August 2009#433
August 2009
#433
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 .
Following on from our reporting last month - our final passenger figures for 2008/2009 were 250,500. Considering the appalling circumstances in February, as well as the general economic downturn, this is a good result and I thank all of you who contributed in maintaining Puffing Billy's high visibility within the area, together with the outstanding service our customers received when they visited. Word of mouth is our biggest friend in attracting more visitors and most definitely played an important part in reaching the quarter million mark.
On the Business Plan front: We are presently doing some draft scoping works for two distinct areas - a committee has been formed and is presently looking at initial scoping for the Discovery Centre; Howard McTier is drafting together management plans for the Belgrave Master Plan. Once he has finished his initial work, documents will be posted on notice boards to give further information on our thoughts. Your comments and suggestions are requested, and are most welcome. So please look out for these notices and take part in shaping Puffing Billy's future.
Passenger timetables are currently being looked at. The overall timetable is now working well and the plan is to just do some minor tweaks to assist with better running. If you have any suggestions please drop a line to either Jean Clowes or Rob Emmerson who are co-ordinating this work.
Many of you know Wilma, who works on behalf of the Society in the administration area. She is currently unwell and not able to make her regular visit to the office. We wish her a speedy recovery and return to work.
Eamonn Seddon, CEO
The main issues for the Board last month were:
Ray Leivers
Chairman
After years of co-ordinating the Engine cleaner's rostering Allan Johnstone is taking a break.
Accordingly a vacancy exists for a roster officer to commence rostering in September.
Applications can be sent to either Allan Johnstone or Graeme Daniel
There is also a vacancy for a minute secretary for the loco operations committees. As Warren Mauseth lives at Buninyong, due to personal commitments Warren is unable to attend Locomotive Operations Meetings. Therefore is unable to continue producing minutes.
Again applications can be sent to either Graeme Daniel or Warren.
I'd personally like to acknowledge the very significant contributions both Allan and Warren have made in their respective roles
John Hoy
Operations and Engineering Manager
Puffing Billy Railway
It's that time of the year again where we are running some more First Aid Courses. There will be two Level 2 First Aid courses offered, both taking place over 2 days: One will be on Wednesdays 2sup>nd and 9 th September; the other will be on Saturdays 29 th August and 9 th September.
For those of you who are due to update your qualifications and would like to take part, please call email Chris Dixon on christine.dixon@pbr.org.au to register your interest.
Chris Dixon
It's coming around to that time of year again when 'Thomas' visits us at Emerald.
The dates for this next season are:
| October | Sat 10 th & Sun 11 th Sat 17 th & Sun 18 th Sat 24 th & Sun 25 th |
| November | Sat 7 th & Sun 8th |
Once again, all help will be gratefully accepted so if you can spare any time to help us this season please let Chris Dixon know.
You can contact her at chistine.dixon@pbr.org.au.
Thank you to the many members who have renewed their membership. We have been a little delayed in sending out the renewal packages, as Wilma Ratcliffe, the PBPS Membership Officer, is away at present. Hurry up and get well, Wilma.
Membership renewal packages which includes your travel vouchers, 2009-2010 membership card and 2009-2010 membership pin are being sent out now. The renewal package also details a range of new and modified benefits available to financial members. It is important that you carry your Membership card with you to gain access to these benefits.
For those who have not renewed as yet, it would be great if you could do so as soon as possible and preferably by August 8th, 2009. If you have misplaced your personalised Membership Renewal form and wish to receive another one, please send an e-mail to secretary@pbr.org.au, so that a replacement form can be sent.
Thank you also to the many members who have made donations to the various Society Preservation projects. Your tax-deductible receipts are included in your membership renewal package.
A sincere thankyou to everyone, who helped out at Menzies Creek during the past school holidays. A tremendous effort. We still need more volunteers to staff the shop, so if you can spend some time please either call Jon Medlin or April Williams.
Jon Medlin
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jon personally for all of his hard work and the time he has given to have Menzies operating successfully again.
Thankyou, also to all of the staff who continually support Refreshment's all year round, it is very much appreciated.
Please note, if anyone has a suggestion or idea for the Menzies Creek shop, please see either myself or Jon before you proceed. Thankyou, for your co-operation in this matter.
We now have a real coffee machine in the Belgrave shop. Most of the Refreshment staff has been Barista trained and are doing a marvellous job. Please note, only the staff that have been trained are able to use this machine and I would appreciate everyone's co-operation and patients whilst they are in training.
Due to OH&S and Health regulations, no-one other than Refreshment staff are allowed behind the counter, especially now that staff are dealing with hot liquid. This applies to all stations.
I would appeal to Station Master's on the day at Belgrave, to ensure that the door between the Station Master's office and Refreshment area at Belgrave is to be kept locked at all times as Refreshment staff, may be frothing milk and the last thing we would want, is for someone to be burnt.
Great opportunity to come and meet your new Food & Beverage Manager, David Wilson.
We will welcome any questions or concerns in either department as well as openly provide information for future plans.
Past and present volunteers are most welcome. Please bring any friends that may have an interest in becoming a volunteer in either area.
David Wilson/April Williams
The Winter in Melbourne 'buy one get one free" offer ends on the 31 st August.
Conducting staff will be delighted to know that there has been a small modification to 8NBH in how the blinds are secured. The buckles no longer need to be undone as the bottom part of the strip now has "press studs". To rollup the blinds all you need to do is pull on the bottom part of the strap which undoes the two press studs and roll up and secure in the normal manner.
I will be on leave from the 24 th August until the 28 th September. I will let all staff know who will be looking after the Station Master's and Booking Office rosters in my absence.
Regards Jean Clowes
Congratulations are in order to Brad Montgomery, James Park, Don MacWhirter and Justin Fowler who recently completed their Safeworking exams. It is hoped that you will find your new position interesting and enjoy your chosen role with the railway.
As you would have read in a recent issue of the Weekly Notice it is suggested that Guards on Trains 13/38 and 33/44 when running the Yellow Timetable, and 33/38 on the Orange Timetable should take a lamp with them and that the Guard of the last train from Lakeside should also take Tail Lamps. While the days are beginning to get longer there are times where low light after 05:00pm warrants additional safety consideration, especially when stabling your train in the Belgrave compound.
An important reminder to Guards with regards to clear and precise hand signals. It is very important your directions to the driver be clear and precise at all times. When bring your train into the platform always remember that passengers may impair the driver view of your hand signals. It is therefore very important to position your arm as high as possible above the shoulder line, if the driver cannot see your intentions clearly he will stop the train. Some people have been using a white or yellow cloth attached to their wrist by way of some elastic; this is a excellent idea and great aid to the driver.
Radio communications are an important part of the railways operations and should not be used for idle prattle. Some people tend to broadcast information irrelevant to the operation at the time; it's important to remember that while a person is making a broadcast that no other person is able to use the radio, and that someone just might have a real emergency. It is also important to remember that the person who generates a broadcast should always close a broadcast. This is a very important pointer and one that is not adhered too. Far too often when passing across information the party receiving the call will say 'OUT' indicating the conversation has been closed when in actual fact the response should have been 'OVER' in case the caller has more information. Some Guards have indicated their frustration when the receiving party comes across with 'OUT' before all the information has been transmitted.
Kevin Stanes
Roster Clerk - Guards & Signalmen.
A big heart felt thankyou to all Engine Cleaners that have worked for Puffing Billy over the years that I have been compiling the roster. I have enjoyed working with you very much.
I am handing over the Engine Cleaners roster to John Thackeray and wish him well, please give John a phone call to make his job of compiling the roster easier.
Thank you John, I will see all Engine Cleaners on the railway.
Allan Johnstone
Work on Whitelaws Bridge and Coalition Creek No. 2 Bridge was completed in late May.
Government funding has now been announced for this project and we plan to start on Monday 7 th September. The work is expected to take 6-10 days and volunteers are very welcome to take part. Transport, accommodation and meals will be provided. If you would like to take part please call John Shaw 6 after 12 th July. (I will be in Africa until then and a call will be very expensive.)
We have now replaced all 37 piles, 3 crossheads, 13 braces, 12 walers and 14 beams which had condemned. A further 10 beams have been identified as unsafe and will be replaced in September. Installing a deck and some handrails will then take 3-4 weeks and bring this 21/2 year project to a conclusion.
.John Shaw
| June | Financial Year | |||
| 2009 | 2008 | 2008/09 | 2007/08 | |
| On-time running (OT - 5") | 71% | 55% | 59% | 54% |
| Locos docked on trains by due time | 79% | 77% | 77% | 75% |
| Carriage sets docked by due time | 80% | 82% | 73% | 79% |
| Train kilometres for the month/year | 2,898 | 3,190 | 46,578 | 45,233 |
| Loco kilometres steam | 2,997 | 3,034 | 41,691 | 46,079 |
| Loco kilometres diesel | 35 | 169 | 6,574 | 2,642 |
| NA locomotive days for month/year | 71 | 61 | 865 | 742 |
| G 42 days for month/year | 0 | 12 | 77 | 294 |
| Carriage kilometres | 22,700 | 26,722 | 388,799 | 408,038 |
| Carriage Days for month/year | 589 | 729 | 9,481 | 10,558 |
| Highest kms operated - loco | 1,144 | 1,064 | 13,127 | 12,261 |
| Highest kms operated - pass vehicle | 1,431 | 1,505 | 17,670 | 18,105 |
| Highest kms operated - wagon | 16 | 68 | 243 | 591 |
| Scheduled trips run (one way) | 202 | 203 | 2,899 | 2,754 |
| Revenue trips (one way) | 231* | 228* | 3,315* | 3,170* |
| Non-revenue trips (one way) | 4 | 10 | 95 | 98 |
* Includes Driver Experience trips.
6A ran the highest kilometres for the year. (13127kms over 304 days) followed by 7A (11662kms over 275 days) and 8A (8751kms over 180 days). Diesel loco distances were DH31 (4855kms over 118 days) and D21 (1719kms over 56 days).
Peckett 1711 (Thomas) covered 63kms over 2 days (excludes yard movements at Emerald on Thomas days) and loco 861 "John Benn" ran 660kms, mostly on driver experience trips, over 29 days.
9NBH recorded the highest vehicle distance (17670kms) over 358 days. 26NAC followed with 2NBD coming third. The average length for all passenger trains throughout the year was 8 vehicles. 91 NQR recorded the highest distance for non passenger carrying vehicles (243kms) over 14 days.
4 or more steam locos were used on 61 days. 174 one way trips were operated using more than one locomotive. There were 15 total fire ban days when diesel locos only were used. Due to extreme weather conditions, diesel locos were used beyond Lakeside on many Gembrook trips over the summer period. 55 Dinner and Wedding Trains were operated as against 69 the previous year.
Bob Wilson
Come and join your colleagues and friends from Puffing Billy at this year's popular film night at Gembrook. You have the choice of travelling by steam train from Emerald or of making your own way there. As usual, cheese, biscuits and drinks will be served during the interval and there will be a collection of films shown covering a wide range of subjects including:
The booking form went out with last month's copy of Monthly News and tickets are selling well, so BOOK NOW and avoid disappointment!
Ring Jeff Goodwin for last minute bookings or if you have any questions.
Come with us as we visit our preservation colleagues at Healesville for a trolley ride and dinner in a Halloween atmosphere. More details next month.
Our ever popular end of year event. Travel on the last train of 2009 and the first of 2010 as we welcome in the New Year at Melbourne's best value for money New Year's Eve event at the Packing Shed.
For questions on any of these events, please contact Jeff Goodwin (evenings only, please)
The next openings will be on Saturday 1st August 2009 and Saturday 5th September 2009 from 1pm to 3pm. Selling pre loved books, magazines, videos, DVDs and memorabilia. The shop is located across the tracks in the building behind the Emerald Car Shops facing the playground. Other times can be arranged by ringing Peter
We would like to thank David Ball, David Barr, Bob Farquhar and Ben Reid for their recent donations to the shop to "Keep G42 Going".
Thank you to all who continue to support our efforts to Keep G42 Going.
Bruce West
 |
Updated Monthly. Contents © 2009 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 |
 |