Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Saturday 24 April

All,

During the past week about a fifth of the place has been mown. Col has done a really great job cleaning up the front area of the Musuem entrance & around the Admin Bldg.

We've experienced some mechanical problems with both the ride on mower & the self propelled slasher. Replacement parts are being sourced, hopefully the ride on will be back in svc soon. The SP slasher, soldiers on, but requires parts, which, given the age of these machines is not a "walk in" option any more...And the stuffing around to source these parts is like trying to find parts for the likes of 3016, 1210 et al.

An attempt has been made to seal the hole, in the ceiling, made by birds in the NW cnr of the Admin Bldg. This has not worked out "perfectly", but given the age of the building & the ratty, Canite ceiling, I've made the best I can do of a "bad job!" The piece of tin will be painted & a refix of ceiling sheets (done some time ago) will be done agn....time permitting?

Pat has had some plates made up to label all our turnouts, within the Museum, the Nth Shunt & the Outer Yard. These have been applied on to the timbers on which the turnout throw lever is attached. A pic is attached to this email. The numbering sequence is fairly simple & we are working on a map (which will be ready soon!) which will deliniate our numbering system in a graphic form. These will be laminated & available in the office & on each loco.

If U start at the Syd end of the Nth Shunt, the points in succession as U approach the Museum in the Dn direction begin as NS1 (ie Nth Shunt #1 - thru #6) - #1 leads to #2Rd in the Canbra Yard, NS2 leads to ##Rd in Cnbra Yard etc. Once U get on to the LDR, turnout BS1 leads to Bill Cleary's siding (BS1 = Brambles Siding!) Once U get into the Museum - M1 leads to loco pit - M2 the TMS etc etc....

In the Outer Yard ES1 is the Eastern Storage Rd, and the turnouts are numbered sequentially from the Up end...The same applies to The ODR & WSR.......

As for trackwork, not much was done, due rain. But we did replace 1 expired sleeper on #5 Rd in the Museum, we last looked here & did some work about 4 years ago, we now need to revisit it & intend replacing a number here. There are a number of priority areas which will be attended to as time/weather permits? But, no show stoppers.

CU - Lindz

Monday, April 19, 2010

Friday 16 April

During the week, vegetation control & lubrication of turnouts took place.

On Friday I (we) saw a diesel locomotive take to the sky & land on a large truck, a bit like mechanical "makin' bacon!" Once I figure out how to further compress the pixels in my "new" camera files, I'll send around the pics.

Gordon turned up on Friday, and he, Pat & self set to on #1Rd, at the Dn end of the Level Xing at the platform to replace a "jig saw" puzzle of a sleeper. I thought we might keep the pieces & sell it off as a large jig saw puzzle?

The other part of the puzzle at this location was the removal of very compacted rubbish, and in the process we uncovered??? I'll keep that to myself! We achieved this with lots of grunting & use of the jack hammer. Shane turned up & gave a hand.

The "small" gauge problem remains in this area, it's certainly not gonna get any worse in the immediate work area as we removed the "jig saw" sleeper & enuf rubbish to allow us to install 2 sleepers to better support the joint & maintain the "present" gauge.

This area will probably settle a little, particularly following any rain?

Gordon & self did a little bit of remedial work on the wall that supports the jacking area known as McFadyen's flat, to prevent the lot falling over. This killed us, after a short while, and we went home completely stuffed.

The Eastern Storage Rd is out of svc immediately adjacent to & Nth of the 6029 worksite due deteriorated sleepers & loose dogs. As is the Gantry Rd, immediately Nth of the 6029 worksite, due same problem. Locomotives are not to pass these points, lest they spread the track. If vehicles on these Rds are to be moved, do so very gently, with lots of other vehicles between the loco & the vehicles being moved. The points that form the Xovers are also booked out.

I ask all who regularly attend the Museum to keep an eye out for ferals who're obviously hanging out by the ODR gates, leaving their rubbish, home made bongs & other ephemera on the ground, & these people would be the same ones that "Kangaroo Edwarded" my old ute.

CUZ - Lindz
















Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Workday - Saturday 13 March

All,

Since last report, the whole place has been mown, some of it twice! On the vegetation control front, the Silver Birch saplings sprouting in the Departure Rd have been attended to. Since the D9 went out there & stirred things up, seeds & suckers are popping up all over the place. The aim is to keep them out of the 4ft & clear of any passing train. Also, within the Museum itself much tidying up has been conducted by MN, his friend Sam & AW, including weed removal, drain clearing & relocation of junk.

I've made & fitted 3 wooden "step tops" to BAM 1743, the BHM & TAM 906. And almost finished refurb of 6 "almost beyond redemption" BAM windows at home.

Number 2 Rd is booked "out of svc" until further notice. Flags & witches hats are in place around the work area. The Dn leg is broken at a sunken joint & 3 sleepers in the vicinity have been removed for replacement. This is going to be the test area for the rail saw as the "joint gap" here is nonexistent! Unfortunately we hit a technical hitch with the saw & hopefully this will be resolved quite quickly. Expert technical advice is not required, so, all you f'n experts can keep your f'n advice to yourselves, or tell someone else!

Spoil removed from #5Rd at the worksite has been distributed about the place, there is now a path of sorts alongside #6Rd, between the lvl Xing & shed door, spoil has also been placed in an attempt to level this area. Further spoil has been carted about the place to replace soil eroded from these areas following recent heavy rainfall. Reasonable ballast has been carted from places where this is a surfeit of same to places where there is a dearth of same. ie. To the worksite on #5Rd!

A cross track "duckboard" has been placed (securely) across #5Rd, another will be placed (in the same place) across #1Rd, when I've put it together. This is just advice, you don't need to know its purpose, other than making the track safer to cross!

Light up wood has been delivered to the WSLLUA & a start has been made on deconstructing the sleepers from the old "blow down" pad. The deconstructed sleepers have also been delivered to the WSLLUA.

Thanx to all who've assisted recently, including those (above) Gav, Andrew & Pat.

Lindz