President Ted Williams 02 4384 3089
Vice President Bruce Langdon 02 4396 3767
Secretary Peter Holt 02 4397 2700
Treasurer Norm Browne 02 4396 3564
Members’ Board Member John Crowhurst 02 4343 1980
Boiler Inspector Lindsay Brack Smoke Signal

RUNNING DAY 1^st Saturday of each month
CLUB MEETING Last Thursday of each month 7.30 pm at the club, Lot 10 Showground Road, Narara

POSTAL ADDRESS P.O. Box 692, Gosford, 2250

EDITOR Rob Lougher

On Thursday and Friday the 19^th and 20^th of December the long awaited digging out of the drain that runs behind the 71/4 steaming bay took place this involved digging a trench to the correct level to get the continuity in the fall from the existing drain and positioning of the pre-cast drain slabs the work was done using a 4-wheel drive excavator for most of the digging work and for the lifting of the drainage slabs.

Most of the work went without to much trouble the only hitch being that the drainage trench went down to the same level as the recently installed water pipe and electrical conduit this problem was soon sorted out with the help of a couple of shovels and some hard work and the thought of a cold beer at the end of the day. The rest of the drain was laid without further trouble on Friday.

Members should be aware that the drain is quite deep and they should be careful when working or walking in this area particularly around the edges as they are still soft and will be until the vegetation starts to grow. It should also be noted that at the present time the unloading ramp on the 71/4 bay has been removed temporarily to allow this work to be carried out and that 71/4 locos should be unloaded at the top dual gauge steaming bay.

Whilst we had the machine at the club we used it to our advantage and moved the coal bin from the centre lawn area near the station to a new position near the van. We also used it to excavate the ground around the 71/4 steaming bay to allow for concreting of the area something that will save many man hours of back breaking shovel work. Thanks to Bruce Langdon, Mick Farrell, Peter Holt. Norm Browne, Keith Lewis and Rob Lougher for there help with this project.

This project is almost complete but there is still some work to be done to finish it such as putting the rubble fill in along the side of the drain and putting the bridge and unloading ramp back across the drain. The drain will also require cleaning so if you can spare some time how about lending a hand.

The January Running Day saw the usual preparations being made on Thursday the 2^nd of January with the usual mowing, ground preparations and the restocking of the canteen and being still in the holiday season it was good to see a few faces that you don’t normally see on a Thursday.

The January running day is a traditionally quite day and this one was no exception and no one was waiting to long for a ride this was possibly because there was 19 locos running on the day including three visiting locos and while not all of them hauled passengers it was pleasing to see so many locos at a running day.

For those people who don’t buy the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday the 8^th of January to our surprise and credit we had a full colour 2 page spread in the "Central Coast Extra" section a copy of which will be posted in the van for display.

The spread features Pearl Beach’s very own pin up boy Tom Walker and his fine model of a Queensland Railway’s A10 with insets that show various other activities at the running day.

Also on the subject of articles in publications we have an article in the latest Australian Model Engineering Magazine.

Allan Fogarty and Tom Walker have been continuing on going track work this time to the points at the south end of the station this involved a considerable amount of cutting, grinding and welding as well as the installation of throw over point levers to simplify the operation of the points in this area.

The clubs trusty old Ute was recently fitted with a tow bar for towing the club loco trailer around. The tow bar was modified to fit by Bruce Langdon and came of another make of Japanese Ute making our Ute a true hybrid of Japanese automotive engineering. Thanks to Bruce for the fitting and re-engineering of the towbar.

You may have noticed that the fences around the grounds of late have been turning green this is because Arthur Minter has taken on the job of painting them it has been suggested that this job would be never ending similar to painting the Harbour Bridge. The question is which end will Arthur start at next?

The following item was submitted by Keith Lewis with the permission of Margaret Lewis.

My wife and I have the secret to making a marriage last:

Two times a week, we go too a nice restaurant, have a little wine, some good food and companionship. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays.

We also sleep in separate beds. Hers is upstairs and mine is in the workshop.

I take my wife everywhere, but she keeps finding her way back.

I asked my wife where she wanted to goo for her anniversary. "Somewhere I haven’t been in a long time!" she said. So I suggested the kitchen.

We always hold hands. If I let go she shops.

She has an electric blender, electric toaster and an electric bread maker. Then she said, "There are too may gadgets and no place to sit down!" So I brought her an electric chair.

Remember …. Marriage is the number one cause for divorce.

Statistically, 100% of all divorces start with marriage.

I married Miss Right. I just didn’t know that her first name was Always.

I haven’t spoken to my wife for 18 months. I don’t like to interrupt her.

The last fight was my fault. My wife asked, "What’s on the TV?" … I said "Dust!".

In the beginning, God created earth and rested. Then God created man and rested. Then God created woman. Since then, neither God nor man has rested.

Why do men die before wives? ‘Cause the want to.

Have you ever wondered what goes on at the Thursday and Saturday workdays?

The answer to this is a hell of a lot.

In the usual effort to stay within the now 50c loading gauge of Australia Post I have included some photos of some of the recent activities carried out by the members on these days.

Looking like a groundsman preparing the S.C.G. Ted Williams gives the out field a trim prior to the January running day.

Tom Walker making some repairs to the pitch well not really tom was set up here to make some of the repairs mentioned earlier to the points near the station.

The next two photos show the work carried out by the members and the excavator to install the dish drain the top photo is looking towards the trestle bridge from around where the drain originally ended and the bottom photo looking back from the end of the drain towards the road.