News:
| December 2009 |
| It is with sadness that we have to announce that one of our founding members, Don Ashford, passed away on 27 December 2009. Don was always fond of this Society because "we just get in and do the work and don't have any 'clicky' groups. Don was also involved with Victoria Battery Society, and Goldfields Railway. Don was loyal to the bitter end, in that he attended our last committee meeting for 2009 (as always 30 minutes early for a cuppa and a chat), and our Christmas dinner. You will be missed Don. R.I.P. |
| July 2009 |
| A new award was presented at our AGM. It's called the Sylvia Memorial Award. The award is presented to the wife or partner who has supported their husbands efforts in the Society. |
| June 2009 |
| At last, we finally have our Resource and Building Consents for Project 160. We are also now a registered charity. |
| May 2009 |
| This month saw us unable to run again because WaterCare was installing new capping and fence on top of the retaining wall in Georges Depot. So we made use of this down time to give the carriages a well needed re-paint. Also Harvey (the Loco) was away getting worked on, this time - not breakdown related - having a tow valve installed in the hydraulic system. This means we wont have to disconnect the drive chain if Harvey suffers another breakdown. |
| February 2009 |
| Harvey is now up and running again. |
| January 2009 |
| In mid January, we had a mechanical breakdown on a charter trip. We discovered that the spline coupling between the motor and hydraulic pump had sheared itself. Gary (our plant manager), built a different type of coupling, and with the help of several members, managed to get things installed again and running. An excellent effort considering the breakdown happened on a Wednesday and two (2) days later to be running again by Friday. On the Saturday all seemed to be running well for our Society's BBQ trip. On Sunday during the 13:00 trip, as the train was heading up to the dam, we had another breakdown. And this time it wasn't the coupling! The hydraulic pump shaft had broken at the site of and old weld. So we had three options; Buy a new pump; re-weld the shaft; or fabricate a new shaft. We decided to have a new shaft fabricated. This meant we had to cancel several trips while the new shaft was being made. |
| December 2008 |
| Spouting was completed on the office and coupled to the carriage shed spouting, then into one pipe 20m down the bank behind the office. This was done to prevent erosion. |
| October 2008 |
| Our Webmaster and Editor got married this month. Congratulations Richard and Dilshani. Now that's a happy track merger! |
| August 2008 |
| Work on our office continued with the painting of the interior. Also drainage work at the western end of Georges Tunnel continued again this month, in still more heavy rain. |
| July 2008 |
| WaterCare's Rain Forest Express celebrated 10 years of running trips. Our own John Gurney was presented an award for 10 years service with RFE. |
| June 2008 |
| Work continued again this month on the new office with the interior getting insulated and lined. Also Model X was back after being absent last year. |
| May 2008 |
| Assembly of our new office started this month. Over 3 days we managed to build the foundations, floor, walls and roof. |
| March 2008 |
| On the 18th of this month Sylvia Pilkington, passed away after a short illness. A memorial service was held on the 29th. Sylvia was the wife of Jim Pilkington, one of our founding members. Sylvia was involved in many positions in the Society. Our thoughts are with you Jim and family. |
| February 2008 |
| Amongst other things on this month's Club Day, we managed to assemble the new BBQ we won last month. It's huge! |
| January 2008 |
| We won a very large stainless steel BBQ in a Yellow Pages promotion. It was a very nice surprise. Hopefully, it will be assembled on March's Club Day. |
| October 2007 |
| We find out that John Gurney's old faithful friend, Sian O'Malley (his dog) had to be put down. Sian was a much loved character, who was friendly with everyone, especially if you had food. |
| July 2007 |
| Thanks to several members of the Vintage Car Club, our Model T rail car is now running. Unfortunately we're unable to get all the way throught Georges tunnel, because the bearing covers on the wheels catches on one of the flanges on the pipeline. When Project 160 is complete, we'll then be able to take the Model T as far as the little tunnel. |
| May 2007 |
| Our Rail Safety Manual is in the finally complete - Thanks John. With the Rail Safety Case & Manual out of the way, Project 160 is now back on track, with the run around loop from the carriage shed to the main line being the first stage of works. The tunnel evacuation and fire extingusher handling training went well, we learned among other things, how a fire reacts when you try to put it out - many thanks to the Fire Crew from Glen Eden for their help with this exercise. On an unhappy note, there will be no Model X this year, due to the Waitakere City Council refurbishing the Recreation Centre. Also it's that time of year again for the annual FRONZ conference, held over Queen's Birthday Weekend, this year it's being held in Dunedin. |
| March 2007 |
| Web Master has moved house (usual can't find anything), hence the delay in the news update. Our Rail Safety Manual is in the final stages of completion. Progress on Wally has slowed down again, with Gary being very busy with business projects. We have a refresher course for tunnel evacuation and fire extingusher handling this forthcoming Club Day. |
| November 2006 |
| In October, we entered the Infratil-Waitakere City Community Awards. We won the Special Award for the category of Heritage and Environment. Quote from our President: Well done all, and THANKS for your efforts in making our organisation what it is. We were runner up in the same category last year. |
| October 2006 |
| Well, not a lot has been happening since the last update. We had our AGM this month, and all previous committee members have been re-elected again. Also, a unanimous acceptance that we become a charity organisation - this means it will easier for us to obtain funding grants and accept donations for projects like P160. Land Transport New Zealand has approved our Safety Case, so we now have a rail license as per the Railways Act 2005. |
| April 2006 |
| We are gearing up for another Fronz Conference (held in nelson this year) and also Model X both events being held over Queens Birthday Weekend. |
| March 2006 |
| Wow the 5 passenger trips we have been running on Sundays is now slowly returning to the normal 4 trips. Waihi is celebrating 100 years of rail in conjunction with Goldfields Railway and MOTAT on Easter weekend 14th - 17th April 2006.
On a sadder note, our office was broken into on Sunday 12th March. Unfortunately (for us) one of the crew members had left their keys in the office, so the theives were able to get into our workshop and stole our 2 socket sets, drill set and impact driver sockets. The socket sets were both in light blue metal cases and engraved with either Waitakere Tramline Society (WTS) or 2 Foot Gauge Club (2FGC). If anyone finds these please contact us or the police. Fortunately, all our electrical equipment was away being tested at the time. |
| January 2006 |
| Happy New Year! We have been very busy running passenger trips. Since the Centenary celebrations in October, we have had 5 passenger trips every Sunday - even some Saturday trips too. |
| December 2005 |
| What a busy few months we've had. The Centenary celebrations were a success. There was some heavy rain during the celebrations (in October) which turned the waterfall on again for another impressive display. The noise of the water could be heard from Picnic Flats. |
| October 2005 |
| Waitakere Dam Tramline Centenary is now full steam ahead. The event is also getting advertised by Waitakere City Council and the Auckland Regional Council. This is fantastic! |
| September 2005 |
| Plans for the Waitakere Dam Tramline Centenary are now well under way. WaterCare is now taking bookings for this event. Click here to view our page for details |
| August 2005 |
| Work on Wally is progressing very well. Wally will be fully operational in time for the centenary celebrations in October this year |
| July 2005 |
| It's official! WaterCare has agreed and come onboard to assist with the 100 year celebrations. The official dates for this event are: Friday 14 October 2005 through to Sunday 30 October 2005, so note them your diaries. There will be Saturday and Sunday trips as well as mid-week charters including several evening trips. |
| June 2005 |
| OOPS! The Webmaster was caught napping! Said Webmaster should have had an update for the Queens Birthday Weekend activities before they actually happened, not after. The two events that we were involved with were; Model-X (held at the West Wave Aquatic Centre in Henderson) and the Annual FRONZ conference with AGM held this year in Greymouth. Both activities were a success. Photos from both events coming soon. |
| May 2005 |
| 100 year celebration. It is now 100 years since construction started on the Waitakere Tramline in 1905. In conjunction with WaterCare we will be celebrating this milestone with a guided tour of the filter station, have three trains running on our line (2 trains from the Rainforest Express and our train) and displays (including our very own Model T rail car) by various organisations. We are planning for the event to run for 3 weeks from Saturday 15 October to Sunday 30 October 2005. More details will be coming soon. We will have a special page just for this event, when more details become available. |
| January 2005 |
| Happy New Year. Progress on Wally has been a little bit slow leading up to Christmas with everyone being very busy with their own families etc. As you will have noticed, the website is changing - see website history below. |
| December 2004 |
| Well, what busy day we had on Club Day this month. Thanks again to Watercare for allowing us to borrow their large compressor with air lances. We used the air lances to clean dirt from under the rails. This is to allow air to pass under the rails to prevent them from rusting out. Photos soon. |
| November 2004 |
| More great news! WaterCare has approved stage 2 of Project 160 (the extension of the track from George's Depot, 160 metres down towards the filter station). Wally has been taken on several trail runs and only had a few minor teething problems. Photos and story will be added soon. |
| October 2004 |
| Wally is now back on the rails, after a long absence. Our AGM was held this month with a meal and movie at Westwind Cinema Club in Avondale. It was decided that committee members would remain the same, with Richard being voted to the position of Webmaster and committee member. A new award has been created called "The Harvey Stewart Award" and is awarded for best contribution to the Society. It compliments the "Keithy" award which is for members who have done something silly. |
| September 2004 |
| Thanks to Gary, one of our new members, the task of getting Wally back on the rails again is well underway and advancing at a very fast pace. So fast those of us who are working on the new body work and electrics, have been left in the dust! |
| July 2004 |
| Great news! WaterCare has approved stage 1 of the extension of the track from George's Depot, 160 metres down towards the filter station. This project has been 15 years in the making, so well done to everyone who has been involved during this time. |
| June 2004 |
| Coming up this week is Queen's Birthday weekend (Saturday 5th - Monday 7th). There are lots of events on this weekend, in particular Model X and the KiwiTrax Conference. We will have a stand at Model X (www.model-x.org.nz) which is held annually at the West Wave Recreation Centre in Henderson, Auckland, so come and visit us. Also we would like to extend a warm welcome (despite the cold weather!) to the delegates attending the KiwiTrax conference. We hope you enjoy your train trip on Friday. |
| May 2004 |
| What a suprise we had on the morning of Sunday 2nd! After a day and night of very heavy rain on Saturday, a large slip came down and buried the small dam up behind the WaterCare shed, then continued down and blocked the culvert under the carpark area. This resulted in the culvert overflowing, leaving the track buried under mud and debris, as well as severely scouring out ballast between the sleepers. So guess what we're going to be doing next club day??!! Some pictures will be uploaded soon (ish). |
| Apirl 2004 |
| The website has now been revamped with better layout etc. Further down the track Nathan and Richard will be totally revamping so it will be bigger and better than before.
After the adventures on the 7 March, Harvey Stewart (our loco) is back running again. |
| March 2004 |
| Everyone is looking forward to the FRONZ KiwiTrax Conference over Queen's Birthday Weekend. Preparations are underway for a special run for the KiwiTrax Conference. |
| 7 March 2004 |
| On the second trip of the day, the train started to lose power about a third of the way up George's tunnel. Nathan, who was driving, reported strange grinding noises eminating from the vicinity of the engine. The train eventually ground to a complete stop about halfway up the tunnel, where Bryan and Nathan decided that the best course of action would be to unhook the carriages and push/roll them, passengers included, all the way back to the tunnel entrance. Upon reaching the safety of daylight, 20 or so very amused passengers sat back and enjoyed an impromptu magic show performed by Nathan, while Bryan ventured back up the tunnel accompanied by a couple of the braver and more mechanically inclined passengers to recover the loco. This was eventually achieved by removing the drive chain and, again, rolling the loco down to the eastern tunnel entrance. The hydraulic unit has been removed from the train and taken away for repair. |
Web Site History:
| January 2005 |
| The site is in the process of change. Colours, layout etc. will be changed over the coming year or so to meet the latest international standards. |
| October 2004 |
| Richard officially takes over as Webmaster. |
| July 2004 |
| Added links page, statistics counters. Updated membership page. Successfully registered on NZS.com |
| June 2004 |
| Added counters to home page. Updated photos page. |
| May 2004 |
| Added Membership and survey page. |
| March 2004 |
| After much delay and procrastination (and endless nagging by certain members of the club - you know who you are...) Nathan celebrates taking over as Webmaster by going live with a slightly better and somewhat revamped site. A brand new looking site with all new content is still being designed and will at some stage be available for testing at: debian.co.nz\~tramline. |
| 9 February 2003 |
| Updated and checked the site after one of the other members commented on it. Plan to get some A3 pictures scanned so there are some historical pictures on the site. |
| 25 April 2002 |
| Got some new photos taken last Sunday. Uploaded new pictures, created a second photos page, and also fixed a problem with some of the links. |
| 25 February 2002 |
| Updated History page information so as to match new brochure. Also changed a few dates around the site. |
| 13 January 2002 |
| Happy New Years! Updated the site, fixed a few errors that people have found etc. |
| 6 November 2001 |
| Our Domain name site goes live, with an entire new layout. Still a few errors that I have found in the pages. Still busy fixing them. |