Project Update- MCE 540

ARHS Council has approved the rebuild of MCE 540  as a capital project. This carriage has been selected as it can seat 66 passengers but more importantly it ran on the Cooma trains for many years in government service. 

 The strip down stage is well underway but as with all projects like this the further you go the more you need to fix. We anticipate that the strip down will be completed by the end of July. Workdays on this project are every Wednesday and Saturday. If you are interested in helping out please drop me an email or come and see me for a job each workday. 

Exterior stripping and assessment is underway

Meanwhile, on the inside, work has commenced on stripping flaking paint from the ornate pressed metal ceilings

The scope of the project is to deliver a well presented carriage of a high standard that will complement our running fleet. Although it will still be a composite first and second class carriage for historical reasons it will be sold to our passengers as in upmarket experience. For example tables will be fitted to facilitate dining. 

Compared to 6029 it will be a relative quick project so I am looking forward to an expected time frame of 12 months.

Volunteer Open Day

Once again, huge 'thank you' to all those who came to help on the Open Day which was a great success. Charles Body, Bob Hall, Paul Elliot, Bob Maroney, John Cheeseman, Brian Langshaw , Howard Moffatt, Garry Reynolds, Sandra Hyde, Alan Gardner were almost outdone by Barbara Denham and Lyn Little who ran the Railway Refreshment Carriage to the delight of all!

 

We attracted about seventeen enquiries with many keen to take up the offer.  All areas 'won'.  Bob Hall's Pullman now has more helpers, Charles Body snaffled one for the Queanbeyan Agency and Alan Gardner has someone to 'shovel coal'!.  As usual, Brian Langshaw has increased his numbers in the "Wednesday Group' as has Bob Maroney raised the numbers in hospitality while Sandra Hyde was greatly encouraged by two interested parties.

Thanks also to Kelly Wind and Alexia Elliot for help in organising the event.

It was a great day....

Thank you all very much

Barbara Schreiner

 

Saturday Workday- 7th May

Another glorious Autumn day in the capital drew the volunteers out to continue work on on our 'Big 3 Projects' for the year.

Our Asset Manager Ben and volunteer Andy made the most of the sun and completed a washout on 6029 in the morning as preperation for the trip out west continued.  The 60 class will also be undergoing a boiler inspection before heading west so a myriad of small tasks are being undertaken by Ben and assisted by our volunteers.  See the website for details on where you can see the fruits of their labour out west.

Attention after lunch shifted to 1210 as work continued on preparing its boiler for lifting.  New volunteer Daniel Griffiths and Dave Sutton were busy underneath uncoupling the tender from the loco and cutting airlines on the ashpan before moving on to undoing the retaining nuts for the cab roof.  At the front of the engine, Andy Heys and Malcolm finished removing bolts securing the smokebox to the frame.  They must have got them all as they managed to get a jack under the smokebox and lift it 5 or so cm off the frame.  The crane to lift the whole lot out will be booked in coming weeks and then a full survey of the boiler will be undertaken.

3016 was due to run the following day on a special Mothers Day service to Bungendore and was quietly raising steam in the shed following replacement of a blown superheater element and some smaller housekeeping tasks.  Newly minted fireman Jack speant the late afternoon giving her a good wash.

Uncaptured by the camera, the strip down of the MCE is in full swing with most of the outer panelling removed and windows stripped out.  Our Engineering Manager Alan has confirmed that what lies beneath is in good condition despite years of exposure to the Canberra weather.  Volunteers have also already made a start on the inside of the carriage preparing the internal ceilings for repainting. Work was also going further down the shed on AL 1040 which is now sporting some wonderful etched windows and even has some fresh paint appearing on the outside, a hint to what colour it may eventually appear in.

Garry R was noted in the TDS car refreshing some of the interior paint. 

John C was also hard at it continueing to seal the roof on CPH 27.  A slow task requiring much patience but it would certainly have paid off for the following day when it was running museum trips in the rain.

Operations manager Les was busy with paperwork for new volunteer Daniel and returning life member Michael Potter. As is standard with all our crews, Michael was to undergo a periodical check ride the following day on the Bungendore train.  Les also mounted a shunt in the afternoon to get the train together for the following day.

As you can see, theres much activity at the museum at the moment with a solid team spirit and effort moving things forward.  If youd like to be part of the team, the Society is holding a open day for new volunteers this coming weekend (Saturday 14th May).  Its a great opportunity to come down and talk about how to become involved and learn about the Society and its operations.  Full details are available on our facebook page under Canberra Railway Museum.

Saturday Workday- 30th April

A bit of Admin to begin with: ARHS management has designated 3 projects to carry us through to the end of the year, namely;
- Returning our 2 CPH Railmotors to the mainline
- Restoration of our 12 wheel MCE Carriage
- Overhaul of our 1878 pride and joy, Locomotive 1210
Our volunteers are a committed bunch (Case in point, 6029s restoration) and we're fairly confident we will see these projects come to fruition by years end.

A damp morning in Kingston but the sun emerged later to reward the volunteers.  The big plan for the day was to get 1210 to 'lift ready' status.  Gavin, Andy Heys and others have been gradually stripping back the locomotive over the past 12 months in the shed but some of the more niggling jobs required access from underneath the locomotive so the 44 was kicked over and the loco moved over the pit.
En-route, a stop was made to remove the compressor from the side of the smokebox with the assistance of the forklift.  This component is fairly 'work weary' and require a fair amount of love and attention to bring it back up to standard.

Once on the pit, Gavin squeezed into the firebox to begin removing the fire grate.  1210s firehole door is not the biggest and its a good judge of who's wife cooks the best meals.  A fair amount of coal had been liberally applied to the firebox whilst the engine has been on display so this had to be disposed of first.  1210 is fitted with mod-con Waugh firegrate, as is found in 38 and 60 class locomotives and this makes the task of removing the grate relatively easy.   Underneath the engine, our asset manager Ben was stripping off the blowdown mechanism, disconnecting the damper ram airlines and removing the ashpan flushers (Another mod con) so the firebox will clear the frames when lifted.  With these tasks complete, attention moved to the smokebox end where the remaining bolts securing the boiler to the frame were cut.  The boiler now should be ready to come out and Ben will be arranging a visit from the crane in the coming weeks.

Elsewhere in the yard, John was working away on applying a new surface to the roof of CPH 27.  This, along with the painting of CPH 37 and the installation of ICE Radio Equipment are the main items to be addressed before they can venture onto the network.  Further back in the shed, AL 1040 was continuing its long restoration at Bob Halls hands.

Our track manager Gordon disappeared with a flat top trolley early on and was not seen until after lunch.  He was attending to trackwork on the North Shunt with a few helpers.  Also working outside the gates was Engineering Manager Alan who was completing some contract work on CFCLAs wagons.

Another successful day!