Victorian Goldfields Railway steam loco K160 passed its boiler hydrostatic test today, bringing it much closer to returning to service!
K160 has been out of service since 2012, following 26 years of near-continuous service at the VGR and correspondingly has required a very extensive overhaul. There's plenty of pictures and a history of the overhaul work so far on the VGR's Mechanical blog below:
https://vgrmechanical.wordpress.com/2023/08/17/breaking-news-k160/
#HeritageRail

Do you live near Scranton, Pennsylvania? Are you 18-30 years old? Do you like trains? Would you like to be paid by the US National Parks Service to repair, restore and conserve old trains for a 6 month stint? Well here's an opportunity for you!
The Student Conservation Association is working with the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, PA to provide a pair of paid trades internships through the Traditional Trades Advancement Program.
https://www.thesca.org/position/ttap-internship-po-00735693/
#HeritageRail

Reading through the Australasian Tourist & Heritage Railway Assocation (ATHRA) conference slide decks this evening and saw this slide about heritage rail in the UK. There's a reason that I consider it the Mecca of old trains, they're world leaders in this stuff just by scale alone:
#HeritageRail

The Cooma-Monaro Railway in southern NSW (south of Canberra) just got approval for passenger trains to run on their tracks again!
Their Rail Safety Management System has just been accredited by ONRSR (Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator), no small feat for a volunteer-run group. Cooma-Monaro Railway almost went under in 2014 and have clawed their way back to this point over nearly a decade of hard work.
https://www.cmrailway.org.au/
#HeritageRail #trains

The great broad gauge N set disposal has begun - Daylesford Spa Country Railway has taken delivery of former V/Line 3-car carriage set N18. DSCR specialises in railmotors, but apparently they put in for an N set because they want to launch a first-class/luxury train service to replace the "Silver Streak" offering that used a DRC railmotor.
📸 Daylesford Spa Country Railway
#trains #HeritageRail

Not to be outdone by the Colorado Railroad Museum, the Durango & Silverton had an all-women engine crew the other day.
#HeritageRail

Well as the whole process seems to be trying to hark back to a bygone era, seems apt.

Travel Back To 1953 On These Special #Coronation #Tube Rides https://londonist.com/london/transport/art-deco-coronation-tube-train-rides-london-underground-tickets

#HeritageRail

Oh no, this is awful! Solidarity with everyone at the Don River Railway. #HeritageRail #railways
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-04/fire-workshop-tasmania-don-river-heritage-railway/102183238

Show you how much attention I pay to heritage rail goings-on Oop Nawth: apparently the NSW Rail Museum at Thirlmere is extending their line southwards 18.7 km along the Loop Line (once part of the Sydney-Albury main line but since bypassed) from Buxton to Colo Vale and upgrade the currently-operating Picton to Buxton section as part of a $14.7 million project. Works are underway at the moment and possibly might be complete by the end of the year! #HeritageRail
http://www.thnsw.com.au/loop-line

Slower day on the #railway #heritagerail today, clearing leaves. Then home to get some #softwaredev done, and #gig #music tonight for #Evanescence and #WithinTemptation.

Since I've now moved instances to arts.social, time for a new #introduction - I'm Rob, and I head up a company specialising in #software for #arts, #culture and #heritage (lots of #ticketing, #crm).

Still heavily involved in tech as Solution Architect, and a strong interest in #SoftwareArchitecture, #devops, #AgileDevelopment #DataScience and #MachineLearning. I work mostly in #csharp #dotnet

Outside work, I volunteer in #heritagerail in Pway. Oh and #actuallyautistic.