6029 is owned by the Australian Railway Historical Society, ACT Division and the restoration is proudly supported by their tourist operations and by the generous donations of members and public supporters.
The society operates rail tours out of Canberra with our heritage fleet of steam and diesel locomotives and rolling stock every few weeks.
To travel in style on any of our tours, or to learn more about our collection and operations, go to Canberrarailwaymuseum.org

May 18, 2009

Workday Report 18 May 2009

Work on 6029 progressed rapidly this week as we completed three consecutive days on the project.

Friday 15 May.

Gavin and Ian held their regular Friday session with the installation of 10 new superheater elements. Lindsay Richmond also helped out with the heavy lifting, thanks Lindz. The last job for the day was to lift the smoke box front plate into position.

Saturday 16May

The Eveleigh work team removed the life expired roof off the cab revealing many years of rust and subsequent damage. Mike will complete a full set of CAD drawings to outsource the construction of new roof sheets.

Sunday 17 May.

The installation of the smoke box front plate was completed by Ian and old mate Alan Kent. The bottom plate attachment was yielding some problems, however Ian has assured us that it will be sorted out next week. After the last of the new elements were removed from the storage van, Marc started to clean of each ball end for installation next Friday.

The donated workbenches were reassembled and we now have four workstations that will assist with the repair and rebuild of the many small components. Gavin has sourced a six inch vice that we can install on one of the benches. Wow!!

The Boiler cradle is staring to look like a new one as Stuart, Howard, and just about everyone is having a go with the re paint. Gavin and Peter removed the water delivery pipes revealing some active corrosion that will require some major surgery.

Our next work day will be Saturday the 6th of June and work will continue on the boiler cradle.

We will now be holding weekly workdays every Friday, so if you have the time to help out please come along . Lunch is BYO and Gavin will be supervisor for all mid week work and if you intended coming along please let him know in advance.

Alan Gardner.

The Cab in Eveleigh

These photos by Steve Preston, show that the cab is now without a roof, and its removal shows the corrosion and damage caused by years of neglect. A large amount of metal will need to be replaced before the cab is reunited with the frames, which should happen in a few months.

Sunday 17 May

This day, which turned into delightful Autumn day, was attended by
Alan Gardner
Gavin Woolf
Alan Kent
Marc Millar
Stuart Edwards
Ian Senini
Alf Spiteri
David Villiers
Kyle Rollinson
Vince Patrech
John Kempton
Peter Anderson
Peter Reynell
and Howard Moffat
I will leave it to Al to list the days achievements...this post is to recognise those who were there yesterday.

a big weekend

Saturday 16 May saw a two person work party at Eveleigh take the can opener to the cab, thus creating the worlds' first convertable Garratt.

You ask why?

Even in Canberra's relatively dry climate, the enemy of all things steel appears. In this case, the worst parts are the window cut outs where the gutters naturally collected, but not necessarily diverted rain, and areas near the doors where two or three layers of plate are now interspersed with oxidised steel.

Best to fix it "proper" now; roof off will give better access.

And the roof itself is a maze of holes where everything that could be hung, was. Even the ceiling was held up [or down] by a bolt through the roof.Actually, many bolts.

Then, more holes for the colonial conversion to dual control. Another heavy casting, more holes in the roof.