ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING: This was held on Saturday evening 2nd March, following a charter trip. There were several changes to the Committee with Maureen Swabey taking on the Treasurer's job and Jan Jenner back as a Committee Member. The attendance at the meeting was about normal and it was our first try at an evening meeting. The reports from all 'heads of sections' were read out and accepted and some discussion took place about them. These reports will be issued in due course.
Because of the large number of new members, we feel it is a good time to tell members how our club runs. We have a committee elected each year at the Annual Meeting: This Committee is responsible for the running of The Club and overall policy on the running of the railway. To operate our railway, we need a Licence (reviewed annually by Land Transport Safety Authority). The continuance of this Licence is dependant on compliance with our own 'safety scheme', and the results of our annual audit. LTSA require one person that they deal with, so the club as appointed a General Manager. It is this person's job to ensure that the operation, maintenance and training of all aspects of our railway is carried out, as set out in our safety scheme. Part of the General Manager's duties are arranging the annual audit and ensuring the reports are with LTSA at the required times. It is also his job to regularly review the whole of the railway, and, perhaps, think of changes to our safety scheme. That - in a nutshell - is how our club and railway operate and is pretty common amongst other railways of our type.
OPEN DAYS: The first for 2002 was held on 7th April amid very heavy rain squalls. Rain during the previous 2 days meant we could use F185 outside The Junction - not possible even 3 days beforehand, because of the dry conditions. There was a better number of passengers than the usual first day. Recent work by our PD workers and our own members meant we were able to run passenger trains another 1/4 km towards Glen Afton. This means we now run across the 'new formation' - ex 'sand-fill area' and to the end of another punga line cutting - except this cutting is on a sharp curve. This is likely to be the end of our line for some months, as every sleeper past this point needs replacing - just like the extra 1/4 km just completed.
An extremely good turnout of members meant we now have members training for different "jobs". We also had a lot of members working on some of our equipment. We hope this trend continues. Our following open days for the year are 5th May, 2nd June (Queen's Birthday Sunday); also 7th July, 4th August, September 1st (Father's Day), Oct 6th, Nov 3rd and Dec 1st.
Thanks to all who returned their work notices - it really makes my job working out the roster, and who is to do what OR train where -a lot easier!
MEMBERS: We continue to increase the number of our members and we are getting more who are prepared to help with the work on our railway. Welcome aboard to all our new members - local and overseas (and by local we mean the ones from anywhere in the North Island!!)
GVR's SILVER JUBILEE: All I can say about this weekend, is that if you didn't go, you really missed a GREAT EVENT. Jan and I went on the Friday and spotted at least 10 of our members there - some at work for other railways they belong to - apart from the railway itself, a lot of other private railways (except us) were as stalls in a tent or hobby type steam attractions, were present. These ranged from steam boats to traction engines and a stationary steam engine on a purpose built mobile frame cutting up firewood, the steam supplied from a traction engine. The range of steam locos on the railway was incredible. From the tiny 0-4-0 Bertha from MOTAT, to the large J Class. Trains ran every 1/2 hour on the Friday were all full, in fact the second train had to be changed from a mixed train with 2 carriages to a passenger train of 4 cars.
It was good to see 'Bertha' in steam as this was the loco our club really started from. A group of us overhauled this as a static exhibit at MOTAT in 1964-65-66 and from this decided to form B.T.C.!!!
The organisation needed would be incredible, and was a credit to GVR!
The grand parade was a sight to behold, as each loco steamed by themselves from Pukeoware to Glenbrook in the late afternoon sun - unfortunately sometimes blanketed by drifting clouds.
I am told they are already planning the next - for 2027, when they will be 50, but hope they manage to fit in a few before then!!!
Across the road, were to be the national vintage ploughing competitions, but there wasn't much happening on the Friday. We did see the Clydesdale horses ploughing one round of their area in extremely hard ground. It was especially good to look jealously at all their workshops and covered storage. They have just completed a very large one road shed solely as a car and wagon workshop!! I was told many, many times, to keep my hands deep in my pockets and I would be search (and weighed no doubt) before I left - charming!!
MINES CAR: Very quiet on this front/ the springs will have just been collect by the time you read this - they were taken in about late November!! We have an offer from a non-member to complete the framing on the side of the car - partly completed. It is important to remember that our safety scheme calls for all work on our rolling stock to be carried out by members. Therefore, if a non-member does work, we must have a member present.
XC WAGON: Very good progress is being made on this by Harvey and Wingnut. Half of one side now has the new T & G nailed in place and the framework of the other half largely replaced where needed. Because the wagon is stored in the shed, they were able to pull all the old T & G off one half at once, rather than a half-dozen boards at a time. Harvey has put aside one of the sliding doors and is "muttering" about making new ones as a 'wet-weather' job at home. Ian highly recommended that Harvey bring out his trailer as there is always 'something' that can be carted back for a 'homer'!!
MILLING OF NATIVE TIMBER: The decline of this activity was the reason for the formation of our club. Bush tramways in New Zealand had a weird and wonderful selection of light gauge railways and an equally weird and wonderful selection of rolling-stock on these railways - both steam and later petrol or diesel. The last of the bush railways finished on the West Coast of the South Island only a few years ago, and now the supply of the last of the native timber from Crown land has also ended. This was from forests in the mid to south of the West Coast, the Okarito and Saltwater forests. The logs were milled at Westco Logan's Ruatapu Mill - once an area of extensive bush tramways - on 21/2/02, thus ending 137 years of rimu logging on The Coast. Over the years there have been 100's of mills on the Coast, but now only 7 remain and all now cut pine logs. The last of the logs were airlifted out of the forests - rather a far cry from the horse or bullocks first used and later bush tramways as we know them. One company is still milling native beech but only from privately owned forests in the upper Buller and Murchison areas.
The following is a train advice we have recently obtained. It will be probably our Peckett, but possibly their original Peckett or later Barclay loco off to Prices in Thames for an overhaul!
It was common practice for private locos to run under their own steam to different owners; or to and from workshops for an overhaul; or as brand new locos. They were driven by NZR crews and I have heard of the odd case of the loco or its boiler being damaged by crews on very unfamiliar locos. I have heard of bush locos being driven long distances on NZR lines - must have been a headache for the crews and the running of NZR generally. Our Peckett would have needed to stop at most stations for WATER! If not every 50 or so telephone posts!!
We are OFTEN ASKED about trains on our line when the coal mines were working. Attached are pages from NZR's working timetable of 1964 - the last for steam on the branch. The locos used were Bb and Ab locos - the Bb's usually based in Huntly and the Ab's from Frankton. From 1966, a new timetable was issued and some trains were called shunting services and worked between certain hours as required or attached to a time-tabled train. The 1966 time-table had diesel locos added to the steam locos that could work the branch.
| 1966 Engine loads were : | Huntly-Rotowaro | Rotowaro-Glen Afton |
| Steam | AB 460 T goods | 290 T goods |
| 400 T goods | 260 T goods | |
| BB 490 T goods | 320 T goods | |
| Diesel | Db 600 T goods | 340 T goods |
| Or | ||
| Dg | ||
| Dsc. 300 T goods | 150 T goods |
It is interesting that these 1966 load schedules did not show Bb loco loads for passenger trains!
The only source of water for the locos on the branch was at Pukemiro. The tank was supplied with water from the creek, beside the main road and pumped up by a water ram. We have this ram in our collection.
DR GEORGE EMERSON: Some of our older members who have been involved with preservation or railways as a hobby, will have met George. He passed away on 24/03/02. He lived in Dunedin and was one of the people behind the formation of the Ocean Beach Railway and later The Taieri Gorge Railway. He was also behind the preservation of part of the Dunedin Gasworks into the present Gasworks Museum. I last met George a couple of years ago at our National Federation of Rail Societies conference, when he showed us around this museum.
PECKETT: Our search for proper stay steel to repair this boiler may be over now that we have found a source of suitable round bar for the crown stay bolts. The size is large enough to allow a hexagonal head to be machined on them. Sunday, 7/4 saw a good turnout of members pulling this loco apart, so we can lift the boiler out. Those getting their hands dirty were Chris and David Mann, Matthew Wright, CJ and for a while Mark Swabey. The loco is almost at the stage where the cab and water tanks can be lifted off. As part of the equipment being used to dismantle the loco was our air-compressor, the opportunity was taken to use an impact gun and get all remaining crown stay bolts outs. Most were in the same condition as the one that blew out!! Fortunately one bolt come out whole, although slightly thin in the shank, but it gives us information that our drawings don't show - the threads and how the end of the bolt is. NEXT STEP - is to get someone in the boiler to remove the girder stays.
CB LOCO: This loco is well and truly in bits. More destructive t4sting of the boiler showed up some cracks between tube holes in the smoke-box tube-plate that look like the edges of an old weld repair. Ultrasonic thickness checks showed up an area of the boiler barrel - near the smoke-box tube-plate - that is under the minimum allowable plate thickness and will need replacing. Several other jobs that need expert attention were worked out and a boiler-making firm is very shortly to look at the (probably expensive) job. Richard has lifted the boiler out of the loco and it is on our 'boiler trolley' in the workshop. He has also replaced some studs that hold the firebox door surrounds onto the boiler. Our thanks to Genesis of Huntly Power Station for the NDT work - a promised one hour job (that lasted 5 hours) and we would like him back to look at some other areas!!! The going over of the boiler is probably the most thorough that it has ever had in its 75 years. It is also thanks to Genesis that you receive this Newsletter.
FIREWOOD: Andrew has cut up some more, but we need to get at least half the second flat-top wagon empty as soon as possible so we can receive further supplies of sleepers and sawn timber. The sawn timber and sleepers from our own threes are ready to come back after treatment, plus 100 square sleepers ordered about 18 months ago. Mike was noticed making a frame to make the sawing of firewood easier!!
TRACKWORK: As mentioned earlier, good progress over the last couple of working bees has meant we can now run passenger trains over the 'sand-fill' and beyond. Last working bee even saw TWO of our lady members on shovels shoveling ballast while it was jack hammered under sleepers. Those helping were The Swabey 'tribe' (Colin, Maureen, Mathew and Mark), Mike and Lynda Campbell, Bruce, Colins' Jenner and Ewing and Mike Andrews (with Jan around keeping an eye on things). Visits from our PD crews are few and far between but so far this year we have replaced 75 sleepers in fern cutting (just above Downer's Crossing). There are still about 25 - 30 to replace in this cutting, and then we need some extra ballast dumped and spread there.
WORKSHOP: One door has had its hangers altered and the other one is in progress. The undercover area is certainly proving its worth and is full of the CB and its boiler, plus its bits and other bits off the Peckett - plus bogies from the Mines car - and dozens of bits from the bogie or the car. (So have we run out of room already?)
GANTRY CRANE: The first lift using this crane was a 44 gallon drum of track fittings - 400 kgs. The second was the CB boiler about 4 - 4 1/2 tonnes.
GROUNDS: A lot of time has been spent tidying up the summer's growth. Most of this work has been done by PD crews. 50 goats that 'escaped' from a neighbouring farm didn't improve the area as one wet day they camped in our workshop and loco shed - and the next day on the station platform! Jan spent 2 hours cleaning up the worst of the mess with several others helped later - i.e. the covered station platform, the seats and even the station walls! During the fine weather they did a good job of eating the honeysuckle and other rubbish around the yard, but while sheltering from the rain - YUK!
The PD crew have spent another day at the bottom of the drive, cutting then spraying the weeds etc and tidying up the drains. They also spent 2 hours tidying up a drain beside the railway at Hangapipi Road level crossing. This drain is the outlet from a culvert under the road, very close to the railway that is fed from a drain up one side of coal cutting. Dave Mann and son - Sebastian, assisted by Richard cut down some wattle trees that were overhanging the Wellington-Manawatu car in the back-shunt at Pukemiro Junction yard. Richard spent most of a day tidying up our carpark. It was getting smaller and smaller! He also keeps the lawns tidy.
WORKING BEES: As a trial we are going to hold these essential days still on the FOURTH SUNDAY of each month, but starting at 12-30 on May 26th. Our Committee Meeting will be held BEFORE the working bee, so if the meetings drag on - just pound on the shanty door!!
WORKING BEES WILL BE HELD ON:
26 May, 23 June and 28 July. (pencil them in now).
Work to be done will depend on the weather, but we hope to start on the trackwork at the bottom terminus so we can complete the run-around there.
CHARTER TRIPS: Two trips planned for an English touring company were cancelled when the company did not pay a deposit for the first trip and would not complete our charter trip application form (as they had agreed to do when the trips were originally discussed). They hope to visit NZ next year and have agreed to do the paperwork for then!!! We have one arranged for mid-September for a 60th birthday. Children at the Junction: Just a reminder to members who bring young children to The Junction - It is YOUR responsibility to keep a good eye on them. Railways are dangerous places. The Bush Tramway Club Inc COMMITTEE 2002/03
PATRON:
MR RJ (Bob) MANN