The last two months have been particularly busy for Ocean Beach volunteers as several aspects of the operation have received an upgrade as well as the usual winter maintenance. Progress has also been good on the restoration projects.

A67 has had its headlight focussed, the new conduit installed and wiring run to the new and existing fittings. Once completed, the locomotive will have front and rear headlamps, a cab light that illuminates the gauges, and gauge glass lamps. The new boiler tubes were generously transported down from Christchurch by a friend of the railway. The old tubes have been removed, tube plate holes cleaned up, scale removed and domes, valves etc dismantled for inspection. The boiler was found to be in good condition by the inspector, allowing the boiler fittings to be reassembled. The new tubes have been cut to length, annealed and expanded into position. The next step will be to do a hydraulic test to prove that the new work is sound, prior to a steam test for the boiler inspector in early to mid September.

The spot sleeper replacement work on the lower part of the hill has been completed. Some rotten sleepers and broken joints in the section of yard track leading to the workshop have been repaired with a new section of rail and some freshly acquired second hand sleepers. The southern portion of the road crossing has been regauged, meaning that trains can return to the Moana Rua platform after an absence of a couple of years. This work required exposing track screws from under asphalt and removing a significant quantity of gravel and sand, and it is a credit to those involved that it was achieved in a single afternoon.

The external contractor that caused a section of track to slump following inappropriate excavation adjacent to it has accepted liability for the damage. The integrity of the formation has been restored and test trains have successfully negotiated the line as part of the monitoring programme. Our members will reballast, level and tamp this section of the track at the contractors expense and future settling will be handled in a similar manner.

The third door for T175 is taking shape as all the filling, sanding and priming is complete.

K610's A-side door is also taking shape as further filler has been applied and sanded back. The coat of fresh primer successfully disguises the extreme restoration techniques that were required to save the split and damaged interior lining. Resecuring loose interior lining and filling the many holes and gouges continues inside the wagon.

Trolley WW6917 had its first intensive day of service and ran well although a suspected buckled wheel gave it rough riding characteristics. Apart from that, everything else is complete on this rather drawn out project.

WW7079 is having a rear corner post replaced as part of the ongoing improvement programme. A new hinge is being fitted to the seat/engine cover, and numerous other minor repairs are underway on this reliable but scruffy 4 man trolley.

A193 of 1886 is finally having the first class saloon floor restored. The second class floor was refurbished 2 years ago. A special tinted filler mix was used to fill the many gaps, gouges and holes, and a drying agent was used to deal with the oil-saturated portions of the floor. The floor was sanded with a rented commercial floor sander and a particularly robust polyurethane coating has been applied to complement the condition of this particularly elegant carriage.

Special draft stop seals have been fitted to the carriage shed doors to reduce the amount of salt, dirt and cold air that is blown into the shed. The seals work well and also reduce the noise the doors make in the wind which must be appreciated by the neighbours.

The platform area at St Kilda has been spruced up in anticipation of a wedding charter scheduled for mid September. We are hoping for a useful amount of publicity from the media for this event and also look forward to helping make the wedding of fellow rail enthusiasts a special occasion.