The restoration of Cattle Wagon T175 continues to progress well with all the flooring in at least undercoat and the majority completely finished and ready for installation. The floor bearers have been cut and await sanding and painting. The old bolts and timber have been removed from the final door and the replacement timber has been shaped and is being painted. A large quantity of timber for the centre partition has been cut, sanded & sealed and will be painted in the coming weeks.

Work continues on refitting the brake rigging for the K wagon, although this has slowed recently with help being required for A67 to minimise its time out of service. The door track wheels are currently having new axles fitted.

A grant has been received from the Bendigo Trust to help with tools and materials needed for carriage repairs. Despite the changeable weather, a considerable amount of weed spraying has been done and a new scrub cutter has been purchased to keep the jungle under control. A further grant has been received from the Southern Trust to allow us to purchase two ballast wagons, which will help to keep our railway in better shape.

An additional platform lamp is going to be erected following extensive repairs. TL McLean (Transport Engineers) donated the resources to repair the pole. A special thanks for everyone involved in this project.

Work on Katiki Station has slowed down over the holiday season but recent activity has centred on getting the waiting room ready for painting, and sorting out the station name board defects. The new windows for the south end have had a trial fitting. Work on having the ticket office external door frame ready for painting is also under way. Recently, good headway has been made on refurbishing the old Katiki Station door. It was extensively damaged before we aquired it, with all the panels broken and showing some early signs of rot & borer. A number of mouldings were missing and it was covered with peeling paint. The restoration has been pretty straightforward, with the door being partially dismantled to allow the broken panels to be removed and new ones installed. We had enough spare mouldings to replace the missing interior ones, but will have to make some of the exterior ones. Removing the old paint has been very time-consuming but hopefully the finished result will make it all worth while. This door will be fitted between the Station Masters office and the waiting room.

The platform area recently received a spruce up, with the weeds being sprayed and 6m3 of new gravel being added.

In locomotive news the shuttle valve cap has been replaced on A67’s compressor, but another fault in the works has meant that the compressor needs to be removed from the locomotive for repairs. On a more positive note, the Kerr Stuart has passed a significant milestone, with the tanks being refitted to the locomotive, making the engine that bit closer to completion. Thanks must go to Murray Hogg for leading this project. In another first, the Hunslet DSA was very gingerly moved into the workshop to allow an engine oil change and brake survey to be carried out.

The railway's submission to the Resource Consent process regarding the proposed Coastal Protection work at Moana Rua has been lodged, and we will make representation to the planning hearing in a couple of months time. A special thanks is due to the members who offered their ideas and support for the submission.

Recent weekends have seen record takings at the gate of Ocean Beach. No doubt this will be making the treasury a bit happier.