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This "Thursday Report" page will contain reports on a regular basis to try to keep you up to date with what is going on at the various GMR locations. Ron's report for 21st january 2010 As promised, I have added 4 photos.
The area around the station was badly over grown and items of building materials were cluttering up the area. As you can see the efforts of a few have made a marked difference shown in photo 004. The other photos are furniture that was in my workshop or refurbished by John Gardner. The waiting room seating just needs a touch of paint and I will see if I can get hold of a filing cabinet to keep relevant documents and memorabilia in, in the ticket office. Bessie Webb gave me an 8 day clock seen in photo 001. Apparently it is a railway clock with mechanical winding. I will hang it in the waiting room wall adjacent to the ticket office window so it can be seen from the ticket office.
There is little else we can do on site until we debate with council the way forward.
The whole precinct is overgrown and in desperate need of attention. The few that are turning up are trying to battle this and some progress is being made.
I took a full backpack to Glenreagh and Jeff kindly attacked sections of heavy infestation. I spent an hour or two with my line trimmer and from the sound of things so did Kevin.
I also cleared in front of the Donger Hut (the old office). We pulled some of the larger weeds and it will benefit from a mower now that most of the debris is moved.
Peter Dickson Smith has a fire permit and when he decides to burn off his rubbish from the cottage we should add the old particle board in front of the donger hut to this. All of it is weather effected and of little use now.
We further attempted to clear the area near the little platform.
The lift trolley should be stored in one of the sheds and the surrounds cleaned up.
David Page is developing a plan of action to reduce the growth around the cottage. Peter Dickson Smith tells me that he has a floor plan of the cottage and some photos of what the cottage looked like in the past.
These items will become very handy in developing the office / museum section of the plan and will show us what we are aiming for when we can restore the building to its origins as monies and resources become available in the future.
It was very disappointing to see the very few who turned up today. We need to stimulate activity within the current regulations and put in place structured activities so we can bring back the active members.
No one is coming because they cant see or don't know what can or cant be done. No one wants to put GMR into strife by doing things add hock. With a structured plan and the relevant paperwork waiting on participants ready, we may get the few things that need to be done now on the move. I am concerned that the long break over Xmas this year along with the restrictions we have had to endure, we are loosing momentum and this is being reflected in the poor turn out of members on work days.
As a board member I am asking that we as a board address these issues as soon as possible or suffer the consequences of having these wonderful assets disappear into the undergrowth.
I will continue to send out reports on what my crew and I are doing each week.
Regards Ron Wells
If you want more on what is going on at GMR go to http://glenreaghmountainrailway.wordpress.com/ and have a look at what others are doing etc
I will add this report to this site as well to keep it fresh.
 Photo 1
Kevin helped with some of the heavy dragging we needed to do in clearing bits and pieces. Brian ( the householder South of the site) has penned in a large section of the precinct with electric fencing to firstly feed his stock and secondly to reduce the weeds and long grass. It has had little effect. We need a concerted effort to bring the level of grass and weeds down to a manageable levels. Further, a weed spraying program should be developed to keep areas clear where mowing and line trimming is less than effective. I have some weed spray at home along with a back pack sprayer which I will bring fully charged next Thursday. If you can do likewise it would greatly help get the mess back under control. The rail corridor is starting to get very overgrown. The area near the water tanks once looked great with someone's gardening efforts . It can barely be seen now with weeds covering these efforts.
The station looks great internally and externally. We do have some weeds growing under the platform that look like something out of "The Day of the Triffids" I will take to these next Thursday.
Bessie Webb requested that all GMR documentation in her granny flat be removed today. These are documents from the days when the late Robin Goodenough was our Secretary. There was about ten boxes of GMR books many folders and a four drawer filing cabinet to be moved. Valmai Thomson assisted with a car load and Richard and I followed up with a trailer for the balance. Bessie gave me an eight day station clock and has other items still to be collected. There is a couple of display cases that will be ideal when we finally own the Fettlers Cottage ( Peter & Barbara's house) that need to be transported when we finally own the house..
Peter and Barbara kindly allowed me to store these records in the house even though we have not completed the purchase yet.This I'm told will happen at the end of the Month.
I'm still on light duties and had to finish up early today as the heat got the better of me. Still, we did make an impression on the site. Lots of small steps and eventually we will get the big picture.
It is understandable that activity has dropped off over the holiday season. The restrictions placed on GMR have not helped either. However there is still many things that we can do that will not breach the conditions of the Act.
When we own the fettlers house, there is a mountain of documents that will need sorting. The trees and shrubs around the building will need to be greatly reduced and cleared in places. Stored in the sheds are GMR assets that need to be catalogued and sorted. If you want to get going again then let Kevin know when you can get there and we can set up work details and procedures to get it done. Under the new legislation we (GMR) must ensure that our volunteers are working within the regulations and working safely. This means we must plan actions before hand and stick to the plan. This all must be documented and recorded. Gone are the days of turning up and getting stuck in. A plan can be quickly done and when we become proficient at this it will all happen as a matter of course. These realities will restrict what we do, but we must prove to the regulator that GMR is capable of following the legislated regulations and producing auditable documentation for these actions as is required under the Rail Safety Act 2008. In the past we have not done this and largely it was our down fall in re acquiring our accreditation.
If we have a crew we can plan the task on the day. It is pointless planning for some tasks as they will be dependant on available volunteers on the day.
Some tasks can be planned in advance but will be conditional on the volunteers having the Certificate of Competencies (COC) relative to the tasks.
If you want to get involved again,,,,Contact either Kevin Anderson (our President) on 66490951 or myself on 66543388.
I will include some photos next report.
regards Ron Wells
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Glenreagh Mountain Railway Incorporated. ABN 88 246 630 101
A non-profit community based Association run entirely by volunteers with the goal of restoring the line and rollingstock and operating a heritage steam tourist railway on the GMR owned section of the Glenreagh-Dorrigo line
Glenreagh Mountain Railway Inc (GMR) has an Authority to Fundraise under the NSW Charitable Fundraising Act 1991
Donations of $2 or more to Glenreagh Mountain Railway Inc. are tax deductible
Donations of $2 or more to Glenreagh Mountain Railway Inc. are tax deductible
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