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10 April 2004
General News
Australia Wide Association of
Heritage Railways
Following on from developments in the wider
railway field, which require an Australian wide response from
Heritage Rail, moves are under way from each of the State Heritage
Railway Associations to set up an Australian wide body. The
proposed Association will be an Association of Associations and
will not have any individual members. Individual Heritage railways
and tramways are being encouraged to join their local state
association or where that is not possible one of the various state
associations as an Associate member.
The constitution
is being drawn up and once completed will be submitted to a
meeting of representatives from all Heritage groups for
acceptance.
Seminar on Heritage Rail in the 21st Century
A seminar is to be held on the last weekend
in May at Belgrave, Victoria for heritage rail organisations on the
challenges that faces the operation of Heritage rail in this
century. Speakers are coming from all areas of the rail industry
and cover such diverse subjects as Accreditation, Management of
Heritage Rail, and the future of Heritage Tramways. It promises to
be a most enlightening seminar. Details are found elsewhere on our
web site.
News
from Members
Adelaide
River
The
railway relocated a 1904 Short Tom carriage from Bellarine Railway
to Darwin for restoration and service on the proposed Snake Creek
Railway. A retired carpenter has started work replacing rotted timbers.
The
Northern Territory Government has agreed to lease
several parcels of Vacant Crown Land. The NT government heritage advisory council has given
a grant to do some restoration work on the station building, the 25,000 gallon overhead tank, the home signal and the overland telegraph through
the precinct. The NT lotteries commission has given two small grants to paint NSU63 (the first diesel-electric
locomotive in the NT in 1956) and to upgrade the toilet block.
The NT Tourist Commission has supported a number of our projects financially in the name of
developing Adelaide River as a tourist destination.
The
railway won an award for Outstanding Volunteer Project in the recent Territory Tidy Town Awards. We
calculate that more than 10,000 hours of volunteer effort have been expended since 2001. And some
corporate support has been magnificent (eg Darwin Container Services who brought the Short Tom
to Darwin). The railway was delighted that Tim Fisher has become a financial member of the Friends of Adelaide River and
he was given a special welcome to Adelaide River when the first freight train came through on 17 January.
Alexandra Timber Tramway and Museum
The Museum has acquired a Kelly & Lewis
locomotive No 5957 from Panania in NSW. It is believed that
the engine first ran on the Rubicon railway in Victoria. An appeal
is progressing for funds to move the engine and spare parts
to Victoria.
The Museum had a fall in patrons carried on their
trains in 2003 with only 3638 passengers being carried on the
demonstration track. January figures for 2004 have exceeded
expectations.
Work has started on restoration of a 4wPM
locomotive built for the Cheetham Salt works in 1962. The engine
of this unit is a Morris 1620 engine fitted to a Morris Oxford
transmission. It is hoped to have the unit running by the end of
the year.
Ballarat Tramway Museum
As usual the Ballarat Begonia Festival has been the main
preoccupation before Easter. This year the tram service was free to
passengers as the service for the five days was sponsored by Alstom. The
service ran from 9.30 am to 6.30 pm each day and needed between seven to
twelve people to run the services using at least two trams.
Patronage over the last six months was down with 1058 fewer
passenger carried up to Christmas.
Tram No 40 is having work done on its armature from the No 2
end motor. Tram No 13 has also had a minor electrical fault in a controller and
tram No
45 has had attention to its axle bearings. Tram No 33 required a replacement
trolley pole and Scrubber No 8 is being repainted.
Bellarine Tourist Railway
The railway
suffered a derailment to carriage AAL9 in January at the Fellows Road level
crossing. No injury resulted but 125 sleepers needed replacing. A work for the
Dole team has been prefabricating sections of the new timber platform at
Laker's Siding.. Works have been done at Summa Park Station, Queenscliff
Station, Drysdale Station, and to various lineside signs.
Steam Locomotive T251
is under heavy repair.
Puffing Billy
The major work
going on at Puffing Billy is the erection of the extension of the locomotive
workshops at Belgrave. The tracks leading into the workshops have been
lifted and the entire site transferred to the builders. 8A is the
only inhabitant of the workshop while the work is proceeding.
The
railway similar, to other tourist railways, has suffered a down turn
in passengers and January 2004 was below last year's tally by some 4,000
passengers.
The
Puffing Billy Preservation Society has established an endowment
fund which will receive legacies and use the interest on the
capital to
support projects and activities. The capital will be
invested in perpetuity.
The
major story is the testing of G42 under its own power for the
first time for 42 years. The engine has been under reconstruction
since 1986 and its rebuilding has been supported by the PBPS over
all these years. It
is anticipated that G42 will haul the luncheon train for an initial
period.
G42 crossing the
Monbulk Creek Photo Bob
Wilson
Puffing Billy has commenced the
restoration of J541 at Menzies Creek for the owners who intend to
run the engine on the Castlemaine and Maldon Railway.
Mornington
Railway
Steam Locomotive
K 163 has been returned to steam after much hard work by the
workshop staff. Major works included removing the smoke box
fittings and repairing them, renewing the main internal steam pipe,
replacing the superheater header and other major work.
Work
is going ahead again on steam locomotive K177 and many parts are being
reconditioned off the railway. Some specialist work is being done
at Puffing Billy. While the K class was out of action, most trains
were hauled by T411. The use of the diesel engine on trains
resulted in a decrease of 14% in passenger numbers compared with the previous year.
Diesel engine T334 is still under restoration and much body work has been
restored. he engine hauled a test train of 450 tons recently to
Mornington and return.
The
Walker railmotor, 85 RM has had a shed erected over it and
restoration of this unit is about to start.
Redcliffs
Historical Steam Railway
The
railway commenced its year with a "Vintage Special" in
March where a number of local wineries displayed their products.
The railway ran again on the 4th April and had good patronage.
Again over Easter the patronage was very good.
The
next running day will be in May and the theme will be a Teddy
Bear's Picnic. Id addition special trip will be run for local
primary schools.
The
railway would like to obtain a diesel engine and would very much
like to have the money to purchase a second steam engine.
Steamrail
Steamrail
has had to suspend all operations on the mainline due to not being
able to obtain an affordable accredited operator for its trains.
In addition, several of the other accredited mainline operators
have refused to provide crews or run the trains advising that they
did not consider operating Heritage trains as part of their core
business. All this on the 150th anniversary of railways in
Victoria. This has cost Steamrail dearly and only the hire of
their diesel fleet to Freight Australia has kept them afloat. The
State Government has commenced to help the mainline groups by
appointing Mr J. Barry to look at the possibility of setting up
operational accreditation for a new body to specifically operate
mainline trains.
This
debacle also affects the Seymour Heritage Railway Centre and Seven O Seven
Operations.
In the
meantime work has continued on the restoration of A2 986 with the
boiler nearing the hydrostatic test stage. B72 is also under
restoration and much body work has been carried out.
Carriage
1BCE has been repainted and 38BE has had roof repairs done.
Electric locomotive L1162 has been repainted in VR Blue and Gold.
The
Bendigo Trust
Tram
No 36
Tram
36, the latest tram to be put through our “Paint Fund”
program, re-entered traffic just before Easter on Thursday 8th
April 2004.
Formerly
tram no 808, No 36 now carries the 1970’s style livery of the
SEC with zebra stripes and half-white dash.
Roof mounted advertising replaces the side panel mounted
ads. The ads carried
by No 36 include one for the Central Deborah Mine, the Discovery
Science Centre, the Talking Trams, and also local business
Signarama, who donated the signage for the Mine, Discovery and
Trams.
No
36 follows the pattern of re-numbering the ex Melbourne cars,
being the sixth car to arrive in Bendigo.
The funds required to refurbish No 36 were raised by the
volunteers and staff at the Bendigo Tramways through the sale of
cans of soft drink, pies and pasties, and through sales of hand
made souvenirs in our souvenir shop.
VR
41
Work
has progressed on VR 41 with the completion of the air system.
Front aprons, headlights, and emergency lanterns have now
been fitted. The
internal fit out of the interior has also progressed, with most
beadings now installed.
All
windows have had laminated safety glass or toughened glass fitted,
including the two speak-hole glasses in the motorman’s
bulkheads. Doors
have been fitted to the cabs, and the construction and
installation of sandboxes and locker boxes under the saloon seats
has been completed
21E
Trucks
The
workshop has taken on the look of a Brill Factory, with no less
than nine 21E trucks either being assembled, or being readied for
overhaul. The
nine include one for ESCo NO 8, two for the AETM at St Kilda, one
for Hobart 20 and four ex Brussels trucks owned by Sydney Tramway
Museum, and a motor-less truck for a private customer for Geelong
28 (ex PMTT 66). A
recent initiative has been to install roof-mounted ads onto the W
class trams as they are overhauled, ensuring maximum visibility
for the advertiser, reducing the panel damage caused by panel
mounted ads, and also allowing us to follow the tradition of the
SEC in having the ads on the roof.
Lake
Extension and Track Repairs
The
City of Greater Bendigo, at it’s 1st March 2004
meeting, ratified the plans for the Lake Weeroona Tram Extension. Notwithstanding any objections or appeals, works are expected
to commence on the extension within twelve month. The
Council has also committed to undertaking the replacement of the
Tramways Ave ‘triangle’, the Lake View loop, and the points at
the southern end of Pall Mall.
This work will be carried out by track contractors from
Melbourne, and is scheduled for the weekend of the 15th
and 16th May 2004.
Tram
Services
It
has been a busy few months at the Bendigo Tramways, with 20 min
services operating over Christmas school holidays and at Easter,
and 30 min services operating during Seniors Week and the April
school holidays. Evening
trams were also run during the Christmas school holidays and at
Easter.
For
the first time in many years, nine trams have been available for
traffic, which has caused a few problems, including the need to
produce more ‘Talking Tram’ supplementary boards for the
fronts of the trams. This is much more pleasing than the situation around eighteen
months ago when we needed more ‘Danger- Do Not Move’ boards!
Tramway Museum Society of Victoria
Z
class tram No 5 has had the conductors desks reinstalled into the car to
bring it back to original condition. The trackwork leading
to the Vehicle Maintenance building is almost complete with only
lifting and packing to be done. The Museum provided space for a Melbourne Bus
company (Dyson's), to store their heritage buses
temporarily in the Bus shed and Exhibition shed. Dyson's in return
have promised support in maintaining the Museums heritage bus
fleet.
Yarra
Valley Tourist Railway
Trains
made a temporary return to Healesville Station recently when the rolling
stock was shunted into the two large sheds that have been erected
to protect the vehicles. The normal operation is trolleys and the
railway had a very good Easter. J541 which had been a long term
resident at Healesville left the railway on December 17 2003 for
restoration at Puffing Billy at Menzies Creek.
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