A work day to clean up the site and remove all non carriage items will be held on 9th January. All members are encouraged to lend a hand on that day. The day will commence at 8am. For further information contact the secretary (see the latest OnTrak for contact details).
Just a quick note that the working bee planned for this Saturday has been cancelled due to previous commitments for some people. A new date will be arranged and everyone informed.
Due to the changing future of TRAK the committee has decided to sell the carriages. Details are in the October OnTrak. It is understood that the van will be donated to Oberon Tourist Heritage Railway and BL361 has been sold to a private individual. The other cars are available at the moment.
The latest OnTrak announced a working bee on Saturday 7th November to clean up the site and prepare the carriages for sale. Please let Paul know if you are available.
Things have been quiet at the site so far this year. With the weather being either wet or hot it has been difficult to arrange a workday. Kevin was there today and informs me the grass needs mowing. After the wet start to the year this is not a surprise.
He has done some work on the Sydney end of CBA547. There is still some work to be done to complete the deck of the end platform and Kevin has taken a board home to cut it to size. The headstock has received some attention with the metalwork partly removed and some preparation for painting done.
It is hoped to have a workday next weekend, weather permitting. The main job will be the grass but when that is done any extra time will be spent on 547.
There was a short workday last Sunday. Kevin and Paul did some work and planning on the end platforms of 547. There is still a bit to be done cleaning and painting the supports. Some repairs have been done and when this work is complete the new deck can be installed.
Paul started installing the latch on the new toilet door in 361. We already have the paint to finish the interior so that will be the next job. The exterior has been partially prepared. Some of the old lacquer has been stripped and sanded but there is still some to do.
Some of the committee members joined the workers for lunch, Paul had prepared a cold collation which was well received. After lunch everyone called it a day.
There will be a workday next Sunday as the weather is forecast to be fine and cool. Any help will be appreciated.
One of the projects that has ben outstanding for a while is the toilet cubicle in 361. It was started some time ago when the chemical toilet was purchased. The inside of the cubicle was repaired and much of the outside was stripped of lacquer. However one of the things missing was a door. We had one but it needed some work to fit. It was finally done yesterday. Justin and Paul fitted hinges in the correct place and made a few other changes to make it fit. The latch and striker plate are to go on and it is done.
Work also continued on the side of 547. The screw holes were filled and a start was made on sanding and preparing for paint. They will need some further attention but a good start was made.
Some more deck timbers were prepared and oiled ready to go on when the rest of the end platform is repaired.
There are no photos today as I couldn't be there. But I hope to get a few photos next Monday. Yes the workday next week is on Monday as it is a long weekend. You can still come and give us a hand without missing the Grand Final!
The Carriage Group had offered to host the TRAK end of year event this year and at the recent Committee meeting this offer was accepted. After receiving agreement from Mario planning is now underway. This will be the first opportunity most members will have to view our newest carriage CBA547. We plan to have much of the exterior of it done before the party. Our Heritage items will be on display too.
There will be a BBQ or picnic (depending on the weather conditions) on 25th November at the carriage restoration site. At this early stage there are some details not yet decided. The October OnTrak will hopefully have full (or at least fuller) information.
For the carriage group this means that some effort will need to be put into making the site presentable and hopefully getting a few jobs done. Anyone who can help with some cleaning up and other preparations please let us know. There will be workdays most weekends from now on and a little bit will be done each day.
The workday yesterday was spent working on the end platform. We arrived to find the area saturated. There was a lot of water lying around after the rain we had experienced all week. Fortunately the area below the end platform and the interior of the car was dry. A quick check around found all the tarps were in place but a couple of ropes were loose.
Kevin, Paul and Jim started on preparing the steelwork that is under the platform for paint. When it was ready Kevin applied some rust inhibiting paint. There is some corrosion in this area but nothing to worry about. With the paint it should be okay for many years to come.
Kevin also did some work on timber for the top steps. These seem to suffer the most as they are out in the open and get the most traffic. Only one of the four on 547 are reuseable the others will be replaced.
The next workday is planned for a fortnight's time.
There are a couple more photos on the gallery, several more older ones have been added over the last couple of weeks too.
Yesterday was another day spent working on the end and side of 547. We are making steady progress at the moment.
Kevin and Paul arrived early and started working straight away. When Jim arrived a little later Kevin had the railings installed and was painting the headstock and railings. He had repaired another of the uprights and made some additional bolts. Paul had continued on undercoating the sides.
The deck on that end is in reasonable condition but several of the boards were loose. It had been decided to screw it in place. Before that is done we decided to lift it and check the supporting timbers. Kevin and Jim got started on removing the deck. It came off easily but underneath was worse than we expected which explains why the deck was loose. The photo shows the rotten timbers that will need to be repaired, it also shows some of the work already done on the headstock etc. The timbers nearest the steps just bolt into place and we started on removing them. Several of the bolts will need replacing too.
By this time Paul had the BBQ going and we had a steak lunch.
After lunch the last of the timbers and bolts were removed. The timber will be repaired and the steelwork will be cleaned and painted.
The end posts will need repairing, they have rotted at the bottom. This is not unusual and all of our cars have been repaired in this area before, probably more than once during their lifetime. Kevin had a look and worked out how to do it. After cleaning up the site we called it a day.
Next workday we will continue with the repairs to the end platform. We will clean up the deck timbers and remove all the nails from them. We also need to work out how much needs to be done to the end wall panels. They are the original cedar panels and appear to be in good condition but need a little filler around the edges. We will make a template of the pieces needed for the end posts too.
It has been decided to cancel the workday this Sunday. We hope to have another workday next weekend.
In the meantime Alan has been working on getting the materials to finish the sides of 547. We are going to put some silicon around the sheets we installed to stop water getting behind them. Then we will fit the cover strips. We have been advised that the steel strips are better although the timber ones look better. Both suggestions came from our visitors last week.
It will be a short post today as I don't have much time.
After the well earned rest last weekend it is back to work this Sunday. We intend to continue working on the sides and ends of 547.
After the busy weekend at the Hobby Show the general consensus was we deserved a break this weekend. So the workday is cancelled but we will back on the 15th.
Thank you to all the carriage group workers who lent a hand at the show, early reports are it was a great success.
There has been a change to the dates for workdays. On the 24th of this month we will have a stall at Windsor Crafts Markets so there probably won't be a workday. We will be promoting the Hawkesbury Model and Hobby Show that is on the following weekend. As always any help on the day would be appreciated.
No we aren't finished it but we have been working on one end. The metalwork has been cleaned and painted, timber work repaired and undercoated. Work is progressing to plan at the moment.
The aim for today was to continue the headstock work we started last time and to plan the fitting of the side cladding. Kevin with help from the rest of us continued on with the headstock. Justin and Alan worked out how the cladding will be attached while Paul and Jim did some paperwork for the Hobby Show.
We had another great BBQ lunch thanks to Paul. These lunches will be a regular thing now, $5 all you can eat is a good deal. One neighbour of the four legged variety joined us and although a little shy seemed to enjoy the sausages.
Some pictures have been added to the photo gallery of today.
Next week the workday will be on the Monday which is a Public Holiday. We intend to fit the sides so anyone who can help please be there. Lunch will be available as usual but if you can let us know you are coming it will help with catering.
It might appear early to have completed the workdays for the month but there will only be one this month due to other events. We hope to have one or two in June but even they may be difficult to fit in. Keep an eye on the calendar at the left for the latest information.
Paul and Kevin arrived early and a start was made on cleaning the heritage items. After Jim arrived they stopped for a morning tea. There was no time wasted though as we made plans for the display of some of our heritage items while taking our break. Kevin and Jim then moved onto car 547 leaving Paul cleaning and refinishing.
Our plan for the day was to clean and paint the metal items on each end of 547. The end platform has metal railings and uprights plus there are numerous pieces bolted to and through the headstock. The headstock is the large piece of timber that hold the buffers and couplers on each end. Actually they pass through and bolt to the frame but you get the idea. Rusted pieces were to be removed and where necessary repaired and painted before being replaced. There was no need to remove the couplers or buffers but they would be repainted. Some damaged railings had already been done and were ready to go back on, thanks Kevin. It was planned to clean up and repaint the headstock at the same time. Some nuts and bolts are being replaced as required.
We removed much rust and there was one panel we decided to remove completely. It covers the couplers and is part of the walkway between carriages. The bolts through the headstock were heavily rusted as they are vertical and the water just runs down them. It took some time and much applied muscle power to remove them. By that time it was nearly lunch time so by universal agreement we took a break.
The barbecue was lit and we enjoyed a well deserved repast of hamburgers with bacon and salad. We have the lunch almost down to a fine art now as we were better prepared than last week. There was an overabundance of BBQ tools this time. We need to work out a system for covering the costs of these lunches but as lunch for 3 or 4 is little more than we were each spending on takeaway it shouldn't be difficult.
Nora asked us for help loading a tram body and that took over after lunch. We managed to remove several parts for the Tramway Museum. Steve arrived while we were busy there. He was returning several items he had been working on at home. After finally getting the tram on the truck we decided it was too late to start back on 547 so called it a day.
The TRAK Calendar has been updated to include NSW Public Holidays and school terms. This may assist our workers in checking if they can make it to our workdays.
The workday on the June long weekend has been moved to the Monday so some of our people who aren't available on Sundays may be able to come for the day.
Just click on the heading of the calendar to see the full calendar, it can be viewed for the day, week or month.
Some photos of the heritage items have been added to the album I started with the last post. These are still in their as received condition. We intend to give them a thorough inspection and clean up over the next few workdays. See the photos here.
Hopefully there will be a workday this weekend. the forecast is hopeful, Sunday will be the first fine day for a week if the BOM is right.
TRAK has been given a number of items that are considered excess to the SRA Heritage collection. Several other rail groups have also obtained items. This Sunday we will collecting them and moving them to storage. We intend to make many of them available for public display.
Consequently the regular workday will not be held this weekend.
Well the workday went ahead today. With the early showers and overnight rain I doubted any mowing would happen and I was right. The grass is just that fine spindly stuff and hasn't grown and as it was wet we didn't mow.
We did however find plenty to keep us busy for the morning. A couple of ropes on the tarps had snapped and we fixed one and had to replace another one. We need some more rope as we have used up all we had on site.
After the rope tying we started discussing the Hobby Show. The site plan is being prepared and as we have had a good response from exhibitors the hall is filling up. There are a couple of stands we still need. Some rides would be nice too.
After all this we called it a day at noon as a couple of us had other places to be.
We are planning a special day next Sunday so stay tuned for details when we have it worked out.
Next weekend is Easter and so our workday will be moved to Monday.
At this stage our main plan for the day is site maintenance. the grass needs mowing and there might be a bit of cleaning up to do. If there are enough people we will continue work on 547.
