Working for Our Lunch

We finally got to mow the grass around the carriages yesterday. Although it was only thin, spindly growth it was getting long so it was mowed down. Kevin and Alan got there early and got stuck in. When Paul and Jim arrived they gave a hand with the mowing and moved some fallen branches. It was all done in time for morning tea.

Kevin refilled the water tank too. So now there is water for the basin again. This was put to good use when we started cleaning the Heritage items. Most things were dusted or brushed. Paul started washing down the signs and got most done.

The stretchers were taken out in the sun and brushed to remove the worst of the dust. A couple of them felt a little damp after the wet week we have been fortunate to have so it was decided to move them to the van. They were all examined and it was realised one was different from the others. It is believed it is the most original having Tarpaulin Factory stamps and red handles. The others have green handles and on a couple it is apparent they were originally red. One is in poor condition with the canvas torn and paint peeling. We may restore that one to new condition. The others are in good to excellent condition and we will try and maintain them as they are.

Alan treated the metal on the side of 547 with Fish Oil. Some shows some corrosion but Kevin feels none is bad enough to be concerned about. It was decided to treated it and then spray it with rust resistant paint before replacing the sides.

Paul had won a meat tray at the club the previous evening and decided to share it with the rest of the team. So the BBQ was moved away from the carriage and lit up. Kevin had repaired the tray that hold the volcanic rocks so this was the first use in TRAK hands. We dined on steak, pork and lamb chops with onions and fresh bread rolls. Mario and Nora joined us for the meal and all enjoyed it. Certainly a big improvement of takeaway. We hope to make this a regular feature of future workdays.

Kevin had repaired the handbrake assembly of 683 and it was moved into the car for storage until it is replaced on the rear platform. Kevin has been gradually working through the metal parts of this carriage, repairing and repainting as needed. We hope to replace the headstock very soon.

Paul got back to cleaning signs until a call from our treasurer looking for end of month paperwork meant a couple of us needed to scurry home to get it ready.

The photo gallery has been updated, some new albums were created with photos from yesterday, there is a general one as well as one for 683. The Heritage items has been updated with several new photos and one or two were added to the 547 album. Click on the new link on the top left to access the gallery.

Calendar Update

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.

More on Heritage Items

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.

Heritage Items Donated

StateRail has begun the immense task of sorting out their Heritage Collection. Items that are not considered part of the core collection are being distributed to various Rail Heritage groups. We were invited to tender for some items and were successful in obtaining a number of them. We had to collect them from the Heritage store on Sunday.

As there were a few large items, desks and cabinets etc. it was decided to hire a small truck to move everything in one go. Kevin was appointed trucker, John his offsider / navigator, Jim drove the crew car with Alan and Paul as labourers, David assisted with unloading and arranged storage for some items. The collection was loaded in the morning and delivered in the afternoon. Some of the items have been left at the carriage site for cleaning up so they can be displayed at the Museum display in Kurrajong village.



There are a couple of photos here and more of various items will be added later.

Adding to Our Collection

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.

Fit to be Tied

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.

Updating the Update

I knew I would forget to add something in the list of site updates. And I was right.

The new Carriage Report (PDF file) has been added. Click on the link on the left to download it. The new OnTrak newsletter is on the TRAK website to. Click on the link on the left and go to the updates page for the download link.

Site Updated Again

There have been some changes to this site over the last couple of weeks. You may have noticed some of them.

First the map option on the calendar works for most events. The exception is the Workdays. The carriage restoration site is private property and so the address is not made public. All other events have a map although some are not real accurate. Just click on the event and the information screen has a map option, click on it and you will see a Google map with the location marked.

Second, the Meet our Carriages page has some more information and photos added. Although it is a little technical most people will find it interesting. Some more additional info like this may follow.

Speaking of photos many posts from now on, the workday reports at least, will have a link to additional photos. They are stored on our Picasa site. Hopefully some old ones will be added there later and then a link will be added to the main page.

I think that's all the recent changes. Please let us know what you think of them and what else you would like to see on this site. Your comments are appreciated.

Easter Plans

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.

A Productive Day

After several false starts over the last few weeks we finally had a workday. The plan for the day was to complete the windowsill of 547. But as will be seen several other things happened along the way.

First our President, David, arrived with a BBQ he was donating to the association. It arrived in pieces but as can be seen in the photo David and Kevin soon had it sorted out. It needed a grill replaced and Kevin said he had a suitable part and has taken the piece home to fix. Once it is operational we will be able to host a BBQ for our members. It will also be available for workers to use (subject to fire restrictions etc.) as long as they keep it clean. It has been stored under one of the cars so it is out of the weather but still easy to access. Thanks David and Kevin.

The new caretaker Reg wandered over and introduced himself too. We were surprised to learn he has a strong interest in trains and was able to tell a few interesting tales. No doubt there will be more in future.

Our founding Vice President Jim (not the same Jim who writes this though) has donated a genuine carriage luggage rack. It is similar to the fake ones we bought earlier but as it is original it will get pride of place.

After the enjoyable interruptions we finally got to the sill. It was better than we expected as there was less to redo than we thought. We sanded it, particularly underneath which had not received much attention earlier as most damage was to the more exposed top. After we (or I should say Alan) were happy with it a coat of under coat was applied to protect it until we are ready to paint the whole side.

The steps and other area of exposed bare timber were also given a coat of undercoat while we had brush in hand. It's not safe to stand still for too long or Kevin will paint you!

After cleaning up the site the generator was loaded into Jim's trailer. David has offered to have a look at it and see if it can be fixed. 3 tired workers then made their way home.

You can see more pictures here. Click on pictures on this page or in the album to see them larger.

Next Workday

We are planning to have a workday this Sunday. it will be the first workday for a few weeks due to a number of things. We plan to finally finish the window sill. We will then plan the next stage of work on 547.

The forecast is good, at this stage, fine and 23 which is good working weather. Any members who can help please let us know and be there on the day.

No Workday

There won't be a workday this Sunday as there are no volunteers available. Next weekend is the Springwood Exhibition (if you can help out there please let us know) so the next workday will be on 25th.

Alan wants to finish the window sill so we can start on the cladding. The sill will require some sanding etc. After a final inspection it may require a little filling or touch up of the undercoat. Then we will start replacing the cladding on the side. The window frames need to be prepared for repair too.

Donate Your Search

An Australian Blogging site has set up a page that allows you to use Google Search and support some worthwhile charities at the same time. It still works the same as using Google.com but provides much needed funds for worthwhile causes. See the Blognow Site for more details.

This inititive is worthy of your support so give it a go.

Updates Keep Coming

The Carriage page has been updated again. Some history details have been added for each car. Click on the link on the left to view the page.

There is no facility on that page to leave comments. however if you have any comments, ideas or suggestions please leave them here. Any ideas to improve this site or the carriage page would be appreciated.

Yard Maintenance

One of the jobs that needs to be done but isn't very popular is looking after the yard around our carriages. We raked up leaves and removed fallen branches and other debris. This reduces the fire risk as well as keeping the area looking cleaner.

Justin arrived early and Alan and Jim a little later. Unfortunately that was all that turned up. It was a big job for so few especially given the warm day, into the 30's I believe. It is therefore surprising that so much got down.

There is still a bit to do but not much. It should be easy to finish next week.

In the photo, Justin was really getting into it loading leaves manually into the barrow. Innumerable loads were removed from the area over the day.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Calendar Update

The Calendar published in the latest OnTrak shows a workday on 8th April. As this is Easter the workday will probably be held on the Monday. This will be confirmed closer to the day.

Dark and Stormy

"It was a dark and stormy night", the famous words written by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton in 1830 as the first line of his novel "Paul Clifford" describe quite well the morning we woke to yesterday. As a result the workday didn't happen.

The forecast for next Sunday is more hopeful, fine and 31 degrees, so with a bit of luck we will be able to have a workday then.

Meet the Carriages

Another change to this site is the addition of a "Meet Our Carriages" page. Click on the link under About us to view details and photos on all of our cars.

Site Update

There has been some updates to this site and more are planned.

The most obvious update will be the labeling of all posts. On the left under labels you will see a list of the labels used. These labels identify what each post is about. Click on 683 for example and you will see each mention of 683 in this blog.

Maybe a quick explanation of what each label means is in order. The carriage numbers are obvious but the others may not be as clear.

Links are other sites our members and visitors might find interesting.
Misc. is for entries that aren't easily classified, this one for example.
News posts cover information about TRAK or news in general that might affect TRAK.
Plans will let you know what we intend to happen at the carriage site in the near future.
Reports will let you know what we did on our most recent workday.

If you think there should be other labels please let me know, (leave a comment). Do you find the labels useful?
What else can we do to the blog to add to your reading pleasure?

Keep visiting here as there are some more changes coming, very soon I hope.

Stacked

The donated timber has arrived and the details follows but first a little background. A large Silky Oak tree was cut down and was offered to our friends at Hawkesbury Woodcraft. They had sufficient timber and remembered that the interior of our carriages used Silky Oak quite a bit for things like seats. So we were offered it. They would arrange for it to be sawn into manageable sizes and we would store it to age. After a few false starts and setbacks this is what happened.

Alan, Justin and Kevin arrived at the site early to clear a space inside 683 to stack it. They also needed to prepare spacers to go between the boards to allow the air to circulate. These are important as the timber needs to have a moisture content of less than 10% before it can be used. We had been given some scrap plywood that was cut up for this.

After lunch the Andy Macs' truck arrived with the timber. Paul providing an escort to the site (for no particular reason, he just timed it well!) where Alan was waiting at the front gate to guide it in.

After the timber was unloaded it had to be moved into 683 and stacked carefully. Paul and Kevin provided the muscle to move it while Justin and Alan provided the knowledge (and some muscle) to stack it.

There was some sign of moisture between the boards, we don't know exactly when it was cut and how long it has been waiting to be moved. As it is now stacked under cover and with spacers it should dry out fine. There are various sized pieces and after drying it will be useful as we progress with the restoration of the carriages.