31 December  2009

National News

ATHRA Alerts

Victorian News - ATR

Accreditation

 All  Victorian  accredited heritage rail organisations have  been  re-accredited. The  only exception was the T.M.S.V. which  decided to  surrender their accreditation and is  now a static museum. To  assist members  in the  new regime, the Department  of Transport has funded support  for the Heritage and Tourist  Sector by  Safety  Action Pty, Ltd, for a further 12 months. This will be  very  useful  to  all our  members as we struggle with  the new rules and it will keep us up to date with  what  is happening in the legal  field.

Death of Bruce Eastwood.

The Association noted with  regret  the  death of Bruce Eastwood in October 2009 who  was President  of the ATR  from 1991 to 1995. Bruce was  an accountant  by  profession and was  heavily  involved with the Daylesford Spa Country  Railway  and also  with  the Bellarine Railway. Bruce was one  of the first  non VR  qualified people to  be accredited to  drive a railmotor. Bruce's wife Sonia  was also  heavily  involved in  the ATR  and for a number  of years was Treasurer and  undertook  for the PTC the  maintenance  of the records  of those  persons approved  by the VR  to  operate  on Heritage Rail in Victoria. Our thoughts and  condolences  go  out to  Sonia.

News from our Members

The Bellarine Railway 

 

The railway  reports that  it carries  some 40,000 passengers each  year  and contribute an estimated  $7.M to  the economy  of the region.

The  railway  noted the  passing  of its former President, Max Coleman, and  his work  in establishing the railway  on the former Queenscliff railway and acquiring engines T251, Pb15, 454 (and RM76, which is  on  loan to  the Mary Valley  Railway in Queensland).

The railway  received the Judges' special Prize from the Geelong Advertiser,  the 2009 Business Excellence Award for  the region In July 2009. The railway  officially launched T251 for  normal  service in July. The engine  is 92 years old and took  two years  of  intensive restoration.  A new tender was built for the engine.

The railway  received a gift of $10,000 for the restoration of carriage SP8 for the Blues train. In addition the Borough of Queenscliff  made a grant  of $20,000 towards the shed at  Laker's Siding and this sum will be  used to  maintain  the track between Laker's and Queenscliff. An application has  been made for funding under the Jobs Fund  to employ 13 people for two years to refurbish  the track.

The Blues train continues its success and now runs  for 45 services each year. Charters and driver experience trains  are  increasing  and the railway  has been useful to  the town in allowing people to  park on the  outskirts and  take the train into  the centre of Queenscliff. For the Seafood Festival,  for example, 46  railcar  movements took place with 5,000 people using the service. A  further 500 people used Drysdale. The railway  has the capacity  to move 2000 people an hour between Swan Bay  and Queenscliff.

The railway  has safely taken  delivery  of all the 3'6" gauge engines from the Puffing Billy  Museum at  Menzies  Creek. They  are stored in the shed at Laker's. All  the track work in this shed has now  been  completed with all operating stock  stored safely  out  of the weather.

The railway  is slowly erecting name boards for all the former stations established  over 100 years ago on the  line. These stations have  been  closed for many years.

X Class Passenger train at Queenscliff Station

Photo J. Frost

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Bendigo  Tramways

 

The tramway is to  have a $3.1M upgrade with  the  bulk of the  money to be spent  on the restoration of the tram repair workspace and to make the site safe to  allow visitors to  tour through the site. The depot  is the  oldest  operating tram  depot  in Australia having  been  built  in 1903. The administration building  is to be  redeveloped to  provide in addition  better volunteer accommodation. Associated track  works, site works and landscape works are to be  carried out as well. This  has  meant that  many  trams in the fleet  have had to be transferred to  storage to  allow the depot  to be re-built.

The tramway  has  had a very  active end of the year  operations with a 20 minute shuttle service from both the Central Deborah Mine and from Emu Point to  Rosalind  Park  for the Bendigo  Community  Carols in the evening  on 20 December. In addition the Myer Santa  tram  ran  again from 14 December to 24 December.

In addition to  this the tramway is running an evening service from 5.00 pm from the 27 December 2009 to  the 9 January 2010. This  is  in addition  to  the daily tourist  trams.

Although  the workshop  will be  needed for the upgrade programme nevertheless repairs to  trams  is still  continuing. No 808 has run some 50,000 km as  a talking tram and has had  its tram bogies replaced with a  spare set. Paint touch up  work has been  done. Haddon  tram W3 663  has arrived for  repair under contract and was unloaded at  the Gas Works  site and then  driven to the depot for work.

Tram No 16 is to have $146,000  spent  on it with  a grant from the Department  of Transport  to  restore  it  to P&MTT tram No 84. It  is  proposed to  take this tram  down  to  Malvern Depot to  celebrate the Centenary of the Depot  on 30 May 2010.

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Daylesford Spa Country Railway

Following  on from the  February 2009 bushfires,  the railway  has been unable to  re-open to Bullarto, nor has  it  received any funding from the State or Federal Governments for this replacement work. While  many  millions of  dollars were contributed  by the  public for Bush Fire relief of destroyed and damaged communities, not a cent has been  allocated  to  Heritage rail to  replace their  losses.

Nevertheless the railway  using its  own  reserves has  purchased  a quantity  of second-hand 75lb rail  from the former Wahgunyah line to  replace rail  destroyed  in the fire. But  it  does not  have the financial resources to  purchase  the  necessary  sleepers to  repair the  track. The railway  needs some $300,000 to  allow it to restore the  burnt section and cope with  the ravages of time to  the section between  Musk  and Bullarto where they  cannot  get into  to  do  their normal  maintenance.

The railway  has again used their  reserves to  purchase a suitable 6LW Gardner engine suitable for 7RM or the  Leyland from  Sydney. In addition they  have acquired  three track  machines to maintain  the track.

On a  brighter note, the railway  received an  ATHRA award for the restoration  of railmotor 63RM. Work has continued  on maintenance  of the  operable track and much  fire prone vegetation has been  removed and burnt.

63RM:
Still currently running all the passenger services (apart from the monthly Silver Streak) with no problems to report.
 

91 RM:
Work is still continuing on both the roof and ceiling repairs. After more removing of the economy car roof's previously applied fibre  glass, then patching where required, we appear to have finally stopped the roof leaks in that car. As the bulk of the roof is now painted etch primer grey it needs a coat of royal blue paint to finish it off. Work is about to switch to the first class car roof. A major amount of work has been undertaken in the manufacture of the new ceiling panels. This has included the replacement of some of the internal timber roof framing.  Another activity currently being undertaken is the re-painting of the remaining ceiling panels in the first class car, This has been a fairly big job with the removal of all the old flaking paint followed by a large amount of overhead sanding work. The target is to have 91 RM completed by the end of this year ready for our busy Christmas/January running

DRC40:

Still running well on its monthly Silver Streak commitments. New batteries and charger have been purchased for the Diesel Alternator set and await installation. This is to provide a separate 24volt system for the DA set itself. When the DRC's were rebuilt during the early 1980's this is how the DA set was set up however, at some stage, the DA set was modified to pull it's 24 volts from the 64 volt battery bank which is not normally recommended

32RM:
With the limited workforce currently concentrating on the repairs to 91 RM things have been a bit quiet of late. Progress is still happening on 32RM, just at a slower place. The recently re- fitted external steel window pressing have been fully secured with new stainless steel screws. The roof vents have been paint stripped and are in the process of being repainted. These vents have also had new bearings fitted to them. The aluminium floor kick strips have been polished and wait re-fitting. Work has started on removing the paint from the external opening window frames. Some work has also been undertaken on the driver's cab components, including painting the driver's dashboard and cleaning up and painting various air brake parts and pipes.

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Diamond Valley  Railway

The railway paid tribute to  a former President, Max Coleman,  who  was also  a life  member  of the railway

The railway reports:

Projects completed - Works
1. One siding has been removed from alongside the old carriage shed.
2. A new concrete level crossing has been completed near No 11 signal post.
3. Electrical Conduits and water pipes have been installed in the W G Pert carriage shed complex.
4. Four and a half re-furbished panels of 141b./yd. Rail were installed alongside Nillumbik platform.
5. Nine new panels of 6 Kg./m. rail were installed in pine tree loop from the triple arch bridge towards the level crossing near fork tree cutting.
6. Five and a half new panels of 6 Kg./m. rail have been installed in the new No. 1 road, Diamond Valley, between No 10 signal post and No 11 signal post.
7. The concrete floors have been poured in the new W G Pert carriage shed.

Work in Progress
1. On going aligning, levelling and ballasting of track are continuing around the system as required.
2. We are gathering components for future 6 Kg./m. points (thanks to Richard Hayes and his milling machine). These should enable us to continue removing existing 141b./yd4 points from the mainline and cascade them into future yards and sidings.
3. Work is underway on the replacement of the post and rail fencing at various level crossings and pedestrian crossings around the system.
4. A retaining wall is being constructed along side the Sanctuary Carriage Storage sidings head shunt towards Willcox Bridge.
5. Six old 14 lb./yd. points (removed from the front of the Old Carriage Shed) are being re-furbished for installation in the future track arrangement for the new W G Pert Carriage Shed. So far six points have been completed of which two have already been installed, one in the lead to Nos 1 & 2 roads in the W. G. Pert workshop and the other in No 3 road of East Yards.
6. Work continues on the maintenance of our grounds in good condition thanks to the Parks and Gardens team.
7. New picnic tables have arrived from Kidstown Shepparton in the Jack Tatum picnic site at Meadmore Junction.
8. Thirty five 6m. lengths of 20 mm x 10 mm steel bar rail have been laid on the concrete floor of the new W G Pert carriage shed. This is for the first five roads in the Carriage shed.
9. Continue replacement of old rail with 6 Kg./m. rail between triple arch bridge and fork tree cutting. Five panels of 6 Kg./m rail have been prepared for this project. (As Flexi-trak).
10. On the point bench there are two new points for the connection to Sanctuary Siding head shunt.
11. Duplication  of the Willcox bridge.

Grounds

To  ensure that  the  ambience  of the  park is  maintained the last  12 months  has  seen  the  planting  of 500 trees , shrubs and grasses to return the grounds to  a more  bush  setting. The  recent drought did  not  help  this work  and an overzealous  neighbour reports the  railway  to  the council if they  even hear a  chain saw. So  any  maintenance needs to be carefully  done as the municipal council  is  loath  to  allow any removals. Yet  this has to be  carried  out from time to  time as plants age and become unsafe.

Buildings

A major  building  is taking  shape to provide a new Bill Pert Workshop  complex. This  is  located alongside the  present  workshop/engine shed and replaces  the former carriage shed.

Patronage.

 Patronage  continues  at  a similar level  to  previous years. A number  of  special  days  have  been  run  for several groups and the railway  was used to  film a romantic comedy "I Love You Too". Over 2,800,000 visitors have   been  carried  on the railway.

Diamond Valley  steam trains

Photo J. Frost

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Friends  of the North Australia Railway  at  Adelaide River

The railway  reports:-

MIKE BOWMAN ALMOST THERE WITH HUDSWELL CLARKE #928

Mike has made some incredible progress with #928 in the last week.  Not only has the saddle tank gone back on, but the steam dome and the chimney have been restored and refitted.

Mike Bowman  reports :-

"Got a bit more done, makers plate on right hand side, half the lining on the cab done, a coat of black on the boiler front  and loosened up the clamps and securing dogs (those things with knobs on the end!) on the smoke box door. Yesterday Peter Cornell welded the connections into the face plates for the boiler front and trued the plates up on the facing machine (something you don't want to get your fingers too close to!) With a bit of luck we will progress this next week. Last Friday was 928's 99^th Birthday, maybe brightening up the loco was an appropriate thing to do but to be honest I never really thought of it until just now but it makes you think that 99, a good innings and still pretty well in one piece! We had better do something really special for the 100^th Birthday! "

 

Hudswell Clarke No 928

Photo Friends of Adelaide River.

NAR HOUSE PROGRESSES

For some time now we have been working on rescuing a genuine NAR fettlers cottage from Katherine.  Pete Cornell is organizing the logistics and advises that the stars are coming in to alignment.

With the Wet approaching we need to do this soon or wait until the next Dry.

In hopeful anticipation therefore, we decided to complete the concrete foundations for the house.  This involved filling 72 holes in the ground with concrete on Saturday morning.  We ordered the concrete for 0930 (when it was already hot) only to hit a double booking with Mick Loone.  Our 5 cubic meters of concrete arrived just before noon.  I was fortunate that long term colleague, Wolfgang Meike, had hesitated when I asked him what he was doing on Saturday morning. He was a great help as we tried to place this large volume of concrete in the searing heat. And to top it off, whilst we waited for our concrete  Wolfgang helped to drill, cut and install some of the missing bracing inside Sid Williams #2.

As a result of this effort we are now ready to receive the 10m x 13m cottage.  Thanks to Wolfgang for his time and effort on Saturday and also to Mick for assistance to clean-up the site on Sunday.

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Melbourne Tramcar Preservation Society

Tramcars

W3 663

This tram has been  transported by  road to Bendigo. The Association has engaged the services of the Bendigo Tramway to carry out the rebuilding of the roof and other works as funds permit. The cartage of 663 was contracted to Arthur's Transport utilising their special trailer which is fitted with rails for this designated purpose. This meant that although mobile cranes had to be used at Haddon to lift 663 onto the trailer we were able to unload it in Bendigo utilising their loading ramp which is located at the Gasworks Depot. The trip across to Bendigo was uneventful and the unloading process went smoothly.

Once 663 had been towed clear of the loading ramp, the Bendigo staff performed the required checks to enable them to confirm to PTSV that they had tested and checked the tram in accordance with their safety management system. Bendigo Tramway staff were then able to move 663 under its own power to the main depot at Tramways Avenue, escorted en route by their emergency vehicles. The operation along the streets of Bendigo went without problems and 663 is now stored in the main shed whilst a detailed study of the roof structure is performed to ascertain the best method of repair. The Association acknowledges the support VicTrack, through Mike Ryan, has given this project by sponsoring the transport of 663 to Bendigo.

SW5 849

Work is steadily progressing on the restoration of 849. During November, the four defective door pistons were replaced with units (from 843, and from tram bodies at Newport) that have been overhauled previously by Anthony Smith. Whilst this was being done the opportunity was taken to replace most of the steel piping along with numerous barrel unions with high pressure nylon air line. Individual door isolation taps have also been fitted to facilitate fault finding and adjustment.

In November the creased No. 2 end apron was removed from 849. This had been damaged whist it was being moved off track by forklifts during its storage period at Preston Workshops. A near new apron ex SW5 809 was selected from store as its replacement, and the holes that had been drilled to secure ad panels were welded closed. It was then grit blasted, primed and has been re rolled to ensure correct curvature.

In addition, three sliding doors were replaced due to deterioration with others from store. This was not as straight forward as it would seem, due to the fact that they vary in size from tram to tram and there are a  number of other minor differences between classes. The three selected doors required planing to reduce height and in two cases the top roller brackets were countersunk to ensure adequate clearance within the door cavities.

Other  Works

 Level Crossing Lights
With the decision to remove the indicator lantern [signalling] system in the depot area, it has been necessary to redesign the control circuitry to retain use of the level crossing lights. This redesign is due to the fact that the crossing's operation was interlocked with the now redundant signal relays.
During November, John Withers completed the design work and has made the required alterations within the relay box. The contactor dropping resistor boxes have now been installed and only the mounting of the line skates and wiring is required to complete this project. The system will then be tested to ensure correct operation and alterations made to our operating procedures as part of the change management process.

Entertainment Area
The cladding of the end walls with colour bond sheeting is now complete and the two drop centre sections removed from the body of SW5 809 are now incorporated into the longitudinal walls. As part of the redesign, the brick hotplate enclosure was removed and in December the floor was paved with ceramic tiles. The repainting of 809's former panels has commenced and they are to retain their former "Metropolitan Transit" livery with new logos and numbers applied. Only minor trim work is now required to complete this project which will give us a good undercover barbecue facility with a unique tramway flavour for members and guests to enjoy.

Track work
In preparation for re-laying the Car barn (north western) Curve, the south western curve has also been lifted to allow both curves to be aligned correctly when the work undertaken. The removal has also allowed water and services to be installed easily under the formation to service the vegetable garden area beyond the curve. A contractor was engaged to remove  top layers of rubble to expose the sleepers. The rolled rail for the Car barn curve was returned to Haddon from Yarra Trams on Wednesday 4 November 2009, and has been stacked near the Lower Terminus until after summer when work gangs can be arranged to lay it. The rail looks fantastic and is a great improvement over what was removed, and we thank the team at Yarra Trams, particularly Massoud Majidi and Gary Tillotson and their teams for doing this work for us, and to Dennis Cliche for approving the project.

New Website
The new MTPA website www.mtpa.com.au has now gone live and is a major upgrade of the previous site. The site is the result of many hours of work by Warren Doubleday and Kym Smith to prepare and upload the relevant material.

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Mornington Railway

The railway has  been  heavily  involved  in debris removal from the right of way to  assist in the  present  fire season. The railway is  involved  in developing a new  strategic review of the railway. Re-sleepering  is  being conducted  in the  vicinity of the Horse Crossing. The  level crossing at  Wooralla Drive has  been  resurfaced by  the contractors  for the Shire Council and any  necessary  sleepers replaced. Replaced sleepers  have  been  used to  box  in a crossing  place used by  walkers and cyclists who  cross the  formation near the Horse Crossing.

The railway  has  an arrangement with  Richie's Supermarket  whereby the railway is the recipient  of  donations from the company  who  use their card at  the store.

Diesel Locomotive T334 is  now  in service again and has  been  repainted. T 411 has been out  of service  since it was derailed  but following repairs is  now operating again. Steam Locomotive K163  will come  out  of service  in February 2010 for six months for  maintenance. The railway  had  hoped to  hire  in another steam engine  but the cost of transferring an engine  proved to  be  too much.

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Puffing Billy - Emerald Tourist Railway Board 

Museum

The remaining 3'6" gauge engines have been transported from  the Museum to  the Bellarine Railway. All  the  remaining 2 foot gauge engines have  had  their asbestos removed. This will mean  that  the few remaining exhibits in the  museum will be able to  be viewed by  the  public  once again.

Other News

The railway is revamping  its membership/volunteer data base. The  new product "Murder  on the Puffing Billy Express " and the Jazz Train evening  were sell outs and the demand  for a Day out with Thomas the Tank Engine has exceeded expectations.

Following the State Government's policy the ETRB has set up  a "Green team" to  ensure that  the  railway has in place policies and procedures to reduce  its environmental impact  and for  these strategies to be  in  place by June 2010.

Workshops

 Locomotive 8A is undergoing a B examination and D21 while in traffic  is also  due for  one.G42 is  out of traffic and stored and is waiting  on a D examination. 12A is  under heavy overhaul. DH31 is undergoing a D  exam and DH05 is  being prepared to  run as soon as possible. The  bogies  are nearing completion electrics are being worked on draft  gear installed and it  is  being prepared for a repaint.

Climax 1694 boiler is  being fitted out  in preparation of a steam test. Garratt NGG16 129 is  having  its boiler  cradle stretchers  worked on  The front pivot casting has been machined and is  being fitted back in the cradle including the reaming of the bolt holes and  the  manufacture of fitted bolts.

14A approaching Belgrave

Photo J. Frost

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Redcliffs Historical Steam Railway

The PTSV audit of their SMS was conducted in April 2009 and was successful.

In May they completed the installation of 2 x 9000 litre and 1 x 14000 litre rain water tanks - thanks to the Governments Community Water Grants.  The tanks will greatly reduce their reliance on irrigation water for the operation of their steam loco and will no  doubt help  extend the boiler life..

In September  two special days were run for the local kindergartens - carrying around 900 passengers.

In October the station and train were hired for a wedding. The wedding ceremony took place on the platform and then the bride and groom and guests went for a train ride - which had to be diesel hauled due to weather conditions.

The railway is also building a new 3 bay carriage storage shed.

Finally they are  installing some ex Victorian Railways signals - the signals are mainly for display but we will incorporate them into our operation.

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Steamrail

 Excursion  trains  have  been successful  with the Fathers Day  tour to  Seymour. Other trips  included shuttles from Mitcham to Mooroolbark together  with  steam crew training runs.

A major and successful  trip  was run  to  Mildura over a weekend at  Melbourne  Cup  time. The train  was one  of the  longest  that  Steamrail  has  been  run in recent years with  three diesel engines in the  consist, a power car, 7 sleeping cars, a BRS, and  5 sittings cars. A total consist  of 17 units including engines. The train  was so long that it was necessary  to go to  Westall Yard to  allow the  three engines to run around the train and then  return  to  Spencer Street Station to  pick up  passengers. On  the train's return from  Mildura steam engine R761 was  added to  the train  and two of the diesels  were shut down. Again  it  had to  proceed to  Westall  after  the  passengers  had disembarked to  run around  before  it could return to Newport.

The group  spent  many  hours  of work in  getting the sleeping carriages  ready  to run to  Mildura as it  is  many  years  since a sleeping train  ran in Victoria.  Sleeping car "Indi" had its roof repainted and the body  cleaned. The water  system was repaired and all the  other cars needed similar  checks.

18CE has  been overhauled and repainted. 25BE is  being repainted and  overhauled and 50AK is receiving attention to  roof leaks

Electrail

12BT is continuing  its restoration to  as new. The seats  are  being reupholstered  with padded armrests  and door  pads being reinstated. Four  of the  nine compartments  have  been  so  treated. Door mechanisms and locks have been repaired. Internal deck-light mirrors have been reinstated in all but two compartments. Around half of the revarnished interior timber panels have been reinstated and all carriage windows have now been restored. Other internal revarnishing has occurred. Twelve photos, two adverts and four internal partition mirrors have so far been reinstated. Carriage lamps have also been returned to six of the nine compartments (with the silver paint removed from the lights to reveal the original nickel plating). The completed work looks fabulous. The luggage racks are all being restored. With brackets receiving fresh nickel plating and the wire mesh being meticulously cleaned down and repainted, the luggage racks now look as "good as new". There's only one luggage rack to finish off. The carriage underframe has been painstakingly cleaned down

Tait car 341T - The restoration of this Tait car is now well advanced. A piece of the main beam at the corner of the car has been replaced with new coach bolts installed. Steel gussets have also been repaired. Deck-light windows have been exposed and painted externally. Beading has been installed (internally) around the deck-light windows. Carriage windows have also been restored. Revarnishing and repainting of the interior of the car is now well advanced. The fresh varnish work and paint looks wonderful.

E1109 - Work has resumed on this loco. Indeed there has been lots of activity in recent months. This includes the polishing of internal brass fittings, initial work on rewiring, installing a new door at Number 2 end, painting external grills (which have now received their first coat of black), the cleaning down of window brackets and the priming of the roof hatch, air tanks and brackets.

Dynamotor Project - The dynamotor project which has involved the overhaul of dynamotors at Ironcore Transformers for future use has continued. Having operable spares is considered essential. The project is well advanced.

The Big Move & Vehicle Scrapping - As part of the move from the Tarp Shop area to West block, Swing Door car, 32D and Yellow Tait Greaser car, 447M were scrapped. Prior to scrapping of these cars, they were stripped for spare parts. The movement of spares took considerable time. Thanks to everyone who assisted with this mammoth task.

Status with Operations (or lack thereof) - A lot of effort has gone into positioning ourselves to operate again. We have developed a range of paperwork including a risk register, maintenance procedure, safety instructions, testing procedure and a variety of forms. We have worked at mitigating identified risks. This work is well advanced. We hope to meet with representatives from the new Metro Trains Melbourne and other relevant bodies in the not too distant future. Sincere thanks are expressed to Adrian and Ruth from the Department of Transport for their support and help to steer us in the right direction. We are hopeful that there shall be positive developments in 2010. Particular thanks to Stuart, Allan, Cliff and Kevin for their extensive input into this process, particularly with form and procedure development.

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The  Victorian Goldfields Railway

The railway  has put a large  amount  of time and energy into preparing for the  2009/10 fire season and has  been involved  in removing debris and spraying where  needed. Also as much of the  line as practically  possible has  been  whipper snippered to make  it safe for  passengers and the community.

The railway  reported the untimely death of  its Vice President, George Young.

The railway  has been  hard hit  by  the burning  of the Maldon Station building on the 20 October 2009. VicTrack  the  owners of the building have appointed a Project  Manager  to make safe the building and demolish  the  burnt roof. To  help  the railway,  Puffing Billy  made available a portable building from Cockatoo and this  is being used to  house the "first class" operation as well as the  office. Ticket  sales are  being conducted from van 16ZLP. The  fire has resulted  in the deferment  of  projects already  approved for works at Maldon. The fire  brings to light the  need  for  railways  to  insure the  buildings that  they occupy as the building was uninsured. An insurable  interest in a building exists where you  lease a building and  use it for your  own purposes to  earn income.

The railway  has started work  to  complete No 3 road at  Muckleford. Loco J549 is currently  being repaired and future work includes the  installation of new superheater elements.. The DERM is  out  of service waiting  on repairs to  its engine and radiator.

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Tramway Museum Society

At the recent  AGM the Society  elected a new executive. As the  museum is  now a static museum  and has surrendered its accreditation certificate,  any new application to  operate  in the future will require them  to be  treated as a new  operator. They will have to  prove that  they have  in place financial  and  management resources similar  to those  of  commercial operators.

Bylands in happier days W5 795 at  the terminus

Photo J. Frost

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Yarra Valley  Railway

The railway  reports that the cafe at  Healesville has  been renovated with  a fresh  coat  of  paint, polished  floor  boards and air-conditioning. A first  annual Heritage  Festival  was held at  Healesville over two  days  in September. Rolling stock  was displayed and  steam rollers and traction engines and oil engines  brought to  the display. Large crowds attended both days and of course the trolley  service was operating.

Bridge and Track Work

The railway has  been  working  on bridge No 28 where the  piles  were replaced  in 2008 but still need to be finished and re-railed. Suitable rail was  obtained from South Australia and the rail  bent to  shape for the  location. In October 2009  the  track was removed from the bridge and the crossheads exposed. These were  replaced and the sleepers re-laid with  the  new rail following. Ballasting and  packing completed the repair. This  means that the  line  between  Healesville and the tunnel is  now  in serviceable condition to  run  passenger trains. On  the track  scarifying  out  of the  steam locomotive ash used by the VR track gangs to  support  sleepers is  underway. New sleepers are  being installed and track bolts and fish plates  cleaned and greased. The railway  has been  the recipient  of a supply  of free second-hand sleepers  from the Department of Transport.

The railway  has a small road over rail bridge at  Donovan's Road and the road traffic on this road  is  very small. A deviation has  been  created to provide a level  crossing and work has  been undertaken  to  improve the drainage and visibility.

Award

The restoration of RM 22 has won  a further ATHRA  award and was awarded  the plaque  for "ATHRA Passenger Vehicle Restoration Award 2009". With  the  completion  of restoration  of this  unit a report  has  been  prepared to  PTSV for accreditation to  run the  unit.

J516

Work is  continuing  on this engine and the engine has  been  moved to the front  of the shed  to  allow  the de-tubing of the boiler, stripping  of the entire right  hand side  valve gear and starting  on the left hand side. Overall the engine  is in good condition considering the time it has spent  out  of doors  and that  it  is  almost  40 years  since  it was last  steamed.

Other  Works

Carriage  1BW is  under heavy  restoration and has  had some roof  panels refitted, new gutter mouldings being fitted and  is  being prepared for  internal  and external painting.

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 Updated January 2010

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