FM226

Work Week - March 2003

FM226

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Every year the members of Feilding Steam Rail take a week off work, and con as many of their mates to do the same, and work down at the depot getting the most important jobs done. In March this year we worked on carriages as the Wab and F are basically ready.

Task completed included: (see carriage's restoration page for pictures)
- removing the first class seats in the Helensville 1st class carriage A1023 so the floor can be repaired
- needle gunning scale from the 72-seater's A1998(A56833) & A2005(A56884) crash ends
- wire brushing and priming the 72-seater's crash ends
- removing the cladding of the 72-seaters so brackets could be checked for rust
- removing rusted steal in the A56734 carriage
- replacing florencent light tubes in AL56043
- inspecting the carriages and UC water tank for corrison, wear, etc
as well as...

Shunting onto the turntable Shunting the carriages so they could all be inspected from below in a inspection pit.
Carriage Brake Tester This device is used to test each carriage's braking system. It is connected to the carriage brakes and an air compressor. There are valves and orifices to test the different functions of the carriage braking system.
Under Carriage Inspection Peter McCallum from the TGR came and helped us with the inspection. It took five days to inspect all the carriages including the UC water tank. Peter checked for corrison in the frames, and wear in the bogies amoungst many other things.
Inspecting Bogies We also have many spare bogies and these were inspected as well.
Container base The F was loaded onto our container base and sent to the central districts field days. When the F returned Josh stripped the rotten wood from the container base, so we could refit new timber. Josh is from Gisborne Vintage Rail and is studying at Massey University, and often spends Saturdays working with us in Feilding.
Cooking Lunch As the crew worked for six day solid they need a good catering team. We ate very well over those six days. Here you can see sausages being cooked on our BBQ. These would be served with coleslaw, tomatoes, and potatoes, with dressing and tomato sauce of course.

Photos taken by Stan Jenkins

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