March 2008#416
March 2008
#416
Please note: These pages are provided by me, Bill Russell as a service to the Puffing Billy Railway & the E.T.R.B.
If you find a problem with them please contact me first. No other person has the ability to alter these pages.
If you want to be notified when Monthly News changes, send me an e-mail. My e-mail address is bill.russell@optusnet.com.au .
The Board is keen to improve both the housing and the recording of our historical collection. Museums describe this as "Collections Management" and it is generally under the direction of a Curator. The Board in conjunction with the Society are instituting steps to firstly, record the location of our dispersed collection, second, to institute formal recording systems and thirdly to investigate ways of storing the collection under the Railway's direct control with a responsible officer nominated.
Our former Business Development Manager, John Andrea passed away on Sunday January 27th following a battle with cancer.
Many of John's Puffing Billy friends, his family and friends farewelled him on Friday February 1st. Our thoughts are with wife Rosemary and family at this sad time.
A critical part of our train operations are radios - if you select one and it doesn't work as it should don't simply put it back; report it (fill out an IDR), then we can get it fixed.
Whilst on the subject of radios, train crews are reminded that radios form a critical part of your role and they are particularly useful when shunting - carry one.
A very small number of Guards are making it hard for our statistician Bob Wilson to do his job accurately. These statistics also form the basis of data sent to PTS Victoria.
Please ensure you fill out all sections in particular loco details, [attached and detached if applicable] docking and arrival times, vehicle details [including those dropped off and picked up] etc.
| Peter Hiscock Chairman ETRB | Eamonn Seddonn CEO | John Thompson President PBPS |
Eamonn &Linda would like to say thankyou for all the best wishes received following the birth of their beautiful daughter Carys Patricia on the 30th January. For the ladies, the baby weighed in at 6lbs, 14 oz. (Now if you don't know what that is in grams, tough - this is an 'non-metric' railway. Ed.)
Eamonn
A big thank you to all those volunteers who helped run the 'Welcome Back 7A' tour on January 12th. About 90 passengers travelled from Belgrave to Gembrook aboard a 'Mixed' train, and a great night was had by all. The trip raised about $2,500 for the Climax Fund and also received exposure on Radio 3AW's "Overnighters" program, as presenter Keith McGowan and friends joined us for the trip.
Nick Anchen
Help is needed for the Railways stall at the Model Railway Exhibition, 8th - 10th March 2008 at Sandown Racecourse.
Please see the additional notice in the Special Events Branch section for further information.
It's that time of the year again where we are running some more First Aid Courses. For those of you who are due to update your qualifications please watch this space - and we will inform you all of the details in due course - please keep in mind Mid-May.
Di Gadsden
A lady in NSW has contacted the Society and wishes to sell 2 beautifully presented railway books published by the NSW Rail Transport Museum in 1991. The books were written by Ken Groves who was a retired engineman. The railway books are very detailed and have many wonderful photos and also copies of paintings in them. The books (title unknown by us) are from a limited print run and were originally on sale for $1500-00 several years ago. The current owner wishes to sell them for $500-00 each and our Society would receive a donation of 10% from the sales. If anyone is interested you can contact her for further details.
Larry James
An elderly PBPS member of 46 years has recently retired from driving, is now selling his beloved 1983 Toyota Corona and is offering PB people first opportunity to purchase it. Genuinely 'one-owner' since purchased new, the car has been carefully driven, regularly serviced and has less than 97,000 km on the clock. The blue-grey interior is immaculate, radio and air-con installed, good tyres, only minor body faults to the silver exterior. Registered until late September 2008. R.W.C. Price $1,950 negotiable.
Enquiries: call John Thompson
Fire Season is well and truly underway, with the likelihood of this Season extending into April (subject to weather). This season has proved arduous for our Roster Clerk, Andrew Burns, to fill vacancies on the Roster, especially with respect to Trolley Drivers.
The efforts of all Trolley Drivers (and Assistants) who actively participate during the Season is greatly appreciated by the Railway, no matter how many or few days you give. However, we have a number of people qualified as Trolley Drivers who have not driven a Trolley for some time - in some cases a number of years. This raises a couple areas that need addressing:
Over the next couple of weeks we will be overhauling our Register of Drivers looking at the question of re-qualification. If you have not driven a Trolley this season or in recent years but would like to regain your qualification, you will need to contact Andrew Burns by the end of February at the latest to make arrangements to this effect. Otherwise, should Andrew not hear from you it will be assumed you no longer wish to participate as a Trolley Driver with your qualification being withdrawn. As a result, your 'W' key (issued when you originally qualified) will be required to be returned to the Railway.
Andrew's contact details are in the 'Contacts' section at the end of Monthly News.
Thank you again to all for your co-operation.
Bob Fullager &Colin Mason
Trolley Driver Trainers
Puffing Billy Railway will be participating in the Model Railway Exhibition taking place during the Victorian Labour Day Long Weekend at Sandown Racecourse. Along with a Puffing Billy Railway information stand, our CEO, Eamonn Seddon will be displaying his award winning model railway. To ensure Puffing Billy is well represented, we are seeking volunteers to assist onsite. Should you be interested, please contact Sue Ham on email sue.ham@pbr.org.au.
This event is organised by Model Railways of Australia and is a fundraiser for Southern Health and the Dandenong Hospital. Entry fee for the general public is: Adults - $5.00 and Children (under 16 years) - $3.00. This will be a great day out for all the family, so if you know anyone who is interested in model railways (or even if they're not!) please encourage them to attend. Opening hours are Saturday 10am - 6pm, Sunday 10am - 5pm and Monday 10am - 4pm.
With Eamonn now settling into his new role as CEO, we were able to tap into his staging and theatrical knowledge and enhance the 'Thomas' experience for our patrons.
We are keen to hear what you think about the changes, so if you haven't volunteered for a Thomas show lately, please reconsider and come along. Dan O'Connor has been appointed as the 2008 Thomas Coordinator, so please contact Dan direct on email at danann3@bigpond.net.au. The remaining dates for the Autumn season of 'Thomas' are Saturday 15th &Sunday 16th March and in April on Saturday 12th &Sunday 13th and Saturday 19th &Sunday 20th.
Thanks to those people who have volunteered their services to assist in the Great Train Race. As I mentioned last month, it takes over 300 volunteers to make this event run successfully, so if you have a family member or friend who is happy to volunteer for the day, please invite them to join you and we will arrange the relevant paperwork! Please contact Bill Russell on email him at bill.russell@optusnet.net.au to confirm your availability.
Further to the notice placed in the previous editions of Monthly News, I am pleased to advise that Dan O'Connor has been appointed as the 2008 Great Train Race Coordinator.
Nadine Hutchins,
Special Events Manager
We will be offering a training day for conductors on Saturday 1st March at the Belgrave Library meeting room. The course will be delivered by Keith Trace and will start at 9.00 am.
Please call me or email jean.clowes@pbr.org.au if you are interested, would like more information or would like to attend.
Jean Clowes
Wishing you all a very Happy Easter. (Yes, it is that time of year again.)
It is also Thomas time again and if you are able to spare some time to work at Emerald, it would be much appreciated.
Dates for Thomas in March: 1st &2nd and 15th &16th.
Dates for Thomas in April: 12th &13th and 19th &20th.
Could you please call April, Thank you.
April Williams
Once again I must request that Guards complete the Train Running Statements in better detail. There are a few who are not filling in the TR and 'Dock by' times as well as leaving consist details and loco numbers off. (As well as Driver & Fireman names etc.) You might not think this information is of use but it is used to work out the timings for the loco exams, as these are all mileage based, as well as other information that we must send to the Public Transport Safety people on a monthly basis. Bob Wilson reviews all the train running statements and has highlighted a few since December with some of the information not filled in, or even on one, completely wrong information. This does make Bob's job much, much harder and I would ask that you all try and ensure that you have filled the train running statements in correctly.
Rob Emmerson
Firstly there will be NO transfer of display exhibits to Emerald as proposed a while ago and the present site is our home for the near future.
The ETRB has sought funds from the State Government and other sources to try to get the asbestos removed from our steam engines. In the meantime, while we are not able to open to the public we have been working on those exhibits that do not have asbestos on them. The RMP is complete now and so is steam engine No.4 and both are operational. The cost of removal of the asbestos from around the boilers is great and the request for funding takes into account the re-cladding of the engines after the asbestos is removed.
We had a BBQ, with the CEO present, in January and among the various things discussed was the need to put a third rail in the Museum access track to allow us to run and display the 2' engines as well as the 2'6" exhibits such as the trolleys and the TACL. It is thought that we can solve the problem of the 2' track crossing the 2'6" track by using stub points and this will simplify the track design.
A number of 2'6" vehicles have been transferred into the museum from Emerald. These include a NU, the pulp-wood truck and water tanker. The last two units need a coat of paint as soon as we can arrange it. Also 129Q is to take up residence in the location previously occupied by V9. (Emerald is to see considerable changes for Thomas Shows)
Work is taking place on the TACL with Stan working hard on the transmission. Ever since it arrived at the Museum it has been difficult to change gears and the work taking place is to prevent a major engine malfunction.
The George and George boiler is being repaired and the RAN has brought up their portable boiler as well to restore it at Menzies Creek and to display in the Museum initially. The teams that the RAN has been sending up to us from HMAS Cerberus have been most valuable in 2007 and they will continue in 2008.
Work on the Malcolm Moore is continuing and Stan Gunn has almost completed the bearings which will allow the placing of the new wheel set in the unit. The manufacture of the bearings is most tricky and it has needed all of Stan's skills as things like this can not be obtained off the shelf. Other work is being done by the Wednesday night team.
We have explored the possibility of erecting a new entrance & display building opposite the toilets. It is proposed that this building will be 20' wide by 65' long and will contain a kiosk, a crew room and adequate display space. It is also proposed that part of this building will house the railway's ticket printing machines. We need to have the building designed and then obtain prices for construction. We anticipate using the funds from the sale of the ABT to build the display centre. It will be in modular form to allow us to go as far as the funds permit.
The new DH engines, which the railway has purchased, will be stored temporarily in the Museum compound pending transfer to Belgrave to allow work to commence on them.
John Frost
Wednesday Night Work Parties. Work now focussing on the Climax restoration.
Hugh Markwick
| January | 2008 | 2007 |
| On-time running (OT - 5") | 34% | 49% |
| Locos docked on trains by due time | 69% | 69% |
| Carriage sets docked by due time | 49% | 65% |
| Train kilometres for the month | 4,604 | 4,615 |
| Loco kilometres - steam | 4,329 | 4,395 |
| Loco kilometres - diesel | 447 | 386 |
| NA locomotive days for month | 72 | 67 |
| G 42 days for month | 26 | 28 |
| Carriage kilometres | 45,488 | 45,250 |
| Carriage Days for month | 1,103 | 1,084 |
| Highest kms operated - loco | 1,313 | 1,292 |
| Highest kms operated - pass vehicle | 1,633 | 1,658 |
| Highest kms operated - wagon | 23* | 27* |
| Scheduled trips run (one way) | 302 | 304 |
| Revenue trips (one way) | 306 | 316 |
| Non-revenue trips (one way) | 8 | 2 |
* Excludes 21NQR which ran passenger carrying trips of 558 kms in Jan 2008 and 743 kms in Jan 2007.
Mon 21/1 - D21 transferred 26 & 103 NQ's & 6NC from Emerald to the Menzies Creek Museum.
Thurs 24/1 - Van 2NC was transferred from Emerald to Belgrave after receiving a new underframe and other repairs. It last ran in service on 20 May 2006.
Bob Wilson
The next opening will be on Saturday 1st March between 1pm and 3pm. Selling pre loved books, magazines, videos, DVDs and memorabilia. The shop is located behind the Emerald Car Shops in the Thomson Building facing the play ground. Other times can be arranged by ringing Peter. Our next openings will be on Saturday 5th April and Saturday 3rd May.
We would like to thank Mike Clarke, Weston Langford, Bruce West and anyone else who may have been missed, for their recent donations to the shop which "Keeps G42 Going".
The donations from our Red collection box for January was $49.95. Thank you to all who continue to support our efforts to Keep G42 Going
Bruce West
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Updated Monthly. Contents © 2006 by the P.B.P.S. for the E.T.R.B. This service is provided for the Emerald Tourist Railway Board and maintained by Bill Russell. URI: http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/puffing.billy/monnews.htm |
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