OBERON TARANA HERITAGE RAILWAY NEWS -8
OTHR Board members have been busy attending other Heritage railways around the state so that we can benefit from their accumulated knowledge and experience. President Shane Moorhead and track manager Matt McMahon flew up to Coffs Harbour to visit the Glenreagh Mountain Railway and were made very welcome for the day (the Secretary having chickened-out due to feeling unsettled when any higher than the third rung of a ladder).
They were shown around the track laying and maintenance operations and learned some of the pitfalls of trying to lay concrete sleepers, not the least of which is their incredible weight. It was encouraging (for us) to see that they are on the way to achieving success even though their track seems to be in a considerably worse state than ours. The ravages of a sub-tropical climate have wrought havoc on the sleepers and culverts and any timber structures. Matt & Shane were amazed to see a strange coating of green material on the ground which they were informed was “grass”, something they hadn’t seen for some time!
Glenreagh has the start of a good collection of rolling stock and locomotives including one of the steam locos that spent 18 years of its life on our line. The attached photo doesn’t do it justice as it was inside a shed. Makes you wonder “what might have been” should our predecessors have been able to purchase such a loco in 1975. Matt reports loco”1919” to be in excellent condition having been extensively restored over the last few years and it is currently raising funds hauling passenger services each weekend on the Glenreagh Mountain Railway.
I was able to visit the friendly crew of the Australian Railway Historical Society (ACT Division) in Canberra and they showed me around the museum, rolling stock and locos. They run a very successful business with numerous special excursion trains, picnic trains, brunch runs and restaurant trips for people to dine on board. I was shown over one of their CPH railmotors which is the type we are hoping to be able to acquire on a loan/lease basis to use during the early stages of our passenger operations. Incidentally, they were sometimes known as “Tin Hares” – do you know why? Give me a call if you do.
I also watched dedicated teams of volunteers restoring railmotors, locomotives and carriages, some in very poor condition, but all valuable heritage items. We don’t intend to involve ourselves with the enormous costs of full locomotive and carriage restorations at this stage – perhaps later.
Passenger operations may be able to happen sooner rather than later if we are successful in accessing some of the Federal Government funding grants which are available.At present we are exploring that possibility within the Council committee formed to investigate suitable usage of the rail corridor. One outcome could be railmotor serviceswith an adjacent walking/cycling track connecting Oberon Station tothe old Hazelgrove station – interesting possibilities.
We are still on the lookout for a retired person with accountancy skills to help guide us in the financial aspects of our business management. Similarly we urgently need the services of experienced people with professional skills in managing a company board – railway skills are NOT required, just corporate skills.
Further informationis on our website is at:
Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway Inc.meets on the first Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm.
Contact OTHR Secretary, Rick Fletcher on 6336 1787 for the venue (at Hazelgrove)
Photo Captions:
- “What might have been!” An 18 year veteran of the Oberon line now steams on the Glenreagh line near CoffsHarbour.
- Railmotor number 37 resting between trips in Canberra – some would remember it as the “Tin Hare” or 42 footer. OTHR is actively seeking the loan/lease of one of these historicmachines.