What’s Happening in Preservation?
News from our member organisations and upcoming ATRQ and ATHRA events will be published on these pages. We’ll also dredge up articles of interest from the mainstream media that is relevant to T&H Railway operators. Scroll down to read more!
The management committee wish to acknowledge and congratulate Atherton Herberton Historical Railway‘s President, Bob Slater for the Order of Australia Medal that has been bestowed upon him for “Services to the Herberton Community”.
That bland description from the Australia Day awards Gazette hardly does justice to the significance of the work Bob has done in his community. He has been acknowledged for the tireless work he has put into the Railway, and also the local Mens Shed, which has been amalgamated into the Railway Precinct at Herberton. Anyone familiar with the growth and achievements of the AHHR, under Bob’s guidance, will understand that this award is truly well deserved and a fitting tribute to work he has done and the benefit that has been achieved for the Herberton Community.
From the Gazette:
MEDAL (OAM) OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA IN THE GENERAL DIVISION
Mr Robert David SLATER, Herberton QLD 4887
For service to the community of Herberton.
Atherton-Herberton Historic Railway
• President, since 2011.
• Member, since 2007.
Herberton Men’s Shed
• President, 2018-2019 and 2014-2016.
• Founding Member, since 2014.
Herberton Lions Club
• President, 2014-2019.
• Member, since 2011.
Other
• Committee Member, Associations of Tourist Railways Queensland, current.
Awards and recognition includes:
• Community Service Award, Tablelands Regional Council, 2019.
Member organisations, or museums may be interested in the offer put forward by the Queensland Maritime Museum.
From the QMM:
The Queensland Maritime Museum is updating its membership program and is seeking organizations which would possibly be interested in reciprocal partnerships.
What QMM might be able to include in its offer to external partners’ members could include benefits such as:
* 10% off in the QMM Gift shop
* 5% off the Ship Inn coffee & food
* Appearance on the QMM website as a partner
These offers are possible to be changed in future and are open to negotiation as we are trying to find our feet after COVID-19.
Should you be interested please contact Maaike Schmidt Partnerships@maritimemuseum.com.au , or if you wish to speak over phone please email a number and I will be in contact with you.
Many of us are now considering re-opening operations as the COVID19 restrictions are eased.
While the information in the link below is prepared for the UK, it does provide some useful tips.
For those wishing to attend the funeral of John Newell, it will be held at 09:00 am at Centenary Memorial Gardens, 353 Wacol Station Rd, Sumner QLD 4074. The on behalf of the membership, the management committee wish to pass on our sincere condolences to Johns Family and friends.
The original mailing list for this site was created in 2011 and over the past eight years it has gotten rather messy. It has now been cleaned up and it’s time to validate it.
First up, if you have somehow arrived at this page and did NOT receive an email alerting you to the post, and think you should have, please contact us and we’ll stick you on the list.
If you DID receive an email notification and don’t want to be annoyed by them, please hit the unsubscribe link on the email that alerted you to this post.
During the repair of the mailing list, a new post outlining a summary of the ATHRA meeting, held in Brisbane on 23 November, was published. For those who missed it, you can view that post here. Some background into our interest in the ATHRA meeting can be gleaned from the Minutes of the ATRQ meeting from 9 November (link takes you to the minutes page)
At the recent ATRQ AGM, a number of concerns were raised about the proposed Amalgamation into the national T&H Body ATHRA. Despite the concerns, a motion to transition towards an amalgamation was carried by the meeting – the details of which can be found in the meeting minutes posted (or soon will be) on this site. At our meeting, an undertaking was to attend the ATHRA general meeting that was being held in Brisbane a fortnight after ours, and that a summary of the meeting was to be reported back to the Queensland Membership. This summary also contains some impressions taken from the meeting.
Some Queensland members were dubious about the ability for half the ATHRA board members to be appointed, rather than voted into board positions. The scenario specifically raised was that a disparate number of representatives could be appointed from one specific state, to drive home very state based agendas. There is simply no evidence of this. The purpose of the appointed positions is to access experts from either the sector or industry for their skills in dealing with challenges or issues that might affect the sector. It gives the chairperson of a major working party or subcommittee an opportunity for a seat on the board and with that, the ability to drive policy direction and decisions with an appropriate level of authority. It should be noted that with the ONRSR now being a fully national regulator with the recent inclusion of Victoria, the issues affecting the T&H sector are no longer state based issues, but have become national issues. It is only sensible that a national approach be taken to address the challenges facing the sector.
Some Queensland members voiced frustration about the failed undertakings regarding consultation for amendments to the ATHRA constitution. ATHRA acknowledges the tardiness, citing resourcing issues to progress with this. At the meeting there was an assurance that a constitutional review consultation document will be released in the next couple of months.
Another Queensland concern was the capacity for ATHRA to levy amounts from members. While this was raised during the the Queensland Transition Brief there it was not specifically addressed with any assurances. However an observation from the meeting was that this avenue of obtaining funds was not actively explored where there was an identified need to fund a particular activity. To be monitored during the transition.
The most striking thing from the meeting was the interaction between ONRSR and ATHRA with regards to consultation relating to brewing issues and proposed changes to National Law and reporting procedures. This simply no longer happens at state level – as ONRSR actively seek engagement with the national body for input and comment on looming changes. Examples include:
- Fatigue Guidelines
- SMS Draft Template
- Rail Safety Induction package
- Data Strategy
- Streamlining Reporting requirements
Finally, ATHRA has self identified that its ability to communicate with the broader membership is poor. This was raised as a concern at the ATRQ meeting, with some explicit examples given. To their credit, ATHRA is very self aware of this shortcoming, and also with that of a centralised system of document management and record control. I volunteered my organisation to assist with developing systems that will improve this aspect and is being done in collaboration with the ATHRA System Admin.
Terry from ANGRMS writes:
I am excited to be able to announce that today, Thursday 6th November 2014, ANGRMS took delivery of the Perry steam locomotive and a surplus wagon from Dreamworld.
It is a great credit to all involved in ANGRMS that Dreamworld chose to donate this locomotive and wagon to ANGRMS.
The loco needs a bit of work and we are still to undertake a detailed assessment. At this stage the tentative plan is to have it operational about April/May next year (as well as the physical work there is also a lot work to accredit the loco, do driver training etc). Once Melbourne is operational again it will drop back to standby loco. When Bundy and Melbourne are both back in operation, the loco can then commence a full overhaul.
This additional operational steam loco will allow us to much better manage our operation steam loco assets.
Briefly the history of this loco is:
This 16t steam loco was built in 1951 by the Perry Engineering Company, Mile End, South Australia for the Bingera Sugar Mill near Bundaberg. In 1974, after its career hauling sugar cane came to an end, it was saved for preservation at the Goulburn Museum of Historic Engines near Goulburn NSW. It was purchased privately in 1977 and moved to Panania in NSW.
In 1982 it was purchased by Dreamworld on the Gold Coast for their railway. It operated at Dreamworld until 2013 when it was stored. This year it was donated to ANGRMS for use on our Woodford Railway.
Terry from ANGRMS reports:
Over the weekend of the 9th and 10th of August, the 100th non-wooden (concrete or steel) sleeper was installed on our main line. These new sleepers should last much longer than the wooden ones and reduce our maintenance burden in the long term, something that is always important with a volunteer led organisation.
Well done on the long term planning!
With this Friday being ANZAC day it is important that we all pause and remember those who made the supreme sacrifice. As road transport was still in its infancy, railways played an important part in World War One. Many Australian railway personal involved both here and abroad, with several railway squadrons. ANGRMS at Woodford and the Workshops Museum at Ipswich both have Hunslet steam locomotives built for use in World War 1. Light railways played an important part in WW1. In the environment of the Western Front, main line railways could get no closer than five to eight kilometres from the trenches , as they were a prime target for artillery and were very expensive to install and maintain. Therefore light railways were a vital link between the mainline railways and the front.
ANGRMS will be laying a wreath at the Woodford Ceremony (commencing at 10:30am) in memory of those Australian railway personnel who paid the supreme sacrifice