Worth a read...The Down Home with Andy!

One of our guys has recently started a blog that will talk in general terms of his railway experiences, and some about the daily operations of the Canberra Railway Museum. Click here to have a look. I am sure it will develop into an interesting read!

eating humble pie...

A sincere apology to Dennis Rittson... we mistakenly attributed four of his photos to the wrong photographer.

The pix are 6029 and K153 running side by side on the way to Wangaratta in June 1980.
two uncaptioned shots during the Great Circle tour in June 1981.

As soon a webmasterMike can, he will make the corrections.

Meantime, sorry Dennis

Sunday 15 March

The super heater header was examined for any flaws and found to be in good condition. The last of the fitted bolts were extracted and all of the mounting flanges were cleaned out and assessed. The lapping in of the pilot, drifting and main valves x 4 was completed. All studs where extracted and the holes were tapped out clean to ¾ BSW. The header was turned on its side and the re-machining of the 100 element seats started with the aid of Gavin’s magnetic base drill. The two main reservoirs for the brake system were removed in preparation for and internal examination by our boiler inspector. Some of the support brackets for the steam exhaust lines were also removed for replacement.

Our next workday will be held on the Saturday the 4th of April 2009. The main focus of work will be the boiler cradle.

Alan Gardner

where are you Ron?

Cabin Boy, we are missing you..Mike and I [in my role as 'gofetch'] have begun the rust repairs, last Saturdaay we worked in the back corner on the drivers side.

Mike Ridley patiently and carefully treated the cladding ring and other parts re-assembled on the previous workday.

Thanks again the the chaps at the LES for your hospitality.

Saturday March 7, 2009.

A beautiful autumn day with mild temperatures was a welcome change from the summer scorchers we have experienced on previous work days. An early phone call from the guys at Eveleigh was pleasing to note as on this day work is progressing in parallel on many fronts all over NSW. The new smoke box floor is now fitted and the temporary attachment of the blast pipe will facilitate the final fit of the smoke stack. The superheater header is work continuing with the lapping in of the pilot and drifting valves. The clean down and assessment of the boiler cradle revealed no issues and a coat of grey primer was applied to the entire right hand side. The two main reservoirs were disassembled in preparation for internal inspection and hydrostatic test. Work continues on the hind unit and the headstock received its second coat of red paint.

Alan Gardner

While the work continued in Canberra, work is also being undertaken in Sydney at the Large Erecting Shop in Eveleigh. The guys from 3801 Limited have made some space, and along with a few of the Canberra regulars, are restoring the cab to its previous glory. Ron Denholm has done a great job of removing years of grime and corrosion, having spent many a day with the needle gun, and now we are starting to repair the damage of years in the open. There is a lot of corroded material to remove and replace, some pieces to be re manufactured, and some modifications to be done before it is reunited with the frame in Canberra

Sunday 22 February 2009 

The critical work path was the main focus of the day . Gavin almost competed the installation of the smoke box floor and the blast pipe can now be temporarily fitted to facilitate the final fitting of the smoke stack.  The old boiler cladding sheets were test fitted around the firebox area to facilitate the measuring up of new pieces. This work is being brought forward to ensure the cab can be lifted straight onto the boiler when delivered from Sydney. Howard, Michael and Barry continued with the cleaning and painting of the boiler cradle. Michael levelled the boiler cradle and it now sit true on the stands.   As usual Peter cooked a delightful lunch and gave the site a much need clean up.

Our next workday will be on  Saturday the 7th of March. Work will continue  on the cradle and replacement boiler. We still have to make up four timber supports for the boiler cradle to facilitate  the fitting of boiler onto the cradle. After this vital milestone is reached, the fit out of the feed water system and fire grate will commence, when completed  we will steam test the boiler.

Alan Gardner

A CORRECTION

Humbly, a correction..our next Canberra work day is Sunday 22 February 2009; and yes,it is out of pattern because whilst we all like 6029 working with her on Valentines day was seen by some to be an abberation!

Also, due to the kindness of our Sydney hosts, there will be a Cab work day at Eveliegh on Saturday 21 February.

Interested in a little Garratt history?

MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry) in Manchester, England, is celebrating 100 years since the development of one of the world’s most successful steam locomotives with a new archive display on Beyer-Garratts. Click Here for more information.

Not a cool workday; Saturday 7 February 2009

Well, we have worked through the extremes of Canberra's weather, yesterday must have been near 40 degrees Celsius.

But Alan got off to an early start, still cussing whoever did the stationary boiler modifications..but most of that is now behind us, studs that had been removed from the foundation ring have now been replaced, preparatory to re-installing the ash pan. And other fire box fittings are being placed on the replacement boiler, but no thought of steaming yesterday as it was a total fire ban day.

Peter got up close and personal [and early] with some piping under the cab which carries steam to the stoker motor. Surprisingly, one line still contained water.

Ted Coulter drove the new air driven needlegun to paint that I applied way back in 1973/4[,there is a product endorsement sponsorship opportunity here]; Howard Moffat applied a coat of red [same product] to the front engine buffer beam casting and Vince and new worker Mike Ridley[welcome Mike] ground and scraped, and painted wheels and boiler cradle till the weather was just too hot. David Carroll grabbed what he thought might be the coolest task, operating the Steam cleaner, but his reward was to become very dirty. Just hope the can clean up before Valentine's day.

Next workday..Third Sunday, which is 21 February.

For those that have been following the project and the photos of the work taken by Howard, take a look at the photos taken today... In just two weeks the worksite has transformed, so much so that some may think they are no longer looking at a Garratt.

And a note from Alan

Critical path work 

Many jobs are being carryout in parallel as labour permits; however the highest priority work is classified as critical path. The term critical path in the sequence or order of work ensures that the overall project is completed in the most cost effective manner at the earliest completion date. With this type of project work specific tasks are carried out in parallel rather than sequentially. Thanks to the efforts of many people off site work is being completed and will be available for assembly as the project progress. To give and example the cab, power reverser, stoker engine are all offsite being overhauled as part of the boiler and cradle works. 

Onwards and forward

With all of the above in parallel tasks progressing the replacement boiler and the cradle will be the focus.  Within the next few months these two major components will be joined together in preparation for the final steam test. However funds are tight and before we can complete this major mile stone we will need to raise about $5,000, so could I ask you all to dig deep and ensure that we can steam 6029 sooner rather than later. For tax deductible donations go to the link at the top of this blog page. 

So if we can raise the funds we can complete the following.

Smoke box & boiler

1. Install the replacement floor.

2. Repair and fit super heater /smoke box cover.

3. Remove smoke box door plate 

4. Repair and install super heater header and fittings.

5. Fit all ash pan / foundation ring mounting studs.

6. Fit all cleading sheets and insulation to blackhead.

Boiler cradle 

1. Strip clean and repair frame as required 

2. Make and fit additional cradle support stands 

3. Level main cradle 

So as you can see from the above if we can keep the attendance   up at the work day we will have a progressive and exciting year ahead. 

Alan Gardner  

Awsome Meccano

Most us played with Meccano when we were young, but this note and pics from England show some of what you really can do with Meccano!

Hi Alan,
I would like to submit some photographs of my recent construction of an Meccano model representation of  AD60 no. 6029 in 2.5ins gauge. The mid red and mid green is correct for Binns road, Liverpool, Lancs. Meccano of the period 1946 -1956/57 and entirely appropriate to the early fifties AD60 heavy freight batch articulated locomotives construction period in my native Lancahire at the Beyer Peacock works in West Gorton Manchester. 

I have fitted the laterboiler bogie brakes and the extended bunker.
I have purposely omitted the acoustic enhancement piping for alerting crews to warning detonators placed on track.

I offer it as encouragement to the volunteer team engaged on the project to have her in working condition by 2014 for the New South Wales Railway Centenary celebrations.

A true leviathan of steam weighing in at 260tons in working order.

Special Thanks:
A copy of this e-mail is sent to 'Meccanoman' Dave Taylor of Great Dunmow, Essex, UK, for his supply of various special items and to my dearest sister Elaine Fairhurst and her husband Harry of Mount Eliza, Victoria, Aus, for their support with literature and an DVD of 6029 in action.

Best of luck meanwhile with the project.

Tom Martland

Tom adds in a follow-up mail that the model is driven by a motor in the coal bunker space, and the driving wheels have a coupled braking arrangement...