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Check here for the latest Bennett Brook Railway
28/01/2012 Well another busy year in 2011 has drawn to a close and already we are at the end of January 2012. Last year saw plenty of steady progress thanks to the dedicated efforts of the membership. Much has been achieved by a dedicated band of very busy people - thanks to good team spirit much has been achieved and the results speak for themselves. The midweek crew have been busy with maintenance in all areas of the railway, The track crew have kept busy with upgrades and sleeper replacements, with the Friday night crews keeping locomotives in running order for the busy train crews who have kept the wheels rolling an carrying the constant supply of passengers being attracted to our railway. 2011 saw a variety of projects underway or completed - The Water tank, Changeover of the Collie Signal Box to the Cottesloe cabin & larger lever frame, Installation of signals, Restoration of the overhead electric staff & communications pole route, the continuing construction of a new platform at Kangaroo Flats, Refurbishing of Coaches, Clearing of storage areas, Construction of new trackage and Sheds for storage of rollingstock future projects and ongoing locomotive projects with much done on the Big Perry and Gemco. On the locomotive front - the Gemco has seen work done towards fitting the new transmission which will hopefully see it back in traffic duties soon. Ng123 requires a new ashpan - this is a big job requiring the removal of the cab & fittings and the boiler. The Big Perry awaits return of its wheels from being Turned at "Gemco" industrial. The Signalling dept of Bob, Peter and John, has been busy with the Cottesloe signal cabin at Mussel Pool has been moved to its final position finally 300mm further back, enabling the sig guys to start setting up the signal wires. Culvert footings need to be laid before work can start on the point rodding. This project is one of those where nothing appears to be happening while all the while cranks, chain wheels wires tensioners etc are sourced and refurbished for use. Once started it will take off. The concrete ducting for the Electric staff and Telephones has have also been moved for feeding into the rear of the cabin. Lindsay, Michael and the midweek crew have reconfigured the workshop storage road which comes off the lead into the carriage shed. New points installed and track extended across the road to allow for completion of 10 road alongside 9 road carriage shed, which will be a dual gauge storage road enabling undercover storage of our 3ft 6in rollingstock future projects but also 2ft accessible.
Water Tank Project The Whiteman Village Junction Water Tank is now finished with water finally flowing from the tank mounted arm on Wednesday 30th of November - approximately 15 years after the railway acquired it from the former "Formby Siding" watering stop where there was 2 water tanks remaining on the old line from Katanning via Gnowangerup to Ongerup railway.
Longstanding member Ross Parker took on the task of bring the water tank project to reality an it has has taken a little over three years in the execution, requiring substantial modifications to the original tank and working in difficult outdoor conditions. The water tank will be a great asset to the railway in future steam seasons, as it will enable our steam locomotives to be filled with rain water (rather than bore water). It has a back up storage and pumping system in place to keep the tank supplied with water harvested from the Revolutions Museum roofing. The use of rain water should require less chemical additive to the water with financial & environmental benefits. Apart from a slight leak at the outlet (which will be fixed) for the future 1 road water column, everything works well. A "shroud" or metal cover for the chain wheel is yet to be fabricated - this will prevent the chain from coming off the wheel, which if it should occur when the valve is open, could pose quite a damp problem. A separate chain has been provided for swinging the crane arm in and out. This tank adds another interesting heritage aspect to the already impressive rail precinct at Whiteman Village Junction. Ross tells me "When I tested this with the Perry (Betty Thompson), it filled the Right Hand Side tank to overflowing in 43 seconds! The transfer pipe (between the 2 tanks) just isn't big enough to transfer the water to the offside tank quickly enough! This will of course also provide another interesting operational aspect for members and visitors to the railway Ross would like to thank Greg Harris, who put in many hours of laser cutting and welding in trying conditions. Thanks also go to Brian Rourke, Kim Parker, Tony Gauci, Richard and Ken Cheeseman, John Johnstone and Simon Mead for their assistance. A special thanks goes to Bob Davies and his company BG&E as the structural engineer for his guidance and oversight on the modifications and erection. Click here for more information on the Water Tank Structure
Shed Project For
some time plans have been underway for erection of new sheds at the workshops at
the Mussel Pool depot. The
concept of the sheds came from Bob Baker and the erection of the sheds was
project managed by Alan Waterhouse. The sheds are based on the extensive use of
hay sheds at Sandstone Estate in
Click here for Archived News Jan - Dec 2011
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Bennett Brook Railway Webmaster N. Blinco
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