The Y class tender is lowered into position in the compound at Maldon. Image: Andrew Cockroft CONTRAST MEDIA. Acquisition of a Y Class Tender for V499

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "The Y class tender is lowered into position in the compound at Maldon. Image: Andrew Cockroft CONTRAST MEDIA. Acquisition of a Y Class Tender for V499"

Sabrina Jenkins
5 years ago
Views:

Naturally we had to have a look at it. Driving along the Maldon-Bridgewater Rd the tender came into sight, resting on top of an embankment.

The W plate that is fitted to this unit is W371.

1 The Compound Chronicle No.20 December 2014 The Official Newsletter of the Victorian Steam Locomotive Company P/L The Y class tender is lowered into position in the compound at Maldon. Image: Andrew Cockroft CONTRAST MEDIA When work commenced on the tender frame in late September, we were told about a locomotive tender that was located 5kms out of Maldon township. Naturally we had to have a look at it. Driving along the Maldon-Bridgewater Rd the tender came into sight, resting on top of an embankment. The close inspection on our arrival revealed not only the near perfect condition of most of the unit, but also its history. The Victorian Railways fitted W plates to tender tanks for identification. The W plate that is fitted to this unit is W371. Research has shown that this tank was built in the 1940s (to replace the original one) and was allocated to Y Class locomotive Y126 in October However, it doesn t stop there. This tender was originally paired with a member of the New R Class locomotives, dating back from the 1880 s. The frame appears to be original however when sold by the VR it had been cut flush (see above image). We have been informed that it was purchased by the Maldon shire and locals have said that the tender was placed on the Maldon-Bridgewater Rd in It was used to store liuid tar for roadworks. As a result the tank is well preserved and upon the date of its removal from the Maldon-Bridgewater Rd, it was still half full of tar. The VSLC team decided that this would be a great asset for the V499 Project and could very well form the basis of V499 s tender tank, with the necessary V Class modifications being carried out. Not knowing who owned the tender though, we approached Vic Roads Northern Region with an acuisition reuest. The staff at Vic Roads came back with the information that it belonged to the Mount Alexander Shire Council and that they had made contact with them, expressing our interest in the tender. When we called the council, we were given some interesting news. Not only were they more than happy for us to have the tender, it just so happened that a few days after we had inspected the unit, staff from the council were wondering how they Produced by Newtel Productions for the VSLC info@newtelproductions.com Acuisition of a Y Class Tender for V499

could somehow dispose of it. A few days after we had made contact with the council our project coordinator met with works superintendent, Troy Telford.

2 could somehow dispose of it. A few days after we had made contact with the council our project coordinator met with works superintendent, Troy Telford. Troy was very helpful throughout the entire process of arranging the transfer of the tender to Maldon and we can not thank him enough for his efforts. Troy took charge of all the traffic management and road planning that had to be arranged and he also liaised with Vic Roads to make sure that the permits went through uickly and easily. We would also like to thank the staff at Vic Roads Northern who assisted Troy by getting all the paperwork approved in a very short time. Arrangements were made to pick up the tender unit on Friday 5th December. The day uickly arrived and by 8:30am the traffic management team were in place, ready to go. At 9am the crane and truck arrived on site. Assisting us on the day were Bernd Bukolt, from the N441 Project, as well as VGR workshop supervisor Mick Compagnoni. Also present at the lift was a journalist from local newspaper the Tarrangower Times, who interviewed our project coordinator and took a series of photographs of the lift. Work was carried out very efficiently and within only 30 minutes the tender unit was lifted into the air and loaded onto the trailer. On arrival at Maldon railway station a little shunting was necessary before the crane and truck could get into position in the locomotive compound. Eventually all was cleared and the crane was parked next to D The truck backed in, chains were secured around the tender body and within 15 minutes it was being lifted over the top of the D3 619 and positioned on the other side of it (see photo on pg.1). Bendigo based television network WinTV arrived to report on the V499 Project and the arrival of the tender unit and the story was broadcast that evening on the 6pm news. After the tender was secured in place we took the opportunity to lift the tender frame from K157 away from its bogies. At first we tried to do this in its current location, however that proved not to be possible. Thankfully railway staff and volunteers were able to start diesel locomotive F212 (which had been unable to start for uite some time) and the locomotive portion of K157 was shunted to another road off the turntable so that the tender could be moved forward. Eventually we had the tender frame of K157 secured and in the air. The frame was then turned upside down before being placed on timber supports behind the newly arrived tender of Y126. This left the K class bogies free to maneuver to a separate road before the locomotive portion of K157 was placed back around the turntable again. From start to finish, the entire process took a solid half day. Everything was carried out in a smooth and efficient manner with very little time being wasted. We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who assisted us throughout the day: Our wonderfully skilled crane operator, our terrific truck driver, the great traffic management team and all the staff and volunteers at the VGR. Special thanks go to Bernd Bukolt from the N441 project for his help on the day, Mick Compagnoni from the VGR for his amazing assistance and support at all times before and after the arrival of the tender, Michael Vines (VGR President) for his fantastic support and the board members of the VGR for their on-going support too. Special thanks also go to Troy Telford and all the staff at the Mount Alexander Shire Council and finally to David Jansen and staff at Vic Roads Northern. Lastly, thanks to Andrew Cockroft (who is also a Ground-Up Club member) from Contrast Media for capturing all the photographs of the events during the day. So, where now with it all? Firstly the tar has to be drained out of the tender and a thorough clean out must take place before any other work can commence on the unit. In a past edition of TCC we have shown you the progress drawing of the V Class tender. In the new year we will start to remove all the parts of the acuired tender that are not reuired for V499. Following that we will order new material that is fabricated to our V Class tender design and weld them to the tank. There are many months of work involved in the process, so 2015 will be a very busy year for us. We will keep you all updated as the months roll on and more photographs will be uploaded to our social media pages as well as our website. Sponsored Component - V499 s Cab We are very pleased to announce that the locomotive cab of V499 will be constructed in 2015, thanks to a generous donation from a private individual who has offered to sponsor the component. Presently the drawings for the cab are 85% completed, however by April/May next year we will be ready to send the order for the material off to a steel company. As the V499 Project continues we will call out for further sponsorship of components and a list will eventually go up onto our website. Produced by Newtel Productions for the VSLC info@newtelproductions.com

4 Our Sponsors Please show your support to the companies listed, who are supporting the V499 Project. Their contact information can be found on the Sponsor Links page on our website. If you would like to become a sponsor of the V499 Project, please us at info@vicsteam.com Produced by Newtel Productions for the VSLC info@newtelproductions.com

Transporting the Shay

Transporting the Shay Nelson Riedel Nelson@NelsonsLocomotive.com Initial: 04/27/04 Last Revised: 06/07/2004 The Shay is ready for the first run at the track. But first, the ~ 500 pounds must be moved from