Australian Model Railway Association Incorporated

50^th Anniversary Convention
Page Four

Friday Ladies Saturday Dinner Sunday Monday Conclusions

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Sunday 10th June

Intended Programme

• 08:30am - 06:00pm Thirlmere Rail Transport Museum (including admission, train ride, and sausage sizzle)
• 08:30am - 06:00pm Spouse Programme - Berrima

What happened

We met back at the Grammar school at 8:30am and prepared ourselves for another day of Convention activities. The coach arrived at 9am and we set off down the M5 to Thirlmere. The trip down took about an hour and a quarter and we got off the bus to be welcomed by Fred Stell and Ross Moar who had travelled down by car earlier in the morning so that they could set up the tea making facilities.

The coach driver seemed to be enjoying himself on the trip as well. As we pulled up at the Rail Museum, he commenced giving instructions to the ladies going on to Berrima on how to drive the coach and told them when they needed to have the coach back to pick him and us up. Of course he was only joking and once the ladies had enjoyed their cup of tea they got back on the coach and proceeded on their way complete with coach driver.

First on the agenda at Thirlmere (due to the available departure times) was the train ride. Unfortunately none of the steam locomotives were operational at the time but diesel locomotive 4803 was an acceptable substitute. Unexpectedly, the train rides that day were not going to Buxton but instead proceeded in the opposite direction to Picton. We had an enjoyable break on Picton station while we watched the locomotive run around the carriages in the loop beyond the end of the platform. Once we had got back on the train proceeded with wrong road running back down the mainline to the junction where the single line back to Thirlmere branched off.

Back at the Rail Museum we noticed that the car park was filled with about a dozen vintage (or were they veteran) cars which a number of the Convention attendees stopped to examine prior to going back to the picnic area where Robert Hodges (ably assisted by Brian Tyson and Phillip Larmour) prepared the sausages and onion for lunch.

While everyone was eating, arrangements were made for the Monday layout tour. First we asked those who required transport to identify themselves and then those who had offered transport (more transport had been offered in advance of the Convention than was required so we knew matching people up would not be difficult). We then left it to those concerned to arrange between themselves what they would do for the following day. I made arrangements to transport Jim Fainges and Neil R Riches.

At 1:45pm Fred gathered all interested parties together and took us around some of the exhibits in the museum. As a member of Thirlmere (as well as AMRA) he had the necessary keys so as to be able to take us inside some of the locked coaches so that we could examine them more closely. We were then taken into the workshop area (out of bounds to the general public) and shown some of the many locomotives being worked on.

One real surprise at this time was that Norm Read BEM who was (unusually for him) wearing his Federal Registrar's badge, also pinned on his British Empire Medal (which is what the BEM on the end of his name stands for) and posed for a few photos. Many of us who see Norm all the time had never seen his medal before.

The ladies arrived back from Berrima having apparently had a really enjoyable time there. Once they had finished their afternoon cuppa everyone got back on the coach and we proceeded back toward Sydney. Some rain fell during the trip back and from the look of the cars that we had left at the school there had obviously been a lot more in Sydney but where we had been had remained dry. We arrived back at the school just before 5pm.