A Little Silky Oak and Other News

Late last year we were offered a quantity of Silky Oak. Silky Oak is the type of timber used inside some of our carriages for things like seats and dividers. A large tree was to be cut down and our friends at Hawkesbury Woodcraft offered it to us. They will cut it and help us store it correctly so it can age. I was speaking to John Jones (President of Hawkesbury Woodcraft) and he informed me they were to cut it one weekend recently. I haven't heard anymore yet but it should be ready soon. We will need transport and some extra hands to stack it when it is ready.

The other job coming up soon is the relocation of 547 to our area. The van at the end of our row is to be moved and then we will lay a little more track and 547 will be moved in its place. Rails and sleepers are on site. Mario has been busy but he keeps reminding us it is high on his agenda.


The picture is not in one of our carriages but provided for your inspiration. It is inside the operational End Platform cars at ARHS ACT. Thanks to John Christie for the photo.

A little more help and our carriages, especially 547, can look this good soon.

The next workday is this Sunday and if you are available please drop out for a while.

Changes to the Workday Calendar

Here it is Wednesday afternoon and there is no response to the suggestion of a workday this Saturday so I guess there will be no workday this weekend.

The next workday will be Sun 30th.

There are a couple of changes to the Calendar published in the last OnTrak. The workday on 14th May is cancelled as it is Mother's Day. Also some of the dates in June are wrong they should be for each Sunday not mid week. I must have gotten lost somewhere on the calendar as I was typing them out.

Please update your diary.

Easter Workday

Today work continued on 547. Stephen and Ben stripped the paint from a few more panels and sanded some of the panels already stripped. They found it went much quicker working as a team. As can be seen from the previous photos it is necessary to have proper masks as the fumes are quite strong. This also allows them to do a good impression of Darth Vader. One side of the Economy saloon is almost finished.

Jim removed the last panel from under the windows on the end of the cars. Previously these had been timber panels with five covers strips however at some time they had been covered with masonite and only the side strips. We will be returning it to the former setup.

If more people were available to help we will be able to get this car looking much better very soon. The next big job is recladding the sides. The cladding is on hand. Alan is repairing the end posts and then we will start on the sides.

Progress on 547

This picture was taken a couple of workdays ago. It shows the latest and so far most successful method of removing the paint on the mouldings of 547. Stephen is using a lpg torch and scraper. The paint bubbles when the heat is applied and with a little practice there is little or no scorching of the timber.

After sanding the finish is ready for paint. As can be seen the timber was originally lacquered and later (many) coats of paint were added. We will repaint it when all the old paint is removed.

Originally we were just going to clean up the existing paint and touch it up where necessary. However closer inspection revealed that it was in poorer condition than first thought. Also the mouldings were so full of paint their shape was being lost.

The ceiling above Stephen has been sanded with a belt sander which works well but is hard work. No one can hold the sander above their head for too long without a break and it creates an awful lot of dust.

Stephen at Work in CBA 547

Stephen is using the heatgun to remove multiple layers of paint in 547. This is a rare photo because just after it was taken the heatgun and generator blew up. He now uses a gas torch to remove the paint.

Since this was taken in December much progress has been made. See the latest issue of the Carriage Report for more photos.

Workdays over Easter

There will be a workday on Saturday. It is planned to continue work in 547. This will be stripping paint and sanding back. Also there is some trimming to do although the mowing was finished last weekend.

Any volunteers who are available please let us know (just post a comment) or turn up on the day.

The Carriage Site

Welcome to the TRAK Carriage Site. We plan to use this site to let members see what we are doing as well as letting volunteers know what is happening. This is the volunteers' site so please feel free to add comments and suggestions.

Future posts will detail what we have done on each workday . Also what we have planned for coming workdays. We recommend you bookmark this site and check regularly for the latest news. Future additions may include a feed so you will know when the site has been updated.