GrahamH's photos

Loco 106 leading the return of an afternoon return run to Wyreema. June 2024.

A while ago I posted a photo of a brass window frame being polished. www.ipernity.com/doc/grahamh/52274674 Here is one of the two of them installed in the loco. See PiP for context. The frames have been in for a while, I'm just a bit slow in showing the job completion. June 2024.

These are components of a steam locomotive boiler. They are called fusible plugs. They are screwed into the area of the boiler above the fire where under normal operation they are covered with water. They comprise a gunmetal bolt which is hollow through the thread and with a small hole in the head. The hollow region is filled with lead. If the water level drops in the boiler below the operational level the lead melts. This then causes steam and water to spray onto the fire which extinguishes the fire and so prevents the boiler from damage by overheating. These two are being changed out as part of the annual boiler inspection. Reconditioned ones have replaced them. April 2024.

Loco 1037 returning to DownsSteam's yard at the end of its first run on QR track. Oliver is holding the points. This loco was acquired from a restoration group which folded and came to us about 3/4 complete around a year and a half ago. May 2024.

The second run on its way to Wyreema a few minutes South of DownsSteam's base at the Toowoomba suburb of Drayton. After this I went home to rest. 18/05/24

The sunshine has returned and the crowd of the first run passengers has dispersed but it's still more than an hour to the second departure. I tidy up some things which I didn't get to do before the first run. Then I left the site to a road over bridge to get a photo of the second run. 18/05/2024

106 + train has returned and 106 has run around using the Qld Rail track. Later it will couple on for the second run which left at 2pm. Visitors are looking around the tracks, workshop and gardens. 18/05/2024

Standing in Wyreema after 106 has run around the train and the brakes have been tested so the train is ready for departure. 18/05/2024

Creeping across Karara Rd level crossing. Many extra cars today. 18/05/2024

From the guard's compartment on the way to Wyreema on the first of the day's two runs. The whistle board is for Allports Rd level crossing. 18/05/2024

A view of the platform from the guard's compartment. People are gathered further along the platform listening to speeches. The brass band has paused for the duration. 18/05/2024

106 coupled to the train. The train is having its brake safety test done and will stand there to be viewed by the passengers and others for an hour and a bit. I've just walked up from the other side of the workshop having cleaned myself up from lighting-up and greasing 106 and changing into an on-train staff uniform. 18/05/2024

I was on light-up and after that on guard training on the first of the two runs to Wyreema and return. Here out the rear of the workshop the fire in 106 has been going for over an hour. 18/05/2024.

The job is complete. It is adjusted correctly and the sleeper tops are covered with a preservative oil. In the far upper right the points lever for DownsSteam's main line access is seen, the same type as has been replaced here. The white device over the rail is named a choke block and is there to derail anything which, if ever, rolls away in DownsSteams's yard before gets to the mainline. It is hinged out of the way when a train enters or leaves. April 2024.

At DownsSteams connection to Queensland Rail's we changed a points control lever from 'always set one way or held for the other way' to a 'fixed this way or fixed that way' lever. This is in the Qld Rail corridor but is part of DownsSteam's track. There is still points which have to be held where we access Qld Rail's track. See the PiPs for more details.This vintage petrol-poweredair compressor supplies a tool for drilling holes and driving screw in to sleepers. April 2024. Pips 1 & 2 The old points lever and sleepers have been removed, the ground excavated a bit more and two new sleepers added. PiP 3 Graeme is using an air-powered tool to drive a screw through a bracket which will hold the rail in place. The jack is supporting the rail at the correct height. This results in the sleeper being lifted from the ground by a few centimetres. PiP 4 The first sleeper is in position. Andrew is drilling the pilot holes for attaching the second sleeper the the track. The rodding which will connect the lever to the rails is roughly in position. PiP 5 Joe and Ian battling the air tool which didn't want to hold the bolt driver for the lever mounting screws. Eventually they won. Also note the addition of ballast which has been hand tamped under and around the new sleepers. PiP 6 Final adjustments to the lever operation to ensure point blades are at the correct gauge and the spring mechanism is equally strong in either direction setting.

View this on a non-laptop screen for a better rendition. Part of out front garden lit by early morning sunlight. May 2024

At Wyreema loop on a training run. DownsSteam's loco C16 106 has uncoupled from the far end of the carriages and is moving on the other track of the loop to connect to the train near where this shot is taken from. April 2024.

I found this lizard collecting some warmth in the early autumn afternoon sun. The pavers are the walkway from the entrance to the station at DownsSteam. March 2024.