NEWSLETTER - November 2004
OPEN DAYS:
September and October open days both had fine weather and our passenger counts were reasonably good – October was boosted by a visit from the Ulysses Motor Cycle Club from Hamilton area. It was great to hear the roar of all the bikes coming up to The Station - and in plenty of time for the first trip …thought we were being invaded!
Thanks to all who turn up and help run these days.
The next ones are: November 7th
December 5th – (the last for 2004).
Our last open day will be followed by our usual club get-together. All those attending, please bring a salad etc for the table. The Club will put on some sausages.
CLUB DAY FOR MEMBERS:
You will receive a covering notice of this with your Newsletter.
CHARTER TRIPS :
The last of the planned kindy charters has been run and we have a Senior Citizens’ group booked for mid-November. Thanks to Bruce, Trevor, Peter, Linda and Jan for this one.
Thanks to all others who help make these trips a success.
Our main publicity is still from people coming because they have heard of us from someone else.
STEAM LOCOS:
F185 –
All boiler tubes expanded at both ends and the firebox ends are being beaded – turned over on themselves to form a nicely rounded end. Each one takes approximately 20 minutes. It is a noisy, muscle-twisting job as an air gun is used with one hand and the beading tool held and turned with the other. Heaps of black grease is used to make the steel turn easily using the specially shaped tool.
The first day we got a few done when Don broke the end off the tool – where it fits into the air gun. Yeah – I’ve heard that excuse before!! However Richard fixed the tool a couple of days later and the job continued. Because the tool was fairly brittle and could break again, Richard took it and some other tools for the air gun to a blacksmith in Auckland to get them made into new beading tools.
A ‘rat-through’ my tool-box found another suitable beading tool which was altered to fit into the airgun. Don has so far spent the best part of 2 days at this job and I have spent about the same. We have done 58 tubes and had 26 left to do as at beginning of October. Two of these need re-expanding as they moved when the beading job was started. If you don’t believe it’s a dirty job ask Jan or Don’s wife.
The firebox fire-hole now has a notice above it……… ‘Don’s office.’
Mike Andrews has spent another couple of days on the spark-arresting funnel.
CB -
Very good progress is being made on this boiler. All the new stay ends have been cut off and the tell tail holes drilled in them. The welder has spent another couple of days welding. The wasted area of the barrel at the throat plate has been built up and dressed off and a start made on the wasted area of the smoke-box tube-plate. The two patches have been cut out, prepared and the smallest one at the throat plate welded in place and bolted up ready for riveting.
Riveting – the next problem! You can’t buy boiler grade rivets and no-one else who has rivets can guarantee that theirs are boiler grade. Richard decided to make them himself but the next problem was an acceptable steel. We got the OK on a Friday, Richard got the steel on the Monday and by Monday afternoon had made a few trial rivets – good enough to use too! He had already made a dolly that fits onto an airgun to form the rivet heads, so with our forge and a few jack up fittings the job was in progress! Problem is the gear is outside and rain is predicted.
PECKETT -
Not much progress on this at the Junction, but plenty going on behind the scenes. The axle-boxes are away getting the liners put in. Some new plate arrived to make the new running boards out of. Chris tried for a Peckett-working-bee on Sunday 17th October. The weather was very, very kind – with a warm breeze, and little cloud unfortunately, most of his ‘team’ are either overseas – or tied up. No doubt more essential measurements were the order of the day. Ordering of materials will be next priority on this project.
We have been able to locate a few other drawings at the York Railway Museum but haven’t received them as yet.
DIESEL LOCOS:
401 -All checks have been completed and a good look taken at the blown head-gasket. It is a fairly big job and the easiest access is to remove the section of engine casing. This will be a summer job! Colins’ Ewing and Swabey have purchased the much sort-after grommets. Thanks to Scottwood Trust for the funding to be able to get on with purchasing these items. Everything about this overhaul job will be big – including expenses!
DS -
Trev Wilmot was spotted making a template for the radiator tube-plate.
JIGGERS:
– Our 6-man jigger is in regular use now on open days. The turntable is completed and used at the bottom end of the line while Ashley knocked up a plywood and timber model for the Junction end. The rides are very popular……
BUSH JIGGER -
Ian has the jigger in a 1000 pieces. The front bogie has been taken to a sand blaster’s for cleaning and undercoating – hope the air pressure used for the sand blasting isn’t too high.
Ian tells me he has cut all the badly rusted pieces out of the main frame and will shortly be getting new pieces welded in. He was hoping to find out exactly what sort of truck it was made out of but hasn’t had any luck yet. It may have been made up of whatever bits were on hand at the time.
TRAINING :
Our annual shunting school was held on 26 September and there was a pretty good attendance – but as always, could have been better! As Chris had to vanish to Australia for a week or so, Eric conducted the course and oh dear – produced a test paper. I haven’t seen the results yet but heard a few moans at some of the questions.
Colin Swabey has completed his diesel loco driver’s papers so may now be seen hanging out of a loco cab window on open days.
TRACKWORKS -
Tim and Adam spent part of a day recently – after the shunting school – lifting and packing the main line outside the shanty. There was quite a dip in the track there. So far the job is about ½ completed. Well done you two!
Bruce loaded our 2 YB-wagons with ballast. These were ploughed out and spread at the top end of ‘Fern Cutting’ - just above Downers Crossing. Our CW teams spread this and another team lifted low spots and jack hammered the ballast. While this jack hammering was going on, the rest of the team were replacing a few sleepers close by.
A good 2 days have been spent at the top end of our line replacing sleepers and realigning some bad rails in a curve. One of the CW crew spent all day shovelling ballast from the sides of the line onto the track and it looks really good. These 2 days work enabled us to push our stored wagons another 50 metres up the line.
However this type of work will be cut back or possibly end unless other members in the club who can do trackwork are prepared to largely take over. (My job has changed and at the moment, instead of taking teams of community workers out on their jobs, I am in the office organising them and their work and doing all that is needed to keep the centre running).
One of the other supervisors spent a few days with his crew scrub cutting at the bottom end of the line. They have cut the sides of the line below Hangapipi Rd crossing and dug a long drain on the old mine side of our railway.
The same crew have spent a couple of days digging drains and tidying up the banks in Fern Cutting.
CARPENTERS WORKSHOP -
Plans for this are progressing. The site has been roughly cleared by Bruce. Richard sprayed the area so we can soon see the area better. A lot of behind-the-scenes administration going on, so don’t be surprised if “your” project’s application has to take a back seat for a few months….. Deadlines for applications wait for no man (or woman)!
BLACKSMITH’S WORKSHOP –
We have received a grant in September from Trust Waikato for the roofing iron, spouting and rear wall cladding. This workshop is much needed at present with all our boiler work going on. I’m sure we will soon find it isn’t big enough but will be a very useful addition to our workshops.
WHANGAREI MODEL ENGINEERS advise that the official opening of their track will be on 14 to 17 January 2005 at Heritage Park, Whangarei.. If you’re in the area, why not pop in and make yourself known and see what they’re up to.
A contact is Colin Smith – 09 432-7861.
BATTERY ELECTRIC LOCO –
Chris Lucas and his crew have been down another day and got another pile of rust chipped off the steelwork. This project is adding further interest to restoration projects currently well under-way at The Junction. Well done to this Team also for their keenness (especially due to inclement weather at times) and results to date.
RAILWAYS BILL –
This Bill is progressing through Parliament. LTSA will be holding sessions in various centres to explain it and what it is about and how it will affect us.
WORKING BEES –
Yes, they are still held on Sunday of the 4th weekend of the month – and yes they will continue over the summer. Good turnouts of members have meant a lot of work is getting done. Don’t forget your lunches!!
The dates for the next ones are :
November 28th
December 26th
January 2005 – 23rd (write them up NOW)…….
Please keep these dates free as your attendance at our working bees is important.
SICKIES –
On this list recently were : Colin Ewing, Dave Scott, Ashley Turner AND Doreen King. Our thoughts go to your all for a prompt and complete recovery (and you will all be back with us very soon- and the many projects!!).
MINES CAR –
Only slow progress on this still. Both sides of the car have been sanded down ready for undercoating on one side and a top coat on the other. This was organised for October 17th – and you wouldn’t believe it, but they had a FINE DAY to get on with further painting. We believe a clean-out of the interior was also planned.
We recently got asked if we would be interested in a couple of new – to us – carriages that are on a farm at the west of Hamilton. At present the answer is No! - but they are certainly worth a look to see exactly what they are.
TOOLS:
WEED-EATER -
Thanks to Peter and Linda for the donation of a weed-eater. (Linda’s excuse for getting rid of it was she couldn’t start it. Yeah right! – if my workers gave that excuse, they get a pair of hedge clippers put in their hands and told to get cracking).
Trev Willmot gave the weed-eater the once over and it has been well used since. It’s amazing how much 2 weed-eaters can cut down in a day.
BLACKSMITHS TOOLS –
Does anyone have or can acquire blacksmiths tools? We have a very small selection but they seem to have vanished so that just when you need them, they can’t be found.
Richard is busy making the rivets for the CB boiler (as reported earlier) and is only able to use a small pair of poly-grip pliers to pick up red hot pieces of steel out of the forge. The fire regularly blows onto his hand.
Any black-smiths’ tools will be much appreciated.
FOUR-JAW LATHE CHUCK –
When we got our ‘newer lathe’ from Genesis Power at Waikaremoana only a 3-jaw chuck came with it.
We have long wanted and needed a 4-jaw chuck and face-plate to make our turning work easier. A 4-jaw chuck turned up recently. Richard made up and threaded a backing plate for this and the chuck has been in use already – about 2 weeks after we received IT!….. To our unnamed benefactor – many thanks.
“Some plants” said the biology teacher “have the prefix ‘dog’… for instance, there is ‘The dog-wood, the dogs-tooth violet. Now, who can name another plant prefixed by ‘dog’?”
“I can,” shouted the little boy in the back row “How about collie flower?”….
