We are excited to announce that Cooma Monaro Railway has been awarded a grant of $37,800 from the NSW Government through Transport Heritage NSW for the restoration of NSW Railways MBC22959, a timber bodied refrigerated bogie box van, and L759, a four-wheel riveted oil tanker.
Both of these items will be restored back to display condition by our team of volunteers and will be put on display for visitors at the Cooma Monaro Railway Museum alongside recently restored Powder Van PV 22318.
Restoration projects such as these play a critical role in the future development of our railway as they not only help preserve important pieces of railway heritage but they allow our volunteer craftsman to transfer their knowledge and skills down to the next generation of volunteers at CMR. Our youth volunteers, some as young as 13 years old, absolutely love working on these projects as they learn the skills and techniques required to restore these important pieces of history and take pride in seeing the finished product, knowing that they contributed to the result.
Master carpenter Daryl has already commenced preparation work for the timber repairs on MBC22959 and with school holidays just around the corner, he’ll have a team of eager pupils around him, ready to get stuck in to the repairs.
As with all of our projects, where possible, the funds for these restorations will be invested into our local community through the purchase of supplies from local businesses and engagement of local service providers.
We would like to thank the NSW Government for their continued support of heritage railways in NSW and look forward to delivering another quality restoration.
Stay tuned for progress photos!
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If you would like to get involved in restoration projects like these, drop us an email at info@cmrailway.org.au or send us a message on Facebook. 👍
