Track Grows

The first section of new track was laid at the site on Monday. Stephen and Alan had previously laid some sleepers. These were moved into the correct position by Stephan, Jim and Paul. Mario then used the crane to put a couple of rails in place. The fire-damaged bogie was moved off the end of the existing track.

Next workday the holes for dogspikes will be drilled and the rails secured. Some new bolts will need to be purchased to bolt the fishplates to the rail.

The other job completed on Monday was retying the tarp on 683. A rope had broken with the strong winds recently and it was repaired. We have run out of spare rope so that's another item for the shopping list.

The new OnTrak newsletter is out on the TRAK site so check it out.

A Little History of 547

Our carriage guru Wayne Dempsey contacted us recently and gave us a little of history of our carriage. 547 was part of set 12A, the set still existed the first time TRAK tried to buy it. We made an offer on the complete set of three cars before it was split up.

12A had been in service at Campbelltown and was stored at Flemington for a short time. When set 25 was withdrawn it was decided to transfer the toilets to 12A. The original centre partition was retained and the toilets added. This explains the unusual offset toilets and the difference between the two dividing walls. We had noted this.

Wayne also noted that the seats are different. We have original Hale and Kilburn seats and some marked NSWGR Clyde and some with no markings. The Hale and Kilburn seats could date back to the original shipment from as early as 1890. The railways copied them and cast their own at the foundry at Clyde.

Thanks to Wayne for some interesting info.

Laying Track

The weather was on our side this weekend. Although there was heavy rail towards the coast it held off in the west of Sydney until this morning. Our workday proceeded as normal.

I wasn't there so I am reporting what I was told. I was busy with the newsletter so look for it during the week.

Those present got stuck into the first stage of extending our siding to allow 547 to join the rest of the fleet. Several sleepers were laid and are ready for rail. Stephan and Alan discussed the length of the track and rail to be used with Nora.

They also managed to get some more sanding done. Stephen has purchased an orbital sander and reports it works well, better than the belt sander in some areas and as it is lighter can be used for a bit longer. Sanding over your head is hard work and you need to take frequent breaks or rotate with others.

We are planning a workday next weekend and as it is a long weekend there is a choice of workday. Let us know which you prefer. However the weather forecasts are for showers every day but we will check as it gets closer. As usual an email will go out early in the morning if it is cancelled.

The Carriage Move is On

I know we talked about it before but the move of CBA547 to the same area as the rest of our cars is on. The van that was in the way has been moved and now we need to lay track. The Carriage Group Sub Committee and our resident engineer are organising track laying days over the next couple of workdays so if you can help please be there.