Members Newsletter. Picnic at Muckleford including Steam on Show A Very Special Day. 30 Years Ago. October 2008

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1 Members Newsletter Picnic at Muckleford including Steam on Show A Very Special Day Castlemaine and Maldon Railway Preservation Society October 2008 Inside this issue: Picnic at Muckleford 1-2 The Ultimate Raffle 3 Commitment to Castlemaine The VGR and Mt Alexander Shire 3 3 President s Column 4 Special Events 5 James Brook captures the scene at Muckleford with cars, trains, jumping castles and lots of visitors enjoying the day The advertising for the first Picnic at Muckleford billed the event as a "Great fun day - Something for everyone". The first Picnic at Muckleford not only lived up to the billing, but exceeded expectations with over 2000 people attended on the day. The events at the Picnic were enhanced by the running of our famous railfan event, Steam on Show, offering a range of trains between Maldon and Castlemaine throughout the day, from the very first time triple headed steam travelled over the Maldon line to the humble railmotor plying the rails. The photographs featured in this newsletter are glimpses of a wonderful event, made great by the broad range of over 200 historic motor vehicles, machinery, kids entertainment and activities; complimented by an impressive range of vender stalls offering produce, wines, fine foods, drinks, clothing and more... We were joined by the Walmer/ Mucklefor CFA crew who did a wonderful job with parking control. Planning is already underway for the event to run at the same time next year. Board Meetings 5 New Members 5 Greencorp Update 5 Newstead 5 February Shutdown 5 Castlemaine Station Restoration 5 Steam Trains for Kids 6 30 Years Ago Here James Brook captures a sight never seen before on the Maldon line - triple headed steam with K160, J515 and J541 hauling a very long train toward from Maldon to Muckleford Deputation meets Minister of Transport, McClelland, who said that once the Society has proven it is capable of organizing work parties and maintenance, the Minister will be prepared to make available 1 loco and carriage for a trial

2 Page 2 Picnic at Muckleford The Maldon Brass Band proved very popular with our visitors with a substantial crowd gathering around to hear them play This large steam engine certainly generated lots of questions for youngsters and their parents alike Here Signalman Jacob Bellwood greets driver Graham George as K160 and mixed train waits at Muckleford as the crowd inspects the train The fascination of a vintage car is almost as captivating as the fascination of a vintage train! The station surrounds at Muckleford have been transformed in to a great Festival site with stalls, BBQs, entertainment - all thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. With a lot of hard work leading up to the day, the surrounds got turned in to a beautifully manicured lawn on which over 200 vintage cars were displayed for our visitors Railway Marketing Officer Garry Aitchison captures the festive atmosphere of Picnic at Muckelford. The event was aimed at diversifying our appeal with many people attending who would not attend a purely rail based event. The weather was almost perfect with just a brief shower during the day - certainly not enough to spoil the day though! The day would not have happened without the fantastic support of so many members who helped preparing for the day and on the day itself. We re all looking forward to the next Picnic at Muckleford in 2009!

3 Page 3 Members will be interested to know that the total raffle ticket sales raised $8272 with 4,136 tickets sold out of a possible 7,000. It is slightly disappointing to note that 38% of members did not sell tickets and in many cases did not return unsold tickets. About 2,500 tickets were returned with money from the mail out. The balance of the tickets, 1,636 were sold by a very small band of committed members. It could have been a lot better but it all helps. Thanks very much to those who worked so hard with extra sales. Its been suggested that the main prize for our next raffle should be the use of the steam train for the day. The raffle was drawn at Picnic at Muckleford on the 6th of September RAFFLE PRIZE WINNERS 1st Rachel Gilbert of Maldon 2 nd R. Walker of Echuca 3 rd Brian Tuckett of Mooroolbark 4 th Roger Dalton of Alphington All winners have contacted and prizes delivered. George Young Raffle Coordinator A Commitment to Castlemaine Since the railway re-opened to Castlemaine in 2004, we have tried various things to encourage the residents of Castlemaine to embrace the railway with limited success. Part of this has been due to the fact that our timetables suit passengers traveling from Maldon with less attractiveness in our timetables for those traveling to Maldon from Castlemaine. Last year we changed our Sunday timetable to comprise two return trips from Maldon to Castlemaine and one shorter return trip to Muckleford. While this was designed to give families the option of a short trip in the middle of the day, it did reduce the options available to our passengers starting their journey at Castlemaine especially those who may be catching a V/Line service to visit the VGR. As a result of this, the board have decided to abolish the shorter Maldon to Muckleford trip and re-introduce a third return service to Castlemaine. This should present more options for travellers from Castlemaine and also provide them with a more realistic timeframe to explore Maldon hopefully benefiting both the Castlemaine and Maldon communities. These changes to our timetable, including the starting date, will be fully detailed in a future newsletter. If you would like to contribute an article, a photo or a letter to the Members Newsletter, you can send it to newsletter@vgr.com.au The Ultimate Raffle Raffle Coordinator, George Young, presents a very happy Rachel Gilbert with her prize - a Driver Experience day on the Victorian Goldfields Railway. Mount Alexander Shire and the VGR - Working Together to Attract Baby Boomers The VGR attended the Baby Boomers Lifestyle Expo held recently at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. We shared the stand with the Mount Alexander Shire's Tourism Unit to let visitors attending the Expo in on the delights of the Castlemaine area - including of course the VGR experience. Pictured is Claire Baker from the Shire speaking to an interested visitor. This is one of several Expo's of this type that VGR has attended as part of a co-operative marketing effort with the Shire's Tourism Unit.

4 Page 4 Presidents Column - by Paul McDonald By now most, if not all of you will have either attended or read elsewhere of the highly successful Picnic at Muckleford held on Saturday 6 th. September. On behalf of the Board of Management of the Railway I extend sincere thanks to all those volunteers who contributed in many more ways than could be listed here if, indeed, we could recall them all! In particular, all members of the Society as well as the Board, owe a sincere debt of gratitude to George Young for the tireless (and tiring) contribution he made to the day. This included organising and the conduct of the Raffle, as well as coordinating and arranging the displays and the spaces for them all, which really ensured the success of the day. One of the most positive outcomes on the day was the superb team effort put in by all members and volunteers who attended in so many different roles; without a team approach the successful outcome may have been impaired by having to stretch duties. Of course, we could have welcomed more helpers in numerous positions but I do not detract from the wonderful effort that has contributed both to the Society s financial position as well as to the Railway s reputation and standing in the Community. Living in Maldon as my wife and I do, we are often asked by locals about events and the Railway and on the Monday following the Picnic day were already being asked were we going to make this an annual event, and could these people be involved again, such was the level of interest created. Again many of the Car clubs, engine displays and Stall holders were arranged by George Young and they are all eager to participate in a future event. The Railway is indeed fortunate to have Muckleford station and the Goods shed available as a venue eminently suitable for such an event and we need also to express our thanks to the current Greencorps Team and their wonderfully capable Supervisor Christa for the work which has been done to the Station and surrounds. Thanks are also due to Alan Williams who acted as photo stop director for the Steamrail Charter train which operated on Picnic day a great job was done by Alan to successfully organize a large number of people in the splendid and totally professional way which he did. As is the case with all volunteer organizations, we are always ready to welcome new volunteers and in our case, we have possibly as large a range of positions as could be found anywhere. We urgently require a member able to assist with Office administration work including some computer entry and general office tasks so if you have office administration experience and are familiar with MYOB you may be the person we are looking for. It is anticipated that this position would require four to five hours a day on perhaps two or three days per month on a regular basis. We are also looking for a suitably experienced volunteer to assume a position as Assistant or Deputy Mechanical Manager with responsibility for Rolling Stock. Stephen Lumsden would continue in the role of Mechanical Manager with overall responsibility for the Division and particular care of our Locomotive fleet. The rolling stock manager would need to have knowledge of and be able to assist with continuing maintenance as well as record keeping for all vehicles. If you would like to become involved in either of these roles and contribute to the continuing operation of the railway for the office administration position please contact Financial Controller Rob Fletcher on , and the rolling stock manager Mechanical Manager Steve Lumsden on and please keep calls to before 9.00 pm week nights. Please bear in mind that these are vital positions and will provide important back up to the incumbents in addition to expanding our volunteer base. Members will be advised in future editions of the newsletter of the upcoming introduction of the Rail Safety Act 2006 and the necessary start up procedures. By way of a brief outline all Tourist and Heritage Railways including the VGR will need to comply with the same requirements and procedures as the larger Railways who, of course, have at their disposal much larger financial and human resources. We are indebted to the State Government who have appointed Consultants Safety Action to assist the Tourist Railways to achieve accreditation required under the Act. Neville Elliott who has been a member of the Society for many years, is in the process of documenting the Safety Management System which will be required for us to achieve accreditation and I commend to you all the tremendous amount of work which has been required of Neville and which will be ongoing for some time yet. One of the early requirements of the new Act is more complete documentation of everything that happens on and around the Railway and, as an example, all volunteers will be required to undertake a safety induction which will be brief, simple and to the point. As outlined previously the fatigue management provisions of the Act will mean that we will need to roster split shifts to ensure that we comply with these provisions. For instance, any volunteers who travel long distances to work on the railway will need to be mindful that the new Act defines time involved in working on the railway as door to door, so that a Guard rostered on a Sunday who has to travel from say, Springvale to the Railway would need to be relieved to ensure timely return to his home without risk to his or her personal safety. This brings home the point that we are going to require more volunteers in all operational roles if we are to comply with the accreditation requirements of the Act please consider how you can help the Railway, even one day a month will be beneficial and you never know, you might strike up friendships that may last a lifetime!! You will also have noticed elsewhere in this issue that there are some exciting events coming up in the next 12 months and I commend these to you and to your friends and families. In the near future we will be celebrating Christmas and a successful year with our friends from the Central Highlands Tourist Railway at Daylesford who entertained some of our members to an enjoyable afternoon and evening last year. Our hope at the VGR is that we can make this years event bigger, better and more pleasant in the glorious surroundings of Muckleford. Watch for more details next month. Paul McDonald Our much loved K160 hauling a mixed train as part of Picnic at Muckleford. Photo courtesy of James Brook.

5 Page 5 Special Events The railway has enjoyed some very special events over the years and next year will see one of our biggest events in the history of the railway - the 125th anniversary of the railway opening between Castlemaine and Muckleford. We will be celebrating the anniversary on Sunday 14th of June 2009 and plans are well underway to make the event memorable. We are hoping to include the populations of Castlemaine and Maldon in our celebrations. A small committee has been formed to co-ordinate celebrations. If you would like to join the committee or have a suggestion, please contact George Young on (03) or Philip Ryan on New Members The society is delighted to welcome the following new members who have joined the society recently: Michael Kearney Brian Dyson* Bruce Gardner* Greg Smith* Greg Gamble Please welcome these new members when you see them around the railway. *An asterix indicates a member has received their membership after completing a Driver Experience day. GreenCorp Update Over the past few years, we have worked with Central Victorian Group Training to conduct a number of GreenCorp training programs. These programs have an environmental and heritage focus. Our current program has focused on the Muckleford Station area and the results have been fantastic. We now have a very smart timber fence along both platform ends as well as fencing along the platform, plus a defined path across the tracks close to where the Superpipe was laid earlier on this year. A pictorial feature on the work done so far will appear in the next edition of the newsletter. Newstead Some members may not be aware that basic overnight accommodation is available to members who need to travel to volunteer on the railway. The Newstead station building provides very basic accommodation and is located only 15 minutes away from Maldon. Member Greame Dunn has taken on the role of caretaker and will advise members on whether there is space available when they are working on the railway. A token fee of $2 per member per night applies so that we can try to offset some of the costs of providing this accommodation. Greame can be contacted on Picnic at Muckleford and Steam on Show was made even more spectacular with a visit from our good friends at Steamrail. Here James Brook captures R761 waiting to depart from platform 2 for Melbourne and J541 waiting to depart from platform 3 for Maldon. Both trains departed simultaneously in a cacophony of steam, whistles and camera shutters! February Shutdown Members will be aware of the fact that we decided not to run any public services in February this year. This was mainly so that we could conduct important repairs to the bridge over Muckleford Creek. We chose February because this has traditionally been a very quiet time of year in terms of passenger numbers - often we only had one or two passengers! The board has chosen to again not run any public services in February We will still run any charters that may are booked during this time. We may also conduct further maintenance work on either our infrastructure or rolling stock - details will be provided in coming newsletters. Castlemaine Station Restoration We were delighted to be informed by the state MP for Bendigo West and Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Bob Cameron that VicTrack had received funding for the restoration of the roof over platforms 2 and 3 as well as the restoration of the toilets on the island platform and refreshment rooms at Castlemaine. This funding amounts to approximately $300,000 and the works should be completed by the end of the year! These repairs will inevitably cause some minor disruption, however it will be well and truly worth it to have our once-fine facilities restored to close to their original condition. While this work is being undertaken, we will be selling tickets from the original booking window! Board Meeting The next meeting will be held at Sat 18th October 10am - 12:30pm at Castlemaine Station Please feel free to attend. Victorian Goldfields Railway General Office and Marketing Correspondence P.O. Box 51 CASTLEMAINE VIC 3450 Phone: (03) Facsimile: (03) marketing@vgr.com.au for bookings, Train Times & Fares information or cmr@vgr.com.au for all other enquiries Recorded Train Information Phone (03) Castlemaine Railway Station Kennedy Street, Castlemaine Phone: (03) Facsimile: (03) Maldon Railway Station Hornsby Street, Maldon Telephone: (03) Facsimile: (03) Muckleford Railway Station (only staffed for special events) Muckleford-Walmer Road, Muckleford Telephone: (03)

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