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