SteamRail Wanganui Happenings
Please note this page is updated every 3 months, to coincide with the release of the club newsletter.
February - April 2024
SteamRail Wanganui Inc. lost one of its long serving members "Warwick Laws" on the 22nd of March in his 90th year. This has come as a great shock. Warwick was a regular at our club nights, open days, trips and mid-year dinners. He served on the committee for a period and was also a car steward on our train excursions we used to run. Warwick also organized a number of our club nights, e.g. visits to the Tram and Tot Town Railway etc.
Warwick was well known in our community, with ties with the Wanganui Tram, Tot Town Railway, the Lions Club and a life member of the Wanganui Community Patrol. He was also a member of the Railway Enthusiasts Society.
He passed away peacefully in Wanganui. Much loved Husband of Veronica, and dearly loved Dad of Michael and Tara, and Melissa and Stephen Franklin. Loving grandad of Paige and Breanna.
A service to celebrate Warwick's life will be held in the Collegiate School Chapel, Liverpool Street, Wanganui on Tuesday the 2nd of April 2024. At 2pm.
He will be a great loss to so many. SteamRail Wanganui Inc. thoughts go out to his family and friends at this sad time.
Warwick was well known in our community, with ties with the Wanganui Tram, Tot Town Railway, the Lions Club and a life member of the Wanganui Community Patrol. He was also a member of the Railway Enthusiasts Society.
He passed away peacefully in Wanganui. Much loved Husband of Veronica, and dearly loved Dad of Michael and Tara, and Melissa and Stephen Franklin. Loving grandad of Paige and Breanna.
A service to celebrate Warwick's life will be held in the Collegiate School Chapel, Liverpool Street, Wanganui on Tuesday the 2nd of April 2024. At 2pm.
He will be a great loss to so many. SteamRail Wanganui Inc. thoughts go out to his family and friends at this sad time.
February 28th: SRW/WMR&ES Combined Club Night - Visit to Nikau Junction. Nikau Junction is a 7 1/4-inch private ride on railway, out Castlecliff in Wanganui. A big thank you to Ian Jones for allowing us to have a look and ride on this 300m long railway. This was a great night, giving some members ideas for their own builds. Photos taken by Blair J and Keegan JJ.
March 9th: SRW/WMR&ES Members Fun day Out. Members of both groups had a great day out on the "Wairua" River Boat. We travelled up the Whanganui River to Hipango Park for a picnic lunch. A big thank you to Sam Mordey for a great trip. Photos taken by Blair J, Keegan JJ, Ewan P and Trevor F.
Previous Happenings
November 2023 - January 2024.
November 22nd: SRW/WMR&ES Combined Club Night – Blair & Lloryians Europe Holiday (part 1). Both clubs joined up on this Wednesday night to hear about Blair and Lloryians recent trip overseas. They visited Hong Kong, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, from October the 11th to November the 4th 2023. Blair showed off a lot of photos, videos, brochures, maps and souvenirs of their recent trip. Part 1 covered their 3 nights in Hong Kong and their 7 nights in Germany (3 nights Hamburg, 2 nights Frankfurt and 2 nights Heidelberg).
Hong Kong highlights were – The view from our Hotel, the Peak Tram (cable car) and view from the top, the model railway shop and the seriousness of the game played by the old fellers in the park.
Hong Kong highlights were – The view from our Hotel, the Peak Tram (cable car) and view from the top, the model railway shop and the seriousness of the game played by the old fellers in the park.
Germany Highlights were – Catching up with family in Hamburg, The Schloss Ahrensbury Castle (Hamburg), The Miniatur Wunderland (biggest Model railway in the World) in Hamburg. The Railway Station in Frankfurt, the Heidelberg Palace (castle), Heidelberg Bergbahnen (cable car) and the rail travel we did across Germany.
December 3rd: SRW Motor Trolley Drivers Training/Refresher Course. Members attended our Trolley drivers refresher/training course on this Sunday, with 11 of them resitting or passing their driver training. We worked through the Trolley driver’s handbook, following the instructions. Members used the 3 trolleys at the club to demonstrate how to do the pre checks and shut down procedures. However, we were unable to take trolleys outside due to the bad weather. We took the opportunity of our open days over Wanganui Vintage Weekend in Jan 2024, to get the newly certified drivers their driving practice. Photos Ewan P.
December 9th: SRW/WMR&ES Combined Christmas BBQ. Members from both clubs joined forces again. This was for the yearly combined Christmas BBQ, once again held at the WMR&ES club rooms. We all enjoyed each other’s company and caught up with what’s being happening with members outside the club and their other interests. Photos by Blair J & Ewan P.
January 16th, 2024: WMR&ES/SRW Combined Club Night – Blair & Lloryians Europe Holiday (part 2). Note this club night differed to what was advertised in the last newsletter. Both clubs joined up again on this Tuesday night to hear part 2 of Blair and Lloryians resent trip overseas. They visited Hong Kong, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, from October the 11th to November the 4th 2023. Blair once again showed off a lot of photos, videos, brochures, maps and souvenirs of their resent trip. Part 2 covered their 5 nights in Switzerland (2 nights Luzern, 2 nights Interlaken and then 1 more night at Luzern) and then 7 nights in Italy (2 nights Venice, 2 nights Florence and 4 nights Rome).
Switzerland highlights were – Pilatus “Golden Round Trip” (which included a boat ride on lake Luzern to Alpnachstad, then the steepest Cogwheel Railway in the world to the top of the Alps at Pilatus Kulm before heading down the other side by gondola to Kriens and finally back to Luzern by trolley bus) and the Jungfraujoch Express (which included train trip from Interlaken to Grindelwald, then gondola to Eigergletscher, followed by Cogwheel railway to the highest station in Europe at Jungfraujoch. Coming back down we did 3 different cogwheel railways between Jungfraujoch, Eigergletscher, Kleine Scheidegg and finally meeting our original train at Lauterbrunnen, before heading back into Interlaken) and the rail travel we did across Switzerland.
Switzerland highlights were – Pilatus “Golden Round Trip” (which included a boat ride on lake Luzern to Alpnachstad, then the steepest Cogwheel Railway in the world to the top of the Alps at Pilatus Kulm before heading down the other side by gondola to Kriens and finally back to Luzern by trolley bus) and the Jungfraujoch Express (which included train trip from Interlaken to Grindelwald, then gondola to Eigergletscher, followed by Cogwheel railway to the highest station in Europe at Jungfraujoch. Coming back down we did 3 different cogwheel railways between Jungfraujoch, Eigergletscher, Kleine Scheidegg and finally meeting our original train at Lauterbrunnen, before heading back into Interlaken) and the rail travel we did across Switzerland.
Italy highlights were - Venice by boat, Florence model railway (H ZERO) and subway animation. Finally, Rome’s Colosseum, Spanish steps, the cities crazy drivers and all the rail travel we did across Italy.
This was a great month away, but very rushed at times. We saw alot, but could have stayed in a few places a lot longer, when we found out what some places had to offer. Thank you to Blair for showing their holiday to us.
January 20th – 22nd: Wanganui Vintage Weekend. SRW was once again involved with this long weekend. We had our doors open to the public on all 3 days and gave motor trolley rides on the Sunday and Monday. The Sunday was our busiest day. But we were very pleased with the public turn out over the whole weekend. Everyone who visited us seemed to enjoy themselves. We also took the opportunity to finish off a bit of motor trolley driver training over the weekend. A big thank you to members who helped out over the weekend. Photos by Blair J, Kylie J & Ewan P.
January 20th – 22nd: Wanganui Vintage Weekend. SRW was once again involved with this long weekend. We had our doors open to the public on all 3 days and gave motor trolley rides on the Sunday and Monday. The Sunday was our busiest day. But we were very pleased with the public turn out over the whole weekend. Everyone who visited us seemed to enjoy themselves. We also took the opportunity to finish off a bit of motor trolley driver training over the weekend. A big thank you to members who helped out over the weekend. Photos by Blair J, Kylie J & Ewan P.
SRW Maintenance Days
Just the usual report this time. The same items as previous newsletter are being worked on. Price 212 is still getting rewired; Crane E 120 rust removal continues. Price 149 has had some of its bad rust areas cut out and awaits new steel welded in. Motor Trolley maintenance continued (including the fixing of hour meters on a couple of them), Tr 113 needle gunning the chassis continues, audit and paperwork done, archives in carriage getting sorted out, vandalism damage repaired, clean-up of turntable site after homeless guy evicted (with the help of the police), tagging painted over, lawn mower maintenance, lawns, weed eating and weed spraying done.
Just the usual report this time. The same items as previous newsletter are being worked on. Price 212 is still getting rewired; Crane E 120 rust removal continues. Price 149 has had some of its bad rust areas cut out and awaits new steel welded in. Motor Trolley maintenance continued (including the fixing of hour meters on a couple of them), Tr 113 needle gunning the chassis continues, audit and paperwork done, archives in carriage getting sorted out, vandalism damage repaired, clean-up of turntable site after homeless guy evicted (with the help of the police), tagging painted over, lawn mower maintenance, lawns, weed eating and weed spraying done.
Donations
SRW would like to thank the following for their donations to the group:
The Roberts family donation of a big pile of railway related books.
New Members
SRW would like to welcome the following new members to the club.
Sam and Alex McCready.
SRW would like to thank the following for their donations to the group:
The Roberts family donation of a big pile of railway related books.
New Members
SRW would like to welcome the following new members to the club.
Sam and Alex McCready.
August - October 2023
August 12th: SRW/ NZR&LS Archives Visit. SRW’s ex East Town Railway Workshops Steam Crane E 120 has been in the news a lot lately with the new ET Railway Workshops book launch. We hope to slowly restore this crane. But a big issue we have is that we had no records of this crane in its past NZR working life. After talking to a boiler inspector, he said it would be hard for him to certify the boiler without seeing written evidence of what pressure the crane operated at and maintenance records etc that had been carried out over the years with the NZR.
So, on Saturday the 12th of August, Ewan P, Greg T, Keegan JJ and Blair J travelled to Ava in the Hutt Valley to visit the New Zealand Railway & Locomotive Society Archives, to see if they had any information on our crane.
Our timing could not have been better. As only a few weeks before hand the NZR&LS team had taken delivery of two folders of records for E 120 from the late Dave Berry’s collection. We were able to photograph all of these. We found not only early records of the crane, but also records of when it was given the second-hand boiler ex a Priestman steam grab. These records included maintenance records, e.g. when tubes were replaced etc. they also had the cranes operating pressure. We found a lot more info than what we needed, but we made sure to get photos of everything. The NZR&LS also had blueprints of the boiler and the complete crane in its collection. Which we were also able to get copies of as well.
We can’t thank Bill P and the archives team enough for their helping hand on this day and the NZR&LS for saving all this great stuff for future reference. We came away with a lot more items than what we were expecting to find. The info we have now found is a huge step forward in the restoration of E 120. Photos below are items display on the archive’s walls and a copy of the boiler blueprint. Photos by Keegan JJ.
So, on Saturday the 12th of August, Ewan P, Greg T, Keegan JJ and Blair J travelled to Ava in the Hutt Valley to visit the New Zealand Railway & Locomotive Society Archives, to see if they had any information on our crane.
Our timing could not have been better. As only a few weeks before hand the NZR&LS team had taken delivery of two folders of records for E 120 from the late Dave Berry’s collection. We were able to photograph all of these. We found not only early records of the crane, but also records of when it was given the second-hand boiler ex a Priestman steam grab. These records included maintenance records, e.g. when tubes were replaced etc. they also had the cranes operating pressure. We found a lot more info than what we needed, but we made sure to get photos of everything. The NZR&LS also had blueprints of the boiler and the complete crane in its collection. Which we were also able to get copies of as well.
We can’t thank Bill P and the archives team enough for their helping hand on this day and the NZR&LS for saving all this great stuff for future reference. We came away with a lot more items than what we were expecting to find. The info we have now found is a huge step forward in the restoration of E 120. Photos below are items display on the archive’s walls and a copy of the boiler blueprint. Photos by Keegan JJ.
On our way home we stopped at the Wellington Tramway Museum at the Queen Elizabeth Park at MacKays Crossing near Paekakariki. We had a look through their shed and managed to catch the last ride to the beach and return for the day. While stopped at the beach, Keegan managed to find some whitebait trapped in a pool next to a retaining wall, waiting for the tide to come back in. Photos by Blair J.
August 23rd: SRW Club Night/ Old Book Night. Meeting was cancelled due to lack of members showing up.
September 23rd & 24th: WMR&ES Small Train Show. SRW had a small display at this show, mainly showing off East Town Railway Workshops items. To promote the sale of the ET book, we also had calendars for sale.
September 27th: SRW Club Night/ Photo Night. Meeting was cancelled due to lack of members showing up.
October 25th: SRW Club Night/ Movie Night. 3 members attended. They watched an episode of Open All Hours and then a DVD of a Tasmanian steam railway.
SRW Maintenance Days
Work we have been doing down at the shed. The re-wire of price loco 212 has been started. This includes installing new control switches on the cab. The motor trolleys continued to have maintenance done on them and improvements done. The cosmetic work on crane E 120 continues as well. Tr 113 has been getting some of the dirt and old grease removed from one of the wheels and it is getting its old, damaged grease nipples on the main axle bearings replaced. Finally, with it being spring, the grass keeps growing. So, a lot of grounds keeping is now also keeping members busy.
SRW Open-Days and Motor Trolley Rides
Our next open day will most likely be Wanganui Vintage Weekend over Wellington Anniversary Weekend, January the 20th to 22nd 2024. We will keep members posted if we do decide to run another one before January 2024.
September 23rd & 24th: WMR&ES Small Train Show. SRW had a small display at this show, mainly showing off East Town Railway Workshops items. To promote the sale of the ET book, we also had calendars for sale.
September 27th: SRW Club Night/ Photo Night. Meeting was cancelled due to lack of members showing up.
October 25th: SRW Club Night/ Movie Night. 3 members attended. They watched an episode of Open All Hours and then a DVD of a Tasmanian steam railway.
SRW Maintenance Days
Work we have been doing down at the shed. The re-wire of price loco 212 has been started. This includes installing new control switches on the cab. The motor trolleys continued to have maintenance done on them and improvements done. The cosmetic work on crane E 120 continues as well. Tr 113 has been getting some of the dirt and old grease removed from one of the wheels and it is getting its old, damaged grease nipples on the main axle bearings replaced. Finally, with it being spring, the grass keeps growing. So, a lot of grounds keeping is now also keeping members busy.
SRW Open-Days and Motor Trolley Rides
Our next open day will most likely be Wanganui Vintage Weekend over Wellington Anniversary Weekend, January the 20th to 22nd 2024. We will keep members posted if we do decide to run another one before January 2024.
May - July 2023
May 24th: SRW Club Night/ Movie Night. Unfortunately, only one member turned up for this club night. So, the meeting was cancelled.
June 4th: SRW Public Open Day with Motor Trolley Rides. SRW had another fun day giving rides to the public. 75 members of the public went for a ride, plus others had a look through our shed. The Public Relation Officers in their yellow Hi Viz’s were once again a crowd favourite. A big thank you to all that supported us on the day and to the members that helped out once again. We took this opportunity to promote the up coming ET Railway Workshops book Launch and associated open day the following month. Photos by Ewan P.
June 4th: SRW Public Open Day with Motor Trolley Rides. SRW had another fun day giving rides to the public. 75 members of the public went for a ride, plus others had a look through our shed. The Public Relation Officers in their yellow Hi Viz’s were once again a crowd favourite. A big thank you to all that supported us on the day and to the members that helped out once again. We took this opportunity to promote the up coming ET Railway Workshops book Launch and associated open day the following month. Photos by Ewan P.
June 28th: SRW Club Night/ Visit to the Ward Observatory. 5 members turned up on this club night. In between the clouds we managed to get a good look at the moon with the big main telescope inside, before heading outside to look at some of the stars through a smaller telescope. We finished off the night sitting in the meeting room in general discussion about world events. A big thank you to the Observatory team for hosting us for this night and to Mark lee for organising the night. Photo of the big telescope by Keegan JJ.
July 8th & 9th: The East Town Railway Workshops Book Launch, Display & Public Open Day with Motor Trolley Rides.
Book Launch and Display on Saturday July the 8th: The new East Town Railway Workshops Book is now out in the community. The book was written by Laraine Sole and she has very kindly donated all profits to SRW.
We held the official launch on the morning of Saturday the 8th, at the Wanganui East Club & Traxs Restaurant. It was well attended by the public; at one stage we counted over 80 people there. We had great display of East Town Workshops related items at the launch. These were supplied by SteamRail Wanganui Inc, Wanganui Model Railway & Engineering Society Inc, Palmerston North Model Engineers (MARRINER RESERVE RAILWAY) and private individuals collections.
Book Launch and Display on Saturday July the 8th: The new East Town Railway Workshops Book is now out in the community. The book was written by Laraine Sole and she has very kindly donated all profits to SRW.
We held the official launch on the morning of Saturday the 8th, at the Wanganui East Club & Traxs Restaurant. It was well attended by the public; at one stage we counted over 80 people there. We had great display of East Town Workshops related items at the launch. These were supplied by SteamRail Wanganui Inc, Wanganui Model Railway & Engineering Society Inc, Palmerston North Model Engineers (MARRINER RESERVE RAILWAY) and private individuals collections.
The launch was followed by a display in the afternoon of East Town related items at SRW, including the ex-ET Steam Crane E120 and ET built or maintained wagons. This was the first time since the 2015 flood that the crane and carriage had been outside in the sunshine. The crane also had its engine ticking over (running off a compressor) as part of this display.
SRW Public Open Day and Motor Trolley Rides on Sunday July the 9th: We held another open day on this day to promote the new ET Railway Workshops Book. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t play ball. Very wet and cold. So, we only gave a few motor trolley rides. But on a good note, we still sold a number of books.
A big thank you goes to: Laraine Sole for giving SRW not only an awesome fundraiser but also pulling together over a century of history, stories and photographs for us all to enjoy for many years to come. The Wanganui East Club & Traxs Restaurant for providing the venue for our book launch. To all parties involved with running this weekend and to the people and clubs that supplied exhibits, to everyone who came along to the book launch and open day to support us and finally to everyone who has brought a book.
The new book has been very popular since its release. We sold all 300 copies with in the first 3 weeks of its launch. However, all is not lost if you still want a copy. We have ordered another print run of 200 books. So, keep an eye on the SRW web site if you still want a copy. We should have more in stock in a few weeks’ time. Photos by Blair J, Ewan P and Keegan JJ.
July 29th: SRW Club Night/ Mid-Year Dinner. 15 members (including a couple of members from the Taranaki) enjoyed a night out at the Rutland Arms Inn once again for our mid-year dinner. A big thank you the Rutland team once again for the yummy food and great atmosphere. Photos by Blair J.
July 29th: SRW Club Night/ Mid-Year Dinner. 15 members (including a couple of members from the Taranaki) enjoyed a night out at the Rutland Arms Inn once again for our mid-year dinner. A big thank you the Rutland team once again for the yummy food and great atmosphere. Photos by Blair J.
SRW Maintenance Days
Over the last couple of months most of the members attention has been getting items ready for the ET Railway Workshop Book launch. Steam Crane E 120 has had a makeover (still to be finished). Parts of it is now sporting its new red colour scheme, along with its Yellow and black safety striped end. This is similar to what it used to wear during its working life at the Workshops. Some of the signage and the brass axle oilers have also been put back on (with new oil wicks make for them). The locos, motor trolleys and wagons were all checked over, getting them ready for the move outside for the launch. Other items and the shed in general have had a tidy up ready for the displays and open days. On Saturday the 8th (book launch day) saw the crane and carriage outside for the first time since the 2015 floods. Seeing these out in the sun is a credit to all the hard work members have put in over the last few months, some even going down to paint and service vehicles on weekdays etc.
After the book launch members have carried on like normal. The 3 motor trolleys on site have been getting attention. New gear box for one, fixing the pull start on the Briggs and Stratton engine on the 2nd and adding adjustable engine mounts on the 3rd. More paint has been taken off parts of the Steam Crane getting them ready for the new red colour, as well as the hand brake was put back together. Price 149 fuel system (governor) has been getting worked on. Trying to make it a little less thirsty on the fuel. More scrap has been dismantled and lawns done etc. Even Tr 113 (Blair’s Loco) has had a little bit of work done on it. A missing nut on one of the axle keeper plates has been replaced and new grease nipples replacing the damaged ones on the axle bearings are being installed. Photos by Blair J, Keegan JJ and Ewan P.
SRW Open-Days and Motor Trolley Rides
SRW committee have decided not to hold another open day this year. We quite often do one over Labour weekend as part of the Wanganui Heritage Month. But have heard that this month is not going ahead this year. We will also have a few members away that weekend. Our next open day will most likely be Wanganui Vintage Weekend over Wellington Anniversary Weekend, January the 20th to 22nd 2024. We will keep members posted if we do decide to run another one before January 2024.
However, we will most likely have a small display at the WMR&ES small model railway show over the weekend of September 23rd & 24th. Members help would be great with this.
However, we will most likely have a small display at the WMR&ES small model railway show over the weekend of September 23rd & 24th. Members help would be great with this.
Donations
SRW would like to thank the following for their donations to the group:
Brian Mosen, donated a book he wrote called “Trains, Buses and Boats, Planes.
Barry Shore, donated 1970’s railway uniforms, old NZR mags, rule books and newspaper cuttings.
Brian Mosen, donated a book he wrote called “Trains, Buses and Boats, Planes.
Barry Shore, donated 1970’s railway uniforms, old NZR mags, rule books and newspaper cuttings.
SteamRail Wanganui’s New Email Address.
[email protected]
With all the planning happening with the new book, it was decided that SRW should have its own email account instead of using the president’s email. This way we now don’t risk missing or losing an email, when they get mixed with his personal emails. This will also mean his private email will not get all the orders coming in for the new book. So could everyone please update their records with the new address.
2024 NZ Rail Scene Calendar.
SRW has a very limited number (only 2 left) of the 2024 Rail Scene Calendar. First in gets one. Special members price of $20 each or $25 retail. Please let Blair J know ASAP if you want one.
Obituaries
Trevor Roberts
1940-2023.
Both WMR&ES and SRW lost one of its past members Trevor Roberts on the 11th of June 2023, aged 82. Trevor died suddenly at home after an accident. Trevor was a long-time member of the Wanganui Model Engineering Society, which became the WMR&ES after it merged with the Wanganui Railway Modellers club back in 1995. He was also one of the main guys involved with the 5 inch track the club used to have out the back of the club rooms. It was after the council wanted this land back and that track was lifted that Trevor disappeared from regular attendance at the club. As part of this hobby, he had his own 5 inch gauge train along with track (including a tunnel) running around a paddock at home, something to take the grand kids for a ride on. Trevor was also one of SRW early members after that club formed in 1989. He helped with the restoration of the turntable and ground clearing etc when we first started the SRW site next to the turn table, in the early years of SRW. He would still call in regularly in later years to see how the club was going and to drop off parts for the Chev engine in Price 149. Trevor was also involved with the Wanganui Vintage Car Club and the Gome Wanganui groups. He will be missed. Both clubs’ thoughts and best wishes went out to his family and friends at this sad time. First and third photos taken by Ewan P.
East Town Railway Workshops
East Town Railway Workshop (ET) has been in the Wanganui news a lot lately because of the new book, newspaper articles, social media, and this newsletter. It is very surprising how much ET related items are still out there. Both SRW and WMR&ES have items in their collections along with a number of items in private collections as well. It makes you wonder how many more wagons or other ET related items are out there at preservation groups or in private collections. Here is a list of items the two clubs have related to ET.
SRW Collection-
Steam Crane E120, built in 1904 (at Hill Side), but spent all its working life at ET.
Ballast Wagon Yc 797 (later Yc 1250) was built at ET in May 1961.
Ballast Wagon Yc 811 (later Yc 1411) was built at ET in October 1961.
Passenger car A 520 (later Ea 352) was written off at ET on 17th August 1963.
Box Wagon Xp 2964 (later Xp 13, now flat deck wagon) was built at ET in 1966 and written off there on 9th October 1982.
Box Wagon Xp 3042 (later Xp 848, then E 6695) was built at ET in 1966, reclassified at ET to E 6695 on September 1981 and written off at ET in April 1985.
Box Wagon Xa 2052 (now body only) was written off at ET on 17th June 1972.
Guards Van F 733 (later F 1967) was maintained at ET on 6th December 1978.
Box Wagon Ks 5269 (later Ks 19977, then E 8793) was altered at ET, September 1980. This included fitting of new ends, roof modified and strengthened and new roof beams.
Box Wagon Ks 3871 (later Ks 797) was altered at ET, May 1982. This included fitting of new ends, roof modified and strengthened and new roof beams.
Other items at SRW, ET World War 1 & 2 Honours Board, ET Makers Plate No 1 1980, ET plans and photos. No doubt a number of SRW other items of rollingstock may have visited ET for maintenance, but we have no records to prove this.
WMR&ES Collection-
1880 to 1980 Brass Plaque, celebrating the first 100 years of ET.
ET Train Headboard, used on the Tiger by the Tail train, organised by ET to run from Wanganui to Taihape return, injunction with the recently opened Mangaweka to Utiku Deviation in November 1981.
Other Items at WMR&ES, a couple of framed photos of ET.
SRW Collection-
Steam Crane E120, built in 1904 (at Hill Side), but spent all its working life at ET.
Ballast Wagon Yc 797 (later Yc 1250) was built at ET in May 1961.
Ballast Wagon Yc 811 (later Yc 1411) was built at ET in October 1961.
Passenger car A 520 (later Ea 352) was written off at ET on 17th August 1963.
Box Wagon Xp 2964 (later Xp 13, now flat deck wagon) was built at ET in 1966 and written off there on 9th October 1982.
Box Wagon Xp 3042 (later Xp 848, then E 6695) was built at ET in 1966, reclassified at ET to E 6695 on September 1981 and written off at ET in April 1985.
Box Wagon Xa 2052 (now body only) was written off at ET on 17th June 1972.
Guards Van F 733 (later F 1967) was maintained at ET on 6th December 1978.
Box Wagon Ks 5269 (later Ks 19977, then E 8793) was altered at ET, September 1980. This included fitting of new ends, roof modified and strengthened and new roof beams.
Box Wagon Ks 3871 (later Ks 797) was altered at ET, May 1982. This included fitting of new ends, roof modified and strengthened and new roof beams.
Other items at SRW, ET World War 1 & 2 Honours Board, ET Makers Plate No 1 1980, ET plans and photos. No doubt a number of SRW other items of rollingstock may have visited ET for maintenance, but we have no records to prove this.
WMR&ES Collection-
1880 to 1980 Brass Plaque, celebrating the first 100 years of ET.
ET Train Headboard, used on the Tiger by the Tail train, organised by ET to run from Wanganui to Taihape return, injunction with the recently opened Mangaweka to Utiku Deviation in November 1981.
Other Items at WMR&ES, a couple of framed photos of ET.
East Town Railway Workshop Photos
we will finish off this East Town themed report with a number of ET related photos. Stu Brown took the 2nd photo and John Bovis the 3rd photo, but credit goes to the unknown photographers on the other 4 photos.
February - April 2023
February 22nd: WMR&ES/SRW Combined Club Night/ Visit to the Hawtree’s Radio Museum + Extras. Both clubs joined up for a night out to have a look at the Hawtree collections. The first room we went into was the radio museum. Wow what a set up. The room was full of vintage and some very rear radios, all different shapes, and sizes. There was even some one of a kind in New Zealand ones. Most have been lovingly restored and were operational. The second room was currently being used for storage, but they plan to make this the model railway room. The third room was the workshop/model railway/Meccano displays. They had their models displayed in either cabinets or on shelves. The final room we went into was the room they call the Cat room. This room displayed Caterpillar Machinery Models of different scales. There were bulldozers, diggers, front end loaders, graders and trucks etc. this was a great collection to see. A big thank you Graham and Val for letting us have a look. We totally enjoyed the visit. Photos by Blair J.
March 22nd: SRW decided not to have club night on this night. Instead, we used the visit of WMR&ES the night before (March the 21st) to be our club night for the month. This was a good test for the group, as we can now operate a bit more freely with the new JOP with KiwiRail. Because of this we can now open our doors to other clubs for visits. The WMR&ES thanked the group for allowing a look through the building and the ride.
April 26th: SRW Annual General Meeting. We started off with a minute’s silence for members who had passed throughout the year. Our thoughts were with their families over these sad times.
All the reports were read and accepted, and it was voted that the subs stay the same as the previous year. The 6 previous committee members stayed on for another year. The committee is as follows: - President Blair J, Secretary/treasurer Greg T, Committee members Colin H, Ewan P, Hamish C and Trevor F. Blair has also stayed on as newsletter editor. We finished off the night talking about the club’s future, club projects and upcoming events the club needs to deal with, while eating Feijoa cake made by Blair’s mum. Thanks Sandra.
All the reports were read and accepted, and it was voted that the subs stay the same as the previous year. The 6 previous committee members stayed on for another year. The committee is as follows: - President Blair J, Secretary/treasurer Greg T, Committee members Colin H, Ewan P, Hamish C and Trevor F. Blair has also stayed on as newsletter editor. We finished off the night talking about the club’s future, club projects and upcoming events the club needs to deal with, while eating Feijoa cake made by Blair’s mum. Thanks Sandra.
President’s Annual Report – 2022/2023
Wow, for the tenth time I have great pleasure in presenting my President’s Report for SRW. It only feels like a couple of years ago I took over the reins from Rob Walker. SRW is now in its 34th year. As always, my report sounds similar to other years but being a small group, we kind of do the same thing every year.
It has been an interesting 12 months for SRW, and the year has just flown by, even with Covid still hanging around in the background, but we have managed to carry on like normal. May I thank you all for the efforts in keeping the society running, looking after each other and keeping the public safe over this time.
Public Events: We opened our doors to the public three times during the year offering Motor Trolley/Jigger rides. This being the Sunday of Queens Birthdays weekend (the 5th of June). The Sunday of Labour Weekend (the 23rd of October) as part of Wanganui Heritage Month and Wellington Anniversary Weekend (the 21st to 23rd of January 2023) as part of Wanganui Vintage Weekend. These days were well supported by the public.
Fundraising: Our main fundraising over the last 12 months has once again been the scrap metal recycling, motor trolley/jigger rides and open days, donations, and members subs. We also did a bit of security, for the combined GVR and Steam Inc train that stayed for two nights (the 24th & 25th October 2022). 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 once again have being donated a lot of railway related items over the last 12 months. Including books, videos/DVDs, a coat rack (thought to be out of a carriage from the Tangiwai disaster and a porcelain wine cooler, thought to be out of a carriage. Members have also donated to the group over the last year, items like fuel, grinder cutting discs, tools, money etc, are always greatly received. Included in these donations is the scrap metal members bring in for fund raising. Once again, we thank Phillips electrical for their continued donation of scrap items. A big thank you to everyone who has donated items to the club over the year.
Club Projects: They are much the same as the last AGM. Work has continued on the ex-North End Aramoho Signal Box. 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) The repaint of the Baby Price loco no 149 into a darker green is coming along slowly, but this loco has had a lot of engine work done on it this year. It has also been converted from 6 volts to 12 volts. We have also started the track work needed on our storage sidings next to the turntable. We are getting this area ready to move wagons, so we can access the Uc tank wagon for MOTAT. Work has also continued with the Guards Van, Motor Trollies, the Jigger shed floor (the old truck deck) and other tools and items we have. Phillips Electrical (Greg) has continued to drop off old heat pumps for us to dismantle for scrap. 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/Movie nights, BBQ’s, Mid-Year Dinner, Other Hobbies nights, Shunter refresher training night, a Rail photo’s night, a members visit to my house in Bulls and a visit to the Hawtree’s Radio Museum. We have also combined with the WMR&ES on a few of these nights. We have also had the WMR&ES visit us for one of their club nights. A big thank you 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 the newsletter over the year. Thank you to all who have contributed to this. I could not do this without you. Once again, our thanks go out to Greg Tinnion and Phillips Electrical for their help with printing of the newsletters and to my partner Lloryian or mum Sandra for the proof reading (so if there’s any spelling mistakes, it’s their fault. Even though they are superior human beings). As you have just read, Lloryian has proofread this report too, adding her little bit in. I was waiting for a bite. My apologies with a few issues of the newsletter being late.
Running of the club: Once again a big thank you to the committee members for all they have done over the year. We have had some highs and lows to deal with. The club’s biggest issues have been with operational costs rising, these being NZTA, FRONZ, Insurance’s and KiwiRail Lease’s. Our outgoings are now more than our incomings. We really need to look at ways we can make more money to keep the club going. We must be due for a NZTA audit again soon. This is always a worry, as they almost always find something to change in our safety case, and this will end up costing us. The other big worry is both KiwiRail leases are up for renewal. The shed site is mid-year with the turntable site due again at the end of the year. Because of this we are still keen on downsizing our turntable site, which will mean finding new homes for some of the wagons. On a good note, we have finally signed a new JOP with KiwiRail. We have been given a bit more freedom. We still must give them notice for a block of line when we do a public event, but we now can use the yard at any time, without notification if we just want to test something, give a ride or host a visiting group (as we did with the WMR&ES in March). Thank you again John Pudsey for being our internal Auditor.
East Town Railway Workshop Book: The club has been working with Historian Laraine Sole. She is writing a book on the East Town Railway Workshops. We have a number of East Town items in our collection. She has been asking for past ET workers to get in touch with their stories and photos etc. Laraine has written a number of books now and she does them as fund raises for organisations. This book is planned to be a fund raiser for SRW. Once printing costs are covered the rest is profit for the group.
Other Clubs: It’s always good when clubs can work together for a common cause. We regularly team up with serval groups in the central north island to help each other out. Over the last 12 months we have worked with – The WMR&ES for a few club nights and occasional shows. The Waitara group, their members coming down to help and support us on our open days and us going up there to do shunters course’s and help with our Safety Case etc. Doing security for GVR and Steam Inc. Fielding group for copies of loco plans and finally just recently a few of us went up to Taumarunui to support the TRACT on one of their open days. Ewan took along a few items to display as well.
Stephen Shaw: It’s sad when we lose anyone involved with the club and our thoughts go out to family and friends over these sad times.
However, as you can imagine the passing of Stephen has been a big shock to the club. Stephen passed away peacefully on the 14th of January 2023. After a short battle with cancer. Stephen was a big help to the club over the years. He was involved with everything we did. He was a regular at our Sunday morning Construction days and the once-a-month club nights. He was a car steward on the trips we used to run when we hired the capital connection train. He had been trained as a shunter and motor trolley driver with the club. He would attend all our events and trips. The place just wasn’t the same without him over the Wanganui Vintage weekend open days and motor trolley rides.
Even outside the club, he was always willing to give a hand. He flew up twice to Auckland to help me with my Thomas layout with the Glenbrook Vintage Railway “Day out with Thomas” events. He wouldn’t take any money to help cover flights or accommodation when he came up to help. He just wanted a fun weekend away, that was the type of person he was. But we made sure we at least paid for his meals to say thanks for the help. Last November he was asking when the next trip to Auckland would be. His passing has hit me hard. One of my biggest regrets is I never got him a cab ride, like I’ve done with others before he passed. But you just never know when your time is up.
Stephen wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and to try new things. He is a big loss to the club. Rest in Peace Stephen.
Me, myself, and I: I continue to love my job as a Locomotive Engineer (driver) with KiwiRail. July this year I would have been with KiwiRail for 12 years, the time goes so quick. I must thank everyone again 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 the understanding I have had from members because of this has been appreciated. A big thank you must go to Ewan Pound; you could say he’s my right-hand man when I need something done. He has also been a big help with a safety Case etc. I enjoy my roles with SRW but do feel at times that paperwork issues and running of the club take me away from the main reason I joined the group about 34 years ago. This being working and restoring our rail history, it also means I don’t get to work on my own loco as often as I would like too. In some ways, I also feel the club doing scrap recycling also takes members away from working on our club items and this is one of the reasons our projects take so long to complete. But I also know that the scrap is our biggest fund raiser and if we didn’t do it, the club wouldn’t be here. However, I do look forward to continuing my roles, that is if you want me of course.
The Next 12 Months: This upcoming year looks like it will be similar to previous years. We are looking at dates when we can do more Motor Trolley rides and Open Days (one being over Kings Birthday weekend on Sunday the 4th of June), we are also planning some full day/weekend working bees. We will need to get a lot more done at the turntable site, with the downsizing and rehoming of wagons and we still have to pick up the lathe and goods crane we were donated last year. We might have a display again with the WMR&ES Model Railway Show in September. There is also a possibly that SRW along with the East Town Steam Crane no 120 will be used for the East Town Workshops book launch. Hopefully, we will have some good news from KiwiRail re lease renewal, but I doubt it. Also, we will most likely have another audit by NZTA to look forward too. 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.
Finally, “The place has gone to the Dogs!”
A quick word from the SRW’s “Public Relations Officers” Skyla and Mia, and the “Head of Security” Chi. “Whoof, Whoof, ruff, ruff, bark, bark” - (translated to English) a big thank you to all members for accepting us there. We get so excited when we know we are heading to SRW. We love the attention, pats, cuddles, food, teasing (Colin) and just being involved. We also know that Blair, Lloryian, Hamish and Amanda appreciate how well members treat us when we are on site and the fact that by the time, we get home we are buggered for the rest of the day, no bouncing around the house or getting under their feet wanting attention. We just lay down and rest happily.
Wow, for the tenth time I have great pleasure in presenting my President’s Report for SRW. It only feels like a couple of years ago I took over the reins from Rob Walker. SRW is now in its 34th year. As always, my report sounds similar to other years but being a small group, we kind of do the same thing every year.
It has been an interesting 12 months for SRW, and the year has just flown by, even with Covid still hanging around in the background, but we have managed to carry on like normal. May I thank you all for the efforts in keeping the society running, looking after each other and keeping the public safe over this time.
Public Events: We opened our doors to the public three times during the year offering Motor Trolley/Jigger rides. This being the Sunday of Queens Birthdays weekend (the 5th of June). The Sunday of Labour Weekend (the 23rd of October) as part of Wanganui Heritage Month and Wellington Anniversary Weekend (the 21st to 23rd of January 2023) as part of Wanganui Vintage Weekend. These days were well supported by the public.
Fundraising: Our main fundraising over the last 12 months has once again been the scrap metal recycling, motor trolley/jigger rides and open days, donations, and members subs. We also did a bit of security, for the combined GVR and Steam Inc train that stayed for two nights (the 24th & 25th October 2022). 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 once again have being donated a lot of railway related items over the last 12 months. Including books, videos/DVDs, a coat rack (thought to be out of a carriage from the Tangiwai disaster and a porcelain wine cooler, thought to be out of a carriage. Members have also donated to the group over the last year, items like fuel, grinder cutting discs, tools, money etc, are always greatly received. Included in these donations is the scrap metal members bring in for fund raising. Once again, we thank Phillips electrical for their continued donation of scrap items. A big thank you to everyone who has donated items to the club over the year.
Club Projects: They are much the same as the last AGM. Work has continued on the ex-North End Aramoho Signal Box. 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) The repaint of the Baby Price loco no 149 into a darker green is coming along slowly, but this loco has had a lot of engine work done on it this year. It has also been converted from 6 volts to 12 volts. We have also started the track work needed on our storage sidings next to the turntable. We are getting this area ready to move wagons, so we can access the Uc tank wagon for MOTAT. Work has also continued with the Guards Van, Motor Trollies, the Jigger shed floor (the old truck deck) and other tools and items we have. Phillips Electrical (Greg) has continued to drop off old heat pumps for us to dismantle for scrap. 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/Movie nights, BBQ’s, Mid-Year Dinner, Other Hobbies nights, Shunter refresher training night, a Rail photo’s night, a members visit to my house in Bulls and a visit to the Hawtree’s Radio Museum. We have also combined with the WMR&ES on a few of these nights. We have also had the WMR&ES visit us for one of their club nights. A big thank you 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 the newsletter over the year. Thank you to all who have contributed to this. I could not do this without you. Once again, our thanks go out to Greg Tinnion and Phillips Electrical for their help with printing of the newsletters and to my partner Lloryian or mum Sandra for the proof reading (so if there’s any spelling mistakes, it’s their fault. Even though they are superior human beings). As you have just read, Lloryian has proofread this report too, adding her little bit in. I was waiting for a bite. My apologies with a few issues of the newsletter being late.
Running of the club: Once again a big thank you to the committee members for all they have done over the year. We have had some highs and lows to deal with. The club’s biggest issues have been with operational costs rising, these being NZTA, FRONZ, Insurance’s and KiwiRail Lease’s. Our outgoings are now more than our incomings. We really need to look at ways we can make more money to keep the club going. We must be due for a NZTA audit again soon. This is always a worry, as they almost always find something to change in our safety case, and this will end up costing us. The other big worry is both KiwiRail leases are up for renewal. The shed site is mid-year with the turntable site due again at the end of the year. Because of this we are still keen on downsizing our turntable site, which will mean finding new homes for some of the wagons. On a good note, we have finally signed a new JOP with KiwiRail. We have been given a bit more freedom. We still must give them notice for a block of line when we do a public event, but we now can use the yard at any time, without notification if we just want to test something, give a ride or host a visiting group (as we did with the WMR&ES in March). Thank you again John Pudsey for being our internal Auditor.
East Town Railway Workshop Book: The club has been working with Historian Laraine Sole. She is writing a book on the East Town Railway Workshops. We have a number of East Town items in our collection. She has been asking for past ET workers to get in touch with their stories and photos etc. Laraine has written a number of books now and she does them as fund raises for organisations. This book is planned to be a fund raiser for SRW. Once printing costs are covered the rest is profit for the group.
Other Clubs: It’s always good when clubs can work together for a common cause. We regularly team up with serval groups in the central north island to help each other out. Over the last 12 months we have worked with – The WMR&ES for a few club nights and occasional shows. The Waitara group, their members coming down to help and support us on our open days and us going up there to do shunters course’s and help with our Safety Case etc. Doing security for GVR and Steam Inc. Fielding group for copies of loco plans and finally just recently a few of us went up to Taumarunui to support the TRACT on one of their open days. Ewan took along a few items to display as well.
Stephen Shaw: It’s sad when we lose anyone involved with the club and our thoughts go out to family and friends over these sad times.
However, as you can imagine the passing of Stephen has been a big shock to the club. Stephen passed away peacefully on the 14th of January 2023. After a short battle with cancer. Stephen was a big help to the club over the years. He was involved with everything we did. He was a regular at our Sunday morning Construction days and the once-a-month club nights. He was a car steward on the trips we used to run when we hired the capital connection train. He had been trained as a shunter and motor trolley driver with the club. He would attend all our events and trips. The place just wasn’t the same without him over the Wanganui Vintage weekend open days and motor trolley rides.
Even outside the club, he was always willing to give a hand. He flew up twice to Auckland to help me with my Thomas layout with the Glenbrook Vintage Railway “Day out with Thomas” events. He wouldn’t take any money to help cover flights or accommodation when he came up to help. He just wanted a fun weekend away, that was the type of person he was. But we made sure we at least paid for his meals to say thanks for the help. Last November he was asking when the next trip to Auckland would be. His passing has hit me hard. One of my biggest regrets is I never got him a cab ride, like I’ve done with others before he passed. But you just never know when your time is up.
Stephen wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and to try new things. He is a big loss to the club. Rest in Peace Stephen.
Me, myself, and I: I continue to love my job as a Locomotive Engineer (driver) with KiwiRail. July this year I would have been with KiwiRail for 12 years, the time goes so quick. I must thank everyone again 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 the understanding I have had from members because of this has been appreciated. A big thank you must go to Ewan Pound; you could say he’s my right-hand man when I need something done. He has also been a big help with a safety Case etc. I enjoy my roles with SRW but do feel at times that paperwork issues and running of the club take me away from the main reason I joined the group about 34 years ago. This being working and restoring our rail history, it also means I don’t get to work on my own loco as often as I would like too. In some ways, I also feel the club doing scrap recycling also takes members away from working on our club items and this is one of the reasons our projects take so long to complete. But I also know that the scrap is our biggest fund raiser and if we didn’t do it, the club wouldn’t be here. However, I do look forward to continuing my roles, that is if you want me of course.
The Next 12 Months: This upcoming year looks like it will be similar to previous years. We are looking at dates when we can do more Motor Trolley rides and Open Days (one being over Kings Birthday weekend on Sunday the 4th of June), we are also planning some full day/weekend working bees. We will need to get a lot more done at the turntable site, with the downsizing and rehoming of wagons and we still have to pick up the lathe and goods crane we were donated last year. We might have a display again with the WMR&ES Model Railway Show in September. There is also a possibly that SRW along with the East Town Steam Crane no 120 will be used for the East Town Workshops book launch. Hopefully, we will have some good news from KiwiRail re lease renewal, but I doubt it. Also, we will most likely have another audit by NZTA to look forward too. 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.
Finally, “The place has gone to the Dogs!”
A quick word from the SRW’s “Public Relations Officers” Skyla and Mia, and the “Head of Security” Chi. “Whoof, Whoof, ruff, ruff, bark, bark” - (translated to English) a big thank you to all members for accepting us there. We get so excited when we know we are heading to SRW. We love the attention, pats, cuddles, food, teasing (Colin) and just being involved. We also know that Blair, Lloryian, Hamish and Amanda appreciate how well members treat us when we are on site and the fact that by the time, we get home we are buggered for the rest of the day, no bouncing around the house or getting under their feet wanting attention. We just lay down and rest happily.
SRW Maintenance Days
Work continues on A & G Price 149 (Baby Price) with a lot of the wiring now being tidied up. The rotten steel off the old truck deck has been removed. Getting it ready for some new steel to be welded in. This will be used for the new floor of the jigger shed. Hamish has put the jib and lifting hook etc back onto the East Town Steam Crane E120. Some new paint has also been applied to tidy the crane up a bit, as its planned to use the crane as part of the new East Town Book launch. Some of the motor trolley gear boxes have been getting worked on also. Track inspections at both our shed site and the site next to the turntable have also been completed. The other projects we mention regularly are still getting worked on as well. See president report on page 4, for more details.
The guys have been busy down at the site next to the turntable. On Easter Monday we removed the concrete blocks off the tracks and moved the wheels that were stored on the 3rd road to the 1st road. This allowed us on the following weekend to start the track work on the 3rd road. This involved replacing a number of sleepers and re gauging the track. We are getting this track ready so we can move the wagons around as we need to get the Uc tank wagon in an area we can get a truck to, so it can be transported to Auckland for MOTAT. Photos by Blair J & Ewan P.
The guys have been busy down at the site next to the turntable. On Easter Monday we removed the concrete blocks off the tracks and moved the wheels that were stored on the 3rd road to the 1st road. This allowed us on the following weekend to start the track work on the 3rd road. This involved replacing a number of sleepers and re gauging the track. We are getting this track ready so we can move the wagons around as we need to get the Uc tank wagon in an area we can get a truck to, so it can be transported to Auckland for MOTAT. Photos by Blair J & Ewan P.
November 2022 - January 2023
November 23rd: SRW Club Night/ Visit to Blair’s Model Railway & New Shed. Members travelled to Bulls, where they took the opportunity to view Blair and Lloryian's recently built new Total Span shed. It was then inside for Supper (with fresh baking), before heading into Blairs hobby room to view his model train layouts, models, and railway memorabilia on the walls. Members enjoyed the night out and some even went away with tips on future model builds for themselves. A big thank you to Blair and Lloryian for hosting this night.
December 3rd: WMR&ES/SRW Combined Christmas BBQ at the WMR&ES Club Rooms. Members from both clubs joined forces again. This was for the yearly Christmas BBQ, once again held at the WMR&ES club rooms. We all enjoyed each other’s company and caught up with what’s being happening with members outside the club and their other interests.
December 28th: SRW final Club Night for The Year/ 2022 Achievement night. Because of being over the Christmas/New Year period, not many members were available for this night, so it was cancelled.
A happy New year to You all.
January 21st - 23rd: SRW “Wanganui Vintage Weekend” Public Open Days and Jigger Rides. We were once again involved with the Whanganui Vintage Weekend. We organised another set of Public Open days and Motor Trolley rides over the long Wellington Anniversary Weekend. This time over all 3 days of the event. Saturday was just the shed open to the public with the Sunday and Monday offering Rides as well. This was once again, well supported by the public. On the Monday we also had the miniature Traction Engines etc there giving rides. They offered their services to help with our fund raising, which was great, and we thank the team from The Steam Traction Society for supporting us. The weather played ball also for us this year. Once again, our Public Relation Officers (the Dogs) were well received by all who attended. Sarah Hart commented the following on our Facebook site – “If you need feedback on your PR team…. My girl could only sing their praises yesterday”. She included the photo of her girl with Mia. We love getting good feedback about our events.
Once again, a big thank you to everyone who came for a ride and of course the SRW members. We couldn’t do this event without you.
Photos taken by Blair J (including cover photo), Keegan JJ, Ewan P and the official Vintage Weekend Photographer.
December 28th: SRW final Club Night for The Year/ 2022 Achievement night. Because of being over the Christmas/New Year period, not many members were available for this night, so it was cancelled.
A happy New year to You all.
January 21st - 23rd: SRW “Wanganui Vintage Weekend” Public Open Days and Jigger Rides. We were once again involved with the Whanganui Vintage Weekend. We organised another set of Public Open days and Motor Trolley rides over the long Wellington Anniversary Weekend. This time over all 3 days of the event. Saturday was just the shed open to the public with the Sunday and Monday offering Rides as well. This was once again, well supported by the public. On the Monday we also had the miniature Traction Engines etc there giving rides. They offered their services to help with our fund raising, which was great, and we thank the team from The Steam Traction Society for supporting us. The weather played ball also for us this year. Once again, our Public Relation Officers (the Dogs) were well received by all who attended. Sarah Hart commented the following on our Facebook site – “If you need feedback on your PR team…. My girl could only sing their praises yesterday”. She included the photo of her girl with Mia. We love getting good feedback about our events.
Once again, a big thank you to everyone who came for a ride and of course the SRW members. We couldn’t do this event without you.
Photos taken by Blair J (including cover photo), Keegan JJ, Ewan P and the official Vintage Weekend Photographer.
SRW Maintenance Days
A & G Price 149 (Baby Price) overhaul continues. Following on from a successful conversion of the electrical system to 12V and repairs to the engine lubrication system (as outlined in the previous issue) further restoration has been ongoing while the little shunting tractor remains in operational order. Inspection of the final drive has found that the oil level plug is at a slightly insufficient height for the oil pump. About an extra 2 litres makes a huge difference to the pump pick-up, so this will be implemented in future. Oil now flows through the sight glass rather than just splattering through. Robert has made a fantastic effort of stripping all the thick flaking old paint from the inside area of the front headstock and primed it with red oxide in readiness for the top coats of dark green. Further improvements to the electrical system are ongoing thanks to Hamish’s efforts. The oil pressure light and hours meter have been set up for 12V, and a pair of 6V electric trumpet horns work well in series. An analogue oil pressure gauge has also been added to be extra sure! The loco now starts and runs reliably when needed to move rolling stock in and out of the shed.
Price 212, Xp 3042 and Yc’s 797 and 811 all got a check over, oiled and greased where necessary before they were moved as part of the static display over Wanganui Vintage weekend.
Before the vintage weekend, the motor trolleys all got a good looking at, any repairs were done etc. Hamish has also been working on a number of gear boxes for the trolleys.
We have also carried on with the normal every weekend things we do. Scrap dismantling for fund raising, lawn mowing, and we have had to replace a few boards over the windows on the workman’s huts after vandals decided to break in. There’s also been more tagging to be painted over.
We are hopeful over the next couple of months to get a bit of work done down at the turntable site. We need to repair the 3rd road, so we can move rolling stock. We also need to move the Xa box wagon body. This needs to be done while the ground stays hard. Let’s hope we don’t get much more rain. All this is because we need to move the bogie tank wagon to a more accessible spot so that we can get a truck beside it, so it can be transported to its new home at MOTAT. We are also looking at rehoming the Urc bogie cement wagon and the Vr bogie refrigerated wagon.
Price 212, Xp 3042 and Yc’s 797 and 811 all got a check over, oiled and greased where necessary before they were moved as part of the static display over Wanganui Vintage weekend.
Before the vintage weekend, the motor trolleys all got a good looking at, any repairs were done etc. Hamish has also been working on a number of gear boxes for the trolleys.
We have also carried on with the normal every weekend things we do. Scrap dismantling for fund raising, lawn mowing, and we have had to replace a few boards over the windows on the workman’s huts after vandals decided to break in. There’s also been more tagging to be painted over.
We are hopeful over the next couple of months to get a bit of work done down at the turntable site. We need to repair the 3rd road, so we can move rolling stock. We also need to move the Xa box wagon body. This needs to be done while the ground stays hard. Let’s hope we don’t get much more rain. All this is because we need to move the bogie tank wagon to a more accessible spot so that we can get a truck beside it, so it can be transported to its new home at MOTAT. We are also looking at rehoming the Urc bogie cement wagon and the Vr bogie refrigerated wagon.
Obituaries
Over the last few months SRW have lost a couple of members. The clubs’ thoughts and best wishes went out to these people’s families and friends at these sad times. These members inputs with the clubs will be missed.
Joan Jackson
Joan passed away peacefully on the 6th of November 2022, at the Possum Bourne Retirement Village, Pukekohe, with family by her side. Aged 82 years. Much adored wife of long time SRW member Russell. Although Russell was the main support of the club, Joan helped out when she could, and also attended events like our midyear dinners and trips etc.
Stephen Shaw (Steve)
Stephen passed away peacefully on the 14th of January 2023. After a short battle with cancer in P Nth hospital. Aged 63 years. Much adored husband of Gillian, father, and grandfather. As you can imagine this has been a big shock to the club. Stephen was a big help to the club over the years. He was involved with everything we did. He was a regular at our Sunday morning Construction days and the once-a-month club nights. He was a car steward on the trips we used to run when we hired the capital connection train consist. He had been trained as a shunter and motor trolley driver with the club. He would attend all our events and trips. Even outside the club, he was always willing to give a hand. He flew up twice to Auckland to help Blair with his Thomas layout with the Glenbrook Vintage Railway “Day out with Thomas” events. Stephen wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and to try new things. He is a big loss to the club.
Historian Laraine Sole wants stories and pictures of
East Town Workshops
Blair Jordan (left) and Hamish Coull of SteamRail Wanganui with the supposedly “lost” East Town Railways Workshop honours board. Photo / Paul Brooks
Historian and writer Laraine Sole is working on her latest local history book about Whanganui’s East Town Workshops and wants to hear from people who worked there.
“I want to hear from anyone who worked there from anywhere between 1960 and when it closed,” says Laraine.
She has already spoken with a lot of men from that era, but this is the last chance for anyone who wants to add to the story.
SteamRail Wanganui people have been out and about on Laraine’s behalf, and they also have a lot of NZR memorabilia, including an honours board long held by the RSA and was thought to be lost.
“I’m really hoping that when we launch this book it can be like a reunion for people to share their stories,” says Laraine. The book covers the history of the workshops from 1880 until their demise.
“I do have evidence that there was work going on there before 1880.”
Laraine says the book happened when she was writing a book about Whanganui East.
“I did a chapter on East Town Workshops and found so much information than I would have space for in the book.” So it became a book in itself. The association with SteamRail Wanganui happened because they preserve so much of New Zealand’s rail history.
If you have stories or photos to share with Laraine Sole, call or text her at 027 8156 110 or email at [email protected]
“I want to hear from anyone who worked there from anywhere between 1960 and when it closed,” says Laraine.
She has already spoken with a lot of men from that era, but this is the last chance for anyone who wants to add to the story.
SteamRail Wanganui people have been out and about on Laraine’s behalf, and they also have a lot of NZR memorabilia, including an honours board long held by the RSA and was thought to be lost.
“I’m really hoping that when we launch this book it can be like a reunion for people to share their stories,” says Laraine. The book covers the history of the workshops from 1880 until their demise.
“I do have evidence that there was work going on there before 1880.”
Laraine says the book happened when she was writing a book about Whanganui East.
“I did a chapter on East Town Workshops and found so much information than I would have space for in the book.” So it became a book in itself. The association with SteamRail Wanganui happened because they preserve so much of New Zealand’s rail history.
If you have stories or photos to share with Laraine Sole, call or text her at 027 8156 110 or email at [email protected]
August - October 2022
August 24th: SRW Club Night/ SRW History Night. Members enjoyed looking back on some of the past happenings of SRW. We looked at how the club began and different highlights over the years. Members brought along photo albums and videos of past events. We looked at the restoration of the turntable, our locos arriving and past excursion trains we ran, when we used to hire the Capital Connection train. Thank you to members who brought items along.
September 28th: SRW Club Night/ Run Your Model Trains on the WMR&ES Layouts. SRW members were allowed to use the WMR&ES club layouts on this club night. Although we had a good turn out on this night, only 3 members brought trains along to run. These being Blair J, Keegan JJ and Colin H. Colin brought along the 2 models that were donated to SRW a few years ago to give them a test run. We finished off the night with a good chin wag as we watched the trains go by. A big thank you to the WMR&ES for allowing us to use their layouts.
October 23rd: SRW Public Open Day and Jigger Rides. We were asked by the Whanganui Heritage Month organisers to run another Motor Trolley Rides event and Public Open day, as part of their transport themed heritage month. We decided to have our building open for viewing every Sunday morning for the month and run the trolley rides on the Sunday of Labour weekend. This was once again, well supported by the public. We gave 125 people rides during the day. The weather played ball also for us this year. Once again, a big thank you to everyone who came for a ride and of course the SRW members. We couldn’t do this event without you.
Photos taken by Blair J, Sandra J and Kylie J.
September 28th: SRW Club Night/ Run Your Model Trains on the WMR&ES Layouts. SRW members were allowed to use the WMR&ES club layouts on this club night. Although we had a good turn out on this night, only 3 members brought trains along to run. These being Blair J, Keegan JJ and Colin H. Colin brought along the 2 models that were donated to SRW a few years ago to give them a test run. We finished off the night with a good chin wag as we watched the trains go by. A big thank you to the WMR&ES for allowing us to use their layouts.
October 23rd: SRW Public Open Day and Jigger Rides. We were asked by the Whanganui Heritage Month organisers to run another Motor Trolley Rides event and Public Open day, as part of their transport themed heritage month. We decided to have our building open for viewing every Sunday morning for the month and run the trolley rides on the Sunday of Labour weekend. This was once again, well supported by the public. We gave 125 people rides during the day. The weather played ball also for us this year. Once again, a big thank you to everyone who came for a ride and of course the SRW members. We couldn’t do this event without you.
Photos taken by Blair J, Sandra J and Kylie J.
October 24th & 25th: SRW Security: Steam Inc’s Ja 1271 and carriages were in town for two nights. This was a joint venture between Glenbrook Vintage Railway and Steam Inc, running the Grand North Island Steam Tour. The train came in on Monday the 24th and left on Wednesday the 26th, to head back to Wellington. SRW got asked to do the security of this train over these two nights. We did up a roster and we had at least 3 members there, changing over with another 3 members every 3 hours between the hours of 7pm and 7am. A big thank you to all members who helped at short notice. We appreciated your help and it’s a good fund raiser for the club.
While in Wanganui, the train did 3 trips for the Wanganui public. Two trips from Taupo Quay to East Town and return and One trip up the Westmere Bank to Kai Iwi and return on the Monday afternoon. Some of our members went for a ride on this as well.
The first 6 photos were taken by Blair J, during his stint on security. The next 2 are by Kylie J of the Ja during its public runs and the final 2 are by Ewan P, on Wednesday when the Ja left.
While in Wanganui, the train did 3 trips for the Wanganui public. Two trips from Taupo Quay to East Town and return and One trip up the Westmere Bank to Kai Iwi and return on the Monday afternoon. Some of our members went for a ride on this as well.
The first 6 photos were taken by Blair J, during his stint on security. The next 2 are by Kylie J of the Ja during its public runs and the final 2 are by Ewan P, on Wednesday when the Ja left.
October 26th: SRW Club Night/ Shunter – Motor Trolleys Drivers Refresher Courses. 13 members attended our Shunter and Motor Trolley Drivers refresher courses, including 1 from the Waitara group and 1 from the Waiarapa with Club President/Rail Operations Supervisor Blair doing most of the talking throughout the night. As part of having a rail licence with NZTA our Rail safety case states we need to do a refresher on these once every 2 years, but we try to do these once a year. Before we started the night, we took time to also refresh everyone with the club’s safety briefing, where first aid kits and fire extinguishers are and where the evacuation point was in case of an emergency.
The shunters course included demonstrations on hand signalling, changing points, rail vehicle hand brake operation, coupling and uncoupling of train, safe riding positions, safe crossing points, train inspections and brake tests.
We briefly started the first part of the motor trolley drivers’ course, but ran out of time, to complete this. We will look at doing this on a Sunday morning.
Finally, we went through the paperwork e.g., where to find the rail vehicle checklist, the maintenance books for each vehicle etc and what to fill out with these. A big thank you to all members who turned up for this club night.
The shunters course included demonstrations on hand signalling, changing points, rail vehicle hand brake operation, coupling and uncoupling of train, safe riding positions, safe crossing points, train inspections and brake tests.
We briefly started the first part of the motor trolley drivers’ course, but ran out of time, to complete this. We will look at doing this on a Sunday morning.
Finally, we went through the paperwork e.g., where to find the rail vehicle checklist, the maintenance books for each vehicle etc and what to fill out with these. A big thank you to all members who turned up for this club night.
SteamRail Wanganui/KiwiRail Joint Operating Plan
Finally, Some good news for the club. We have just renewed our Joint Operating Plan with KiwiRail, to operate in the yard at Taupo Quay. This was meant to be renewed in 2019. We now have a bit more freedom. We can now operate in the yard (the gantry and disused 3rd roads in the yard) at any time. Beforehand we had to give KR two weeks' notice if we wanted to move something. We can now test items we are working on at any time. This gives the club a few more options. If we have visitors on a Sunday morning, we can now offer a ride. We can now also open our doors to visiting clubs or other organizations and offer rides on club nights or other days etc. for a donation. However, KR has asked when we do our big public events (e.g. Wanganui Vintage Weekend), that we still give them prior notice when there's going to be a lot of public in the yard. Which is fair enough.
SRW Maintenance Days
(Sunday mornings at our shed)
With our display at the WMR&ES model railway show on the 1st & 2nd of October, our open day on the Sunday of Labour Weekend and then security of the train, it has been a busy few months for members down at the shed, getting things ready.
After the successful conversion from 6 volt to 12 volt on Price 149. Unfortunately, as work continued on the loco, a can of worms has been disturbed. The rocker cover was removed while looking for a wee clatter and the rockers looked a tad on the dry side... time to dig a little deeper. Hidden underneath the side plate the oil feed to the rocker shaft wasn't looking too good, luckily the old 6cyl Chev is fairly bullet proof so with a replacement oil feed pipe and a few new gaskets she will be purring again. As part of this we have also removed the sump to give it a good clean and to check the oil pump filter is clean as well. As the newsletter went to press, a new oil feed had been made, the sump was put back on and the engine ran again for the first time in a few months. Thank you to Trevor Roberts who has donated the group some spare parts for this loco, including a new radiator.
After the successful conversion from 6 volt to 12 volt on Price 149. Unfortunately, as work continued on the loco, a can of worms has been disturbed. The rocker cover was removed while looking for a wee clatter and the rockers looked a tad on the dry side... time to dig a little deeper. Hidden underneath the side plate the oil feed to the rocker shaft wasn't looking too good, luckily the old 6cyl Chev is fairly bullet proof so with a replacement oil feed pipe and a few new gaskets she will be purring again. As part of this we have also removed the sump to give it a good clean and to check the oil pump filter is clean as well. As the newsletter went to press, a new oil feed had been made, the sump was put back on and the engine ran again for the first time in a few months. Thank you to Trevor Roberts who has donated the group some spare parts for this loco, including a new radiator.
Other projects have also been carried on with. We did some more testing of the air brake system on Price 212. This time connecting the air system through the loco to the LC wagon and operating the train brake from the loco, checking that the wagon brakes come on and off. Some of the motor trolleys have had some improvements done to them before our open day. New lights have been put up over the area the new lathe will go. More parts of the steam crane jib have been cleaned up and repainted. Members have also carried on with the scrap dismantling for fund raising, lawn mowing, and we have had to replace a few boards over the windows on the ex Aramoho Station building after vandals decided to break in. There’s also been more tagging to be painted over.
May - July 2022
May 25th: SRW Club Night/ Old Transport Photos Night. 8 members attended this night. We brought along old photos etc we thought others might be interested in. Colin H shared as his old photos and postcards of tractors, traction Engines, fire Engines, trucks and horse with carts. Keegan JJ showed us some railway photos out of some old NZR books he has. John P show us a lot of old Wanganui Loco photos, including derailments etc. He finished off with other rail related photos from around the country. Greg T show us several old black and white photos including some old cars and a photo of the Imlay works Manning Wardle steam loco with his father on it. He then showed us some photos of the different transport he had used when overseas. Ewan P showed off his photos of his Steam Roller. These included its history before he brought it, through to its restoration etc. Finally, Blair J showed off several photos covering Trucks, Boats, Planes and Trains. It was an interesting night. Thank you to everyone that brought something along.
June 5th: SRW Public Open day and Jigger Rides. After our last public event was cancelled due to covid, we finally managed to open our doors to the public once again. Our open day and jigger rides were well supported by the public. We had a lot of good comments about the work we are doing. We even had members come down from Waitara and up from Masterton for the event. Overall, everyone enjoyed themselves and it was great to finally meet the new member Peter Hill (from Masterton), we welcome him aboard. A big thank you once again to all members that helped on this day. Photos by Ewan P.
June 5th: SRW Public Open day and Jigger Rides. After our last public event was cancelled due to covid, we finally managed to open our doors to the public once again. Our open day and jigger rides were well supported by the public. We had a lot of good comments about the work we are doing. We even had members come down from Waitara and up from Masterton for the event. Overall, everyone enjoyed themselves and it was great to finally meet the new member Peter Hill (from Masterton), we welcome him aboard. A big thank you once again to all members that helped on this day. Photos by Ewan P.
We also made it in the River City Press, advertising what the club does and the public open day.
June 22nd: SRW Club Night/ Other Hobbies Night. Only two members turned up on this night, so meeting was cancelled. We will look at doing this club night program another night.
July 14th: SRW & WMR&ES Lottery’s Grants Meeting. Several committee members from both groups came together on this day to talk with Maggie Regan (Community Advisor) Department of Internal Affairs. Maggie had agreed to talk to both groups about going for Lottery Grants. She explained how the Lottery Grants could help groups both with day to day running costs and for club projects. She also explained how we go about applying for these. She is also willing to help both groups through the application process. A big Thank You to Maggie for this, we have come away feeling very positive about applying for grants at their next round which closes in November.
July 23rd: SRW Club Night/ Mid-Year Dinner. 16 members enjoyed their meals and each other’s company once again at the Rutland Arms Inn for the club’s mid-year dinner. A couple of members also travelled from out of town for this. One from Masterton and two from Waitara. We would like to thank the Rutland once again for their great service and yummy food.
July 14th: SRW & WMR&ES Lottery’s Grants Meeting. Several committee members from both groups came together on this day to talk with Maggie Regan (Community Advisor) Department of Internal Affairs. Maggie had agreed to talk to both groups about going for Lottery Grants. She explained how the Lottery Grants could help groups both with day to day running costs and for club projects. She also explained how we go about applying for these. She is also willing to help both groups through the application process. A big Thank You to Maggie for this, we have come away feeling very positive about applying for grants at their next round which closes in November.
July 23rd: SRW Club Night/ Mid-Year Dinner. 16 members enjoyed their meals and each other’s company once again at the Rutland Arms Inn for the club’s mid-year dinner. A couple of members also travelled from out of town for this. One from Masterton and two from Waitara. We would like to thank the Rutland once again for their great service and yummy food.
SRW Maintenance Days
With our open day on the Sunday of Queens Birthday Weekend, it has been a busy few months for members down at the shed, getting things ready. Unfortunately, we did have a bit of trouble the day before our open day. We were unable to start Price 149. So, this meant we were unable to move the locos outside to be viewed by the public and we also couldn’t do the planned wagon change around with the Xp and the Yc’s wagons. Price 149 ran on a 6-volt system. Very expensive on battery replacements and it’s also been hard to restart once loco was warm. We have been talking for a while about converting it to 12-volt and this has now happened. Trevor started the removing of parts on 149, Hamish and Jmie gave the starter motor a tidy up, Hamish, Ewan (with the help from Keegan) replaced the original 6-volt generator and the coil with 12-volt ones (a couple of spares Hamish had ex his mini restoration) and a new battery was donated. The loco is now up and running again, but we do want to do a few operational tests before we look at moving the wagons. Hamish also wants to tidy up the wiring and add a temp gauge etc. Greg has started to clear a spot for the new donated Lathe (see photo) to go in. Hamish has also been tiding up a few of the electric Horns the club or private members have. Members have also been doing the regular jobs e.g. continuing to dismantle scrap, lawn mowing, painting out tagging and tree trimming. Blair’s Tr 113 has even gotten some work done on it. Blair has mounted the new starter motor into the Tr and Keegan has been using the rattle gun removing rust from the rear headboard. Photos taken by Blair J, Ewan P, Hamish C & Doug Davidson (River City Press Reporter).
February - April 2022
February 23rd: SRW Club Night/ DVD Night. 6 members attended this night. Colin H sheared a DVD of the scrapping of a SD40 class locomotive and how the parts are recycled or sold.
March 23rd: SRW Club Night/ Visit to the Wanganui Tram shed. 9 members visited the Wanganui Tramways Museum. They rode on the tram a few times and had a tour of the Tram Barn, including looking at old tram memorabilia and photos. A big thank you to Warwick L for organizing this visit, Mark S for driving the tram and to Pat S and Peter N for showing us around. Members enjoyed their visit, and we will look at doing it again at some stage. Photos taken by Kylie J and Colin H
March 23rd: SRW Club Night/ Visit to the Wanganui Tram shed. 9 members visited the Wanganui Tramways Museum. They rode on the tram a few times and had a tour of the Tram Barn, including looking at old tram memorabilia and photos. A big thank you to Warwick L for organizing this visit, Mark S for driving the tram and to Pat S and Peter N for showing us around. Members enjoyed their visit, and we will look at doing it again at some stage. Photos taken by Kylie J and Colin H
April 27th: SRW Annual General Meeting. We started off with a minute’s silence for members who had passed throughout the year. Our thoughts were with the families at their sad times.
All the reports were read and accepted, and it was voted that the subs stay the same as the previous year. The 5 previous committee members stayed on for another year, but we would like to welcome new member Trevor F to the committee also. The committee is as follows: - President Blair J, Secretary/treasurer Greg T, Committee members Colin H, Ewan P, Hamish C and Trevor F. We finished off the night talking about the club’s future, club projects and upcoming events the club needs to deal with.
The club has decided due to increased costs e.g. lease’s from KiwiRail etc that we will hand back six of the long term loaned wagons we have in our care to Rail Heritage Trust for rehoming to likeminded groups. This will help to reduce some of our costs by either making our turntable site smaller or eliminating it all together. We plan to focus more on items that will help bring in more money e.g. train and Jigger rides, instead of items that are only there for display. We are also selling a lot of our double ups if members are interested. These items include speed boards, Railway signs, incomplete tablet machines and tools etc.
All the reports were read and accepted, and it was voted that the subs stay the same as the previous year. The 5 previous committee members stayed on for another year, but we would like to welcome new member Trevor F to the committee also. The committee is as follows: - President Blair J, Secretary/treasurer Greg T, Committee members Colin H, Ewan P, Hamish C and Trevor F. We finished off the night talking about the club’s future, club projects and upcoming events the club needs to deal with.
The club has decided due to increased costs e.g. lease’s from KiwiRail etc that we will hand back six of the long term loaned wagons we have in our care to Rail Heritage Trust for rehoming to likeminded groups. This will help to reduce some of our costs by either making our turntable site smaller or eliminating it all together. We plan to focus more on items that will help bring in more money e.g. train and Jigger rides, instead of items that are only there for display. We are also selling a lot of our double ups if members are interested. These items include speed boards, Railway signs, incomplete tablet machines and tools etc.
SteamRail Wanganui Inc.
President’s Annual Report – 2021/2022
For the ninth time I have great pleasure in presenting my President’s Report for SRW. SRW is now in its 33rd year. As always, my report sounds similar to other years but being a small group, we kind of do the same thing every year.
It has been an interesting 12 months for SRW, with that dreaded Covid still hanging around in the background, we have managed to carry on mostly like normal. May I thank you all for the efforts in keeping the society running, looking after each other and keeping the public safe over this time.
Year Highlights: We opened our doors only once during the year offering Motor Trolley/Jigger rides. This being the Sunday of Queens Birthdays weekend (the 6th of June). This day was well supported by the public. The next day (Monday the 7th of June) we had an enjoyable member only day, featuring both trolley runs, and Loco test runs done. Unfortunately, our next planned public open day on the Wellington Anniversary Weekend (Monday the 24th of January) had to be cancelled, last minute due to changes in Covid levels. But we didn’t let that stop us since we had the block of line still with KiwiRail we used this day as a members fun/training day. We managed to finish off some of the Trolley driver training we started last October. A big congratulations to those who past their trolley driver’s tickets and shunters course’s.
Fundraising: Our main fundraising over the last 12 months has once again been the scrap metal recycling, donations, and members subs, with the Motor Trolley/Jigger Rides and Open Day, helping a little bit. 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 once again been donated a lot of railway related items over the last 12 months, including a Engineers Lathe and Goods yard hand crane (both of these still need to be picked up). Members have also donated to the group over the last year, items like fuel, grinder cutting discs, tools, money etc, are always greatly received. Included in these donations is the scrap metal members bring in for fund raising. We also thank Phillips electrical for their continued donation of scrap items. A big thank you to everyone who has donated items to the club over the year.
Club Projects: Are much the same as last AGM. Work has continued on the ex-North End Aramoho Signal Box. 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) The repaint of the Baby price loco into a darker green is coming along slowly. Work has also continued with the Guards Van, Motor Trollies and other tools and items we have. We have brought an old truck deck to become the new floor in the ex-Waverley Jigger shed. Phillips Electrical (Greg) has been dropping off old heat pumps for us to dismantle for scrap. 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. Unfortunately, a few nights were cancelled due to Covid. We have enjoyed DVD/ Video/Movie nights, BBQ’s, Mid-Year Dinner, Other Hobbies nights and a Rail photo’s night and a visit to the Wanganui Tram. A big thank you 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 the newsletter over the year. Thank you to all who have contributed to this. I could not do this without you. Once again, our thanks go out to Greg Tinnion and Phillips Electrical for their help with printing of the newsletters and to my partner Lloryian or mum Sandra for the proof reading. My apologies with a few issues of this being late.
Running of the club: Once again a big thank you to the committee members for all they have done over the year. We have had some highs and lows to deal with. The club’s biggest issues have been with operational costs rising, these being NZTA, FRONZ, Insurance’s and the biggest one being KiwiRail 800% Lease increase (but we have managed to negotiate a smaller amount for the next 2 years, but the future doesn’t look good with them). Our out goings are now 3 to 4 times more than our incoming. We really need to look at ways we can make more money to keep the club going. No doubt the treasurer will also mention these in his report. NZTA sent us a smaller bill for their Audit this year, but they are now charging their time, every time you change something in your safety case. We are still in talks with KiwiRail re our JOP (this was due to be renewed in 2019). But after 5 or 6 manager changes and having to forward our proposed changes to them again, due to them losing them. We still wait an outcome on this. Thank you to John P for being our internal Auditor.
Me, myself, and I: I continue to love my job as a Locomotive Engineer (driver) with KiwiRail. July this year I would have been with KiwiRail for 11 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 the understanding I have had from members because of this has been appreciated. A big thank you must go to Ewan Pound; you could say he’s my right-hand man when I need something done. He has also been a big help with a safety Case etc. I enjoy my roles with SRW but do feel at times that paperwork issues and running of the club take me away from the main reason I joined the group about 33 years ago. This being working and restoring our rail history, it also means I don’t get to work on my own loco as often as I would like too. In some ways, I also feel the club doing scrap recycling also takes members away from working on our club items and this is one of the reasons our projects take so long to complete. But I also know that the scrap is our biggest fund raiser and if we didn’t do it, the club wouldn’t be here. However, I do look forward to continuing my roles, that is if you want me of course.
The Next 12 Months: This upcoming year looks like it will be similar to previous years, with the uncertainty of Covid still hanging around us. We are looking at dates when we can do more Motor Trolley rides and Open Days (one being over Queens Birthday weekend on Sunday the 5th of June), we are also planning some full day/weekend working bees. We might have a display again with the WMR&ES Model Railway Show in October. Hopefully, we will have some good news from KiwiRail re our JOP renewal. Also, we will most likely have another audit by NZTA to look forward too. 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.
It has been an interesting 12 months for SRW, with that dreaded Covid still hanging around in the background, we have managed to carry on mostly like normal. May I thank you all for the efforts in keeping the society running, looking after each other and keeping the public safe over this time.
Year Highlights: We opened our doors only once during the year offering Motor Trolley/Jigger rides. This being the Sunday of Queens Birthdays weekend (the 6th of June). This day was well supported by the public. The next day (Monday the 7th of June) we had an enjoyable member only day, featuring both trolley runs, and Loco test runs done. Unfortunately, our next planned public open day on the Wellington Anniversary Weekend (Monday the 24th of January) had to be cancelled, last minute due to changes in Covid levels. But we didn’t let that stop us since we had the block of line still with KiwiRail we used this day as a members fun/training day. We managed to finish off some of the Trolley driver training we started last October. A big congratulations to those who past their trolley driver’s tickets and shunters course’s.
Fundraising: Our main fundraising over the last 12 months has once again been the scrap metal recycling, donations, and members subs, with the Motor Trolley/Jigger Rides and Open Day, helping a little bit. 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 once again been donated a lot of railway related items over the last 12 months, including a Engineers Lathe and Goods yard hand crane (both of these still need to be picked up). Members have also donated to the group over the last year, items like fuel, grinder cutting discs, tools, money etc, are always greatly received. Included in these donations is the scrap metal members bring in for fund raising. We also thank Phillips electrical for their continued donation of scrap items. A big thank you to everyone who has donated items to the club over the year.
Club Projects: Are much the same as last AGM. Work has continued on the ex-North End Aramoho Signal Box. 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) The repaint of the Baby price loco into a darker green is coming along slowly. Work has also continued with the Guards Van, Motor Trollies and other tools and items we have. We have brought an old truck deck to become the new floor in the ex-Waverley Jigger shed. Phillips Electrical (Greg) has been dropping off old heat pumps for us to dismantle for scrap. 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. Unfortunately, a few nights were cancelled due to Covid. We have enjoyed DVD/ Video/Movie nights, BBQ’s, Mid-Year Dinner, Other Hobbies nights and a Rail photo’s night and a visit to the Wanganui Tram. A big thank you 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 the newsletter over the year. Thank you to all who have contributed to this. I could not do this without you. Once again, our thanks go out to Greg Tinnion and Phillips Electrical for their help with printing of the newsletters and to my partner Lloryian or mum Sandra for the proof reading. My apologies with a few issues of this being late.
Running of the club: Once again a big thank you to the committee members for all they have done over the year. We have had some highs and lows to deal with. The club’s biggest issues have been with operational costs rising, these being NZTA, FRONZ, Insurance’s and the biggest one being KiwiRail 800% Lease increase (but we have managed to negotiate a smaller amount for the next 2 years, but the future doesn’t look good with them). Our out goings are now 3 to 4 times more than our incoming. We really need to look at ways we can make more money to keep the club going. No doubt the treasurer will also mention these in his report. NZTA sent us a smaller bill for their Audit this year, but they are now charging their time, every time you change something in your safety case. We are still in talks with KiwiRail re our JOP (this was due to be renewed in 2019). But after 5 or 6 manager changes and having to forward our proposed changes to them again, due to them losing them. We still wait an outcome on this. Thank you to John P for being our internal Auditor.
Me, myself, and I: I continue to love my job as a Locomotive Engineer (driver) with KiwiRail. July this year I would have been with KiwiRail for 11 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 the understanding I have had from members because of this has been appreciated. A big thank you must go to Ewan Pound; you could say he’s my right-hand man when I need something done. He has also been a big help with a safety Case etc. I enjoy my roles with SRW but do feel at times that paperwork issues and running of the club take me away from the main reason I joined the group about 33 years ago. This being working and restoring our rail history, it also means I don’t get to work on my own loco as often as I would like too. In some ways, I also feel the club doing scrap recycling also takes members away from working on our club items and this is one of the reasons our projects take so long to complete. But I also know that the scrap is our biggest fund raiser and if we didn’t do it, the club wouldn’t be here. However, I do look forward to continuing my roles, that is if you want me of course.
The Next 12 Months: This upcoming year looks like it will be similar to previous years, with the uncertainty of Covid still hanging around us. We are looking at dates when we can do more Motor Trolley rides and Open Days (one being over Queens Birthday weekend on Sunday the 5th of June), we are also planning some full day/weekend working bees. We might have a display again with the WMR&ES Model Railway Show in October. Hopefully, we will have some good news from KiwiRail re our JOP renewal. Also, we will most likely have another audit by NZTA to look forward too. 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.
Ps. A quick word from (what I call) the groups “Public Relations Officers” Skyla and Mia.
Whoof, Whoof, ruff, ruff, bark, bark - (translated to English) a big thank you to all members for accepting us there. We get so excited on a Sunday morning when we know we are heading to SRW. We love the attention, pats, cuddles and just being involved. We also know that Blair and Lloryian appreciate how well members treat us when we are on site and the fact that by the time, we get home we are buggered for the rest of the day, no bouncing around the house or getting under their feet wanting attention. We just lay down and rest for the rest of the day.
Whoof, Whoof, ruff, ruff, bark, bark - (translated to English) a big thank you to all members for accepting us there. We get so excited on a Sunday morning when we know we are heading to SRW. We love the attention, pats, cuddles and just being involved. We also know that Blair and Lloryian appreciate how well members treat us when we are on site and the fact that by the time, we get home we are buggered for the rest of the day, no bouncing around the house or getting under their feet wanting attention. We just lay down and rest for the rest of the day.
SRW Maintenance Days
It’s been another busy few months at the SRW shed. Working on our many projects. The old truck deck for the jigger shed floor has had some of its rusted through cross members removed ready for replacement. More paint has been stripped off the guard’s van frame and bogies. The cranes handbrake has been getting repaired and repainted, along with its outrigger support arms. The main pully off the crane jib is also getting cleaned up. The new air tubing for Price 212 is yet to go in, but we have been testing both the loco brakes and train brakes on 212 using a compressor. These work well. More lights have been getting put up around the workshop area. Members have been stripping down a lot of scrap for fund raising.
It’s been another busy few months at the SRW shed. Working on our many projects. The old truck deck for the jigger shed floor has had some of its rusted through cross members removed ready for replacement. More paint has been stripped off the guard’s van frame and bogies. The cranes handbrake has been getting repaired and repainted, along with its outrigger support arms. The main pully off the crane jib is also getting cleaned up. The new air tubing for Price 212 is yet to go in, but we have been testing both the loco brakes and train brakes on 212 using a compressor. These work well. More lights have been getting put up around the workshop area. Members have been stripping down a lot of scrap for fund raising.