THE DIAMOND VALLEY RAILWAY
CHAPTER FIVE DEVELOPMENT WITH IMPROVEMENTS
Planning for the New Station commenced in January, 1963. More
use was now being made of the workshops/clubrooms shed as members
continued to build new items and carry out maintenance. Flourescent
lights were installed over the workbench, power points were
installed to enable drills, grinders and welders (mainly Bill
Pert's own equipment) to be used.
Drivers were now becoming plentiful, and being safety conscious,
it was decided to introduce gradings to improve the standard of
drivers of all trains. The first grade driver was considered
expert for passenger train work and the second grade driver suitable
for goods trains and light engines. All drivers had to undergo
training and promotion to achieve grading status whereupon
he would be rostered for driving duty each running day.
Bill Pert was doing much work at his home workshops at Newport
and many members were going there to assist. So many were turning
up, in fact, that it was requested that a maximum of four
should be rostered, as Mrs Pert was finding it hard to keep up
with all the catering and too much train talk was slowing down
the work progress.
Meanwhile, maintenance on the old bar rail was becoming so extensive
that it was decided to divide the mainline into 4 sections
to be looked after by 4 gangs, prior to running each Sunday morning.
To provide urgently needed filling, a channel was excavated
from opposite the New Station site towards what is known
affectionately as Pert's Gully.
Whilst all this work was going on, prototype permanent way works
signs were constructed. These consisted of a fishtailed, yellow
background "WARNING" sign, followed by a circular, yellow background
"CAUTION 2 MPH" speed board and finally, a square, white
background "N" board.
The Annual General Meeting was held in June, 1963 and a Committee
and Staff election was held on the same night as the nominations
were received. The annual report showed that the DVR had operated
quite well for 1962-63 and, after expenses totalling £647/2/-,
a surplus of £73/10/6 was recorded.
In August, 1963, it was decided that S300 could not cope with the
increasing passenger traffic, and as No. 12 steam locomotive (ex
CPR) could not be made available for service without a very major
overhaul, a new S class diesel outline locomotive (S301) should
be constructed in time for the Christmas, 1963 traffic. However,
it was to be many years before S301 was finally completed.
The shock departure of Peter Nielsen, after only one month in office as Vice President and Signal Foreman, saw Jim Willcox and
Ron May fill these positions respectively. Also in 1963, we saw
Syd Gillies as Club Guarantor with all male, adult members signed
up as coguarantors with Syd.
At this juncture, Alan Calder, the Way and Works Superintendant,
presented to the Club, a far reaching, 4 stage, 3 year plan for
development of the Railway. It embraced relevelling and relaying the
track to better grades and curvature and some track extensions.
Although it took more than 3 years to complete the
basic ideas within that plan; it was the forerunner of many changes
yet to come.
On the 11th November, 1963, some 3 years after the inception of
the DVR, a new constitution was drawn up and passed by the members.
A new signal plan was also adopted at this time. This plan
incorporated 3 position, upper quadrant, semaphore signals operated
from a lever frame via steel wire cables and a formal code of
practice for Guards, using flags and whistles similar to the VR
code.
A new pipe and chain wire fence was erected around the Workshops
yards, thus making movements around the carriages and locomotives
much easier; without the hinderance of a very inquisitive public,
who never failed to inspect everything that came to light in the
yards.
Then tragedy struck the DVR for the second time in its short history
with the sudden death of William Pert Senior, who was affectionately
known to all members as 'Pop'. Pop's devotion to the DVR was
outstanding and in one instance, although he was a pensioner, he
found enough money to make a large donation towards
the purchase of some urgently needed 1" x ½" steel to replace
unservicable sections of railway line. His friendly and happy
disposition made the DVR a great Club to be in, so it is fitting
to record the first item of General Business of the 35th General
Meeting, on 8th November, 1964:
"The President (A.Calder) opened General Business by paying tribute
to the late Mr W. (Pop) Pert, who was one of the foundation
members of the DVR. Mr Calder passed on to Bill Pert, in the
Chair, on behalf of the members and himself, our heartfelt
regret at the sudden loss of this outstanding and most devoted
member."
During the latter part of 1964, two items came up for discussion
that would change the entire future of the DVR. Firstly, was the
idea of relaying the present Railway system with 14 lb/yd rail
as recommended by the Way and Works Superintendant. In connection
with this, it was suggested that a social trip be organised over
Christmas, with the purpose of hunting down all possible 14 lb/yd
rail from disused quarries, railways and tramways within the
state. The second item was the presentation of lower quadrant
semaphore signals, constructed to scale from prototype drawings.
Three sizes were considered, namely: 1/3 full size; ¼ full size;
and 1/6 full size. Replicas of each scale were placed at various
positions around the system, and members were invited to vote for
their preference of scale size. It was finally agreed that the ¼
full size signals would be the most acceptable for the DVR.
From the beginning of 1965 and for the following two years, much
work was carried out by all departments. In an effort to make
the signalling system more realistic, Jeff Scott offered his garage
as a workshop to construct ¼ full size, lower quadrant, semaphore
signals. The first signal was subsequently installed on a
trial basis in the Home arrival position on the Branch line from
the workshop.
The Rolling Stock Branch also had much work to do. The old mainline
was tearing the heart out of the carriage and locomotive
wheels which were of a soft metal. This problem was overcome by
shrinking steel tyres onto the remains of the cast iron wheels.
The rear driving bogie of S300 was completely rebuilt with steel
wheels, sprockets, axle boxes, etc. Another great event from the
Rolling Stock Branch was the birth of the DVR's first scale model
locomotive, namely: W241. This replica of the VR's W class made
its debut, much to the delight of members and visitors alike.
After minor teething troubles, W241 carried much of the 1965
Christmas traffic.
Not to be outdone, Russel Ryan, who was a budding autoelectrician,
took the ailing F class locomotive (known affectionately
as: Leap'n Lena) under his wing. Working with much industry,
this brilliant young lad introduced a new era to the DVR. Locomotive
W100 was born out of the old F class and it was powered by
an electric motor and lead-acid accumulators. This great little
locomotive proved that electric traction was a field from which a
miniature railway could benefit greatly. The locomotive could be
switched for hauling power or for high speed, light running.
The Way and Works Branch also had a very hard working period.
Roly Barling made a great contribution to the DVR by organising
the installation of the first tunnel. Approximately 16 ft of
6 ft diameter reinforced concrete pipe was laid in the deep cutting.
This new attraction provided much excitement for the patrons in the
years to come. The Oakleigh quarry was a venue for a
large working bee. After negotiating with the Company, arrangements
were made to collect 14 lb/yd rail. Nearly all of the rail
had to be removed from the floor of the quarry and stacked ready
for transport. Jim Willcox and Alan Calder transported the rail
to track site. The task of track relaying started in earnest.
Most of the rail had to be straightened or curved to the desired
radius before it could be used. The curving process was done by
one of two methods, the first involved inserting the rail between
two trees close together and three or four members shouting together:
'Heave-ho' and pulling the rail into shape. The other
method involved the use of a JimCrow machine.
The excavation and levelling of the new track bed commenced in
the cutting just past the tunnel, and swept in a large, 60 ft
radius 'S' bend towards the arrival end of the proposed New
Station. To cross the gully, a viaduct bridge was required.
The much vaunted new rail was now being laid at a great rate,
consuming many hundreds of sleepers, tons of ballast and millions
of thumping whacks as members took turns to drive the dog spikes
home - this was true railway work at first hand. On a good day,
70 ft of running track would be laid and ballasted, which was
great work considering we only had Bill Pert's drill and many
broken hammers.
The old branch line in the New Station area was removed and replaced
with 14 lb rail from the 1" x ½" blade point to near the
old diamond crossing. The 'S' bend was completed from near the
diamond crossing towards the tunnel exit, including crossing
"Willcox" bridge, as the viaduct bridge is known. All the
connecting pieces were constructed and on the weekend of 18th
September, 1966, the diamond crossing and sharp curves were abolished
and the first revenue trains ran over the new section of 14 lb
rail. Thus another era commenced at the DVR, with the
introduction of better riding qualities and less wear and tear on the
rolling stock.
Meanwhile, at the old station area, the new lower quadrant semaphore
signals were proving a great success with the working power being
provided by mains water pressure, piped from a three-way
cock to hydraulic pistons on the signals and points. The signals
and points are returned to their 'normal' position by means of a
spring when the water pressure is removed. Five new Home and two
new Disc signals were constructed for the old station area and
the main line point converted to hydraulic operation during the
Spring of 1966.
Bill Pert again showed his versatility in the latter part of 1966
when the DVR's first all steel, scale model of a Vicrail GY class
goods wagon ( No. 1966 GY ) was introduced into service, complete
with working side doors, hand brake and remote uncouplers.
Thus the period up to the end of 1966 was very exciting time of
progress, which saw the introduction of new ideas, new methods of
construction, new skills and a sense of achievemnet in scale
modelling of miniature railways. Much of this era was captured by
the Sun News Pictorial in a centre page spread, showing the great
tourist potential that can result from the dedicated spirit of
the members of the DVR.
|
