Station Master

Something a little different on track today at Cooma with the re-commissioning of our Suzuki Sierra Hi-Rail vehicle. After recent repairs, the Hi-Rail had a shakedown today, running out to Snowy Junction as it prepares for a busy few weeks of weed spraying activities. This vehicle is no stranger to the Bombala line, having spent time roving the rails between Canberra and Michelago during tourist train operations on the northern end of the line. It's exciting to see such a cool little vehicle back on the rails, and it may be the only remaining Suzuki Hi-Rail that is still [...]

Over the last several months, our master carpenter Daryl has been working on the replacement and reconstruction of the drivers cabs across our 3 CPH railmotors CPH 22, CPH 8 and CPH 6. The work has been slow and intricate due the roof not only curving across the vehicle, but towards the front as well. Each railmotor is also built slightly differently, so each drivers cab had to be custom built to fit in each end of each unit. With the structure of the cabs completed, we're now working on applying all the trim pieces and re-fitting the cab [...]

During the steam era, watering facilities at NSW railway stations were vital to the operation of trains across the state. Steam locomotives required a constant supply of water for their boilers, but only had limited capacity to carry water with them. Locomotives would stop at planned destinations along their route to take on water, often giving passengers the opportunity to visit the local refreshment room. Larger railway yards, like Cooma, had dedicated loco facilities which included a coal stage for replenishing coal supplies, overnight stabling, turning facilities and often more than one water column. Recently, our volunteers have started [...]

Our volunteers have been busy working on the static restoration of the refuelling facilities at the southern end of the platform and the operational restoration of Ground Frame B. Today, the team spent the day clearing decades of dirt and rock that has fallen down the bank, covering large sections of the ground facilities as well as clearing dirt, rock and gravel from the spill pits under the track. The team also finished the re-painting of Ground Frame B that has been both operationally and cosmetically restored. Check out some of the work from our volunteers today. Looking good [...]