The short version Wonderful News! At long last, work has commenced on the construction of the engine shed and storage facility for Pete’s Hobby Railway. Following the levelling of the depot site and the approval by Council of structural plans, initial construction of the 14m long by 10m wide concrete floor commenced on Friday 8th …
Continue reading "Progress Report 50: Engine Shed Construction Commences – Finally!"
Since going live in mid-2016, this, the Pete’s Hobby Web Page has received almost 30,000 hits. Search Engines place Pete’s Hobby Railway at the top of the Enquiry Page. Through the marvels of WordPress, the web page programme that PHR uses, the Administrators are able to determine the country of origin of each of these …
Continue reading "Web Statistics for Pete’s Hobby Railway"
— First Division Introduction: Welcome to Pete’s Hobby Railway Calendar for 2019. This is the first of my annual calendars to be specifically devoted to my “Pete’s Hobby Railway”. Hopefully, it won’t be the last! The calendar is produced by a commercial photo camera laboratory (for the second year, through Harvey Norman in Wagga, as …
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…PHR’s volunteers let their hair down It’s the festive season, and unlike in the Northern Hemisphere with its freezing temperatures, Pete’s Hobby Railway is located in Junee, the Riverina in NSW, Australia, and it is mid-summer… and at times, HOT! And that is with a capital “H”. While I prepare these notes, the outside temperature …
Continue reading "Progress Report No 49 — “All work and no play”"
This Report covers recent progress with the overhaul and restoration back to operational condition of 2-ft gauge John Fowler 0-6-0TT B/n 8766 of 1900, one of the collection of Pete’s Hobby Railway. As covered in my previous Progress Report 47 (dated 12/09/2018), I had decided to prepare a second steam locomotive in the Pete’s Hobby …
Continue reading "Progress Report 48: Restoring the Fowler"
Previous Progress Report No. 46 posted on 1/9/2018 covered the works undertaken to prepare Fowler 0-6-0 TT locomotive 8766 of 1900 to allow a detailed boiler inspection to be undertaken, with the idea of restoring the engine to operational condition for occasional use on Pete’s Hobby Railway. Inspection of the boiler (out of the frame) …
Continue reading "Progress Report 47: The Mysteries of Fowler 8766 — Assistance sought!"
Apart from the currently working Hunslet 0-4-2T (B/n 1187 of 1915), Pete’s Hobby Railway possesses two other steam locomotives, both non-operational and on static display at the front of the property behind Loftus station. These are a Fowler 0-6-0TT (B/n 8766 of 1900) and an 0-6-2T, built by Perry Engineering in South Australia in 1938, …
Continue reading "Progress Report 46: Preliminary Work commences on Fowler locomotive restoration"
It was during our Rhythm n Rail operating weekend earlier this year that Scott Kirkwood, a friend of one of our regular volunteers, offered to take an aerial photograph of Pete’s Hobby Railway using his drone. The end result was most impressive and will certainly explain better than my waffling-on, the construction stage that had …
Continue reading "An aerial look at Pete’s Hobby Railway"
If there is one word which puts fear and trepidation amongst volunteers on preserved and tourist railways of all gauges, it is “trackwork”, with the emphasis on the last four letters! This is no different on Pete’s Hobby Railway, although I must say in defence of my volunteers, they still answer the call when made. …
Continue reading "Progress Report No. 45: Trackwork!"
Saturday afternoon, 30th June, saw the official opening of the just-completed 1914 era replica waiting shed at Pete’s Hobby Railway. We were honoured to have the opening undertaken by our local State Member of Parliament, Steph Cooke MP, Member for Cootamundra. Weather conditions were, to say the least, a little cool, but at least the …
Continue reading "Progress Report 44: Waiting Shed for Loftus — Official Opening"