Happenings in 2018
(February 2018 to January 2019)
November 2018 to January 2019
November 25th: Combined SRW/WMR&ES Taranaki Trip. This trip was postponed until the New Year, due to not enough members being available due to other things happening on the same weekend.
November 28th: SRW Club Night – Guest Speaker- Part 2 of Greg Tinnion’s Recent Trip across South East Asia: The Journey South – Hanoi to Saigon and home in 16 days.
My last day in Hanoi was going to be a quiet one while I waited for my 7:30pm train to Da Nang, about half way down Vietnam. After lunch at a coffee house I was accosted by a motorcyclist who wanted me to take a tour as a pillion passenger with her. Now, you have to be careful as there are a lot a scams and ripoffs, so I took a gamble and we agreed on a price and off we went for a 90 minute tour. About 5 hours later I had been taken across the 2.4km Long Bien riveted steel railway bridge; visited the excellent Vietnamese Woman’s Museum; saw Huu Tiep Lake where the rear landing gear and undercarriage of a downed B-52 bomber still sits after been shot down on 27th December 1972; visited West Lake and finally got dropped off at the railway station with about 30 min to spare. What an excellent day.
My next major stop was Hoi An, a colourful old port town. I went snorkelling 7km off the coast and had a blast. In the late afternoon I invited myself to a house across the road from my hotel to watch an international football game between Vietnam and South Korea. I can’t speak Vietnamese and my new adopted family couldn’t speak English, but we had a great conversation using google translate. They offered me some local food which included part of the uncooked digestive tract of tuna, which I washed down with copious amounts of their local homemade liquor.
Next, I took a sleeper bus ride to Da Lat, up in the central highlands. While here I took a train ride along 7km of reopened railway line which was very touristy. The old railway was 84km long and rose almost 1400m and included 3 rack rail sections and 5 tunnels. I hired a motor bike taxi and went on a tour of the area that included a silk processing factory; minority villages; and a coffee plantation, complete with Wessels who ingest and defecate coffee beans, which I must admit made a very nice cup of coffee.
Saigon was my last stop where I caught up with my brother-in-law and we did a bit of sightseeing. All in all, I had a great time and met some lovely people.
A fantastic trip. Thanks for sharing your experience with us Greg.
November 28th: SRW Club Night – Guest Speaker- Part 2 of Greg Tinnion’s Recent Trip across South East Asia: The Journey South – Hanoi to Saigon and home in 16 days.
My last day in Hanoi was going to be a quiet one while I waited for my 7:30pm train to Da Nang, about half way down Vietnam. After lunch at a coffee house I was accosted by a motorcyclist who wanted me to take a tour as a pillion passenger with her. Now, you have to be careful as there are a lot a scams and ripoffs, so I took a gamble and we agreed on a price and off we went for a 90 minute tour. About 5 hours later I had been taken across the 2.4km Long Bien riveted steel railway bridge; visited the excellent Vietnamese Woman’s Museum; saw Huu Tiep Lake where the rear landing gear and undercarriage of a downed B-52 bomber still sits after been shot down on 27th December 1972; visited West Lake and finally got dropped off at the railway station with about 30 min to spare. What an excellent day.
My next major stop was Hoi An, a colourful old port town. I went snorkelling 7km off the coast and had a blast. In the late afternoon I invited myself to a house across the road from my hotel to watch an international football game between Vietnam and South Korea. I can’t speak Vietnamese and my new adopted family couldn’t speak English, but we had a great conversation using google translate. They offered me some local food which included part of the uncooked digestive tract of tuna, which I washed down with copious amounts of their local homemade liquor.
Next, I took a sleeper bus ride to Da Lat, up in the central highlands. While here I took a train ride along 7km of reopened railway line which was very touristy. The old railway was 84km long and rose almost 1400m and included 3 rack rail sections and 5 tunnels. I hired a motor bike taxi and went on a tour of the area that included a silk processing factory; minority villages; and a coffee plantation, complete with Wessels who ingest and defecate coffee beans, which I must admit made a very nice cup of coffee.
Saigon was my last stop where I caught up with my brother-in-law and we did a bit of sightseeing. All in all, I had a great time and met some lovely people.
A fantastic trip. Thanks for sharing your experience with us Greg.
December 15th: WMR&ES/SRW Combined Christmas BBQ. The two clubs combined once again for our Xmas BBQ. This year we held it back at the WMR&ES club rooms. The plan was to have the official opening of the new extension at the same time, but due to this not being ready in time it was put off until a later date. Members enjoyed each other’s company and some finished off running some of the trains.
January 19th, 20th & 21st: Wanganui Vintage Weekend. SRW was once again involved with the Wanganui Vintage weekend. We again had our doors open to the public on the Saturday and Sunday and on the Monday we gave Jigger rides. Mainline Steam were in town again also offering short shuttle runs to East Town, Ruatangata (Whangaehu) and Kai Iwi with their Jb loco on the first 2 days. SRW were hired to do the security of the train overnight again. Although there was a bit of a mix up with advertising again prior to this weekend, things went really well. We had a lot of visitors over the weekend through the shed who were all really impressed with the restoration work done. We also gave approx. 171 people rides on the jiggers on the Monday. Overall we are rapped at how the weekend went. We thank all members who helped out over the weekend. Mainline Steam also send their thanks for our help over the weekend. A few of the photos taken below are by Blair Jordan but most are taken by the Wanganui Camera club who were hired as the official photographers for vintage weekend (these have the Vintage Weekend logo on them). Here are just a few examples of what they took over this great weekend.
January 19th, 20th & 21st: Wanganui Vintage Weekend. SRW was once again involved with the Wanganui Vintage weekend. We again had our doors open to the public on the Saturday and Sunday and on the Monday we gave Jigger rides. Mainline Steam were in town again also offering short shuttle runs to East Town, Ruatangata (Whangaehu) and Kai Iwi with their Jb loco on the first 2 days. SRW were hired to do the security of the train overnight again. Although there was a bit of a mix up with advertising again prior to this weekend, things went really well. We had a lot of visitors over the weekend through the shed who were all really impressed with the restoration work done. We also gave approx. 171 people rides on the jiggers on the Monday. Overall we are rapped at how the weekend went. We thank all members who helped out over the weekend. Mainline Steam also send their thanks for our help over the weekend. A few of the photos taken below are by Blair Jordan but most are taken by the Wanganui Camera club who were hired as the official photographers for vintage weekend (these have the Vintage Weekend logo on them). Here are just a few examples of what they took over this great weekend.
SRW Construction/ Maintenance Days: Members have been busy getting items ready for the Wanganui Vintage Weekend in January over the last few months. We now have the step made over the tracks as we walk into the doorway. New signs have been made for our open days. More paint has been applied to Price loco No 212 (this looked really good outside in the sun in its new red colour on display over Vintage weekend) and to the steam crane. Some rotten boards on our back door of the main shed have also be replaced. We have also continued working on the many other projects we have on the go, these include the guards van, motor trollies, signal box, locos, our main shed and the usual mowing lawns, weed eating and spraying. We are also keen to get started on the Xp box wagon ex Waverley. We want to get the roof water tight before winter. Unfortunately over the Christmas/ New Year holiday break we have had a bit of damage done to our items by the turntable. We have had a concrete block thrown though our big signal boxes window, packing removed from axle boxes on wagons, our Xc and Xa box wagon bodies have had boards broken off by people trying to get in them and more tagging on some of our wagons. Even the turntable has been hit with the cover plate being removed from over top of the centre bearing/balance pin. We always seem to hit more by vandals etc. during the school holiday periods. Since we are not allowed to put a fence up, there is not a lot we can do about it other than patching up what they damage every time. There’s always plenty to do down the yard. If you can help, please come along.
August to October 2018
August 22nd: SRW Club Night. We had a run your model train on the layouts night. Due to short notice of this night, there was only three members there. Blair and Colin ran their trains for a bit before heading home early. Thanks to the WMR&ES for the use of the layouts.
September 18th: WMR&ES and SRW Combined Club Night. Movie Night, 8 members enjoyed a slightly cool night in the extension. Hamish's Movie Theatre equipment was set up and we had the choice of "Unstoppable" or "Von Ryan's Express". The vote went to Von Ryan's starring Frank Sinatra, a WW2 adventure where Colonel Ryan, a USAAF pilot and prisoner of war, leads a group to escape the prison and Italy via train (of course). In a grand tradition of movie going, within moments of the movie starting we had jaffas rolling across the floor, care of John, and quite deliberately I think. Thanks to Hamish for the loan of the equipment, it was almost as good as a real movie theatre and thanks to Colin for providing the movies.
October 24th: SRW Club Night. Guest speaker Greg talked about the first half of his recent 40 day trip to South East Asia. He started in Cambodia and push biked with 6 other cyclists for 623km over 8 days from Siem Reap, through eastern Thailand and onto Vientiane in Laos. During the bike trip he visited several of the temples of Angkor (ប្រាសាទអង្គរ), Tonle Sap where about 1 million people live on the lake, a landmine museum, the burial place of Pol Pot, an elephant sanctuary and a snake park. Next it was a short flight to Hanoi in Vietnam, then a 30km bus ride to get to the train station. Greg took a sleeper train to Lao Cai on the Chinese boarder, hired a motor bike and visited some local markets and minority villages. An early morning 4:55am train to the coast (6½ hours), 2 x motorbike taxi’s (xe ôm), a speed boat ride and finally a 45 minute taxi to get to Cat Ba town on Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay was the next part of his journey. Greg found and stayed at a hotel run by a Kiwi expat which overlooked the beautiful harbour. He did a couple of short walks and a few swims over several days before heading back to the mainland and boarding another train back to the Hanoi.
This was a very interesting night. Thanks Greg, we look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.
October 24th: SRW Club Night. Guest speaker Greg talked about the first half of his recent 40 day trip to South East Asia. He started in Cambodia and push biked with 6 other cyclists for 623km over 8 days from Siem Reap, through eastern Thailand and onto Vientiane in Laos. During the bike trip he visited several of the temples of Angkor (ប្រាសាទអង្គរ), Tonle Sap where about 1 million people live on the lake, a landmine museum, the burial place of Pol Pot, an elephant sanctuary and a snake park. Next it was a short flight to Hanoi in Vietnam, then a 30km bus ride to get to the train station. Greg took a sleeper train to Lao Cai on the Chinese boarder, hired a motor bike and visited some local markets and minority villages. An early morning 4:55am train to the coast (6½ hours), 2 x motorbike taxi’s (xe ôm), a speed boat ride and finally a 45 minute taxi to get to Cat Ba town on Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay was the next part of his journey. Greg found and stayed at a hotel run by a Kiwi expat which overlooked the beautiful harbour. He did a couple of short walks and a few swims over several days before heading back to the mainland and boarding another train back to the Hanoi.
This was a very interesting night. Thanks Greg, we look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.
SRW Construction/ Maintenance Days: There has been some big changes at the club. Especially at the entrance way. We have now connected the track from outside permanently to the track inside so it’s now easier to get our jiggers and rolling stock in and out without members having to lift a bit a rail into the gap. The next part of this project is to put a ramp, steps and deck across the rails in the door way to make it easier for people to get around over the rails. We have also been donated a lot of old air conditioners and machines from Greg’s and Ewan’s work places. Members have been dismantling these for scrap. Price 212 is now movable again after the new oil was put into the final drive gearbox after this was flushed out. We also continue on the other projects, e.g. the crane, loco’s and jigger restoration etc.
New Members: We would like to welcome new members Phoenix, Leo and their mum Kathy to the clubs. Both Phoenix and Leo are mad on trains and love getting their hands dirty.
May to July 2018
May 23th: SRW Club Night. Members gathered at Hamish and Amanda’s house on this night (because of them having internet access) for a You Tube Night. We searched the web looking for different types of railway items from around the world followed by supper. It was an interesting night. A big thank you to Hamish and Amanda for hosting this.
June 3rd: SRW Open Day and Jigger Rides to Public. SRW once again had another successful open day. Although it was raining first thing while we were trying to set up, it cleared up and the rain stayed away for the day while we gave the jiggers rides. This day was well supported by the public, even the dogs enjoyed the rides. A big thank you to all members who helped out. Photos taken by Sandra Jordan.
June 3rd: SRW Open Day and Jigger Rides to Public. SRW once again had another successful open day. Although it was raining first thing while we were trying to set up, it cleared up and the rain stayed away for the day while we gave the jiggers rides. This day was well supported by the public, even the dogs enjoyed the rides. A big thank you to all members who helped out. Photos taken by Sandra Jordan.
June 27th: SRW Club Night. Members enjoyed another DVD/Video night on this night.
July 21st: WMR&ES and SRW Combined Mid-Year Dinner. Both clubs combined again for our annual mid-year dinner. This year we tried somewhere new by going to the Golden Oaks for their Buffet Meal. 27 members attended and a good meal was had with quite a few going back for seconds and a few for thirds, a great time was had by all, some even mention we should go back there next year. Thanks to the Golden Oaks staff and to all who attended.
SRW Construction/ Maintenance Days: Members continue on the many jobs down at the yard. The crane is still getting old paint and rust removed and primer put on. They are now working on the boom of the crane. The ex-Imlay loco also has more new paint added and work on tiding up around the head light area has started. Some of the member’s motor trolleys have had items done to them and more towing couplings are being made for these. New signs have been made for our open days. Also a big thank you to John Churchouse, who has been keying a lot of our padlocks to the same key for us. He has also donated some locks to the club. This will make life a lot easier for members not having to carry so many keys. We also had a visit from the NZTA on the 9th of July for the clubs Audit and we are still waiting to hear how well we did. Even Blair’s loco has had a little bit of work done on it, some new parts added and some new paint applied.
July 21st: WMR&ES and SRW Combined Mid-Year Dinner. Both clubs combined again for our annual mid-year dinner. This year we tried somewhere new by going to the Golden Oaks for their Buffet Meal. 27 members attended and a good meal was had with quite a few going back for seconds and a few for thirds, a great time was had by all, some even mention we should go back there next year. Thanks to the Golden Oaks staff and to all who attended.
SRW Construction/ Maintenance Days: Members continue on the many jobs down at the yard. The crane is still getting old paint and rust removed and primer put on. They are now working on the boom of the crane. The ex-Imlay loco also has more new paint added and work on tiding up around the head light area has started. Some of the member’s motor trolleys have had items done to them and more towing couplings are being made for these. New signs have been made for our open days. Also a big thank you to John Churchouse, who has been keying a lot of our padlocks to the same key for us. He has also donated some locks to the club. This will make life a lot easier for members not having to carry so many keys. We also had a visit from the NZTA on the 9th of July for the clubs Audit and we are still waiting to hear how well we did. Even Blair’s loco has had a little bit of work done on it, some new parts added and some new paint applied.
Obituary
Barbara Palmer
Barbara Palmer
Passed away peacefully on May the 30th, 2018 aged 73 years.
Barbara was a long-time member of SteamRail Wanganui Inc. She had a big input with the club over the years, especially when we were running our train excursions. She even held a position on the committee for a while during this time. The clubs thoughts went out to her family over this sad time. She will be missed.
Barbara was a long-time member of SteamRail Wanganui Inc. She had a big input with the club over the years, especially when we were running our train excursions. She even held a position on the committee for a while during this time. The clubs thoughts went out to her family over this sad time. She will be missed.
February to April 2018
February 4th: SRW. We once again did the securitry on a visiting train for Steam Rail Feilding and KiwiRail. This train consisted of KiwiRail Dc loco and 3 of Feildings carriages. It had spent the night before in New Plymouth, then a Night in Wanganui before heading to National Park to drop the passengers off. Thank you to all members who helped out over night.
February 13th: SRW. The latest addition to the SRW’s collection turned up on this day. This is a XP class 4 wheeled box wagon donated to the group from the former Friends of the Waverley Railway Station group that has now folded up. A big thank you to Emmetts Cranes and TIL Freight (Hookers Transport) for their help getting the Wagon back to Wanganui. Photos taken by Blair Jordan, Colin Hughes and Charley Masters.
Wagon details:
XP. 3042 built 1966 at East Town Shops (Loco.204/ 8253, bod:BP X.26670, udf:BP X.27010)
XP. 3042 renumbered c1978 to XP848
XP 848 reclassified 09/1981 at East Town Shops to E6695
E 6695 (for conveyance of stores Otahuhu-Hamilton)
E 6695 w/off 04/1985 at East Town (roof, door post)
Wagon details:
XP. 3042 built 1966 at East Town Shops (Loco.204/ 8253, bod:BP X.26670, udf:BP X.27010)
XP. 3042 renumbered c1978 to XP848
XP 848 reclassified 09/1981 at East Town Shops to E6695
E 6695 (for conveyance of stores Otahuhu-Hamilton)
E 6695 w/off 04/1985 at East Town (roof, door post)
February 28th: WMR&ES & SRW Combined Club Night. 31 members enjoyed a visit to Biggin Hill at the Ohakea Air Force base to view the vintage planes, models, pictures and photos. A big thank you to Brendon Deere for opening up, showing us around and telling us about the history of the planes. Also thanks to Ray Deerness for organising this event. Afterwards 22 members went back to Blair and Lloryian's place for supper and to have a look at Blair's hobby room, model trains and railway memorabilia. Thanks to Lloryian for the fresh baking. A great night enjoyed by all. Photos taken by Blair Jordan.
March 21st and 28th: WMR&ES & SRW Combined Club Night. We were meant to have a visit to the Tot Town Railway at Kowhai Park, with the old red train operating on Wednesday the 21st.
But due to bad weather this was put off until the following Wednesday the 28th. But Mother Nature didn’t want to play ball on this night either so the visit was cancelled and we will look at doing this again later in the year. Thank you to Warwick Laws for organising this.
April 22nd: SRW. On this day Steam Inc visited town with Ja 1271. 244 passengers came up from Wellington for the day. Many of them road on the river boat and some did a bus tour around town while here. While in town the train did a trip to East Town and back for the Wanganui locals. Blair (your Editor) was the fireman on the train from Wellington to East Town on the way up. SRW was once again asked to help with directing the public and the use of their steps to help the passengers on and off the train. Phots taken by Blair Jordan, Dion Mckenna and Kylie Jordan.
But due to bad weather this was put off until the following Wednesday the 28th. But Mother Nature didn’t want to play ball on this night either so the visit was cancelled and we will look at doing this again later in the year. Thank you to Warwick Laws for organising this.
April 22nd: SRW. On this day Steam Inc visited town with Ja 1271. 244 passengers came up from Wellington for the day. Many of them road on the river boat and some did a bus tour around town while here. While in town the train did a trip to East Town and back for the Wanganui locals. Blair (your Editor) was the fireman on the train from Wellington to East Town on the way up. SRW was once again asked to help with directing the public and the use of their steps to help the passengers on and off the train. Phots taken by Blair Jordan, Dion Mckenna and Kylie Jordan.
April 25th: SRW Annual General Meeting. This was well attended. We started off with a minute silence for members who had passed throughout the year. All the reports were read and accepted and it was voted that the subs stay the same as the previous year. The Committee also stayed the same as the previous year and are as follows: - Board Chairman Blair Jordan and Board Managers Colin Hughes, Greg Tinnion, Russell Jackson, Ewan Pound and Hamish Coull. We finished off the night talking about Club projects, building insurance and the possibility of SRW running another Train trip somewhere using the KiwiRail P Nth based Capital Connection train carriages. Blair has got prices from KiwiRail for several different destinations ranging from $25K to $50K. Members seemed keen on the trip to New Plymouth at this stage. We are going to look into this a bit more. We need to decide a timetable before we can get a confirmed price from KiwiRail for the train as at the moment we are only going my estimates they have given us. The last trip we ran was in 2010.
SRW President’s Annual Report – 2017/2018
For the fifth time I have great pleasure in presenting my President’s Report for SRW.
It has been another busy year for the club. I have once again enjoyed my term as President. I would like to start off once again with a big thank you to the committee and members who have helped me or put up with me not being able to make every meeting.
Club Highlights: We have carried on over the last 12 months running our public Open Days again offering Motor Trolley/Jigger rides, we have also done a few security jobs for visiting groups. Other than member’s subs these are the biggest money earners for the club. We are looking at doing this again on Queens Birthday Weekend Sunday the 3rd and/or Monday 4th.
As always one of the biggest highlights for me is the ability of the club and our members to be able to work with other clubs and organisations when needed. We have again worked with the WMR&ES. We once again displayed in their shows and they in return had a display at our open weekend in January as part of the Wanganui vintage weekend. We have also combined our club nights on a few occasions. We also continue to work with other groups, mainly visiting train excursions (where we might help out with tickets sales, security and crowd control) or our members heading out of town to help with other groups planned events (e.g. the Steam Traction Society and the Waitara Group etc.). I know they appreciate our help.
Fundraising: Our main fundraising over the last 12 months have been once again our Motor Trolley/Jigger Rides and Open Days and the security of visiting trains to Wanganui. Other fundraising the club has done also include scrap metal recycling and donations from visitors have also helped. With costs rising every year, we will continue to look at ideas for fundraising. If you have any ideas let the committee know.
Donations: We have been donated a lot of railway related items over the last 12 months, eg. Railway books and tools etc. Always a big help is the members who donate items to the club. A big thank you to everyone who has donated items to the club over the year.
Training: Not a lot has been happening here this year, as once again not a lot of movement down at the yard. However we did move the locos for a first time in ages over Vintage weekend. During the Vintage weekend we also got time to do shunters and jigger driver refresher courses. We are also planning more Open Days if you are keen to help out and be trained at either a shunter or trolley driver please let us know.
Club Projects: We are always busy down at the shed. Work has continued on the ex North End Aramoho Signal Box, with members putting on new paint inside the building. Work on the East Town steam crane E120 has carried on with paint being stripped off and new paint getting applied. Price loco no 212 (ex Imlay) has the final drive pump back in and was able to be moved at vintage weekend. The loco has now started to be painted back into its original red colour. We have also started to repaint the Baby price loco into a darker green. Work has also continued on with the Guards Van, Motor Trolley and other tools and items we have. The Waverley Jigger shed has had some new boards put on and some paint. We are still working on the idea of putting a new floor in this. Members have wired up 2 of our working tablet machines. These now act as a working display on our open days. We finally (after several years) have the Xp wagon from Waverley at our site. A big thank you to Emmett’s Crane Hire and Til Freight (Hookers Transport) for transporting this down for us. We had a full day working bee over Easter where we pulled down the old broken cage area down by the turntable. This has tidied the area up a lot. The next plan is to demolish the old Xc wagon body for spare parts as this has seen better days. There is always plenty to do down at the yard so come along and give us a hand.
Club Nights: Our club nights have been entertaining again with a variety of different programs. We have enjoyed DVD/ Video nights, BBQ’s, Mid-Year Dinner, Other Hobbies nights, Guest Speakers plus visits to the Biggen Hill at Ohakea and Tot Town Railway at Kowhai Park. We again combined with the WMR&ES on some of these club nights. A big thankyou to all those who have hosted one of our club nights. It is still a bit of a concern the lack of member numbers we get on a few of these nights and if members have any ideas on programs for these nights please let us know.
Newsletter: I have also continued with the newsletter and have once again had good feedback. We have had a good range of stories in this over the year. Thank you to all who have contributed to this. I couldn't do this without you. Once again our thanks go out to Greg Tinnion and Phillips Electrical for their help with printing of the newsletters. My apologies with a few issues of this being late.
Membership: Last year we had about 27 members paid up. It was a shock to hear about the passing of long time SRW member Jim McLees. The club’s thoughts go out to any member or their families who have lost loved ones over the last 12 months.
My Life: I continue to love my job as a Locomotive Engineer (driver) with KiwiRail. It’s hard to believe that July this year I would have been with KiwiRail for 7 years, the time goes so quick. I must thank everyone for the support you have given me over this time. Being a shift worker does make it harder for me to get across to club meetings and the help and understanding I have had from members because of this has been appreciated. I enjoy my roles with SRW and look forward to continuing, that’s if you want me of course.
The Next 12 Months: This upcoming year looks like it will be another busy one for the club. We are looking at dates when we can do more Motor Trolley rides and Open Days, we are also planning some full day/weekend working bees. Both Steam Inc and Feilding Steam Rail have trips planned to Wanganui later on in the year and there has been some early rumours that Pahiatua railcar group are looking at coming across. We may also plan a train trip somewhere as we have had pricing from KiwiRail for hirage of the capital connection train, this will depend on members thoughts tonight. All members’ help over the next 12 months would be appreciated.
Once again I would like to thank everyone who has helped me over the past year and a big thank you to all committee members for their help.
Thank you
Blair Jordan
President SRW.
SRW President’s Annual Report – 2017/2018
For the fifth time I have great pleasure in presenting my President’s Report for SRW.
It has been another busy year for the club. I have once again enjoyed my term as President. I would like to start off once again with a big thank you to the committee and members who have helped me or put up with me not being able to make every meeting.
Club Highlights: We have carried on over the last 12 months running our public Open Days again offering Motor Trolley/Jigger rides, we have also done a few security jobs for visiting groups. Other than member’s subs these are the biggest money earners for the club. We are looking at doing this again on Queens Birthday Weekend Sunday the 3rd and/or Monday 4th.
As always one of the biggest highlights for me is the ability of the club and our members to be able to work with other clubs and organisations when needed. We have again worked with the WMR&ES. We once again displayed in their shows and they in return had a display at our open weekend in January as part of the Wanganui vintage weekend. We have also combined our club nights on a few occasions. We also continue to work with other groups, mainly visiting train excursions (where we might help out with tickets sales, security and crowd control) or our members heading out of town to help with other groups planned events (e.g. the Steam Traction Society and the Waitara Group etc.). I know they appreciate our help.
Fundraising: Our main fundraising over the last 12 months have been once again our Motor Trolley/Jigger Rides and Open Days and the security of visiting trains to Wanganui. Other fundraising the club has done also include scrap metal recycling and donations from visitors have also helped. With costs rising every year, we will continue to look at ideas for fundraising. If you have any ideas let the committee know.
Donations: We have been donated a lot of railway related items over the last 12 months, eg. Railway books and tools etc. Always a big help is the members who donate items to the club. A big thank you to everyone who has donated items to the club over the year.
Training: Not a lot has been happening here this year, as once again not a lot of movement down at the yard. However we did move the locos for a first time in ages over Vintage weekend. During the Vintage weekend we also got time to do shunters and jigger driver refresher courses. We are also planning more Open Days if you are keen to help out and be trained at either a shunter or trolley driver please let us know.
Club Projects: We are always busy down at the shed. Work has continued on the ex North End Aramoho Signal Box, with members putting on new paint inside the building. Work on the East Town steam crane E120 has carried on with paint being stripped off and new paint getting applied. Price loco no 212 (ex Imlay) has the final drive pump back in and was able to be moved at vintage weekend. The loco has now started to be painted back into its original red colour. We have also started to repaint the Baby price loco into a darker green. Work has also continued on with the Guards Van, Motor Trolley and other tools and items we have. The Waverley Jigger shed has had some new boards put on and some paint. We are still working on the idea of putting a new floor in this. Members have wired up 2 of our working tablet machines. These now act as a working display on our open days. We finally (after several years) have the Xp wagon from Waverley at our site. A big thank you to Emmett’s Crane Hire and Til Freight (Hookers Transport) for transporting this down for us. We had a full day working bee over Easter where we pulled down the old broken cage area down by the turntable. This has tidied the area up a lot. The next plan is to demolish the old Xc wagon body for spare parts as this has seen better days. There is always plenty to do down at the yard so come along and give us a hand.
Club Nights: Our club nights have been entertaining again with a variety of different programs. We have enjoyed DVD/ Video nights, BBQ’s, Mid-Year Dinner, Other Hobbies nights, Guest Speakers plus visits to the Biggen Hill at Ohakea and Tot Town Railway at Kowhai Park. We again combined with the WMR&ES on some of these club nights. A big thankyou to all those who have hosted one of our club nights. It is still a bit of a concern the lack of member numbers we get on a few of these nights and if members have any ideas on programs for these nights please let us know.
Newsletter: I have also continued with the newsletter and have once again had good feedback. We have had a good range of stories in this over the year. Thank you to all who have contributed to this. I couldn't do this without you. Once again our thanks go out to Greg Tinnion and Phillips Electrical for their help with printing of the newsletters. My apologies with a few issues of this being late.
Membership: Last year we had about 27 members paid up. It was a shock to hear about the passing of long time SRW member Jim McLees. The club’s thoughts go out to any member or their families who have lost loved ones over the last 12 months.
My Life: I continue to love my job as a Locomotive Engineer (driver) with KiwiRail. It’s hard to believe that July this year I would have been with KiwiRail for 7 years, the time goes so quick. I must thank everyone for the support you have given me over this time. Being a shift worker does make it harder for me to get across to club meetings and the help and understanding I have had from members because of this has been appreciated. I enjoy my roles with SRW and look forward to continuing, that’s if you want me of course.
The Next 12 Months: This upcoming year looks like it will be another busy one for the club. We are looking at dates when we can do more Motor Trolley rides and Open Days, we are also planning some full day/weekend working bees. Both Steam Inc and Feilding Steam Rail have trips planned to Wanganui later on in the year and there has been some early rumours that Pahiatua railcar group are looking at coming across. We may also plan a train trip somewhere as we have had pricing from KiwiRail for hirage of the capital connection train, this will depend on members thoughts tonight. All members’ help over the next 12 months would be appreciated.
Once again I would like to thank everyone who has helped me over the past year and a big thank you to all committee members for their help.
Thank you
Blair Jordan
President SRW.
SRW Construction/ Maintenance: Work has continued on the East Town steam crane E120 members have carried on with paint being stripped off and new paint getting applied. Price loco no 212 (ex Imlay) has now had more paint stripped off of its original red colour painted on it. We have also started to repaint the Baby price loco into a darker green. Work has also continued on with the Guards Van, Motor Trolley’s and other tools and items we have. We have priced some new timber for a floor in the Waverley Jigger shed. We hope to do this soon to make the shed more secure. We finally (after several years) have the Xp wagon from Waverley at our site. This gives us another project to do as there is a few wall and roof boards etc. needing replacing on this to make it watertight again, once done this will give us more storage space. We had a full day working bee over Easter where we pulled down the old broken cage area down by the turntable. This has tidied the area up a lot. The next plan is to demolish the old Xc wagon body for spare parts as this has seen better days. Photos taken by Blair Jordan
Farewell Jim McLees
James Frederick McLees loved trains and newspapers. Always known as Jim, he was born in Invercargill in 1941. His father worked for N Z Railways and during Jim’s childhood the family shifted many times in Southland following his father’s transfers. Although Jim was keen to join NZR after leaving Southland Boy’s High School his father did not think it was a good idea. Aged 16 Jim joined the Southland News as a cadet journalist. Although not an academic at school he enjoyed the newspaper life.
At 22 years of age Jim went to England for his big OE. He got a job as a journalist for the Nottingham Post, and while he was there he met his future wife, Lisa. The two got married and returned to Invercargill, where Jim joined the Southland Times. Jim later shifted to Wanganui as a sub-editor for the Wanganui Herald. Following the merger of the Herald into the Chronicle, Jim held the positions of sub-editor, editor, and later returned to the sub-editing position.
One knew Jim was a railway enthusiast when one visited Jim in his office at the Chronicle. There were railway photographs all over the walls of his office. After he finished his day at the paper, it was not unknown for Jim to go to East Town and take a cab ride on a train to Stratford or Taihape – with a news article to follow.
Jim became an early member of SteamRail and was good for providing publicity about the group. When we were running an excursion and passenger numbers were a bit light, a visit to Jim resulted in an article in the next issue of the Chronicle and more bookings.
One always knew when Jim McLees was in the room for he had a loud voice, was always friendly and could tell a good yarn. His wife Lisa passed away four years ago and for the last 18 months Jim had found life difficult. Jim died on 15 March 2018, aged 77. His is survived by his two daughters. In his will Jim left the majority of his railway memorabilia to SteamRail. Thank you Jim – we will remember you with a smile and a laugh.
Graeme Carter
At 22 years of age Jim went to England for his big OE. He got a job as a journalist for the Nottingham Post, and while he was there he met his future wife, Lisa. The two got married and returned to Invercargill, where Jim joined the Southland Times. Jim later shifted to Wanganui as a sub-editor for the Wanganui Herald. Following the merger of the Herald into the Chronicle, Jim held the positions of sub-editor, editor, and later returned to the sub-editing position.
One knew Jim was a railway enthusiast when one visited Jim in his office at the Chronicle. There were railway photographs all over the walls of his office. After he finished his day at the paper, it was not unknown for Jim to go to East Town and take a cab ride on a train to Stratford or Taihape – with a news article to follow.
Jim became an early member of SteamRail and was good for providing publicity about the group. When we were running an excursion and passenger numbers were a bit light, a visit to Jim resulted in an article in the next issue of the Chronicle and more bookings.
One always knew when Jim McLees was in the room for he had a loud voice, was always friendly and could tell a good yarn. His wife Lisa passed away four years ago and for the last 18 months Jim had found life difficult. Jim died on 15 March 2018, aged 77. His is survived by his two daughters. In his will Jim left the majority of his railway memorabilia to SteamRail. Thank you Jim – we will remember you with a smile and a laugh.
Graeme Carter