More milestones

With Eveleigh back on the map as a heritage centre scenes like this with multiple heritage locos from multiple operators "on shed" will hopefully be the norm for many years to come.

Eveleigh Alco hood units paused briefly side by side before the Eveleigh workdays team fitted the 4 8 3 3 with spring packs and diaphrams which will again allow it to be coupled with link fitted heritage rollingstock.

15 years in the planning, the buffers were moved into position.....

...and bolted up ready for the fitting of the plates.

Once in position a needle gunning to remove the many layers of old damaged paint was performed.

Although now again servicable a lick of primer and the top paint coats will pretty up these fittings and support heritage operations for a long time.

Another milestone was the final refit of the "Redfern end" carrier plates to L516.....

..to reinstate the drawgear.

With the path clear the overhauled bogie was pushed under the car....

...and the king and queen castings again mated.

After many hours of work the proud team gather for a group photo and to reflect on their efforts.
Only 1 end to go!

Spring activity

The day began with steam loco 3265 being towed out front to be prepared by PHM staff for the official launch.


Work under L516 is continuing with the fit up of a battery box. Measurements were taken to ensure correct clearances are achieved.


The battery box frame was assembled under the car however a few problems were encountered.



The battery box we are using was originally from a different carriage and it appears that Richie Brothers used a slightly different mounting arangement.



At the other end Scott, Dave and Patrick were preparing to assemble the belt driven generator.
The brackets are cleaned before mounting.

The support bracket is assembled under the car.


The generator is hung ready to be connected up to the wiring.


Graham continues priming and painting fittings for battery boxes.

Another bracket is painted black.

The guards area in the HKB is also progressing. This week we assembled a surround for the hand brake wheel. The original was missing and a new one was sourced.

The hand brake wheel will be mounted soon.


Meanwhile Steve continued scraping back and sanding the ceiling boards ready for painting. This is a long and tedious job.

The vacuum cleaner comes out at the end of the day to keep the work area clean.

Window jewelry is prepared to go onto new windows being installed in the FS cars.

Who spotted the shiny ring?

Jess and Dave continued replacing old windows throughout the day.

As each window is replace all the window runners and trim is reassembled.

Another one goes in.

And another batch is prepared to be replaced.

Another battery box

L516 is missing its battery boxes. This car had two 12 cell boxes on each side when built. In recent weeks we have been collecting parts to be able to assemble battery boxes under this car. As we collect each individual part it is needle gunned and cleaned before being primed and painted black.



Graham follows on with a coat of metal primer.

Gloss black paint in applied to all parts prior to assembly.

The frame is assembled to check all sizes and clearances. It will now be dismantled and be reassembled under the carriage.

To be continued next work day

New windows in old carriages

Several carriages are having their windows replaced at present. The original windows are now more than 30 years old and the timber frames are life expired.


New windows were manufactured by Bob Bennett from Pinnacle Cabinets & Joinery at Molong. The replacement windows incorporate the important inclusion of safety glass.


Felt runners and window latches are recovered from the original frames and reassembled on the new windows prior to refitting the in the carriage.

Two more windows are replaced. Another job well done!

Another big day

There was much activity at Eveleigh today.

The drawgear carrier plates for L516 were prepared for installation.

After heating in the forge they were shaped to the correct profile.

A correct shape carrier plate ready almost to install.

New battery box lids were manufactured for loco 4464.

Follow the restoration of 4464 here.

The battery box frame for L516 was needle gunned and primed ready to reinstall.

All metal surfaces are painted with primer.

A battery box frame almost ready to assemble.

Another step closer

The side steps on L516 are being replaced with original steps.
During conversion from TAM502 to L516 in 1978, the side steps were replaced with much larger steps to assist the breakdown gang crews to enter and exit the car from ground level. We have now removed these steps and replaced them with the original type.



Measurements were taken to ensure the correct size steps were applied.


Another job completed.

HKB battery box – Part 2

The steel frame that supports the missing battery box we are replacing has been carefully reassembled under the van.

This box is diagonally opposite the existing 8 cell box.

The metal frame was painted black prior to the wooden box being bolted in.

A 4 cell wooden battery box was then fitted into the frame and suitable packing timbers manufactured to ensure a good fit. The box was bolted into the frame and now awaits fitting batteries and wiring.