NOVEMBER STEP BACK IN TIME TEMORA RAILWAY DEPOT

Transcription

1 NOVEMBER STEP BACK IN TIME TEMORA RAILWAY DEPOT The callboy has just peddled the heavy railway issue pushbike across town to the house of a locomotive driver, he carefully makes his way through the garden and finds the prearranged bedroom window that he is to knock on, and then cries out, callboy here its pm and your shift starts at 12.00am. Once he is satisfied the driver is awake it is time to get peddling again to wake up the fireman. This was the job of a callboy who worked night shifts from the Temora Locomotive Depot at Temora Locomotive Depot The callboy s job was only one of the many that where once at the Temora Locomotive Depot. Clerks, Fitters, Boilermakers, Labourers and Assistants were all going about their daily duties of maintenance and up keep of steam locomotives and the rolling stock. One of the not so glamorous jobs carried out at the depot, would have been the replacement of the fire bricks in the locomotive s firebox, this actually involved climbing into the fire box, to remove the old bricks and then new bricks had to be cemented together with a special heat resistant mortar. This task was made even more difficult at times when the locomotive was still hot, as they sometimes were due to seasonal time constraints. Another job that had to be carried out inside the fire box was replacing broken or rusted boiler stays, the stays had to be riveted to the main body of the locomotive and jackhammers were used to peen over these rivets, the noise from the jackhammers was deafening enough throughout the roundhouse, let alone the noise inside the firebox, apparently the only ear protection used was cotton wool balls that was stuffed into their ears.

2 There were specialised crews operating here also, the shut-down crews would shut down locomotives for any maintenance issues, or if just being stabled for the weekends, this operation involved raking coal and ashes from the fire box into the de-ashing pits that where located near the coal crane and then driving the locomotive via the 60ft diameter Seller s turntable to the round house where the shut-down was completed by exhausting the steam pressure quickly for any maintenance that were to be carried out, or just left to cool and depressurise slowly if being stabled for a weekend. There were also the light-up crews, their work was much as the name suggests, the recommended method to light up a steam locomotive, was coke and woodchips(that had been soaked in diesel) placed in the firebox together with billets of timber, and then the gradual addition of coal, till a full head of steam was raised ready for movement, this procedure would take approximately two hours, other types of fire accelerants were experimented with at times to speed up this process, sometimes to the detriment of the light-up crews health. Blow-down pits were located near the water tanks and were used when the locomotive driver would blow down steam before leaving the depot on a job. This action was dangerous and a warning had to sound before the steam was released. The blow-down was necessary to clear the boiler of any sludge or scale that may have built up there, however if the driver slightly miss aligned the locomotive to the blow-down pit, and the blow-down valve was not directly over the pit, apart from the noise, at 160 psi for 1 to 2 minutes there would be steam and bits of debris flying around in all directions. Temora Locomotive Depot had three coal stages for the storing of coal, these coal stages made a working platform the same height as the coal trucks and the locomotive tenders to make life just that little bit easier, it was back breaking work, in the early years all coal unloading and loading was done by manual labour. In 1950 an elevated track was built to facilitate coal loading. The coal trucks were pushed up the elevated track that was above the height of the locomotive tenders to be loaded. However coal was still shovelled manually down onto the tender, but now at least gravity was assisting. It wasn t till 1959 that coal loading became mechanised with the installation of the five ton electric coal crane Panoramic view of Temora Locomotive Depot. From left to right, the elevated coal crane, sand tower in front the roundhouse, the cast concrete coal stage and elevated water tanks:

3 The coal crane mainly operated during daylight hours, loading or topping every locomotive that came into the depot, 14 tons for 60 class Garrett locomotives, and approximately 8 tons for branch line locomotives, this was necessary as there were limited supplies of coal on any of the branch lines. Due to the poor quality of coal that was sometimes delivered to these parts, most and sometimes all of the coal would be used up on the return journeys from these branch lines, there was the odd occasion when the enginemen had to resort to burning old discarded railway sleepers just to get their trains back to the depot. The coal crane was also used for loading ashes from the de-ashing pits, the ash was then taken away and used for ballast on those branch lines that were still sitting on the bare ground, ash was also sold off for private use and substituted gravel for the making of roads etc. The Sand Tower was another unique building at the depot it was square in shape, made of timber and lined with tin on the inside, beach sand was trucked in and unloaded into the sand blower s hopper, a locomotive s air supply was then connected to the sand blower and the sand was then blown up into the tower and stored till it was later loaded as required into tanks just over the No.1 drive wheels on a steam locomotive, and was used for same purpose then as it is today, to prevent drive wheel slip on steep grades when hauling heavy loads. The water supply: Another dominant feature of the depot was the 180 kl double interconnected tanks on steel stands. Water for these tanks was sourced from the still existing Victoria St. Dam and is located approximately 40 metres to the east of where these tanks once stood s goods train arriving at Temora with the fireman making sure the way is clear as it goes past the depot. Double overhead water tanks visible in the background with steam locomotive behind the tanks taking on water. A steam powered water pump was placed on the edge of Victoria St Dam, and delivered litres per hour to these tanks. This pump mostly operated during daylight hours except during busier seasonal times, when two shifts were scheduled. When Victoria St Dam reached critical levels, water was then sourced from Two-Mile Dam alongside the Trigalong

4 Creek, here too a steam powered pump was connected and water was pumped through a system of pipes klms long and was delivered to the 90 kl tank at the northern end of the Railway Station Platform. The trigalong pump could also be connected to the double tanks at the depot. The 1940 water supply book notes that the Two Mile Dam had a Tangye Special steam pump running at 56 strokes a minute delivering litres per hour to these tanks. Item of Note: The original water supply for Temora Railway Depot was sourced from the still existing dam (O Shannessy s Dam) and is located between Pardy s Flour Mill and the Temora Show Grounds. In 1913 the overhead pedestrian bridge was erected on the southern side of Victoria St. crossing, this was a landmark feature, it was constructed of steel with railed and meshed sides it had wooden treads leading up to a wooden walkway over the tracks and stood on steel stands. Apart from its heritage value this bridge served the residents of Temora West well, until Sunday April 5 th 1992 when a decision which had been made earlier by the State Rail Authority, to have the bridge dismantled, this decision was strenuously opposed by the council of the day and railway enthusiasts alike. The dismantled bridge was then taken to Griffith Railway Yard where it was to be used as a pedestrian walkway over the tracks there, but proved inadequate being too narrow, it was then discarded for some time until it was later purchased by the Griffith Field and Game Club and is now used in two halves as shooting platforms Overhead Pedestrian Bridge Victoria St Crossing The Temora Locomotive Depot featured several other buildings and offices, there was the Roster Clerk and Charge man s office, Boilermaker and Fitters workshop, Store Rooms and the Amenities block, including a meal room, showers and locker room. There was the District Locomotive Engineer and Secretary s office, this building was located on the western side of the overhead pedestrian bridge, and presented with a well-manicured lawn and rose garden

5 together with a goldfish pond. There were a few small trees together with the hardy oleanders scattered throughout this precinct to soften the sterile look of a railway yard, this garden like landscaping did not come about by chance, there were annual competitions between railway towns throughout N.S.W. to see who could create the best landscaped Railway Yard, it is unclear whether the Temora Railway Yard ever won any of these competitions, however what is clear, the Temora Locomotive Depot and adjoining Railway Station Yard were once bustling hives of activity and a major source of employment in Temora.