August / September 2007

Castlemaine and Maldon Railway

Preservation Society

Inside this issue:

Society Honours Tony Llewellyn 1

Green Light for J541 2

Green Corps Project Gets the Green Light 2

Civil Branch Report 3

Mechanical Branch 3

Signalling Branch 3

Members Pages on the Web 3

Letter to the Railway 3

Dates for your Diary 3

Photos around the railway 4

Members Newsletter

Castlemaine and Maldon Railway Preservation Society,

Maldon Railway Station, Horsby Street, MALDON VIC 3463

Tel (03) 5475 296

Fax (03) 5475 1427

email : cmr@vgr.com.au

by Alan Williams - At the Annual General Meeting on 28th July 2007, former President of the Society, Tony Llewelyn, was appointed to the position of Honorary Life Member. Alan Williams explained to those present Tony’s large contribution to the Society’s activities over the past 15 years. A resume of Alan’s comments follow:

Tony joined the Society in 1992 and soon found himself heavily involved it’s activities. Tony was appointed Mechanical Manager and joined the Board soon after in 1993. At this time the railway was still being restored into Muckleford and services were operating in a “push/pull” fashion between Maldon and the stop board located in the forest short of Muckleford Creek. At Easter 1996 services were extended into Muckleford and the official opening of the extension took place in June of that year. At this time, Tony had assumed the role of President. Under Tony’s guidance the Board directed it’s attention towards Castlemaine and in 1997 a Business Plan was developed to assist the Society to obtain funding for this project. Tony was directly involved with the protracted negotiations with Politicians, Public Servants and Government Departments. Unfortunately initial optimism was replaced with a sense of disappointment, when, despite strong support at most levels, our application ran into a brick wall called Jeff Kennett! Little progress took place until 1999 when the then Labour opposition made a commitment through local member, Bob Cameron, to support the project. The surprise election of the Brack’s government led to further negotiations with an initial grant of $100,000 being made to restore access to the sidings at Castlemaine in 2000. Further negotiations at Local, State and Federal levels resulted in sufficient funding being granted to restore the railway from Maldon to Castlemaine. Once again, Tony’s tireless efforts were invaluable during this period.

Having obtained the funding, the real work was just beginning and Tony led the way. Through out this period Tony remained in the key positions of President and Mechanical Manager. In addition to attending regular Project and Board Meetings he was also one of our delegates at the Association of Tourist Railways. In this capacity Tony’s expertise was heavily relied.

History shows that the project to restore the railway from Muckleford to Maldon Junction on the outskirts of Castlemaine was completed on time and within budget.

Having said that, commencement of operations into Castlemaine were delayed by a number of issues, primarily relating to access to the section of railway between Castlemaine Yard and Maldon Junction. Once again Tony was in the “thick of it the” representing the Society during negotiations with both the RTBU and Freight Australia (together with Project Manager, John Shaw).

Ultimately operations into Castlemaine commenced in December 2004 with the Official Re-opening being celebrated in March 2005.

(Continued on page 2)

Society Honours Tony Llewellyn

Retiring President Alan Williams congratulates Honorary Life Member, Tony Llewellyn

Locomotive T333 was purchased by the society from the then Public Transport Corporation and transferred to Maldon. T333 is undergoing repairs at Seymour and is shortly to return to the mainline

20 Years Ago

Gap between sections of relaid track near Farmer's Bridge eliminated

5 Years Ago

Page 2 August / September 2007

Amazingly during this same period, Tony managed to find sufficient time to meet and court his wife. I don’t know how he did it! I suppose it shows that he has good time management skills!!!

In 2005 Tony stood down as President of the Society however he chose to remain on the Board until July 2006.

Tony remains an active volunteer on the railway.

From my perspective, Tony’s contribution to the Society over the last 15 years has been outstanding and he is a worthy recipient of Honorary Life Membership. Congratulations, Tony!

(Continued from page 1)

We are delighted to announce that the society has been successful in submitting an application through the Commonwealth Governments GreenCorp program. This program is designed to work on Environmental and Heritage projects and our application concentrates on the station precincts at Castlemaine with some other works around he railway. Some of the details of the project are listed below:

Major Project The area between Castlemaine Creek and Castlemaine Railway Station Platform 3 which is managed by the Victorian Goldfields Railway presents a great landscaping and public access opportunity as a major project for the participants, as follows:

Stage 1 –

• Design & creation of new planting and landscaping opposite the platform between the railway and Campbell’s Creek enhancing the vista from the station platform.

• Clearance of blackberries including chemical treatment, clearance of undergrowth and removal of unwanted rubbish.

• Establishment and preservation of native fauna habitats in the area

Stage 2 –

• Planting of appropriate indigenous shrubs/bushes. Involvement from local indigenous community ensuring that plantings reflect correct native species.

• Creation of an elevated viewing area with gravel access trail from the existing subway path allowing the public to relax, sit and view the heritage steam trains and the creek vista.

Stage 3 –

GreenCorps Project Gets The Green Light

• Creation of a creek access trail that will also allow secure low level viewing of the heritage steam trains and access to the creek environment.

• Both viewing areas will require suitable fencing therefore affording the participants experience in these skills.

This is an achievable task for the Participants within the timeframes. This will be a highly visible Green Corp achievement, as the outcomes will be seen by all who travel on the train. We are looking at low maintenance shrubs and grasses, which will not impinge on the railways fire prevention activities.

Minor Project 1 - Restorative Work at the Heritage Listed Maldon Railway Station Maldon Station building is heritage listed and dates back to 1886. The building requires external painting of dado cement work, painting of the heritage canopy, refurbishment of station signage and accessories. This work will be undertaken by the project. Minor Project 2 – Restoration work on heritage Victorian Railways First Class carriage AE18 will also be undertaken. As a wet weather and indoor project, this heritage wooden vehicle from the Victorian Goldfields Railway carriage fleet requires exterior refurbishment and interior / exterior painting. This work would be undertaken inside the Maldon workshops Shed and will involve sanding of carriage exterior, minor woodwork, priming and painting, interior sanding and varnishing and painting. Further details of this exciting project and photos will be provided in future newsletters.

Society Member and driver Jim Murty stands by “Daphne” - otherwise known as our DERM on the Friends of Thomas weekend in July

Green Light for J541 The good news that we have been waiting for has finally arrived - J541 has now been approved by the Department of Infrastructure to run on the Victorian Goldfields Railway. This beautiful locomotive will be officially welcomed to the railway later in the year and we will all look forward to watching her haul passenger and mixed trains up the challenging grades of the Victorian Goldfields Railway. Details of the official welcome will be advised when they are finalized.

Page 3 August / September 2007

J541. In service after receiving accreditation from the DOI.

J515. Not in Service

2 Broken stays have been repaired, 6-8 stays in the firebox have been cleaned and need to be welded. This loco will be remaining in our care for an indefinite period.

J549. Undergoing heavy overhaul.

Smoke box has been removed.

K160. In Service

Speedo needs fixing, brake piston leathers need replacing. Our friends at Seymour are providing shaker grates, brake blocks and parts to repair the speedo.

Y133. In Service.

F212. In Service

Needs to be repainted.

T333. Not In Service Work will begin at Seymour within 2 weeks and should be available for Mainline operations by November. Works are being undertaken in parallel with the Yarra Valley Tourist Railway at Healesville’s T. Bogies are being exchanged to allow tyre replacement.

DERM. In Service Needs to be repainted and thoroughly cleaned. 18A and 43BPL need roof repairs. 41BU to return to service soon but needs to be repainted.

As you can see, there is plenty of work to do to keep our rolling stock running and looking presentable. Volunteers of any skill level are most welcome. For details, please contact Brian Frewin (03) 5443 9462 or Steven Lumsden (03) 9266 2566 or 0403 086 476 (please ring before 8pm) if you can help.

Mechanical Branch News

Dates for your diary

• Saturday 15 September - Board Meeting

• Saturday 22 September - Signals Work Day

• Saturday 6 October - Friends of Thomas

• Sunday 7 October - Friends of Thomas

• Saturday 13 October - Civil Work Day

• Saturday 20 October - Board Meeting

• Saturday 27 October - Signals Work Day

Cams and Floor plates were changed on Levers 27,28 and Lever Locks fitted, also Lever Locks were fitted to 24, 43, 57 and 68.

Floor push contacts will be fitted on those levers still requiring them on our next work day. Also it is planned to, if enough Staff are available to straighten some of the rod leads at Castlemaine and to fill in some of the gaps with spare rodding. If you can lend a hand, please contact John Turpin on 0409 461 104

Signalling Branch News

22-05-07

Dear Sir

First of all I would like to thank VGR for an interesting day out and visit to Castlemaine on Sunday 6 May using the 12:40 service (return 16:30 o|t C). VGR is a picturesque line with many interesting features, which includes the locos, carriage stock and stations.

Particular thanks on 6th May to Andrew Naylor the volunteer guard/TTI, who was most friendly and informative to myself, wife and daughter and who went out of his way to explain some of the heritage features of VGR and it’s equipment. Also, to the chap who operating the booking office and stationmaster duties at Maldon – he too made us very welcome.

We had called in at Maldon earlier (23/4) when no trains were running – and had a look around the yard and with Ian McCorkelle. Of interest were the drums of Morris Oils lubricants which are sourced just 12 miles from where I live in the UK. There are loco oils for use with the steam fleet, and are the same as those we use on the Severn Valley Railway (SVR) at Bridgnorth and Bewdley. Ian said the oils were excellent lubricant, but that they left a stubborn “black scum” on exposed moving parts after use, and that this was difficult to remove. I have since spoken to our shed manager at Bridgmouth about this problem, and the words sh- - and blanket featured in his response! Apparently the oils are formulated to the old BR steam loco standard MT276, and feature the use of 5-8% rape seed oil as part of the composition. The plus side of this is that the lubricated surfaces do no dry out or drain, and hence available for immediate use without damage – the down side is that the sticky (rape oil) surface acts like ‘fly-paper’ and attracts dirt etc producing the black scum. The scum is kept to a minimum by regular wiping of the exposed surfaces preferably whilst warm – alternatively the use of a paraffin/meths mix is required, plus ‘elbow grease’.

Thank you and best wishes to all – Phil Jones

Safety Advisor to SVR.

Letter to the Railway

We now have a ‘password protected’ area for Members. In time we hope to have current information such as rosters, train running days, etc., as well as instructions, forms, training material and other material of use or interest to VGR Members and railway activities. So far we have a planning calendar to which members can add events / special dates, forms and instructions, a link to our photo archive where we intend to hold a collection of VGR related photographs and the VGR Chart of Events. We are on the lookout for more material, please contact the ‘webmaster@vgr.com.au’ if you have any material we can upload – we welcome material that’s Historic, News, Photos or any thing of interest to VGR members. To access the Members Pages, register a password using the email link on the site, click on the new ‘Members Pages’ link on the site menu.

Members Pages on the Web

The Civil Branch has been working hard with a Sleeper Replacement session being held on Saturday 25th August between 86mp and 86½mp. A small group (5 workers) worked

Civil Branch News

on re-spacing of approx 30 sleepers and insertion of 8 replacement / additional sleepers through the cutting area on theupside of Pipeline Crossing. (Sleepers being increased from 7/8 to 9 sleepers per 22ft 6in rail length). A good result was achieved on the day as hand packing of sleepers was required as our tamper is still not in operating condition. This work is in addition to the work undertaken by the Work-for-the-Dole Gangs.

Page 4 August / September 2007

Level Crossing incidents aren’t just a threat to mainline railways. Here a motorist narrowly misses being hit by a double-headed mixed train. Note how far the motorist has moved forward of the warning lights and barrier at the Midland Highway crossing.

Of course motorists can happily co-exist with railways. Here a number of enthusiastic MG owners wait to board Tambo and Lowanna while their prized MGs rest at Maldon on a cold Sunday morning in July

Our much-loved K160 receives some attention from the crew at the start of the day as the tender is filled with coal using the front-end loader at Maldon - all part of the work that our passengers may not see. It’s not all glamorous work being a driver or a fireman.

Photos Around The Railway