Community

This week we celebrate Tracksafe Rail Safety Week, which is timely with the announcement that trains will be returning to the Monaro. The theme for this year is Expect the Unexpected, which is extremely important to remember for people who live, work or travel along the section of railway line between Chakola and Cooma. When a railway line has been inactive for a period of time, it's easy to become complacent and not approach the railway the caution that we should. 🙋‍♀️It is important to remember: 🔸 Access to an active railway corridor is restricted to authorised personnel only [...]

Over recent months, we've been asked quite regularly about our current position on the proposed Monaro Rail Trail. Our position hasn't changed and we fully support the development of a walking and cycling trail within the railway corridor that is built to the side of the existing track formation, allowing for tourist trains and trail users to share the corridor. There has been a lot of talk about this concept, but unfortunately, there are some suggestions that a shared concept is not possible, and the only way to construct a rail trail is to completely remove the railway infrastructure [...]

Over the last weekend, a delegation from CMR had the pleasure of attending the 2023 Australasian Tourist and Heritage Railway Conference in Victoria. Hosted in the stunning new Visitors Centre at Lakeside on the Puffing Billy Railway, we had the opportunity to hear from many of our colleagues from across the country, and discuss some of the challenges that we're all facing in the industry at the moment. We were also very proud to see our very own Safety Manager, Stuart Thyer, presenting a great piece on the lessons learnt from the development of our new Safety Management System. [...]

A huge shout out to Future Generation today for assisting our team with the relocation of our shed frame from the rear of the Railway Institute Building, to it's new home in our Perway Depot. The size and weight of the frame was beyond our team and our machinery, so we reached out to Future Generation for some assistance and they were more than happy to help out. The shed will now be re-assembled in the Perway Depot, and will become our new flammable liquid store. This will also allow us to move forward with the final stages of the [...]

Being a volunteer run organisation, we are always looking for ways to make the most out of the limited resources we have, so we were super excited when the incredibly talented Ben from Tightwad Workshop reached out to share his skills and build us a set of produce display stands. By repairing, rebuilding and recycling, Tightwad Workshop is a master in working with what you have and "getting things done without spending a lot of money", an ethos that is close to our own hearts. We were super excited when Ben arrived in Cooma with the finished products (which were [...]

Today is International Volunteer Day which celebrates the important role that volunteers play in our community. As a volunteer, not-for-profit organisation, Cooma Monaro Railway relies heavily on the hard work and dedication of our amazing volunteers for everything that we have achieved. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers in our community for their time, effort and dedication. 👏👏👏 Without volunteers, our community would be a very different place. Volunteering is a great way to give back to the community and meet new people who share a common passion. For anyone who is interested in [...]

Interesting article from The Sydney Morning Herald about the future of railways and rail trails in NSW, although it is disappointing to hear claims that we are "threatening to derail" rail trail development, especially as we have been a part of this community for over 30 years and have already contributed many millions of dollars into the local economy over this time. We have always been fully supportive of the development of a rail trail in the Monaro under a shared model that realises the potential of both proposals and results in the best possible outcome for our region. We [...]

Normally we like to share positive stories about the exciting progress being made by our volunteers but unfortunately today, our update is not a positive one. Shortly after midday today, volunteers working at Cooma Railway Station noticed smoke coming from the cutting on the northern approach to Cooma yard. Upon closer investigation, an individual was observed in the cutting, attempting to systematically set fire to multiple railway sleepers. The resulting fire then spread to the grass across the former stock sidings and down the track to the northern gates of the railway precinct before it could be extinguished by the [...]

The events of the last two years have taken a huge toll on our local community, particularly our regional towns and the community organisations that support them. For many organisations, it’s been impossible to operate with any kind of normality in recent times which has set them back many years. Cooma Monaro Railway is no different. Even after many months of work from all of our volunteers, we’re only now getting back to the position we were in two years ago. Unfortunately, not all organisations have the resources or support to fully recover which leaves many of them in a [...]