amount of work on the engine as well. There's still a lot to do but the diesel team are progressing well. 

T411 - Under Cosmetic Restoration

At the time of reading this, T411 will have been removed from regular running operation and will be undergoing its cosmetic restoration. Up until now the loco has been performing well sharing the running day duties with T334 and has been doing a number of additional duties as well, this includes works trains, shunting duties and driver experience specials. The decision was made in 2009 that T411 was well due for rust repairs and body attention so we are taking the time to carry out these repairs as a part of the restoration. We intend for this to not take longer than 2 months.


 Melbourne Tramcar Preservation Association

The tramway  reports:

Open Day

A successful open day  was held at  the depot  on the Sunday of the Ballarat Heritage Festival  in May.

L Class tram at  Haddon

Other News

A draft development plan for the Association has been submitted by the General Manager, Anthony Smith to the committee for discussion and comment.  This plan contains various recommendations on all outstanding projects and how we could accommodate the proposed acquisition of a W5 Class tram.  The plan will be discussed at the next Committee of Management meeting and the final proposal circulated to members for comment and feedback.

On Sunday 17 January as part of their "County Canter", members of the Ballarat Vintage and Classic Car Club visited the tramway.  The number of cars on site exceeded 70 with all available parking areas taken.  We even had cars parked on the nature strip along Sago Hill Road.  It was quiet a sight to behold and it is unfortunate that we were unable to record the event on camera as only four members were in attendance to handle the crowd which exceeded 80. 

Filming took place at Haddon on Saturday 20 February 2010 for a Metro Trains Melbourne Staff DVD, one of a regular series produced as a training tool. The purpose of the DVD's is to encourage safe working practices by discussing with drivers how they remain focussed and deal with the various problems they are confronted with in their day to day working environment. At the end of each of these productions they have a feature section on drivers and what they do in their time off, and for this disc the trams at Haddon were chosen for the feature. The film crew spent a number of hours filming the segment, and also provided the Association with copies of the footage and some still images that they took.

W3 663

 After carrying out a thorough assessment of the roof structure with the Bendigo Tramways coachbuilders it has been confirmed that because of its poor overall condition it will be necessary to replace the entire roof boards.  In order to maintain originality, plywood sheeting will be used as the replacement material, though an improved method of installation will be used. The last group of W2's and all the W3 and W4 class trams were built new with plywood roofs as an economy measure during the early 1930s.  

Work has commenced on stripping the roof with the trolley pole equipment and bridges removed along with the route boxes. The vent roof plywood section has also been lifted. A quotation has also been sought from Bendigo for additional work to be performed on this tram whilst it is there, subject to available finance. Donations to assist this project are welcome, and will assist in completing more refurbishment work so that there is less to do when 663 returns to Haddon.

 SW4 849

The replacement apron ex 809 has now been fitted to the No. 2 end and a refurbished headlight assembly fitted.  The rewiring of the headlight and marker lights has now been completed and the light units at the No. 1 end also attended to. The driver's bulkhead glass has been removed and will be replaced with new material as the original glass was etch primed to blackout half the viewing area.  Work will shortly commence on the replacement wooden drop centre seats and the interior refurbishment of the car.  Progress has been a bit slower than had been hoped for due to other work commitments around the site by Anthony and Jacqui Smith, the regular workers on this project.  

Storm Curtains

 During the later half of 2009 we were able to raise sufficient funds to commission the machining of two sets of storm curtains for fitting to L 103 and W4 670.  Through the Bendigo Tramways we were able to obtain a very competitive quote for this to be carried out by Thorpe's Canvas Products at North Bendigo. The fitting of these new drop centre storm curtains has completed the restoration work on L 103.

 W4 670

 In addition to the installation of the new storm curtains, additional off side bell blocks were manufactured during January and fitted to W4 670 along with two polished and lacquered bell assemblies.  All passenger carrying trams in the collection now have these additional bells fitted to allow for off-side running at Haddon.

Overhead

An additional steel pole has been erected at the rear of the Car barn in the vicinity of the north-western curve to allow tensioning spans to be connected to the trolley wire anchors of the three Car barn roads. The main function of these spans is to balance the load placed on the anchors so that the tension of the contact wire and spans on the Car barn fan can be maintained.  

This pole will also be utilised in the support of the redesigned network that is to be erected once the relaying of the north-western curve is completed.    During March the old Pole 7 near the 5 Road points was removed and the hole filled and levelled. This pole was replaced previously by a new Pole 7 closer to the fence line to improve vehicle access.

Track work

 Over one weekend in February the rail and checkrail for the north-western curve was laid out and, where needed, trimmed using the former SEC Yallourn rail saw; its first use at Haddon. Bolt holes were drilled along the length of the checkrail and the first length of the inner rail using the newly acquired rail drill. Work to complete this curve includes welding all rail joints, drilling the remaining holes in the rails, installing the tie rods and spacer blocks, and spiking the rails to the sleepers. Work can then commence on the south-western curve to complete the connection to the mainline straight track.


Puffing Billy - Emerald Tourist Railway Board 

Since the 8th June this year  Puffing Billy  has been supported longer by the Puffing Billy Preservation Society  than the Victorian Railways.

The Great Train Race was held in May and was a great success, run in cool but dry  weather. The event   requires a major  effort by hundreds of  volunteers and  members of the community to organise each year as the run takes part on  public roads in the Dandenong's and this means that  the  Municipal Council and bodies such as the  police  need to be  in attendance and agree to  the event. As well as providing the  venue for the race,  sponsors  have to be  found and the race has become  one  of the  major events  on the "runs" held in Victoria each year.

The Puffing Billy  Preservation Society  reports that  John Thompson has stood down as President and that  Jeff Goodwin has replaced him.

The  new DH  diesel is  now  operational and  is  painted in the traditional VR blue and gold. This  gives the railway  the  opportunity  to  run trains at normal speed on days  of total fire bans when steam can not  be  used. These trips  will still only run as far  as Lakeside  on such  days.

The railway  has reported a small number of slips and falls among its workers  and suggests that  people  be  aware  of this when walking  on  platforms and yards.

Among notable events from the  past  the railway mentioned that  the Welshpool to  Port  Welshpool 2'6" gauge horse tramway started 105 years ago.

June also  saw the  re-opening  of the railway between Belgrave  and Menzies Creek which took place some 48 years ago.

Museum

The Museum reports that  all  the boilers  on its  stationary and  operating 2' engines have passed their  boiler tests. The Steam roller has been  dismantled and the crown stays  have  been removed and the  motion has had magnetic particle testing. It has been  found that the  boiler has severe cracking in the  pressed plate work and side plates of the boiler

Visit  of a locomotive to  Walhalla

Puffing Billy  agreed to  a request  from the Walhalla  railway to allow an NA engine visit that  railway for the centenary of the  opening  of the Walhalla line in 1910.

Climax Engine

Major Climax funding is now needed.

The Climax project has come to an important stage. The boiler work has been finished and it is now being stored ready for fitting to the frame. The next major work involves the manufacture of axles, wheels and gear carriers. A lot of this work must be done by outside companies and then the finishing machining done in the Locomotive Workshops. In order to keep the project going, the group has launched the Climax Axles and Wheels Appeal to raise $95,000 for this work.

Metalock has been contracted to repair cracks in the main engine frame castings that the cylinders are bolted on to. They will also be repairing the transverse engine frame beams. They use an ingenious method to fix cracks in cast iron that would otherwise be very difficult or impossible to repair. The cab and water tank are about to be removed and stored at Gembrook. This will enable the floor to be removed. The frame will then be inspected and repaired as needed.

Open Day

The railway is  holding an open day  on 3 October 2010 and will show all aspects  of the railway  to  the  public.


Steamrail

The  open day in in March coincided with the  worst  weather  to  strike  Melbourne for a long time  but some 1200 people  braved the weather  to  come and  inspect  the Newport  Site. The  next open day will be  in 2012.

Once again  the group  took part in the Good Friday appeal for the Children's Hospital and a set of carriages and D3 639 were displayed at  Spencer Street  Station. Local  suburban rail trips have  proved popular this  year  and several are to be run later in the  year.

Locomotives

The railway  has reported that  all locomotives are performing satisfactorily. R711 has been inspected by the RTBU and found to be satisfactory and  is  now  in the  process of  being approved by V/Line. It  is  proposed to  move  R700 from Ballarat to  Newport  by rail. Y112 is being recertified. A2 986 is proceeding in its rebuild and  it  is  examining the  possibility of employing some part time tradesmen to speed up work. Lots  of  time consuming small  projects  have  been completed but the amount  of work to be  done  is  huge and really is  a complete rebuilding  of the engine. The  money  received from the  insurance of K183 is to be  used to  speed up  the restoration  of the A2.

Carriages

Work on 61BW has been  done and the carriage  has been  repainted. The Electrail  group  is  still working away  on restoring  their carriages  and the  bogies under 327M have  been  exchanged. The air-conditioned carriages, Werribee and Moorabool, have  been  giving trouble  with  the air-conditioning. Werribee had a failure  of the voltage regulator and as a  result the batteries boiled and ran dry causing considerable damage. Moorabool has not  been pumping the cooled air through and the  filter has been  cleaned and the thermostat adjusted.


South Gippsland Railway

The railway has  taken  delivery  of the DERM from Maldon  and two wooden bodied carriages  on loan from Steamrail. The railway  has  seen  a surge  in the  number  of passengers travelling and needs the  additional  carriages to meet demand in summer.

 


The  Victorian Goldfields Railway

Founding member, Vance Findlay, has stood down  from the Board  of the railway after many years  of service. The railway  reports that  the  new shop and toilet block at  Maldon is  under way and  is  well advanced. The new block is  being painted  A new shed is  being erected at  Muckleford to  accommodate a blacksmith's forge.

The four E class carriages will  be  transferred to Seymour for  under cover storage and  restoration. K160 is to  go  to the EDI workshops at  Newport to have its wheels turned on the  lathe. DERM RM 61 has been  transported by  road to Korumburra for that  railway  to use  while their own rail motor  is  being  overhauled. As part of the deal, DRC 43 which is  based at  Seymour is to go  to  Maldon for the C&MR use. Flat top T 333 has been at  Seymour for a number of years and has had sound proofing fitted in the cab, up to date vigilance control fitted, and refurbished wheel sets. Mainline tests are about to be trailed and it  is hoped that it  can  again be  used to  earn some revenue on the mainline.

The railway  reports that  they had  a small financial loss in 2009/10 of $2,755. This was due to  the global downturn  and  it  is expected that  the  next  financial year  will be in the black. No 3 road at  Muckleford has now  been  completed with ballast.


Walhalla Goldfields Railway

The railway  celebrated the centenary  of the opening  of the railway in 2010. The  line was officially  opened by the  then Premier of Victoria , Mr John Murray, on the 3rd May, 1910. In place  of the  Premier in 2010  the  Minister for Tourism and Major Events was present at  the centenary  ceremony.

7A crossing the Thomson River

A number of events were held to  celebrate the centenary and the  most notable one was the arrival of 7A from the  Puffing Billy  railway to  run  6 public trips only. The trains were a great  success and the  trips ran in what  can be described as "Narrow Gauge" weather, lots  of drizzle and rain.  The sound  of an NA engine's whistle re-echoing around the hills  from  Thomson  to Walhalla  had to be heard. The train  was driven by  Puffing Billy  personnel. 7A hauled the very last  train on the Walhalla line  in 1954 when  G42  failed.

It was necessary  to  inspect  the track  and a few minor modifications were carried out  as the railway,  while following the  old alignment when it was rebuilt, is  not exactly  in the same  place as the  original line and  needed  to be checked for clearance.

7A renumbered as 9A at  Walhalla. (9A hauled the very  first  train into Walhalla in 1910)


Yarra Valley  Railway

RM 22 is about to  go into  traffic  having completed its trials  and  being accepted by  the PTSV. The  line has received  a large  number  of second hand wooden sleepers  made redundant  by  the concrete sleeper project in the metropolitan railways.

The railways' T class diesel T 341 is  operational  and ran to  Melbourne with  classmate T320 on test  and to  assess the engine.

The regular Saturday and Wednesday evening track work days are still going flat out, with sleeper replacement having reached Watts River, and   around the 38mile curve towards Bridge 28. The first load of ballast was dropped in this section in mid February, with more to follow as it becomes available. The track is now sitting several inches above the road bed for the first time in many years, so protecting the sleepers from rotting.

The Yarra Glen station area has received a lot of attention over the past few of months. In the fires of Black Saturday last year, the many large pine trees around the station were either killed or so severely damaged that they had become dangerous and required removal, a huge job which was finally started in December and completed in mid February. Talks in regards to the Yarra Glen bypass, in particular about the Melba Highway crossing upgrade, are currently progressing with government bodies.

The Nissan Patrol high rail has received a much needed tone up, including conversion to broad gauge. The paperwork is currently with PTSV and we look forward to seeing the Patrol and Canter out on the rails soon. David Ingram, the Lineside Co-ordinator has not been idle since our last report either. In line with Management's do it once, do it right' approach, the whole lineside between Watts River and Tunnel Cutting has had the undergrowth cleared away, the edge of the track scarified, ready for re-sleepering and ballasting and the drainage re-instated.

In particular Devil's Bend has had decades of tea tree growth removed, opening up views of the Yarra Valley not seen for years. The importance of this work in relation to the long term well being of the railway cannot be overstated. One thing that all the civil engineers who have inspected our line agree on is the necessity of upgrading and maintaining our lineside drainage. The next area to see major work will be the section between Lubra Bend and Steels Creek, when, as well as drainage work, the huge job of removing blackberry, gorse bush and other non-indigenous plants is to be tackled. We hope to have this completed by the end of May.

The area around Tarrawarra has not been forgotten, with the clean up and removal of dead bush fire affected trees along the straight between Lubra Bend and Tarrawarra ongoing when time and labour is available. Several members have recently paid for the line side slashing of both sides of the entire railway between Stables Crossing and Steels Creek, a fantastic gesture that is much appreciated.

 Carriage 1 BW is  steadily being rebuilt and has been  turned to allow work to  continue  on the corridor side. W 250 has had an  ABC exam and is  in  use on ballast  trains.


All photograph by John Frost unless otherwise attributed

 Updated July 2010


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