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WHAT'S RUNNING THIS MONTH As far as we can predict the following locos and railcars will be running in the next few days, although this may change at short notice due to loco, weather and crew situations. Wednesdays 1st, 15th & 29th February - Brill 60 Sunday 5th & 19th - DE 507 Wednesday 8th & 22nd, Sundays 12th & 26th - RedHen railcars Check at stations to see what is running on a particular train FOR FULL DETAILS ON ALL TRAIN SERVICES AND BOOKING OPTIONS

OUR TRAIN SERVICES SHR operates the following services The Cockle Train between         Goolwa & Victor Harbor The Southern Encounter        Mt Barker to Victor Harbor The Highlander        Mt Barker to Strathalbyn The StrathLink        Goolwa to Strathalbyn The Southern Hills Special        Goolwa to Mt Barker The Bugle Ranger        Mt Barker to Bugle Ranges Running dates,schedules and motive power vary through the year FOR FULL DETAILS ON ALL TRAIN SERVICES AND BOOKING OPTIONS To return to these pages click on the ENTHUSIAST PAGES option under MAIN MENU on any train services page

Bookings now available on-line from your computer

SOUTHERN FLEURIEU REGION VOLUNTEERS GROUP The group recently held is AGM at which new office bearers were appointed as follows; Chair - Bill Lewis Vice Chair - Peter Wood Secretary - Alan Potter Treasurer - Rosemary Kelly Newsletter Editor - Elaine Wood SHR BOM Rep - Ray Green Bill (above) replaces Ray Green, who has been President for over four years and we thank Ray for all his efforts over that period which are now being directed to his new position of SHR Track Manager. Bill is a retired SAR and AN railwayman of 34years experience, in the Southeast, Tailem Bend, West Coast and Adelaide. He progressed to a Train Controller before taking early retirement. He has had a significant involvement with railway modelling and in retirement has contributed to heritage rail with the YPRS (before its demise) , and the Gippsland Tourist Railway in Victoria. Bill moved to Victor in 2009 and quickly set to work with SHR on track patrols and gang work. He currently works as a Guard and SM and will soon be driving our RedHen railcars, drawing on his experience with GTR's Redhens 402 and 311. The 2011 AGM was addressed by ARHS President Barrie Hawes who gave an interesting insight into his view of the way ahead for the SHR. He pointed out that the present financial state of the SHR is due significantly to the efforts of longserving Treasurer John Lambert and that with no obvious sources of government money or other grants the future may increasingly depend on promoting charter services. He is keen to see a second Brill railcar (car 43) in service which will allow increased services from the south coast to Strathalbyn and Mt Barker to be run. The next general meeting of the Group will be held on the 13th December at Goolwa Station, with Operations Manager Brian Busch as featured speaker. If you live on the coast and would like to become involved in this group just call Secretary Alan Potter on 8554 3850

  Steam locos Rx207 and 621 teamed up with our heritage
            railcars for busy Xmas - January School Holiday Cockle Trains

Passenger patronage reflected the availability of a steam locomotive on almost all running days with ticket sales up by around 30% on last year's running when we had no operational steam loco. In the peak period of late December / early January around 350 return passenger journeys were recorded each day (up to five return movements each day), reducing to around 200 per day by mid January (three return movements per day)

We were unable to operate trains on two days around New Year due to high temperatures and fire restrictions and had to substitute diesel power on another two, due to a mechanical fault with Rx207 and a fireban.

• Three daily return services ran for the full period, departing Goolwa at 10.00am, 12.15pm and 2.45pm, departing on return from Victor at 11.00am, 1.30pm and 3.45pm. These trains initially featured steam loco 621, and then Rx207 from the 10th onwards with 621 returning from Australia Day onwards.
  
  
• A late afternoon return trip ran with our heritage Brill railcar departed Goolwa at 4.30pm until the 8th January, and then on the 15th and 26th, returning from Victor at 5.30pm
  
  

And some extra or varied services!

• NEW YEARS EVE
  
  As was done last year our RedHen set again helped south coast residents and visitors to bring the New Year in at Victor without all the hastles of driving. The set depart Goolwa at 8.30pm for a 30 minute trip to Victor, where it stayed until 12.30am before travelling back to Goolwa, arriving at 1.00am.
  
  
• STRATHLINK
  
  Brill railcar 60 operated a train from Victor to Strathalbyn and return on the 2nd, 8th, 15th and 26th of January, pasengers on the first leg from Victor to Goolwa using the 11.00am Cockle Train service.
  
  
• TOUR DOWN UNDER BIKE RACE
  
  On the Thursday 19th January our afternoon Cockle Train was retimed slightly to accommodate the bike race which concluded for the day at Victor. Passengers were able to view the race from the 1.30pm ex Goolwa train which stood near the Port Elliot caravan park to watch the cyclists ride by!

  Passengers and the crew (this photo from fireman Kevin Marzahn from atop his tender!) had an excellent view of what turned out to be a very competitive section.

  The scheduled 3.45pm ex Victor train was delayed until 4.30pm so that passengers could take in the end of the ride at Victor.
  
  

  Congratulations Craig!

Thursday December 29th 2011 marked the first solo CT driving run for the first new SHR trained steam loco engineman for many, many years!

After a rigorous training and assessment process our Mechanical Services Manager Craig Dunstan (center) took the steam regulator of loco 621 on a day of Cockle Train running and we congratulate him! He was accompanied on the footplate by vintage SHR firemen Andrew Gramp and Roger Currie who no doubt were able to point out all the attractions along the south coast beaches to him.

Later in the week he was scheduled to be accompanied as fireman by another recently SHR trained fireman David Groves another key member of the Mt Barker based mechanical services team who keep out fleet in top notch condition. David took the above photo.

  Farewell Alan Raphael

Older ARHS members will note with some sorrow the recent passing of highly valued committeeman Alan Raphael who passed away in mid September. Alan joined the ARHS in 1971 and was appointed Senior Vice President in 1977 and filled the role of Secretary from 1983 to 1990 - some 7 years.

An ARHS colleague through those years, Dean Harvey, wrote a "Farewell to Alan" in the October issue of the ARHS Newsletter distributed to members. Dean outlined Alan's professional career as a Chartered Accountant, Certified Tax Agent and Fellow of the Institute of Accountants. He commented that Alan was "as smart as a tack" with a "phenominal memory". Surprisingly Alan never owned or personally used a computer. He married his wife Carlien in 1958 and was never far from SteamRanger operations, he and his family travelling on well over 100 ARHS excursions across the State and with a holiday house at Chiton Rocks overlooking our line was always ready to wave encouragingly at passing trains.

Dean's final words in his "Farewell" were - "Alan Raphael, a staunch friend, nature's gentleman and a kind and generous man."

Marketing Update

A number of initiatives in 2012 are being progressed by the Operations / Marketing Team and details will be publically announced in due course

• Special Cockle Train Radio Promotion on Coast FM
  Barry Dunstan has organised a new series of 30 second promotions for the Cockle Train which will run five times a day and be supported by time to time reference to our services in Coast FMs Community Announcements.
  Click HERE to listen to the promos, which will be periodically updated thru the year.
  
  
• State of Steam
  In recent years a number of heritage railway organisations have combined to promote activities in Rundle Mall.
  In 2012 this will be replaced by a promotion at the Caravan and Camping Show in late February.
  SHR will participate.
  
  
• ARHS 60th Birthday
  Special trains and activities will be arranged in mid June. Watch out for details and booking arrangements
  
  
• Mount Barker Jazz Festival
  Local railcar trains from Mt Barker on the long weekend in June
  
  
• Dinner trips from Mt Barker to Strathalbyn
  Valentines Day - 11th February - train jouney and pub meal
  Christmas in July - 28th July - traditional Christmas dinner at a Strath pub.
  
  
• Press Advertising
  Longtime SHR volunteer Trevor Blight has been busy as the new year comes upon us - organising advertising in a number of media outlets - SA Tourism Regional Guides for 2012 and Clipsal 500 promotions as well as regular advertising in the "Advertiser" and local south coast press - an example of the myriad range of time consuming "behind the scenes" responsibilities that key volunteers are called on to assist with.
  
  
  Here's his ad for the 2012 Fleurieu Tourism Guide
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Mechanical Services Update

• Operational Steam Locos
  After a month or so back in service, 621 is operating well, with warmish bearings on the trailing truck continuing to be monitored. The boiler and tender have been washed and dried, defective crown stays replaced and some other stays welded. A 200 psi hydro test was conducted before the loco was towed to Goolwa Depot for Cockle Train running
  
  Rx207 was returned to Mt Barker after October Cockle Train running. Valves and pistons were stripped and decarbonised and an air operated cylinder release cock mechanism installed using existing rodding. A drifting gauge was installed and the cab interior repainted. Some stiffness in the regulator operation was addressed. This loco has also been towed to Goolwa for use in January.
  
  
• Steam Locos under Restoration
  The new tender frame for Rx224 is progressing.
  
  
• Diesel Locos
  Goolwa based DE507 had a short sojourne at Mt Barker for servicing with oil and air leaks repaired.
  
  
• Railcars
  428 which has had a bogie fault repaired and will continue to be monitored on accounmt of a possible transmission problem. Brill 60 has had a numbere of relatively minor mechanical issues addressed before being required for Cockle TRain and StrathLink running over January
  
  
• Carriages
  Centenary Car 73 is at Mt Barker with a bent frame, After a busy holiday period Baggage 82 has been returned to Mt Barker for repairs to the Guard's section. Centenary Car 66 has had bogies from recovered Port Adelaide cars fitted.
  
  

75th Birthday train of "621" from Mt Barker to Victor Harbor
                    - Saturday 17th September

Steam loco 621 was introduced to SAR service in 1936, having been designed and built in Adelaide at a cost of $28,282. It was named "The Duke of Edinburgh" by the Governor in April 1971. To commemorate the event 621 headed a mainly "first class" train from Mt Barker to Victor Harbor on Saturday September 17th, with sleeping car "Finniss", first class car 503, Tavern Car "Bowmans" and a 700 class country economy car.

At Goolwa passengers were offered a wine tasting, took a river cruise on the paddlesteamer "Oscar W" and were provided with lunch lunch and then a celebratory piece of birthday cake as part of the travel package. Then a spirited run to Victor and home to Mt Barker arriving there at 6.00pm. All first class seats were fully booked with only a sprinkling of empty economy seats.

The event received good publicity in the press, radio and TV. Long serving Mechanical Services volunteer Ian Johnston was interviewed by ABC host Ashley Walsh (right) , the extended interview being played during radio 891's breakfast program. By coincidence, Ashley's father was a railwayman 50 years or so ago, and he toyed briefly with following him into the railways before choosing the media.

The trip was followed by a enthusiast "tribe" of railway photographers who have submitted some of their shots for inclusion here. The following are just some samples; more can be seen on our "photoalbum" page

   

   

   

Brenton, Craig, Kevin (loco crew) Cliff (guard)	Peter & Margaret
Gill and Trevor	Bill and Anne

 

More photos of both these services and the earlier 621 Birthday Train can be seen on our photoalbum page

CLICK HERE.

Track

During early November the track team worked between Finniss and Gilberts (north of Goolwa) replacing a total of 200 sleepers and then moved on to Goolwa to install a further 72. Altogether this hard working group have this year replaced over 1200 sleepers, nearly 5000 rail spikes, 2500 sleeper plates and 960 feet of rail.

Environmental Management

And here's an end-of-year photo of Robert Haebich's Mount Barker based team - our Xmas photo of Malcolm Merritt, Peter Keynes, Doug MacKenzie & Greg Mill with "Big Ted" their Xmas mascot - Robert the photographer obviously misssing!. Big Ted comes out with them once a year to celebrate Xmas; he spends the rest of the year locked away in a shed at Mt. Barker. We found him discarded along the track years a go and rescued him as our Xmas mascot.

Sadly, Monday the 19th November was the last day for the team's long serving volunteer Greg Mill, who has decided to pack in SHR volunteering and go walkabout Australia in his caravan. His humour and weekly efforts will be sorely missed out on the track. This means we are down to 4 regular volunteers for our Monday Gang so if you know someone who doesn't mind a bit of hard work, is prepared to get up early once a week and would enjoy a good day out on the track, let Robert Haebich know. We're told the team's lunchtime BBQ's are very enjoyable as well - Greg used to say he only came for the BBQ!

National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide

In 1988 the museum was fortunate enough, with the involvement of the History Trust of SA, to obtain a $2m Australian Bicentennial Commemorative Grant to relocate to its current site at Port Adelaide. Later Centenary of Federation funding allowed construction of the Commonwealth Railway Museum within the museum's precinct

The Museum features train rides, exhibits and displays. Its activities include a sales centre, tours and the publication of a national magazine as well as the operation of a tourist steam railway along the beachfront at Semaphore. The Museum is open from 10 am until 5 pm every day of the year except Christmas Day.

Click to visit the NRM website.

Preserved and Tourist Rail in New Zealand

The New Zealand equivalent of ATHRA (see panel to the left) is FRONZ, the Federation of Rail Organisations of New Zealand has an interesting website which gives a good overview of heritage rail operations in NZ.

Unfortunately it does not include downloadable copies of their excellent newsletter "Federation Journal". However, the most recent copies can be downloaded from SteamRanger's website by clicking

Railway Technical Society of Australasia SA Chapter

The RTSA is a Technical Society of the Institution of Engineers Australia.
Visitors with a railway interest are most welcome to attend meetings as visitors.

Recent copies of the RTSA SA Chapter newsletter can be downloaded in pdf format by clicking on the dates below. Notices of forthcoming local meetings, and in-depth reports on past meetings are included.

General information on the RTSA and copies of the national newsletter "Rail Horizons" can be found

Association of Tourist Railways (Victoria)