Saturday 26/12/2009
The day after Christmas, so not surprisingly most of our regulars were off with family commitments. Never the less, a lot was managed to be accomplished given the work force. The morning consisted of moving the Y engine to the other end of the yard, because, now that X10 is accessible, we decided it was overdue to be started.
After the usual checks were made, the jumper lead was plugged in, the Y loco put into high revs, and X10's key was pulled into "Start". Without missing a beat, the oil priming pump kicked in, made pressure, and the engine rolled over and started without any major dramas.
A lot of smoke was noticed coming from the engine bay, and a noise on one cylinder, but was quickly found to be a missing exhaust manifold plug and gasket.
A check of other systems found a broken air pipe, a leaky vacuum pipe, and a couple of blown marker lights. To be made serviceable, it still needs it's wheels machining, and new brake bushes machining, as well as a cab rebuild (X30's the same) like X18 is getting.
For the Afternoon, ACS4 had it's spring hangers re-installed and tensioned. Late afternoon, it was deemed moveable again. (The first time since 2005.) So no time was wasted starting the U engine and moving the ACS into the shed.
This puts all the passenger stock and guards vans undercover, and for the first time since 1993, the carriage road is no longer the carriage road. (We don't yet have a name for it yet!) The two roads inside the new shed are the new carriage roads ( No.1 and No.2 (south to north)).
Saturday 19/12/2009
Today was a highly productive day.
The iron on western end of the carriage shed was screwed down and trimmed to length. A few sleepers on carriage road 1 were replaced near the gate.
The remaining gutter brackets were installed, although to get at the final few, ACS3 was needed to be moved.
So, while The U engine was started it was decided to do some additional shunting and put some rolling stock in positions where they wont need to be moved. Firstly the V and two A wagons were put through and out the end of carriage road 1.
Then Acs 3 was moved into new shed. This required two locos as access to the main line ( to run around the carriage) requires prior arrangement and permission with the R.M.U.
Finally the SF, EEE, and QJ were moved into the old carriage road freeing up the civil road. This road was quickly reutilised, as was intended, for civil equipment (gang motors/ trailers/ track machine).
During the day the ABL was scrapped some more.
After starting troubles with the Y engine last week, we swapped some of Y2's batteries with some 2nd hand serviceable batteries pulled from X30. The Y has always has a mixed set, being 4 volts short of target because two batteries (normally 8 volts) were the older 6 volt Exide type.
Saturday 12/12/2009
We started installing gutter brackets but wind made progress slow, and a lack of screws made for an early finish.
More ABL scraping as usual.
More installation of spring hangers, but we were unfortunately short by two, so we were unable to complete the job.
Additionally, some more painting was completed on the roof of ACS2
Saturday 5/12/2009
This weekend saw the usual ABL scraping. The spacers for gutter brackets were installed.
Meanwhile, a crew started putting 2nd hand spring hangers back into ACS4 to allow it to be moved into the new shed. They managed to complete one bogie leaving only one to go. The center bogie being still in one piece.
Saturday 28/11/2009
Weather again prevented us from lengthy periods of outside work, so most of the day was spent re-aligning The No.1 carriage road to address our tight clearance issue. The dip in the track at the gate was lifted, packed and moved over to improve the distance between marker lights and the shed frame. This led to the gates being too low to clear the rail head, so the gates were lifted to a suitable clearance height as well.
Saturday 21/11/2009
Today the weather managed to hold off all day, allowing us to attach the guttering on southern side and cut spacers in readiness for doing the northern side.
Geoff and John spent the day moving rail, signal masts, and clearing the gutter and surrounding area. The Signal masts have large heavy base plates which made them difficult to move, and so they had to be winched over the coal road to be stacked neatly on the other side. All together there was seven lattice type signals one of which was a former double arm junction signal at Derwent park.
Some of the old fence posts requiring to be moved, got dragged from one end of the gutter to the other, and the still attached cement base was used as a plough to scrape the gutter from the base.
The ABL scraping continued as normal has now had about three quarters of the old paint removed.
Saturday 14/11/2009
Today saw the usual work being performed on the ABL- scraping paint off more panels. The ABL has also had it's handrail stanchions sent off to Hobart plating co. to be re-chromed and have been returned looking like they're brand new.
We also started work on the guttering for the new shed. All the brackets were fitting with the appropriate fall to each downpipe location. (southern side only)
Mr Lidster found some spare time to work on his motor which had only been started only been started once when first purchased many years ago. Back then it ran poorly and was found to have a bent valve. Since that time it had seized up and he freed up both new motors by removing the spark plugs and pouring a little diesel into the cylinders, then standing on the crank handle until the engine started to turn freely.
Late afternoon called for a little impromptu shunting. We decided that "now the roof is finished, we might as well be using it"; so we managed to move the two guards vans and the ABL into carriage road 2. on top of ACS2. This was an unexpected surprise, as the second road wasn't anticipated to have this much capacity.
John and Geoff spent all day moving rail and signal masts from up around the top end of the yard in preparation for grass cutting.
During the week the Rail management unit (R.M.U) cut all the grass outside the yard between the two crossings at the end of our yard. Lyndon and John have also been working of the area within the yard during the week and also of some Sundays.
Saturday 7/11/2009
The morning got off to a start with a bit of light shunting,- moving ACS2 and the ABL to the very end of the shed, on their respective roads.
Late morning saw the arrival of two private gangmotors finding a new home in the (now alarmed) gang shed. Members L.Hewitt and D.Lidster both showed up with their motors on trailers. Mr Lidster's motor was returning after a leave of absence, and Mr Hewitt's motor was freshly purchased from A well known west-coast historian. This motor was purchased from the railways in 1986 and was the gangmotor that was located in the Macquarie plains gangshed.
The ABL got some more paint striped until lunch time, when we found enough bodies to finish off the last few sheets of the new shed. By the time we finished and packed up, it was getting close to 1800 and a few members decided to camp at the Westerway station, for drinks and supper.
Saturday 31/10/2009
Despite forecasts to the contrary, the weather turned out beautiful, and we managed to get the shed roof down to the final three bays. This should (weather permitting) be finalised next weekend.
Before and after the roofing process, any spare hands were put to use cutting the grass which has grown like mad since the recent rains. This is going to be a major job in the next couple of weeks.
Saturday 24/10/2009
On arrival this morning, it was decided today was going to be unsuitable for roofing again due to wind and rain, so the available crew was dispersed throughout other projects.
The ABL had a few more panels striped and the X and PVH also received attention. The X had the batteries removed by the patient lifter, which has been converted specifically for the task. These were removed so the battery box floors can be repaired.
The PVH has had the damaged cables removed with a rope and electric hoist to clean out the conduit. At some stage in it life, the conduit had gotten oil and diesel inside it which has eaten into the insulation, and this has been the main problem stopping the PVH from starting. Once startable, it can be put back together and taken out of the shed to provide room for more important projects.
Saturday 17/10/2009
More roofing was completed during the morning, but early afternoon saw the breeze pick up to unsafe standards which forced us to abandon the job for the day.
The remainder of the day was spent tackling various jobs, such as; more striping of the ABL's paint, (a much nicer job now that it can be done undercover,) dismantling of the rotten garden seats to retrieve the useable bolts, and repairs the fence that had previously been damaged by an unknown driver and a recent wind storm.
The repairs to the fence have been started over a few weekdays. All the damaged sections were robbed of their pickets and these were re-used on the new section, which had short lengths of rail installed as the new posts.
Saturday 10/10/2009
Not much to report this weekend, Other than we had quite a good turn out, and managed to complete the roofing to the halfway mark.
Saturday 3/10/2009
By the end of today, we'd completed 4 bays of roofing on the new carriage shed. We developed a system of pre-cutting the Sisalation and chicken wire to correct length so it could be hoisted onto the roof and layed as soon as required.
Enough bodies were on deck to form two crews one for each side of the roof peak, which allowed us to double the pace we'd have had with only one man on the roof. The Sisalation is taped at one end, held tight at the other, and then a sheet of roofing iron is layed to prevent breeze from making it chaotic
Saturday 26/9/2009
Today All works were concentrated on the final stage - Roofing! The remaining packs of roofing iron were loaded back on the wagons. They'd been removed previously to allow access to the wall sheeting stacked underneath.
The first half of the day was occupied discussing the most efficient way of achieving the desired goal, and performing a short shunt to allow access for scaffolding. This involved rearranging a couple of carriages, which were moved inside to christen the new shed. The ABL was put in the walled side of the shed and ACS2 opposite. The ABL was found to be quite tight going in. The marker lights cleared with only an inch to spare. At some stage, the track will need to be re-aligned to accommodate wider vehicles such as the guards vans.
Roofing work commenced from the eastern end of the yard. The ends of the iron have to be bent upwards between the ridges so when the ridge capping goes on, no rain can get blown back up the roof, under the ridge capping, and inside the shed.
Chicken wire is wired in place first, followed by a layer of Sisalation, which is taped to the previous sheet, and held tight to keep straight, and to avoid it blowing around in the breeze. Next, a sheet of iron is aligned at the correct overhang for the gutters and screwed in place through the ridges.
The first couple of sheets were done from the work platform, but once a sizeable area had been sheeted, some lighter members were able to secure themselves on top of the roof and screw the sheets off from the top as they were placed in position. The final step is the ridge capping which has to be fitted once a sufficient length of roofing has been completed for a full length to be screwed down.
Saturday 20/9/2009
A couple of members made the trip to New Norfolk for a two day weekend. Various jobs were carried out, including washing the ABL and the Y loco. James brought his own karcher and spent the afternoon spraying them down. Some of the paint on the ABL started to lift, so James has taken on the job of stripping it back ready for repainting.
John continued on with the task of lawn mowing and finished off the remainder from the previous day.
Meanwhile the ballast hopper that has been out of action for years with bearing troubles, had the final bearings scraped in, the bogies axleboxes filled with pre-soaked wadding and topped up with clean oil. Once completed, the wagon was jacked up, the stand removed and the repaired bogie reinserted under the wagon with plenty of grease in the centre casting. The wagon was slowly lowered back onto its wheels and the bogie pin put in place.
The hopper doors had their mechanisms cleaned, lubricated and freed up. Some of the pins holding the doors to the wagon were very tight and needed quite a lot of working back and forth with plenty of oil.
Saturday 19/9/2009
This week the final 6 bays of the wall were completed and all remaining bracing installed, tightened and screwed off in the centers against the roof purlings. With all these jobs completed, all attention can be focused on roofing.
Some spare hands took some initiative and mowed a large portion of the lawns around the station. The grass has been quite aggressive with the recent rains, which has made it difficult to keep under control, but it seems to be managed by the same dedicated few, for which we are all grateful.
Saturday 12/9/2009
Today 7 more bays were clad, nearly doubling the amount done the previous week, and leaving only 6 to go. For many of the sheets to be installed at the correct height, some digging (Jack hammering,) of the cement and dirt was necessary to make enough room at bottom and stop the sheets sitting high.
Additionally, 3 bays were braced in the roof sections, and it's anticipated that some roofing iron will start to be installed next weekend. This bracing helped straightened both ends and much of the portals in-between, giving the shed a much straighter and stable appearance.
Even with all these jobs, there were still spare hands on deck available to go around and double check every joint on every portal for tightness of all bolts, ensuring that none had been missed, or left out.
Saturday 5/9/2009
We've finally been able to make a start on the cladding of the out side walls, with 4 bays being completed. Elsewhere, the portals were straightened with as much force being utilized as the ever useful landcruiser, winch, and snatch block. Again this involved unscrewing and realigning of the purlings in the remaining areas.
Saturday 29/8/2009
Unfortunately we had another weekend of rain so we were all sentenced to indoor work. Even though the shed work was halted again for another week, there is always something to do. Work consisted of tidying up the compressor shed and the loco. shed, as well as some painting prep work on X18.
During the tidy up, the storage batteries donated by the Hydro, were moved next to PVH21, so that in spare time (or rainy weather) it may be possible to start it, providing a spare high current contactor can be resurrected, and utilized for the job.
The compressor shed is getting closer to being functional now, and all the spare fittings have been sorted and stacked on some donated shelving acquired by our carpenter.
Saturday 22/8/2009
Straightening and aligning of shed was undertaken today. This involved unscrewing and retightening of many purlings in various sections though out the shed.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the depot, James applied a protective coating of penetrants and lubricants to H5 prior to reassembly.
It was anticipated to start cladding today, but due to low gas in the forklift, it was decided it would be safer not to, just in case the fork ran out of gas with a load in the air. We currently have no way of getting more on a Saturday, so we'll have to endeavour to ensure gas is plentiful in the future.
Saturday 15/8/2009
Today progress was hindered by adverse weather, so a tidy up of our storage areas was undertaken, to make space for a donated 600HP diesel caterpillar engine which is hoped to be eventually fitted to our "V" engine shell
Years ago when this loco was saved from the salt air at Margate, It was only ever envisioned to be a static exhibit; prettied up with an interpretive display, but now, it's future is looking a bit brighter, and may eventually become an operating locomotive once more, being used for yard shunting and/or short haul passenger trips to plenty.
Saturday 8/8/2009
Well this weeks efforts commenced early, with at least half a dozen members on site at times not seen since our former operating days.
The shed has reached full length and the Five remaining portals have been erected, as well as all the remaining girts and most of the purlings. Work can now commence on cladding the side wall and finish squaring up the main structure which has moved in recent strong winds. Once straightened, the remaining bracing straps and rods will be installed, leaving only the roofing iron to be finished.
Saturday 1/8/2009
The current situation keeps on progressing, in the sense that all attention is being directed towards shed construction.
Another 3 portals were installed, (despite the heavy intermittent wind and rain,) and all the purlings and girts for the sections already raised, were installed, giving us a fresh start on the remaining portals.
Due to their size, many hands are needed to position, raise and secure them in place, a task that often takes workers off other jobs, Such as levelling the base brackets and installing purlings.
Saturday 25/7/2009
Work on the new shed is progressing very nicely. This week an additional four portals were erected, as well as all the roof purlings and wall purlings as well.
Two more top girts were added as work progressed and the whole process is getting quicker as everyone now knows what has to be done in what order. Additionally, everything is being measured and marked BEFORE being installed and this has significantly improved accuracy.
The forklift has been performing faultlessly, and is quite a credit to its operators. Access to the higher level required for purling work is provided by a "man cage", attachment which has been borrowed each weekend from the employer of one of our members. Without which, this project would be impossible.
Saturday 18/7/2009
Now that all the ground work, straightening and levelling has been completed, the task of lengthening the shed has been given the green light.
Three more portals were stood up this week, and everything is straightened and levelled as it is built. As each new portal goes up, another team is busy installing the purlings and so everything is developing an even flow. Bracing of the initial bays was begun for extra strength.
Saturday 11/7/2009
All other projects currently underway have taken the sideline to allow quicker erection of the shed. This weekend was spent straightening and levelling the first bays already built. The first bays are critical for a shed this long. A minor variation now could mean a big difference by the time it reaches 68m long!
The bolt cages have been fitted with extra "levelling" nuts to allow for variations in the ground. These nuts sit underneath the brackets and are screwed up or down until all brackets are at the same height. Installation of the top two girts really helped to strengthen the existing structure as well as the rest of the roof purlings for this section. Another late finish.
Saturday 4/7/2009
Construction of the shed began today. After some trial and error and much discussion, the first portal was erected and secured upright with load binders before lunch.
In the afternoon, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th portals followed. Work commenced on two top purlings to help hold everything together and everything was secure by the time we called it a day at sunset, eventually tracking down everyones tools after dark.
Saturday 27/6/2009
Finally a weekend with no rain! The siding was cleared of wagons early in the morning by the U engine and crew allowing the concrete for the new shed to be poured. As some holes weren't hand dug, and turned out oversize, more concrete was needed than anticipated, but will also serve for more stable footings if the space between the two sheds ever gets filled in with a roof.
work on the machine tools progressed. The drill press now having being dismantled and moved to the side wall near the switchboard, and a plinth boxed up for a more level concrete base to be poured. before reassembly.
The power hacksaw was also dismantled for inspection prior to machining of new bushes, to replace the old badly worn ones. upon close inspection, it is yet to be determined whether this unit is a viable candidate for restoration.
The afternoon was spent performing initial assembly of the shed frames, and work on reviving the forklift. It is hoped to commence construction the following week
Saturday 20/6/2009
With the recent railway crisis in the media, a TV crew was sent to the yard for a bit of a good news story, re-enforced by some encouraging words by our president
X18 received more attention, and ever time you look at it, it becomes more and more complete.
All spare bodies put their efforts into tiding up the loco shed, for better access for visitors and also to give us room down one side to set up some machine tools, like our drill-presses and power hacksaw. The hacksaw was moved into position, clearing up it's previous location.
The power was connected to the gang shed in the form of a single power point and one centre light. While the opportunity allowed, another alarm sector was added to the gang shed, once again increasing our secure storage space.
Meanwhile elsewhere, a 2nd start/stop station for the air comp. was constructed installed and wired into the loco. shed. Some mesh was also sourced to finish the guard on the compressor and bring it up to standard.
Saturday 13/6/2009
The sandblaster has had new gloves sourced and installed, a new mesh installed to filter the garnet, 50 kg of garnet poured in, the hoses renewed and the gun dismantled and cleaned, making this unit effectively operational. Some final bracketing was also carried out on the air line
The setting up of caged-shed support frames was completed and the constant rain is all that's stopping us from pouring the concrete now.
Saturday 6/6/2009
The setting up of caged-shed support frames was continued and very close to completed. Rain has been a constant battle slowing down this very time sensitive task.
Another trench was dug, given the easy digging nature of the ashy soil around the gang shed area, between the comp. shed and the gang shed. As the trench was quite short (4-5M), it was able to be dug, have the cables installed and filled back in all within the same day. the X engine received the usual attention, and Mathew continued working long after everyone else had left the yard area.
Some of our members decided on an evening at the old Westerway railway station, reminiscing, and talking of past, present, and future, all in the ambience of an open fire and a candle-lit room. This station, is the oldest surviving station on the Derwent Valley line, and is due to turn 100 late this year.
Saturday 30/5/2009
With quite a few members away for various reasons, the day was spent finishing up odd jobs that needed finishing. More work progressed installing the cage frames for the shed footings. This work was assisted by a small furry offsider on four legs named Victor.
The new forklift is currently out of action. It seems the engine bay had been pressure cleaned before delivery and water had penetrated the distributor, causing it to rust up.
The remaining rail outside the yard was moved with the Toyota shunting locomotive and neatly positioned into stacks at the back of the yard.
After wiring up holes in the fence caused by vandalism last weekend, another two were cut; one in our fence, and one into the hydro yard next door. Needless to say, electrical fittings were found strewn from one hole to the other.
All the dirt moved from last weekend was levelled by our resident, expert shoveler, Aaron
Saturday 23/5/2009
Today was a day filled with a wide variety of activities. The X engine is still progressing, and received attention all day.
The holes were checked for correct depth, and any irregularities were adjusted; while at the same time the temporary frames for the stud cages were started to be setup in preparation for the concrete.
In the afternoon, a few volunteers started de-rusting and black-oiling the bare boilers of M1 and H5, while elsewhere work continued on the reticulated air system. This involved extra outlets and a few more lengths of pipe down the northern wall.
In readiness for the commissioning on the new air system, the sandblasting unit was rewired and parts are being sourced to complete the overhaul of this unit
After the recent track work on the carriage siding, it was noted that the new level on the track machine was out of calibration. This has been rectified in readiness for the hiring by VEC contracting.
Saturday 9/5/2009
During this week, the Auger machine was brought in, and all the remaining holes were dug. Our task was to remove all the excess dirt and clay, made more difficult by rain, which doubled the weight to be moved by the digging crew. All this remaining clay and dirt was loaded into James's trailer and unloaded beside the Loco. shed, where it will be spread out to fill in the dip, once it has dried out.
Saturday 9/5/2009
During the week, more consultation with the auger-donor, concluded with the realisation that all the rest of the fence-side holes would have to be hand dug as well. This was carried out by many hands shovelling into the tipper, which, when full was towed away for unloading by the track machine.
The track into this siding (carriage road No.1), was found to be in need of attention, so, with the track machine already being active, we replaced 3 sleepers as well as lifting the dip out of the track and packing ballast underneath to level it up to the rest of the siding.
Saturday 2/5/2009
For the construction of our new shed, 36 holes need to be dug for the concrete supports One of our sponsors, kindly donated the use of a large auger to remove a large portion of labour form the project. Unfortunately some holes close to existing fence posts, still have to be dug by hand to prevent the machine from damaging the existing concrete.
The offending holes were dug, and the dirt used for fill to start building a crossing over the coal road siding, to allow better access to the rear of the yard.
Saturday 25/4/2009
The new carriage shed materials arrived Friday 24/4 and unloaded at the rear of our yard. Saturday was spent loading the materials onto flat wagons which were positioned within the carriage shed boundaries, where construction will commence. The shed footings were also marked out so the hole-boring machine can be called.
more work proceeded on our new compressor plant, and now the pipe work has been connected all the way to the refrigerated air-dryer mounted in the loco. shed.
Y2 received some attention, having it's radiator flushed, batteries filled and charged, and the engine barred over in preparation for starting. Regular starting of engines helps keep them running smoothly for when they are actually needed.
Saturday 18/4/2009
Preparations began for the new carriage shed, assisted greatly by one of our younger members, who is a 2nd yr apprentice builder. By sundown the overall measurements were setup in place, and squared up against each other, ready for marking out of some of the more finer details. This area was tidied up by removing all stray timber and loose grass.
work on MA1 progressed, and all remaining loose rust was removed and the whole boiler black-oiled to assist preservation by preventing further rusting and helping to free up bolts when it comes time to restore this locomotive.
X18 is progressing as usual and it is anticipated that all external repairs on the cab will be finalised soon.
Saturday 11/4/2009
Our hydraulic sleeper replacement machine got the final coat of paint to complete it's major overhaul which involved:
- new bearings for the rear axle
- a complete rebuild of the front drive motor
- new drive chain and sprocket
- new oil gauge
- re-welding of the hydraulic tank baffle
- new hydraulic fluid
- making electrics tamperproof
- installing an hour meter
- new air horns
- repaint in "CAT-yellow" paint, generously donated by "Adam Williams"
- a full service of the diesel engine
- new headlights
- new throttle cable
- returning exhaust to vertical
- new plastic front and rear windscreens
This has been a long term project which was initiated shortly after cessation of services, when inquiries were made as to the hire of this machine for use around the state by Van Ek contracting when they first won the contract to upgrade the states rail system. With rail upgrades picking up pace around the state, we were recently approached once again and it is being picked up on Tuesday to be trucked elsewhere in the state for immediate use.
Our storeroom adjoining the station building got a much needed clean out. Items belonging in storage elsewhere, were appropriately relocated, and any leftover rubbish was taken to the local tip.
Some final mowing was done around the station area before the upcoming event and the pair of "A" class 4-wheeled open wagons were given a cosmetic restoration.
The final task for Saturday was a general tidy up of the yard area where our working crew park, as well as shifting some heavier items of scrap around inside the yard, adjacent to the driveway leading into the heart of the yard.
Friday 10/4/2009
The new Norfolk station received a makeover today. A dedicated few made their way into town on their day off to assist in preparations for an upcoming event. (More details on this soon!)
The station was externally cleaned and karchered and the gardens were tended to with weeding, pruning, extending of the existing garden beds, and a new layer of pine bark to top it all off.
In between all this the yard tidy up was continued and our welder proceeded to "glue" more X engine back together.
Saturday 4/4/2009
Our Yard received the largest no. of volunteers in many years today, if not ever! A crew from the Tasmanian Transport museum arrived with about 13 members, 4 utes and 2 trailers, to remove all our old sleepers that are only good for light-up wood for steam engines. This has given us more room for member parking and is a great boost to the yard tidy-up project.
The compressor shed received more attention with additional pipe work being installed and an extra alarm sensor, which has been connected to the loco. shed alarm
An old 44 gallon drum was lit to keep the workers warm, with an unfortunate breeze picking up which threatened to smoke out the museum men.
ACS2 received usual attention with Geoff and Paul working on paintwork. (Body and roof.)
MA1, (now without cladding and lagging,) was attended by Aaron and James with some major scraping of loose rust off the outside of the barrel.
Tuesday-Thursday 31-2/4/2009
3 days of asbestos removal.
John and Damien arrived early to initiate cladding removal to expedite the removal process. "Paradigm partnership" were the contractors lucky enough to win the job and all work was carried out in a highly professional manner. Some concrete needed breaking up in the cab of MA1 to assist in the removal of some more product around the firebox, not found in the initial loco. dismantling
Saturday 28/3/2009
Early start this weekend, with yard clearing around the loco. roads between H5 and the MA, to allow forklift access. This enabled us to remove the sand boxes from these two locos, finally completing the last step in the preparation for asbestos removal.
During the afternoon, the track machine was cleaned thoroughly and painting commenced, with the donated caterpillar yellow paint.
The X engine received the usual attention including extinguishing a small fire around the handbrake wheel caused by the welding heat.
Aaron and David were kept busy all day, finishing off filling in the trench, and levelling the area beside the shed and into the loco depot. This was instrumental in getting the forklift into the loco depot without drama.
Saturday 21/3/2009
Yet another large crew made their way to new Norfolk for today's working bee. This has been a pleasant trend, with active numbers slowly growing since the sudden halt of services. Although it's pleasing that many new members have specialised skill sets, it's even more encouraging to see people wishing to help and learn new skills.
A lengthy shunt was performed, with permission by the R.M.U, to re-locate the tank / C / and the CCC wagons up the coal road siding, as well as other wagons, the red guards van and the V engine up the eastern leg of the Wye. This is to allow clear access to the siding area that will become the new carriage shed.
Mathew Daveys forklift, (which after its arrival on Thursday, has been generously allowed to live on site,) has already been highly useful rearranging piles of previously palletised spares. Mathew and Colin spent the day adding to the progress on X18s cab rebuild.
In other parts of the yard, the trench to the compressor shed was filled with power, water, air and data conduits. it has also been mostly back filled with dirt and gravel. Power has been connected, with the compressor dry run, and serviced, in preparation of getting the inspector in. This will allow us to pressurise the receiver and start placing pipe work and outlets in the shed.
Many thanks to all who have helped dig the trench over the past few weeks. This will be a most helpful piece of plant equipment that will simplify many jobs, that are both time consuming and laborious.
Saturday 28/2/2009: Summary of work.
The cladding on the shed behind the New Norfolk station was repaired, where it had been damaged by thieves who tried to steal a roll of cable.
The cable roll was recovered from an embankment a short distance away, where it had been left by the culprits, and placed in secure storage.
Elsewhere, work continued on carriage ACS 2. The day being very warm, conditions were very hot on the metal roof, which Paul Jones is preparing for a long-needed re-paint. Geoff Clayton gave the side bodywork of this carriage more attention, also in preparation for re-painting.
The large yard area means that there is a lot of grass to be mown, a task which was handled by John McDevitt.
In the locomotive shed, Matt Davey finished welding work on the frame and skin of X 18. There is still much more work to be done, but we are far more advanced than we were a few months ago.
A trench was dug in front of the western end of the locomotive shed, which will soon accommodate electricity, air, and water conduits to the compressor shed, which will soon be commissioned.
The day's work team was comprised of Damien Jarvis, Matthew Davey, Paul Jones, Derek Jones, John McDevitt, John Kingston, Aaron Parker, and Geoff Clayton.