The last couple of months have presented some interesting challenges as the weather has fluctuated from warm and sunny to extremely bleak, and members have battled ill health and other commitments. Our August running day was a highlight with a greater number of passengers traveling than on a good summers day.
A number of projects have surged ahead. The work on the cladding of carriage A210 has made sound progress, with the missing panels replaced and all cladding on one side being re-secured. Filling of the many holes, gashes and scrapes is continuing along with the associated sanding. About half of one side is in primer, finally making a visual difference to the carriage that has been worked on occasionally for many years.
The lighting and associated wiring on the Kerr Stuart has been completed and thoughts are now turning to improving the ash-pan situation. An event to mark the return to service of this locomotive was held in late July during a period of artic weather. However, the funders and invited guests proved hardier than our own members and a significant number of the invited guests braved the weather and were impressed with the locomotive and the other projects that are under way, hopefully laying the groundwork for funding future projects.
On Cattle Wagon T175, a start has been made on making the timber spacer blocks that fit between the roof walkway and the angle-iron bows. The steelwork on the final door has been cleaned down and the broken weld fixed, and the associated hardware has been stripped and primed. The main timber for the drop doors has been cut, shaped and sealed ready for painting. Box wagon K610 has had some replacement steelwork fitted to the doorway and just requires a further small engineering repair before the sliding door is re-fitted.
The restoration of Katiki Station is continuing, with recent work focusing on the notice board, painting the ceiling, completing the interior door and progressing the station seat. A visit from the Building Inspector is imminent and will mark a milestone for the project.
Steam Locomotive A67 is undergoing its annual survey, which is going very smoothly.
The additional station lamp has been cleaned back and primed. Our water main to the carriage shed was damaged by a tree root penetrating a joint, meaning a rather high water account and some urgent digging and repair. Fortunately the problem wasn't difficult to find once we became aware of it.
Recently, our services were hired by an Auckland based amateur photographer in search of some steam for a competition. It was great to be able to create the effects she wanted and we congratulate her on winning honours (Honours is the best mark you can get. To get a honours means the judge feels they could not have taken a better photo, and can find no fault).
A number of years ago, a number of member's films were transferred to a digital archival video format. This was done in order to preserve the images against the ravages of time and to allow them to be enhanced and used in a Video / DVD that we can sell or share. For a number of reasons, this project has been in abeyance. However, the existing images are now being actively worked on and we are hopeful of attracting funds to allow the balance of the films to be preserved. The technical difficulties involved with editing and enhancing the images using the computers and software that was then available was one of the reasons the project lost momentum but with the passing of time, these have ceased to be such an issue. with the changes in technology, we will be able to achieve better results than would have been possible if we had proceeded immediately following the transfer. The coming year should see some exciting results.