Once a year, we like to do something to help say thankyou to our hard working volunteers, typically we run some sort of special works, this year’s event ended up being today, due to other commitments, and it looked a like a small passenger train.
We did start the day with just a hint of work, where we got Bruce into the telehandler to unload a pallet.
We did a couple of return trips from Maldon to Castlemaine, enjoying the luxuriousness of carriage Tambo, and yes all the crew specially washed their work clothes to make sure we didn’t leave any dirt behind.
The first was a very simple single loco and two pass cars affair, however after lunch we decided that was a bit soft… and surely we needed a little more horsepower… so the T class and Y157 (fresh from a bogie swap), were added to the front.
It was actually just a really good excuse for the workshops to test their recent hard work and tune ups on both locos in a no-pressure setting as they’re going through the recommissioning process for both.
We did ditch the T class at Muckleford, for a slightly quicker trip over the 60lb to Castlemaine (we’ve restricted the T to 10mph over the 60lb, given its higher axle load).
Our, probably still overpowered train at Castlemaine.
The day included many nice festivities, including some marvellous sausage rolls and chocolate cake from Mrs Mal and this decorated cake from Will and his Mum – thankyou!
At day’s end, Bruce even charged at the opportunity to vacuum Tambo, as we always like to leave things at least as clean as we found them.
Tomorrow’s gang won’t quite be the same level of festivity, as we’ve got a few things to do around Maldon first up, so we’ll meet there from 8am.
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