Bellarine Peninsula Railway
The railway has obtained
a VR Louvre Van VLBF 127 which has been placed on ex QR ride
control bogies ex the Beaudesert railway. The railway is
anticipating some more examples of vans from Queensland.
The railway had every weekend before Christmas 2005 booked
out with dinner trains and Blues Trains. Over the summer it is
anticipated that there will be a number of public dinner trains
and even a murder mystery train. Passenger numbers since
October have increased by 70% and train hire increased by 187%
since the last October.
Lakers Station has been
transformed with the new station buildings and has been designed
that the station can become an island platform if needed.
Diesel engine X20 is out of service with traction motor blower
failure.
QR RM76 and trailer PL127 have been restored
at Beaudesert. The railmotor and trailer were in derelict
condition at Queenscliff and the opportunity arose through
the Commonwealth Government making $100,000 in funding under job
creation funding to restore the two units at Beaudesert. The
rail motor was leased to Beaudesert to run for a set period
after its completion. However, the Beaudesert Railway failed
and while the work on the rail motor was almost completed, due to the
financial collapse of the Beaudesert Railway, it either had to
return to Queenscliff or go elsewhere. The opportunity was taken
to negotiate with the Receiver at the Beaudesert Railway to complete the works
there and then
either transfer the unit to Queenscliff or go to another
Queensland railway. The Mary Valley Heritage Railway has agreed
to run the historic Rail Cars and they have taken over the lease
from the Beaudesert railway at a "peppercorn" rental.
Friends of The North Australian Railway at
Adelaide River
In a recent Newsletter the railway advised in
summary form all that happened during 2005. An edited version is set
out below.
"In no particular order, some of the things
that come to mind are:
-
The Refreshment Rooms have been revamped to more
like the original format in 1888, asbestos ceiling has been
removed and the building painted internally and externally by
the Heritage Branch.
-
The kitchen has been fitted out with new
stainless steel benches, refrigerators, lights, power points,
drink coolers, etc.
-
Dorat Road level crossing was sealed with hot
mix thanks to the Community Benefit fund.
The 5 ton Ransome and Rapier yard crane was reconditioned.
The location of the original 1888 water column for the steam
locomotives was re-established (using ground penetrating radar,
divining,
a backhoe and good luck).
-
The 100 year old railway wheel lathe (20ft long)
was unloaded in to the Sidney Williams hut (after waiting 3
years) and will be resurrected
early in the new year.
-
The grounds and gardens continued to improve and
expand thanks to the gardening crew (Rilla, Nola and Di)
-
We acquired an 8m x 8m demountable Site Office
and a smaller demountable donga for the caretakers secure store.
-
John Spellman gifted to us the "Mississippi
Queen" 1954 Gloucester railcar NDH6 in June.
We modified our Constitution to satisfy the new Associations Act
thanks to the tenacity of Judy Richardson.
-
We achieved Tax Deductibility status for our
donors through the persistent efforts of Kay Goon.
Our fund raising efforts included the famous "Railway Pies"
stall at the Adelaide River Races and the Adelaide River Show.
Large NSW carriage BC329 was blasted and painted and totally
refitted inside and is to become our Visitor Information Centre
(thanks to the NT Tourist Commission).
-
We hosted a lunch for 120 participants in the
Rejex Rally on Picnic Saturday.
We then hosted the annual Railway Picnic on Picnic Monday in
August.
-
In September we co-hosted the annual "Birdum
Alive in 2005" bash to celebrate the first train to Birdum in
September 1929. Over 30 people attended including several from
interstate. Section car N138 "Oodnadatta" was left in the care
of Ann Kanters and Barry Sharp.
-
In late September we organised an expedition
to Sydney to inspect the Hawkesbury Bridge (John Whitton) and
join the 150th birthday celebration of NSWR. We then went on to
the inaugural National Railway Heritage Conference at Tamworth
and were made most
welcome by Tim Fischer, Bob McKillop, John Evans and others.
-
Several important awards were announced
during the year. We won the Tidy Towns Award for "Outstanding
Contribution to Heritage Conservation". The National Trust
recognised Judy Richardson and Joan Moore for their exceptional
volunteer efforts. And in November our good friend and corporate
supporter Peter Cornell was recognised as the "NT Local Hero" in
the Australia Day Awards for the NT.
-
We published bimonthly newsletters during the
year. The high standard achieved by Judy and Robyn was regularly
commented upon.
-
We published a small brochure detailing the
origin of the street names in Adelaide River (e.g. DORAT Road).
-
Kay Goon undertook extensive research work on
the "Tea Ladies" who have operated the Refreshment Rooms at
Adelaide River. We were visited by 80 year old Charlie Sack who
was a boy when his mother Eve was the Tea Lady in the 1930's.
-
We commenced tidying up the 1942 Ambulance
Siding to preserve it and were saddened when someone stole 110
steel sleepers from the track.
-
Barry Slingsby continued with his excellent
restoration work on Short Tom carriage #450. This 1909 carriage
is identical to the two originals in the NAR inventory in 1888.
-
Bob Petersen donated a James Martin steam
driven water pump to stand beside the James Martin steam boiler.
-
We joined Tourism Top End during the year and
contributed to a TV commercial that promoted Adelaide River as a
tourist destination.
We joined and contributed to the working of the Adelaide River
Economic Development Co-ordination Committee.
-
We maintained linkages with the National
Trust, Engineers Australia, Australian Tourist & Heritage
Railway Association, Bellarine Peninsula Railway, Coomalie
Council, NT government and its agencies and Adelaide River Show
Society.
-
We supported the heritage listing of one of
the only remaining NAR houses in Darwin (now known as Stella
Maris).
-
We organised a petition (which included over
500 signatures) seeking to have our heritage listed pedestrian
crossing reinstated. A significant effort by Mike Bowman and
others.
-
We were generously supported by a range of
corporate supporters which is being recognised on a sponsors
board at site and framed individual certificates which are
currently being delivered (another Mick Kent project).
-
Over 10,000 hours of voluntary effort was
contributed during the year which is exceptional when it often
involved personal cost as well.
Puffing Billy - Emerald Tourist Railway Board
The Day out with Thomas was a great success and the new shed
built at Emerald worked well. The approach to Belgrave
Station has been improved and this work was carried out as
a "Greencorp" project.
As part of the Master planning of the Belgrave area the
possibility of having a "roundhouse" option is being explored.
Work on 8A is proceeding with the boiler now back in the frame.
The blast pipe and steam pipes have been fitted and the smoke
box completed. The lagging and cladding have been fitted
and the chimney refitted.
D21 has failed and a new axle has to be manufactured. All
the roller bearings will be replaced with new units and a new
axle box manufactured and machined.
Work on the Climax engine's boiler is proceeding in the USA at
the Chelatchie Boiler Works and is running to schedule. The
Climax Committee has started the first of "Driver Experience"
days and the De Caulville engine No 861 is being used for this
work. Once the Climax returns and is refurbished it will earn
its keep on similar runs. The cab of the Climax is particularly
commodious.
Menzies Creek yard is being re-signaled so that all the signals
and points are controlled from the signal box in the station
building. Puffing Billy now has the only operational Wig Wag
signal in Australia and the only operational upper quadrant
signals in Victoria.
Fifty Years ago. Puffing Billy with the original yellow
line on the carriages.
From a Puffing Billy Postcard
Steamrail
Steamrail has run the first steam tour to Bairnsdale
since the line was reopened for passenger traffic beyond Sale. R761
took the train as far as Sale and K153 then took the train on to Bairnsdale. An earlier excursion took place to Brighton Beach in
company with K190 and K153 ran well on that trip but on the later
trip, the engine failed at Traralgon and was towed back to Newport
by T395 for repairs.
R711 is to have a single funnel in place of the
double funnel. This will affect the sound that the engines
will make when working hard and will sound like the traditional R
class. The stripping of the engine has shown that much more work
will need to be carried out than first envisaged as the
maintenance received from former owner has proved to be inadequate. The group has been able to hire Y164 to EDI at Newport
Workshops as their shunter had failed.
S313 is nearing completion and the engine has been
placed again on its bogies, started and moved under its own power.
Additional engine repairs are being done and component changes made
in some assemblies. Some cab sheeting is to be replaced and patch paining carried out
and the engine will be fit to undertake mainline duties.
B72 has had its engine and main generator placed
back into the body and an electrical contractor secured to install
the wiring loom and the vigilance control. A sound wall is to be
fitted between the No 2 cab and the No 2 dynamic brake grids.
On the carriage side 4BE is having a repaint
externally in blue and gold and internal repairs carried out with
ceilings and toilets to be also repainted .
E1109 has received attention and switches overhauled
and reinstated. The brake valves have been removed for certification
and much other hard work has been done. The bogies have been cleaned
of years of accumulated mud.
12BT is nearing completion and looks very smart.
470M, a double ended Tait driving carriage is being restored with
the next tasks being the restoration of seats and floor lino.
R766 which is being regauged from 5'3" gauge to run
on standard gauge 4'81/2" has received considerable attention and
the wheel sets have been removed for re-gauging. Other work is going
on as the engine is receiving a full overhaul as well as re-gauging.
The wheels are being pressed off the axles and new tyres
fitted.
Yarra Valley Tourist Railway
The work on the roof at Yarra Glen Station has been finished
and the roof is now fully repaired. Attention has turned to
repairing the signal bay of the station building which was also
damaged in the fire. A large clean up of the station site has been
done.
At Healesville station new platform edge coping has been placed and
asphalt has been laid to complete the work. The station
building has been repainted in heritage colours. The large trolley
PM16 has received major attention to its axles and it is expected
that the trolley will be operation for the holiday season. Work on
62 R M has slowed due to a shortage of finance and
skilled volunteers. The arrival of 22 R M has been delayed as
transfer ramps have to be constructed at both Newport and
Healesville.
Work on the restoration of T341 to mainline status at Seymour
has slowed down due to a downturn in the need by the
commercial sector to hire heritage engines. B75 has been transferred
to Seymour for restoration. W250 is being prepared for painting with
the engine to be painted in 2006. The wiring and mechanical issues
are being addressed.
Track work has been undertaken and the entire line from Healesville
to Yarra Glen has been cleared of encroaching vegetation.
Dangerous trees have been removed and the track sprayed between
Healesville and Tarrawarra. The section to Yarra Glen is to be
treated similarly over the next few months. A track under cutter has
been obtained from Puffing Billy and is to be reconditioned to
assist with trackwork.
The station yard at Healesville has been heavily re-sleepered and
new sleepers placed in the Tarrawarra straight.
The railway now has a resident caretaker and accommodation on site
has been made in the turntable hut and the building fully restored.
The first car boot sale held in the
Station precinct at Healesville was most successful.
