Mail - Ranges Trader mail - 23rd October 2018

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5 Tuesday, 23 October, 2018

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Billy is on track By Kyra Gillespie Puffing Billy recognised the Puffing Billy Preservation Society volunteers who rebuilt the train's Lakeside to Gembrook line, 20 years on. A celebration on Thursday 18 October marked two decades since the line reopened in 1998. The day also celebrated the reintroduction of locomotive 14A, which hauled the first train on the line following the reopening. For the past 12 months Puffing Billy, with the help of a Swiss engineer, has been converting 14A from a coal-fuelled loco to a light oil burning loco. The oil conversion reduces the risk of sparks catching on the dense forest surrounding the tracks and allows trains to safely use the railway during the dry summer season. Volunteers who worked on the Lakeside to Gembrook restoration travelled on the train and enjoyed afternoon tea to reminisce about their experience. “I had a love for rail ever since I was a little boy,” said John Shaw, who managed the rebuild project two decades ago. “When I came up to have a look at what they were doing they put a shovel in my hand and I’ve been here ever since. That was back in 1969.” The original Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook line was officially opened in December 1900 but services ceased in August 1953 following a series of landslides. In 1955, the Puffing Billy Preservation Society formed to save the railway from permanent closure. The railway returned to operation between Belgrave and Menzies Creek by 1962, followed by additional sections. It wasn’t until February 1991 that the Lakeside to Gembrook section reconstruction started. The ambitious undertaking involved reconstructing four bridges, four stations and 11km of railway, mostly by about 256 Puffing Billy Preservation Society Volunteers, with some help from the Army Reserves. “At that time Puffing Billy was only breaking

Pictures: STEWART CHAMBERS

Gembrook Primary School students Mitch, Jed, Ziggy, Lachlan and Oscar greet Puffing Billy. 186508 even, so there wasn’t a lot of money around. We decided that we would build everything ourselves - even the bridges,” Mr Shaw said. “The biggest bridge - the first on the line when coming from the Lakeside Station - was really quite a showstopper.” Mr Shaw said the volunteers initially had a fight on their hands between different local councils as to whether they could continue the track into land that was technically deemed ‘open land’. “If it wasn’t for those who put up a fight all

those years ago we might not have had a rail here at all today,” he said. The build cost about $2.5 million, a figure made possible by the hours of donated labour. Puffing Billy interim CEO Steve O’Brien said projections indicated that Puffing Billy could attract up to 730,000 passengers by 2027 and the Lakeside to Gembrook section, combined with the reintroduction of 14A as an oil burning loco, would play a pivotal role in helping the railway cater for this increased demand. “The reopening of the Lakeside to Gem-

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brook section of the railway was significant 20 years ago, and even more significant today as Puffing Billy’s popularity continues to increase year on year,“ he said. “It’s not just about the tourist experience that it’s created, but the social benefits for all the people involved in the build. “There was so much passion put into building the rail; it’s more than just a train or a tourist service, it connects the whole community. “It was exclusively done by the Preservation Society, and they did an amazing job.”


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