July 2012

Castlemaine and Maldon Railway Preservation

Society Members

Newsletter

A Vice Regal Visit

The railway was thrilled

to welcome The Honourable Alex

Chernov AC QC, Governor of Victoria and

his wife, Mrs Elizabeth Chernov on the 6th of

July. The Vice Regal party were touring Central

Victoria and the Victorian Goldfields Railway was

the venue for lunch.

Mrs and Mrs Chernov enjoyed some splendid

hospitality and were also able to tour the

workshop and inspect the restoration work being

undertaken on J549.

We were also pleased to present Mr Chernov with

a copy of our guide book, as a memento of his visit

to the railway.

Page 2 July 2012

President’s Column

After many months of protracted

negotiations I am pleased to advise that the

Railway has, with the assistance of the Maldon

Branch of the Bendigo Community Bank,

concluded the purchase of the Takeuchi

TB175W excavator/loader. This machine

together with the ancillary equipment

included in the purchase, will revoluntionise

the way that track work is done both on our

Railway and also on the outside work which

we are fortunate enough to secure from time

to time. The Railway has taken delivery of the

machine and it is being tested to prove the

ancillary equipment will do what it is meant

to do, and also, Public Transport Victoria

have yet to give the machine the seal of

approval for work. Training for operators has

commenced and I stress to members that use

of the machine will be restricted to approved

Certified Operators ONLY. It is planned to

formally commission the unit and give a

demonstration of its capabilities in the near

future and members will have the opportunity

to attend. From my perspective I

acknowledge the support and assistance of

both Acting Civil Manager John Shaw and

Financial Controller Neil Burgin during what

were, at times, frustrating times while we

worked through the minefield that the

negotiations with the Bank almost became.

We are also grateful to the retailer ProSkid

Australia, and their Manager Peter Rowland,

for his assistance and support as well as to

our friends at the Maldon Community Bank.

The Bank and Railway have worked well

together in the past to promote Community

events and we look to continue our good

relationship with them looking to the future.

I am also pleased to announce the return to

service of Parlour Car “Tambo” following the

complimentary of the efforts of both the paid

staff and our volunteers in maintaining the

spirit of the great days of rail travel. At the

conclusion of their visit, I presented His

Excellency with a copy of the Souvenir Guide

Book and invited him and Mrs. Chernov to

return to the Railway and enjoy a footplate

ride upon one of our steam locomotives. The

success of this visit would not have been

possible without the invaluable help and

assistance of Claire Baker, Tourism and

Events Manager at the Mt. Alexander Shire,

Mr. Phil Rowland, Chief Executive Officer of

the Shire, Cr. Janet Cropley, Mayor and

Tarrangower Ward representative,

CMRPS. Director and Economic

Development Officer for the Mt. Alexander

Shire, Wayne O’Toole and Garry Aitchison,

Marketing Manager for the VGR. The official

party and guests enjoyed a superb light lunch

prepared by Barry Veith and his staff at the

Penny School Gallery and Café which was

served in a thoroughly professional manner

by our own first class stewards Andrew

Reynolds and Murray McPhie. There is much

goodwill from visits such as these and I

gratefully acknowledge the support and

assistance from all our people. I have received

much favourable comment following this visit

and the most pleasing aspect is that we can

do functions like these with true

professionalism.

I have, in earlier editions of the newsletter,

written of the need to attract more

volunteers to the Railway. This need is more

pressing than ever as we strive to maintain a

high standard of service to our customers on

what is without question the largest Tourist

attraction within the Mt. Alexander and

(Continued on page 3)

fitting of re-conditioned bogies. That we are

again able to offer first class service to our

passengers will help us to restore the full

service we offer, although the problem of

having power available to Tambo is still being

worked through.

The value of having Tambo available on our

Railway for special functions was more than

capably demonstrated almost at the time that

this column was being prepared, when it was

made available in the platform at Maldon for a

visit to the Goldfields region by the Governor

of Victoria, The Hon. Alex Chernov and Mrs.

Chernov. A brief tour of the workshop area

and refurbished Maldon station was followed

by a light lunch served in Tambo. His

Excellency and Mrs. Chernov were highly

by Paul McDonald

Page 3 July 2012

Central Goldfields Shires. We need more

people to join our already committed,

dedicated and experienced volunteers across

the full range of activities. The push to

increase passenger numbers and to promote

more charter and driver experience

operations is fine, however, it increases the

need to maintain the full fleet of rolling stock

including locomotives and to keep the track

up to the required standard. We need more

people to man the kiosks at Castlemaine and

Maldon as well as ticket sellers, also first class

attendants and even some who are able to

assist with administrative tasks. There may be

some out there whom you know and to

whom you may have spoken previously about

the value of volunteering and more especially

for the Victorian Goldfields Railway and we

need them. I urge all members to encourage

as many as they may know who have an

interest in whatever area may hold some

appeal for them to come along, be part of the

team, share in the excitement and thrill of

knowing that they are taking part in the

preservation of an important part of the

history of the State – the Branch line railway.

The Railway is facing a particularly busy

period from mid-July onwards and while it is

pleasing to see the bookings as they come

through the system, I am also concerned that

our team of volunteer crews will be stretched

to the limit The Board of Management will

consider what options are available at coming

meetings in an endeavour to expand our

volunteer base. This problem is not unique to

the Victorian Goldfields Railway, other

organizations both in Australia and abroad

are facing similar issues and the Board is

always open to suggestions as to how we

might expand our volunteer base.

The recent Steam Trains for Kids weekend

again proved a highly successful event and I

congratulate all who took part in whatever

role on a great result. These weekends are a

credit to all our volunteers, and when the

weather is taken into account, sometimes

many of our people deserve a medal. What a

team! I am greatly encouraged by patrons of

this event who are impressed by the range of

attractions available, that all are available

within the one “event ticket” and that the

only extra to be bought is food. What I also

find amazing is the range of places from which

people will travel to attend the event –

Warrnambool, for instance and in the other

direction Lang Lang! There are still some

minor details at the planning stage to be

ironed out which will assist with the last

minute arrangements and generally make life

easier for all involved.

(Continued from page 2) Civil Branch News

A reminder that the AGM and dinner will be held at the Maldon Hotel, Main Street, Maldon on

Saturday 18th August 2012. The AGM will commence at 6.30 pm followed by the dinner. We

would like as many members as possible to attend. The hotel need to know numbers attending

the dinner by the 13th August 2012. Would you please let Garry Aitchison know if you are

attending by contacting him phone 5470 6658 or email: marketing@vgr.com.au

The Notice of the AGM posted to members contained an error in the list of retiring Directors.

The retiring Directors are:

President Paul McDonald

Vice President Michael Vines

Ordinary Board Members:

Shirley Frewin

Philip Ryan

Andrew Naylor

Wayne O’Toole

Neil Burgin (appointed during the year to fill a casual vacancy)

Annual General Meeting and Dinner

Members will have read much about the Takeuchi TB175W excavator/loader over the previous

few months and here it is! The machine has been purchased specifically for track work and it

has already been put to good use, with a crew replacing 55 sleepers in 3 days. Previously we

would have been able to only replace up to 6 sleepers a day. We anticipate that once our

qualified operators become more proficient, we’ll be able to replace sleepers at a faster rate.

The machine has been ordered with 3 digging buckets, a tamping attachment, a sleeper grab

attachment and a pallet fork attachment. It will be fitted with hi-rail equipment later in the year,

meaning that it can access all parts of our line.

With the machine now available to us, we are now able to re-commence regular mid-week

work-days and the assistance of volunteers on a regular basis is needed. Currently we have a

number of speed restrictions in place and to be able to restore the line to normal speed, we’ll

need the assistance of volunteers who are able to assist with track-work.

We are also still working at Bandiana recovering 80 lb rail that will be used to re-rail the line

between Muckleford and Maldon and we are desperately in need of volunteers to assist - even

if it is just for a day or two.

If you can assist on our regular track work days, please contact Brad Cooper on 0429 843 427.

If you can assist with the rail recovery work at Bandiana, please contact John Shaw on 0427 352

416.

Page 4 July 2012

Vreeland's Transfer Jack for Removing and Replacing Locomotive Drivers and Trucks. It is often desirable or necessary in railroad repair shops to remove a pair of drivers or a truck from under a heavy engine. The usual method is to raise the

engine up by four hydraulic or screw jacks, placed under each corner, until the wheel can be rolled out.' This required lifting of the whole machine from fifteen to twenty-four inches. It not only makes the engine too high to work on without staging, but, as the jacks must be used elsewhere, the ponderous boiler is blocked up and left there—a dangerous and unhandy arrangement. Some very

large shops have "drop tables" and "steam lifts" to do some of this work, but these arc cumbersome, expensive, and occupy valuable floor space.

Endless annoyance of this kind induced J. H. Vreeland, master mechanic of the eastern division of the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad, to invent and build at his shops in Jersey City the jack here described

and illustrated. By reference to the cut of the tool itself, it will be seen that it is merely a hydraulic jack, mounted on four small wheels, and having a very long ram, The pump is cast separate from the head or

frame, and can be removed for repairs if necessary: it is operated by a removable lever, the same as used in the common hydraulic jack. The top of the ram has a curved head in which to rest the center of the

driving axle; this is swiveled so that a pair of wheels can be turned around or placed on a track not in line with the track from where they were taken. The ram has a very long bearing at the top of the frame or head. The excellent engraving hardly needs an explanation. It will be seen that the jack pit

runs at right angles to and crosses the regular engine pits. This pit is wide enough to take in the largest engine truck complete, and is about twenty-four inches deeper than the engine pits. In the bottom of the jack pit is a slot about ten inches wide, and deep enough to clear the lower end of the long cylinder. On this page will also be found a ground plan of the pits. The device occupies no floor space whatever,

being entirely beneath the floor, which is in the shape of trap doors that arc easily removed, as arc also the rails of the engine pits, over the jack pit, as shown in the ground plan. In operation the engine to be repaired is run over the pit and pinched until the axle or truck-center is exactly over the head of the jack, the engine is left standing at its usual height, no raising being

necessary; the jack is then pumped up until the weight of the pair of wheels is lifted, the removable rails are pulled out, and the wheels arc dropped down far enough to clear everything, the jack rolled on its own track to an adjoining pit, raised up and the wheels rolled away to the lathe, the turn-table or the scrap heap.

All the shops of the N.Y.L E. and W. are equipped with this jack, and it is a common occurrence to run an engine into the shop or roundhouse in the morning, after she has made her trip, drop a pair of drivers, refit one or more boxes, and send her out on

the afternoon run; meanwhile the fire has not been disturbed or steam blown off. For cleaning out or fitting up main driving boxes, the wheels are often dropped a foot or so without disturbing the eccentric blades at all. Four men are usually put on this work, two in the pit to do the pumping, and one at each side to steady the load, etc. At the Jersey City shops four pairs of

drivers have been replaced under a consolidation engine in thirty-eight minutes by a gang of four men. Watson & Stillman, of 2IO East 43d St., New York, arc the manufacturers and sole agents of the inventor.

Editor’s Note: This excerpt is taken from the first edition of Locomotive Engineer, published in America in 1888

Page 5 July 2012

Our Proud Sponsors

Page 6 July 2012

Nears Misses All drivers are reminded that it is ESSENTIAL

to report near misses at level crossings. This

information is required for statistics which

determine priority for funding for crossing

improvements under the Australian Level

Crossing Assessment Model (ALCAM). It is

not important to necessarily obtain vehicle

description but it is important to note that a

near miss occurred at a particular location.

Of course, should a dangerous situation be

detected it would be wise to note vehicle

description and registration if possible.

Drivers should report near misses as soon as

possible after the incident occurs to either

Operations Manager Brian Frewin,

Responsible Officer Neville Elliott or

President, Paul McDonald, who will submit

the required report to Transport Safety

Victoria.

Roster Reminder There have again been several recent

instances where volunteers have advised of

their non-availability only at the last minute.

This places the Roster Officers under

considerable pressure to try to find suitable

and available replacements at short notice

and bearing in mind that people have other

commitments this is often difficult.

Please remember that this is a vital part of

the service we offer our customers and

please be reminded that if you are unable to

attend when rostered, it is YOUR

RESPONSIBILITY to find a replacement AND

to notify the roster officer accordingly.

The Railway now has booking clerks at

Castlemaine phoning all volunteers as they

are rostered to ensure their availability in a

further attempt to overcome any difficulties.

Please remember to check with your diary or

calendar as soon as your roster is received

and if unable to attend on a particular,

PLEASE ARRANGE A SWAP.

All volunteers are also reminded to pay

attention to their attire when on duty at the

Railway. We need to strive to maintain a high

standard especially for those operational and

catering staff who are in direct contact with

the public – you people are the “face” of the

Railway and the higher standard we maintain,

the higher the opinion people have of the

railway and our staff.

Special Carriage

Working Bee

A carriage working bee day is to be held on

Saturday 11th August at Maldon to do some

much needed work on the interior of

carriages 43 BPL and 29 BCPL. Most of this

work will involve replacement of ceiling

panels which have been water affected as well

as attention to seats. The panels, tools, paint

and associated equipment will all be available

but we need help with fitting and painting.

There will also be some work done to locate

and check what seats are available - and their

condition – to go in carriage 41BU which is

nearing the end of its refurbishment. Please

bring yourself, suitable clothing and lunch – or

the bakery is just a short distance from the

station! Hot and cold drinks will be provided.

We would like to start by 9.30 am at the

latest with a view to finishing by 4.00 pm.

Daryl O’Brien took this photo from the hi-rail recently when he stopped to admire the vista.

Approaching Muckleford on the up run after crossing Muckleford Creek, the paddocks are a sea of white frost.

Steam Trains for Kids Our recent Steam Trains for Kids weekend

was held on the weekend of the 14th and

15th of July, which was the last weekend of

the school holidays and this weekend was

very successful. Despite the weather being

grey and cold with occasional showers, we

attracted over 1,000 visitors over the two

days which is 150 more people than we

attracted to the same weekend last year.

Indeed on the Sunday, two of our trains were

full, with only standing room available!

It is very important to recognise that this

fantastic weekend would not have been so

successful without the assistance of our

drivers, firemen, guards, conductors,

signalmen, bookings officers, shop staff,

trolley drivers, marshalls and marketing teams

on the day as well as our mechanical branch,

civil branch and everyone else who prepared

the site for the day. Thank you to you all for

your hard work in such cold conditions.

Our next Steam for Kids weekend is being

held on the weekend of the 6th and 7th of

October and a promotional poster is included

on the next page. If you would like to display

a colour poster in your workplace, school or

kinder, please give our Marketing Officer,

Garry Aitchison a call during the week and

we’ll be able to send out a colour copy.

A Busy October As well as Steam Trains for Kids on the 6th

and the 7th of October, we also have two

other special events in October with the Pink

Train being held on Sunday 21st October and

Mucklefest on Sunday 28th October.

Both these events are sure to attract large

numbers to the railway and hence we have a

need for a larger number of volunteers than

we’d usually have working on a normal

running day. The key requirements are in the

areas of marshalls, catering and ticket sellers

and are a great opportunity for volunteers

who aren’t able to contribute to the railway

on a regular basis, to join in and be part of

the team running these events.

If you can help, or would just like to have a

chat about what might be involved on the

day, please contact our Volunteer Co-

ordinator via email at

volunteers@vgr.com.au or by calling Garry

Aitchison on (03) 5470 6658. We’d love to

have you on board!

Working With Children

Check A number of volunteers have reported that

they already have a Work With Children

Check through another organisation. If this is

the case, could you please contact the

Department of Justice to inform them of the

fact you are also a volunteer on the Victorian

Goldfields Railway.

Page 7 July 2012

Victorian Goldfields Railway

General Office and

Marketing P.O. Box 51, CASTLEMAINE VIC 3450

Phone: (03) 5470 6658

Facsimile: (03) 5470 6272

Email: marketing@vgr.com.au for bookings,

Train Times & Fares information or

cmr@vgr.com.au for all other enquiries

Castlemaine Railway Station

Kennedy Street, Castlemaine

Phone: (03) 5470 6658

Facsimile: (03) 5470 6272

Maldon Railway Station

Hornsby Street, Maldon

Telephone: (03) 5475 1451

www.vgr.com.au

www.driveatrain.com.au

www.driveasteamtrain.com.au

Page 8 July 2012

New Sponsors The railway is delighted to welcome aboard two new sponsors in taste of Gold and Chapple’s

Cairn Curran Estate. Both of these names will be familiar to regular visitors to central Victoria

and we’re hoping that our passengers will also get to know these sponsors as well.

Maldon to Bendigo Day Return Promotion of this great trip is just starting to ramp up. There has been a small delay in our on-

line ticket sales facility, although we are hoping that it will be up and running within a few days

of publication of this newsletter.

There are a limited number of tickets, however we are hoping to carry as many members as

possible to enjoy a day behind a J-Class loco on a branch line and 2 R-Class locos on the

mainline. Last year a number of members enjoyed a hearty meal in one of Bendigo’s many pubs

before returning to the train for a spirited run back to Castlemaine. Of course this day also

features the only steam-hauled parallel departure held each year - so get your tickets now to

enjoy the spectacle!

Signalman Daryl O'Brien drew the short straw

on having to do track patrol in the early morning of Castlemaine's coldest night of the

year so far - at minus 2.7C on Sunday 8th of July. The normally dark coloured lever on the

turntable at Castlemaine was solid white with frost and very hard to operate. Volunteers at Work

Travellers on the railway will know Ian Preston as being the barista at Castlemaine on many of

our running days and as a marshal at Steam for Kids. What they may not realise is the “The Colonel”, as we know him, is a valuable contributor to our marketing and administration teams,

often putting together hundreds of documents for mailing.

Save The Date Saturday 24th of November is a day that is

being planned in conjunction with the

Castlemaine Historical Society. We’ll be

welcoming a special guest to the railway and

we’re hoping to also run a train to carry

members to Castlemaine to meet this special

guest. Full details will be provided in the next

newsletter.