FRIENDS of Coal Creek members have begun the arduous yet exciting work of restoring the roofs of three train carriages which are part of the Coal Creek Community Park and Museum and date back to the 1930s.
Work has started on the roof of the first class carriage which will then be followed by the second class carriage and storage carriage roofs.
“It’s quite a complex thing to be done. In the fact that the roofing has been previously repaired 25 years ago,” explained Roger Powell from Friends of Coal Creek (FOCC).
“What we’re having to do is take off the fibreglass surface over the top of it, and then peel back all the canvas that’s underneath it, rip all that off, repair all the struts and the wood roof surface underneath, and then reapply a canvas top with some sealant on it.”
The old fibreglass and canvas were part of previous restoration work, with the fibreglass intended to prevent water from leaking into the carriage, however, that hasn’t been the case.
By uncovering the roof’s struts further assessment for remediation work will be made, to return the carriages back to their former glory.
“The roofs were timber struts with a canvas, stretched canvas over the top, which was then bituminised or sealed. It didn’t leak and that’s how all the trains were built,” explained Roger.
FOCC received a $50,000 Tiny Towns grant from the State government and some funding from the South Gippsland Shire Council to begin carrying out the work.
“It’s $50,000 to restore the roof structures and do as much as possible once we get the roof structures done,” said Roger.
“Once all that gets done, we can then actually work on the inside of the carriages, because at the moment the carriages are leaking, and so you can’t do things when things are leaking.”
The volunteers are receiving advice from external engineers with heritage rail expertise and working under the supervision of SGSC.
Roger anticipates it will take them at least until mid-next year to complete.
“If we get this done by mid-next year, it will be absolutely wonderful, it means that the carriages will be reopened. We’ll be able to then clean them out, repaint them, redo all the stuff that you have to do inside, so they get restored to pretty much what they were like back in the 1930s, 40s.”
The complete cost of the work is estimated to be about $80,000, with the SGSC and FOCC both funding parts with volunteer labour on top.
“I think that we’re really wanting the community to observe and see what we’re doing and this is part of the restoration and the rebuilding of Coal Creek into a major tourist destination,” added Roger.
