August 2009 Meeting

The last General meeting of HRSA was held at Murray Bridge on Saturday 29th August 2009.

Each organisation presents to the meetings a report on their activities since the last General Meeting and it was agreed at the meeting that these reports should form part of Newscast so that the current happenings of all member organisations are posted on the HRSA Web site which is accessed by all and sundry when searching for news about Tourist and Heritage Rail (including trams)

Peter Soar has offered to gather the documents and prepare the Newscast which will not include Organisations letterheads due to “size” of the documents.

Nominations were received for the activation of a number of our sub groups and this will be discussed further at the next Committee of Management.

John Evans (Tourism SA) spoke on the topic of “Collections” and the need for persons with collections which they want to have preserved on their demise being recorded now. Further information will be sent out to all member organisations about this for discussion at their meetings. If you have items which you want to see preserved and kept intact on your demise please feel free to contact HRSA and we can forward some advice on how this should be handled. John also spoke about grants available to groups through Volunteering SA.

Derek Heneker Manager Rail Safety DTEI spoke of the move towards a single Rail Regulator within Australia and that whilst there is general support

When moves are made to bring this to fruition all sorts of side issues are being raised leading to a number of answers needing to be provided. Within South Australia Minister Conlon is in full support for a single Regulator and common approach to rail safety throughout Australia.

A single Regulator model should see representation remaining in each State for those State based groups including Tourist and heritage rail. What we need to see retained in this State is the current provision by the SA Government of no charge to the Tourism & Heritage sector for the services of rail accreditation.

Whilst HRSA members do not operate over State borders and do not have the issues of multi-state Accreditation we wish to retain our current good relationship with the Rail Safety section and not want to have to face some of the more “mandatory” requirements found in some other States. Having worked in the industry where we had to deal with a number of Regulators all with differing views is not cost effective or conducive to a good railway industry

If we were to be faced with a cost then I venture to say that all groups would cease to exist due to the cost imposts.

HRSA recognises the valuable input from both John and Derek and the time they put into attending our meetings and having input into those meetings

The next meeting of ATHRA is scheduled to be held at Ipswich Queensland in conjunction with an International Conference in mid October.

HRSA have placed several items on the agenda for that meeting

Brian Busch
President HRSA
September 2009

Individual Group Reports

Cobdogla Steam Friends Report  August 2009

New section of track laid and completed from Schell Road to the fence line.
The first steam train over Schell Rd. ever occurred on 12/7/09.
1000 litres of fuel oil pumped into o/h tank.
Barmera Drive In screen was dropped and dismantled and taken to the museum for future projects.
Two new bogies have been assembled and ready for use.
All passenger stock has been inspected and serviced.
Existing bogies under the two steel carriages are to be removed for overhaul.

Steam Friends have need of two more cast iron “Yard Limit” signs - can anyone help?

Traffic figures since last meeting.

711 passengers carried over 122.2 kilometres
88.6 kilometres of work trains.

St Kilda Tram Museum Report

Track work

Track work days have restarted at St Kilda with Steven Gordon and Greg Mayman from the National Railway Museum assisting us on the 1st of August.  This all stemmed from a conversation between Ian Seymour and Steven at the last model railway show and Steven mentioned he would be keen to assist

Some remedial work took place at the passing loop in town and after lunch good second hand sleepers obtained via Ben Greneklee from SteamRanger and his TransAdelaide contact were installed in the track leading to one of the roads of the Southern tram shed

Many thanks to Steve and Greg for their efforts in helping us

Car 118

This tram is rapidly approaching completion mechanically with front life guards plus trigger mechanism and side “dog guards “nearly finished. All airbrake and handbrake work is complete with many test runs taking place on the Friday work day

Handrails have been installed and a few flexible gates at the driver’s cabs need to be finished

Interior and exterior lighting, ceiling veneers in the open section and final painting and lining is some of outstanding work

Buildings

The members lounge and office plus the Entrance Gallery have had carpet installed to smarten up both structures.

The Entrance Gallery is currently having a makeover 20 odd years after opening.

Displays are being renewed and the walls have been repainted.

PICHI RICHI RAILWAY PRESERVATION SOCIETY Inc.

Report to HRSA meeting at Murray Bridge on 29th  August 2009

Traffic:
Passenger numbers were up on 2008 figures until June, but they levelled off in July school holidays.  Bookings through Connect SA seem to be running smoothly.

Track:

Following the Tram Report (2008) Executive have endorsed the use of steel sleepers on the main line beyond Dairy Crossing at a frequency of 1 in 4.  Timber sleepers will continue to be used within the heritage precinct of Quorn station.  A paid track gang will be operating for two weeks in September attending to potential “trouble spots between summit and Woolshed Flat.  We have enquired about the availability of surplus rail materials from the upgrade of the Belair line, but are disappointed that (it seems) Heritage Rail groups will be excluded.

A Community Project funded by the Northern and Yorke Natural Resources Management Board has enabled a significant assault on boxthorn infestations on the Quorn – Woolshed Flat section of the rail corridor.

Marketing:

The lottery launched at Steam Up to raise funds for the restoration of Yx141 is progressing steadily.  We recently participated in the Ghan 80th year celebration with a parallel run with NM25 and our Afghan consist from Stirling North to Port Augusta.  This was well received and excellent publicity.

Loco:

W933 and NM25 have been in regular use on the Afghan services out of Port Augusta and W22 being rostered for most steam trains out of Quorn during the July school holidays.  W934 was successfully rostered for the Hospital train on August 9th .Much has been achieved by a small group of dedicated volunteers, without whom we would not have four serviceable steam locos and two diesels (NT76 and NSU52).  Work on Yx141 is progressing with the frame the right way up; and pony truck in place.

Brill railcar 106 and trailer 305 are in regular use and favoured for special hire groups.

Our rainwater storages at Quorn Loco have been increased with a new large tank provided by a special water harvesting grant. 

Carriage:

Car “LIGHT” is still undergoing complete overhaul in the carriage shop, and its underframe has been repaired in the loco workshop.  Meanwhile, refreshments are being prepared and sold from our upgraded facilities at Woolshed Flat during this time, and the arrangement is appreciated by passengers.

“Short Tom” Car 5 has been stripped of all internal items and work is progressing on the main frame timbers and pillars.  This restoration is expected to take several years.

Challenges:

A shortage of qualified safe workers is an ongoing problem to our roster officer, although several more members have qualified for Hyrail driving.  This, we hope, will better share the workload of track inspection.
The challenge of maintaining our ageing infrastructure is a significant for a small number of active members

National Railway Museum

Report to HRSA Sat 29 August 2009

Thomas Tank & Friends at NRM July 2009

Despite bleak weather, crowd numbers during the nine day event remained almost the same as the previous year.  All trains i.e. 457mm gauge Bub/Bill double headed, Peronne with cars 144 + 7553 + V1990, and diesel 801 with cars 864 + 376, were all popular.  See details below:

457mm gauge Bub/Bill                                   285 kms           17,300 passengers

1067mm gauge Peronne                      176 kms             8,000 passengers

1600mm gauge 801 (4 days only)        104 kms             2,100 passengers

Several Projects Awaiting Financial Approval

To provide some degree of scope and interest, the following examples are projects currently awaiting approval for funding and commencement.

Allambi sleeping car: restoration and painting
Onkaparinga sleeping car:  restoration and painting
Travelling Post Office 018: external sealing and painting
Jacketts platform extension: 14m extension to platform
Callington level crossing: new historic replica crossing
Track work at TransAdelaide end: 50 triple gauge sleepers

NRM New Organisational Structure

The NRM Board is finalising the new organisational structure, post no longer having a full time paid Manager, which will focus on existing and more sub-groups with specifically appointed attendees, goals and objectives.  The possibility of ad-hoc and/or part time resources for museum curatorial and marketing aspects will be further progressed.

NRM Pavilions Named

After several months of discussions NRM has formally obtained approval to name the two museum display pavilions – main display pavilion is now the RON FITCH PAVILION and the smaller display pavilion is now the RONALD E FLUCK PAVILION.

Bob Sampson
NRM Delegate to HRSA

STEAMRANGER REPORT TO AUGUST 09 HRSA MEETING

Rollingstock:
Work is progressing on the re-tyring of loco Rx 207. Initially Heavy Mech were to do the wheel and tyre turning with SteamRanger fitting the tyres however Heavy Mech have taken on the complete task so that when the wheels are returned they will be ready to fit under the Rx. Part of this task includes the boring and tapping of holes for the studs which stop the tyre from slipping on the wheel.

Work on 621 has reached a point where the tube plate has been pad welded and the holes for the tubes and flues ready to be bored for fitment of the tubes and flues. The main hold up now is funding for the purchase of tubes and flues and having them swaged ready for fitting.

Work continues on baggage 82 and brake van 4420 with hope that with the warmer weather paining of both units can take place for their return to traffic by the end of this year. Several vandal attacks at both Mt. Barker and Goolwa Depot have seen a need to carry out considerable clean up and some repaint work on four cars of recent times.

SteamRanger has been fortunate to purchase in exchange for its standard gauge tamper a broad gauge tamper from Victoria in good working order and fully accredited for use in that State. We have been able to obtain the services of an experienced operator to train SteamRanger personnel in its use.

Work also continues on the conversation of ballast regulator from standard to broad gauge has now reached a point where trial are being under taken in its operation and at the same time using the trial to train SteamRanger personnel in its use.

Some work has commenced on Brill Railcar 43 with one of our members undertaking the construction of new timber window frames for the car.

Track
Our work program continues with resleepering taking place in various locations along the line.

The Alexandrina Council, in conjunction with DTEI have proposed to re-locate Airport Rd level crossing in the Goolwa Depot Currency Creek section to better re-align the road intersection with the Goolwa Strathalbyn Road. The re-alignment will see a straightening of the road and no doubt a higher road speed being undertaken by road traffic. Airport Rd has been the scene of a number of serious level crossing accidents one of which saw the Alexandrina Council having to pay compensation due to the present of uncontrolled foliage in the vicinity of the crossing yet they now claim they have no records of same. SteamRanger has sought active level crossing protection in accordance with stated policy however we have been told that the crossing will remain as a passive give way sign and despite our request for a copy of their risk assessment the request has been totally ignored making a total mockery of risk based needs under the rail safety act.

Train Services
The additional Wednesday Cockle Train service introduced last October continues to increase in patronage albeit slowly with the majority of tickets sold being to senior card holders We are looking at trying to gain further group travel on these trains as Wednesdays appear to be popular days for bus groups into Victor Harbor. The Brill railcar is also a popular attraction on these days with many comments “we used to go to school or we used to go to our grandparents during holidays on these and they’re still rough to ride in”

Overall our Sunday Cockle Train patronage levels have been maintained although we have increased the number of services to provide for an earlier departure from Victor Harbor. This has resulted in an increase in Victor Harbor income but at the expense of our Goolwa income. A need to have the service reversed but unfortunately whales take precedence in the goods shed at Victor Harbor where a railcar could be stabled for the benefit of SteamRanger. SteamRanger provided additional trains on Sunday 5th July in conjunction with the Victor Harbor Whale Watch event however although the event was well patronised SteamRanger gained little income from it but did gain considerable recognition from the Victor Harbor Council

On Sunday 2 August loco 958 was shut down at Victor Harbor to change a feed valve on the loco. This was achieved in minutes but then the start button was pushed nothing happened. Numerous attempts were made to restart the loco but to no avail. Relief was sought and loco 507 came to the rescue to haul the consist as far as Goolwa Depot where 958 and some cars were detached before 6507 tackled the grades with the remainder. The fault was tracked to contact problems and repairs made but when the loco was again started for the Wednesday Cockle Train it refused to go backwards. More searching and again contactor problems which were rectified but only after railcar 60 came to the reuse for the Cockle Train,. 507 worked the Highlander to Strathalbyn on 9th August and then ran light loco to Goolwa Depot to change over with 958 which returned to its home depot of Mt. Barker

Promotions

We are in the planning stages of a “Fleurieu Railfest 2010” to be held on the weekend of 29 30 May and based around Goolwa and Victor Harbor. WE have the support of both the Alexandrina and Victor Harbor councils in this event as they are looking for attractions in the area for the quieter times of the year.

Following further discussions with Des Egan and Pichi Richi a decision has been made not to be part of the Royal Adelaide show as it is considered better value can be obtained from spending the funds elsewhere as well as problems in obtaining volunteers to staff the stand.

Emergency Exercise

For some time we have been planning an emergency exercise in conjunction with the police and SES based on an perceived incident at Native Avenue with the Southern Encounter. A number of planni9ng meetings have been held and Allan McDougall Training officer for the SES has agreed to facilitate the exercise which will be held on 23rd September. It has come to light that the police have changed their districts of recent times and now Mt. Barker covers this area.

STEAMTOWN HERITAGE RAIL CENTRE

Redevelopment

The focus of all activities is now towards the official opening on 29th November, 2009.

The new entrance building is almost complete and the preparation of the bituminised car park is well under way. The new theatrette is quite stunning, particularly when one considers that it was previously the old battery room and men’s toilet.

Development of the interpretive panels and interactive displays is proceeding.

Track conversion to narrow gauge needs to be completed to allow the effective display of some of the recently renovated special purpose vehicles such as an employee sleeping van and an ablutions van.

Planning for the official opening is progressing and an exciting program is being built.

Visitor numbers

July 2009 was a record July and was only a few short of being an all time record month. Undoubtedly, the number of people travelling to see Lake Eyre influenced these numbers.

August is proving to be another excellent month.

Work for the Dole

A new 6 month project has commenced. This will be Steamtown’s third such project. The previous two projects were very successful and it is hoped that this one will be productive. The secret seems to be having a paid supervisor. Although productivity is below normal commercial standards, these projects enable work to be done that would not be achieved by usual resources.

Ian Milne
25/8/09