B10 Boiler arrives from Christchurch

June 2012: B10's renewed boiler arrives from Christchurch.  It will soon to be fitted back into the steam loco.

1926 Stothert & Pitt Steam Crane

May 2012: OSR members evaluate how to raise the boom on the 1926 Stothert & Pitt Steam Crane located in the playground area near the harbour in Oamaru.  Compressed air was applied to the pistons and after several fits and starts, the gears were coaxed into running condition.  A video of raising the boom is on youtube:

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_USDavsUXXk

New Signal Lights

April 2012: our new signal lights at the Humber St. crossing, as seen from the Harbourside Station.  The new lights will be fully automated, meaning we no longer walk into traffic with a handheld stop sign whenever the train arrives or departs the station.

B10 Reassembly

December 2011: B10 starts to get reassembled.  Member Frank Thomas looks for a box of matches to light the firebox.  This becomes an on-going joke in the workshop over the next several months.. are we ready to light the fire yet?

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B10 Cab Fitting

December 2011: The cab gets fitted onto B10 steam loco, with a few minor adjustments.

Rail Work

November 2011: OSR members replace a few tired wooden sleepers, part of our on-going work to keep the line running.

Ballast Moved

March 2011: Thanks to North Otago Road Metals, our ballast stock pile has been shifted up to our yard from where it was down by the foot bridge. Where the pile used to be it was blocking the view of the ocean from the Loan and Merc Restaurant. As well as this move giving them back their view, it is also in a more practical place for us.

Image is of the new pile.

 

George

Update

December 2010: Work continued on 'Husky' today with the 'short hood' being removed and the loco getting water blasted all over.

The gear box was recently dismantled as it was found to need some new bearings. These have been ordered and we await their arrival to start the reassembly of the box.

Another job to be done on this loco is an upgrade of the braking system to allow it to run on passenger trains. This will also be done in the not too distant future.

With the loco partially dismantled, the body work will also be done up. Some rust removal was undertaken a while back, now the loco needs a sand and repaint.

 

Tr35 has also received some attention lately. It has been fitted with a new thermostat, had some work done on the engine governor, the axel boxes have been cleaned out and the radiator flushed out and refilled with fresh water and coolant. This loco has not seen service since early 2008 and will have it's first day back on a passenger train on the 27th of December.

 

B10 is also progressing well. All the chassis and running gear is assembled and awaiting the return of the boiler from Scott's Engineering in Christchurch.

Other components of the loco have been getting a clean up in preparation for refitting. The Westinghouse air pump is also being overhauled.

Today the stainless cylinder cladding was refitted, another small job out of the way.

 

We continue to suffer from bad vandalism around our depot and station, with one of our station windows being punched in twice in two weeks. Work is now being done to fit bars inside the windows at Harbourside Station.

 

Extra running days over Christmas/New Year period.

December 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

January 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

 

Oamaru Steam and Rail would like to thank everyone who has supported us in one way or another over the past year and wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and all the best for 2011.

Christmas Parade

Today was Oamaru's 2010 Christmas parade. Oamaru Steam and Rail had an entry in for the first time in six years. Many thanks to all involved in making it happen. Photo in the image gallery.

GK

Open Day

November 2010: We held an open day today as part of Oamaru's annual heritage celebrations. This is the first time we have had the workshop open to the public like this. Following it's success we may look at doing something similar in the future.