March 2012

Castlemaine and Maldon

Railway Preservation

Society Members

Newsletter

Derailment Disrupts Services

The railway suffered a significant incident on Sunday 4th March when the normal 11:45am service from Castlemaine to Maldon derailed in a

cutting, known to many as the S curves between Muckleford and Maldon. The train was comprised of diesel locomotive Y133 and three carriages,

Tambo, Lowanna and 29BCPL. The train was travelling at approximately 20 kilometres per hour. The locomotive remained on the rails while all

three carriages derailed. Fortunately there were no injuries to either passengers or crew.

The railway’s Emergency Plan swung into action and we were able to convey the 50 passengers from the train to our mini-bus and then Bendigo-

Maldon Road where a Castlemaine Bus Lines coach transferred them to Maldon and onwards to Castlemaine. The derailment was reported to

Transport Safety Victoria and three investigations were immediately started - one by Transport Safety Victoria, one by the Office of the Chief

Investigator and our own internal investigation. The cause of the derailment is not yet known. All three carriages have been towed back to

Maldon and will be lifted by crane during the coming week so that the Chief Investigator can examine the carriages and try to determine the cause

of the derailment.

Re-railing the three carriages has been undertaken using jacks under

the direction of our Civil Manager John Shaw and our Mechanical

Manager, Stephen Lumsden. This re-railing has been difficult as the

number of volunteers who can work safely in the cutting is limited.

Maintaining a safe work-site has been our top priority and we are

fortunate to have had such expertise within our group of volunteers.

Approximately 50 metres of track has been damaged and this is being

repaired under the direction of our Civil Manager, John Shaw. At the

time of going to press, ballasting, and tamping of the repaired section is

underway.

This derailment has had a significant impact on our operations with

three running days disrupted so far, however it is important to note

that the repairs and recovery must be completed safely before can

operate any train on our line. Further details and progress reports will

be posted on our website at www.vgr.com.au

Our Civil Branch volunteers enjoy a cuppa while working at the derailment

site. We are fortunate to have such a dedicated team of skilled volunteers.

Page 2 March 2012

President’s Column

In this issue, Members will read of the

incident which occurred on Sunday last at 86

¾ miles from Melbourne where the 11.45 am

train from Castlemaine to Maldon was de-

railed. There is sufficient information

elsewhere without me going into detail to

repeat however, at the time this issue was

printed, investigations were continuing by the

Office of the Chief Investigator, Transport

Safety, and the Railway will commence its

own enquiry as soon as the situation is

resolved and we are in a position to breathe a

little easier.

I was thrilled with the efforts of both the

Station and on train staff on the day in

question. They have acted entirely with the

focus upon our passengers, considering their

welfare and needs and arranging evacuation

and alternative transport. This is exactly and

precisely what they should have done and

cements the view that we must – all the time

and in everything we do – focus on the

customer. The customer comes first. Many

years ago when working in a service industry

(not the Tourist & Heritage Railway sector!) I

had drummed into me during training courses

that not only is the customer always to come

first and foremost, but that the customer is

always right. I believe we would do well to

keep these in mind.

Also, I have been pleased with the offers of

assistance the Railway has received from both

other Railways as well as Government

agencies. Offers have been forthcoming from

the Puffing Billy Railway, Yarra Valley Railway

and Daylesford Spa Country Railway. We are

also grateful to have had an offer of assistance

from Victrack and I cannot over emphasise

the help we have had from Officers of

Transport Safety Victoria and the Office of

the Chief Investigator. Needless to say, it is

our own people and the team is

acknowledged in this issue who have been

as the assistance with the re-railing of the

carriages, most of those involved are over 60

years of age, and there are some over 70! If

the Railway is to have a future, we need to

find younger volunteers who are interested in

maintaining a valuable part of the State’s, and

indeed, the Country’s history in the

preservation and operation of a Branch line

railway. This is where you can help by

encouraging anyone you know that has

interest in becoming involved – we need

them if we are to grow and progress in years

to come.

Most of our members will be aware that K

190 has been returned to Steamrail following

a highly successful period of hire to the

V.G.R. The return to Castlemaine and

subsequently Melbourne proceeded without a

hitch and, despite heavy rain, the task was

greeted enthusiastically by both the VGR

crew, V Line loco crew and signaling staff.

That the V.G.R. was able to have people on

hand to man the coffee machine and assist

those involved with refreshments before T

364 departed 45 minutes early, was well

received and thanks to Philip Ryan and

Rachael Musgrave-Evans for assisting with

this. K 190 has performed very well in the

time it has been on our Railway and has

certainly enabled us to get through a difficult

time while we deal with issues relating to K

160 and J 515. Work is continuing on J 515

and we are now hopeful of having it returned

to traffic later in March. K 160 has had

repairs to its ashpan as well as having a

replacement set of grates fitted in the firebox.

One problem encountered while K 190 was

with us related to an algal growth in the

water tank located behind the workshop at

Maldon. The algae was finding its way into the

locomotive tender and blocking injector

strainers, rendering them impossible to

(Continued on page 3)

able, with able leadership and guidance, to

have the carriages re-railed within a short

time and available for inspection by the O.C.I.

as well as our own Inspector before return to

service. It has been both a pleasure and

privilege for me to have been involved with

some parts of the re-railing and to witness

first hand the ability and enthusiasm with

which this difficult task was performed. In

some ways, it couldn’t have been worse – on

a 1 in 40 gradient, on a curve, in a cutting

which tended to raise some issues with

access but this was also overcome.

As I have said in previous issues, the people

we are fortunate to have as part of our

volunteer teams are possibly the greatest

asset the Railway has. One important fact to

bear in mind, though, is that through the

project to recover rail from Bandiana as well

by Paul McDonald

President - Castlemaine and Maldon Rail-

way Preservation Society

Page 3 March 2012

operate.

Having traced the source of the problem,

steps have been taken to stop any more

getting into locomotive tender tanks and

investigations are continuing into the most

appropriate method of controlling the growth

of algae in the tank itself. There are a huge

array of different things for people to become

involved with in operating a Tourist Railway,

hence my comment above: lets encourage as

many as we can to become involved and

spread the load with the work.

(Continued from page 2)

Off the Rails

The V.G.R. welcomes the new volunteers who are currently experiencing the wonder of

working on our train

WELCOME;

Coral Cooper, Pauline Wilkinson, Peter Harding and last but not least Colin Mickleburgh.

We look forward to working alongside these new volunteers as well as many happy,

memorable train hours together. Please stop and make them feel welcome when rostered on

with them, and share your trips and experiences also.

Just a friendly reminder about donations for the PINK RIBBONS OF STEAM event to be held on

Sunday October 21, 2012. (Please note date has changed to a week earlier). Raffle prize

donations would be gratefully received, along with any PINK tablecloths, vases, aprons or

serviettes. Also any information on any groups or people willing to donate their time for

entertainment either at Castlemaine or Maldon Stations.

We are calling for any Volunteers interested in helping out with Catering for groups travelling

on our train on a Wednesday. This would involve working from Maldon kitchen on said day,

making sandwiches etc and packing them to be served on the train. We have currently 6 ladies

to call upon but would love to have a roster going as to not rely on the same people all the

time. If you would be interested and can spare 2 hours on a Wednesday morning, please

contact Christine Gibb 0428 810 633.

Preparations for the Trivia night-19th May- is under full steam! You can make a table up of your

own of family and friends or just come on the night and be placed with other intelligent people

and win!! Cost for the evening will be $5 per head and please bring a supper plate to share. Tea

and coffee will be supplied, but soft drinks and cappuccinos will be able to be purchased. This

fun occasion will be held at Castlemaine Station with “heads down” at 7pm. If you would like to

book a table or be placed on a table, please contact Christine Gibb on 0428 810633 or via

volunteers@vgr.com.au

FULL STEAM AHEAD

Christine Gibb

Acting Volunteer Co-Ordinator

The next Volunteer Meeting will be held on

Saturday June 9th at 2pm at the Castlemaine

Station Refreshment Rooms between

platforms 2 and 3.

Volunteer Meeting

The railway is delighted to welcome on board,

Grand Pacific Tours as a sponsor. Grand

Pacific Tours run a number of tours that will

be of interest to members, including a

spectacular 18 day Steam tour of New

Zealand. Further details of Grand Pacific

Tours trips will be included in the next

newsletter. In the mean-time, if you’d like

more information on their range of tours, see

their website at

www.grandpacifictours.com

New Sponsor

Members will be aware, from previous

newsletters, of our submission to the

Australian Railway Historical Society to enter

in to a joint venture with the ARHS to

restore diesel locomotive T367 to mainline

standard and to return her to service as a

freight locomotive, earning both groups a

valuable income. T367 is currently sitting in

the ARHS Railway Museum at North

Williamstown.

Unfortunately our submission was un-

successful with the ARHS deciding to allocate

the locomotive to our good friends at

Steamrail to use on enthusiast tours.

While we were naturally dis-appointed not to

be successful in our submission, we’ll certainly

look forward to seeing her hauling Steamrail

tours all round the state.

T367

K190 Returns to Melbourne

Saturday 3rd March was the day that we said farewell to locomotive K190. K190 has been with

us on loan from our good friends at Steamrail since October and has performed very well over

this time. Due to fire restrictions, K190 was not able to be steamed back to Melbourne and

hence T 364 travelled up to Castlemaine to tow her back to Melbourne.

Having K190 with us has been an enormous

help as we’ve been able to carry out vital

maintenance on K160 and to keep up progress

on returning J515 and J549 to traffic.

Having K190 spending time with us wouldn’t

have happened without the generous assistance

and co-operation of:

Steamrail

V/Line

RTBU (Heritage Division)

and we sincerely thank these three organisations for their assistance. It is much appreciated.

Page 4 March 2012

Returning to the Past

by Alf Batchelder

After a soggy but unforgettable Steam on

Show last November, I treated myself to a

footplate experience aboard K190. The driver

was Athol Graham, who went to

considerable lengths to explain every facet of

the trip between Muckleford and

Castlemaine, from what was happening in the

cab to the meaning of the various signals

along the way. However, when Athol invited

me to blow the whistle, he had no idea what

that particular kindness meant. For me, there

is nothing quite as exciting as the strong

distinctive whistle tone of Victorian steam

locos, and I had long dreamed of a moment

such as this. As the sound of K190 rolled

over the outskirts of Castlemaine, my

thoughts drifted back to 1946, when my love

of trains began.

At the age of five, Spencer Street station was

the most exciting place I had ever known.

Like so many other little boys in those days, I

desperately wanted to be an engine driver. Of

course, I had no idea of the heat that drivers

endured, or of the cold blasts that would hit

their faces in winter. Drivers blew the whistle

– and that was what I wanted! While the

presence of the great A2s fuelled that

ambition, my dream was really sparked by the

streamlined blue and gold of the S-class

engines that hauled the Spirit of Progress. Every

weekend or so, my father would take me to

Spencer Street to watch the Spirit glide into

Number One platform at 11.30, on the dot. I

would eagerly wait to see which of the four

engines was working that day, and stare wide-

eyed as she effortlessly hauled the long train

past me, with those 73-inch drivers looking

absolutely enormous as they went by.

Occasionally, my father would ask the driver

if I could stand in the cab – while I have never

forgotten the thrill of those moments, the

sight of that fearsome-looking inferno in the

firebox did produce some apprehension. My

father worked in the Secretary’s Branch in

the nearby headquarters of the Victorian

Railways, so he had no qualms about

wandering through the train with me in tow.

Young as I was, I could sense his pride in

Australia’s fastest train and the fact that it

was built by the VR. I was always in awe of

what I saw, especially the luxury of the round

-ended parlour car, with its plush arm-chairs

and vases of flowers. Prior to departure,

there would even be a telephone on the table

at the end. Every carriage was panelled with

Queensland ribbon walnut and carpeted with

a dark brown Saxony Wilton. In a typical

passenger compartment, the seats were

upholstered in dark blue chrome leather –

but nothing emphasised the overall luxury

more than the train’s air-conditioning which,

in post-war Australia, was extremely

uncommon.

Sometimes, when my father was on holidays,

we would be on Number One platform to

watch the Spirit leave at 6.p.m. on its non-

stop run to Albury. Once, I had the rare

experience of seeing H220 at the head of the

train. Massive and exciting though it was, the

legendary all-black “Heavy Harry” didn’t quite

have the appeal of the streamlined S-class

with its gold stripes that, even when

stationary, conveyed an impression of power

and speed. When S302 Edward Henty, my

favourite, sounded its chime whistle and

started to move, blowing clouds of steam, my

world was truly an exciting place.

After relishing every one of the blasts I

unleashed from K190, I reluctantly

surrendered my authority over the engine to

Athol. For a wonderful moment, I had

returned to those distant, happy times with

my late father. I can only hope that, in his

retirement after 25 years on the footplate,

Athol Graham will re-live many equally warm

memories of his days on the VGR.

2013 will mark 25 years since Flying Scotsman’s

visit to Australia that co-incided with AuSteam88.

Alf will be writing a number of recollections of

riding, chasing and photographing the magnificent

locomotive on her visit to Australia. These

recollections will appear over the next 18 months

Castlemaine Historical Society

Raffle The Castlemaine Historical Society has selected a David

Williams watercolour (left) of the Castlemaine Railway Station

platform for their 2012 raffle prize. Such a choice is particularly

appropriate for 2012 as this year is the 150th anniversary of the

opening of the Melbourne to Bendigo Railway.

The dates for the sale of raffle tickets are as follows:

Thursday the 29th of March and Saturday the 28th. of April

at the Castlemaine IGA Supermarket.

Tickets are also available from the Former Courthouse, 7

Goldsmith Crescent, Castlemaine on Tuesdays.

Page 5 March 2012

Page 6 March 2012

2009 - The Victorian Year In Steam

DVD has just been released by Steam

Media. It is 2 hours and 15 minutes of

top steam action from 2009 and the

VGR features well. The Maldon line125

year anniversary where our double J

class ran parallel with a double R class

train from Castlemaine has excellent

coverage. Our regular services and a

cabride on K 160 are also featured.

Other action includes R classes crossing

on Warrenheip bank, Garratt 100 year

celebrations at Puffing Billy, T 251

returning to service at Queenscliff,

Double Ks to Seymour, 20 different

locos in steam, Double R class to

Bendigo, D3 639 on a suburban ramble

to Cranbourne and Upfield, R 707 at

Flemington Racecourse, Glen Waverley

and Lilydale, K class on suburban

shuttles to Williamstown, Dandenong

and Mooroolbark and cabrides on T

251, Vulcan#4, K 160 and K 163.

VGR has a long time connection with

Steam Media. Our President, Paul

McDonald, is the narrator whilst

founding Board member and regular

driver Tony Marsden is producer and

editor. Several members are also

videographers for the DVD.

You can obtain your copy from our

Maldon and Castlemaine shops priced at

$49.95 or by mail order below.

Your purchase benefits the VGR

2009 - Victorian Year in Steam Mail Order Form

Please deliver me _____ copies of 2009 - The Victorian Year in Steam @ $49.95 each $.................

Postage (Australia) @ $4.00 $.................

Postage (International) @ $10.00 $.................

TOTAL $................

Name ……………………………………………………..

Address …………………………………………………...

Card Number Mastercard / Visa / Cheque / Money Order

Expiry Date

Signature ……………………………...

Return this slip to:

Victorian Goldfields Railway P.O. Box 51

CASTLEMAINE VIC 3450

Page 7 March 2012

Our Proud Sponsors

Victorian Goldfields Railway

General Office and

Marketing P.O. Box 51, CASTLEMAINE VIC 3450

Phone: (03) 5470 6658

Facsimile: (03) 5470 6272

Email: marketing@vgr.com.au for bookings,

Train Times & Fares information or

cmr@vgr.com.au for all other enquiries

Castlemaine Railway Station

Kennedy Street, Castlemaine

Phone: (03) 5470 6658

Facsimile: (03) 5470 6272

Maldon Railway Station

Hornsby Street, Maldon

Telephone: (03) 5475 1451

www.vgr.com.au

www.driveatrain.com.au

www.driveasteamtrain.com.au

Page 8 March 2012

Members will be aware of the plight of the

Castlemaine Country Women's Association

and the possibility of them losing access to

their regular meeting venue.

Fortunately, an agreement has been reached

between the CWA and Mount Alexander

Shire Council, meaning that they won’t need to

take advantage of our offer to use the

Muckleford Goods Shed on a regular basis,

however representatives from the CWA have

inspected the Goods Shed and may well use it

in the future for event that are suited to the

Goods Shed.

Hopefully that will include our crews offering

to “taste test” some scones on the way

through Muckleford!

Castlemaine CWA

Our Services Roster covers:

Booking Officers

Conductors

Sales

First Class attendants

Volunteers for Special Events

The only requirements are a friendly

disposition and a willingness to abide by the

Volunteers Code of Conduct and the railways

Safety Policy.

If you’d like to join the ranks of our

volunteers, please contact our rostering

officer , Russell Chapman on 5470 6178 (prior

to 8pm) or 0488 539 419 or via email at

sevicesroster@vgr.com.au

Services Roster IT Update Anyone who has been surfing the web

recently and just happened to, by design or

mistake, stumble across the VGR website

would have noticed that the site has

undergone a few changes, it now fills more of

the screen, works on MOST mobile devices

(this is actually harder than it should be) and

has some clean, crisp and fresh photographs

scattered around the place. While we haven't

changed the content greatly we have tried to

make navigating around a little easier.

One big change that will be resulting from the

new website is that we will, within the next

few months be setting up an online shop,

where various gift vouchers, driver

experience packages, membership renewals

and general memorabilia will be available. We

hope that this will improve our scope for

financial gain, offering those internet impulse

buyers a slice of the VGR.

But the real purpose of the website after

being a easy and instant marketing and

publicity tool, is that it is a communication

channel for our members. I've been trying

hard to have all current rosters and all

newsletters uploaded to the members area of

the website. If you haven’t got access to the

members area please email me –

webmaster@vgr.com.au leaving your CMRPS

membership number and a password of your

choice and I’ll set up your personal login – or

use the password and user-name given to you

to access the newsletter electronically.

In our members section of the site are some

interesting and useful documents, like the

Volunteer Handbook & Code of Conduct,

AGM minutes and the all important Annual

Report, copies of the Constitution, and our

Safety Management System, safety updates

and more. We will continue to upload all

handouts so that if you miss out of lose

yours, you'll know where to find them, and

where possible and practical we ask members

to check the members area from time to time

to catch up on any news, safety updates or

material that may affect you as volunteer.

Unfortunately up until recently the website

has been a bit stale with old news, and un-

current events and unless I get emailed

through some details of the happenings, I

wont be able to keep the site up-to-date with

the all the gossip. So if you’re organising a

workday, holding a morning tea or meeting

or you’ve taken a fantastic photo that you

would just love published on our website,

please make sure you send the details

through to webmaster@vgr.com.au.

The other exciting news in regards to the

VGR in the technology stakes is that we are

going to (soon hopefully) be installing a

computer server, and some terminal units at

Castlemaine and Maldon stations to make the

communication and efficiency as easy and

effective as possible. Because the VGR is a

non for profit organisation we are able to

purchase this system at a ridiculously low

cost, but, and there's always a but, we will

need some help with the installation and

maintenance at least initially with the system,

so if there are any members out there who

know even just the basics of networking,

servers and terminal computers, then please,

please contact webmaster@vgr.com.au and

I’ll put your skills to good use.

I wish everyone the best, and remember,

keep that news and those photo's coming in.

Cheers,

Will Maylor

VGR Webmaster

webmaster@vgr.com.au

Friday April 6th 2012

Step aboard – relax, enjoy the

entertainment, the company and

the special atmosphere of the steam

train as we take you on an autumn

evening journey from Maldon to

Castlemaine and back to Maldon.

Departs Maldon Station : 7.00pm

Enjoy the unique ambience of a

great evening steam train journey.

Includes complimentary cheese

platter

Drinks - purchase on board - No BYO

Bookings are essential - Phone (03) 5470 6658

Good Friday Wine and Cheese Special