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Cooma Cup Race Day 2011

As the photo below by John Gibson attests, there was a great turnout of members for this year's Cup day. Twenty two members was probably the second greatest number assembled at one time, with only the 10th anniversary gathering having more. A number of new members swelled the ranks, and it was great to see them contributing and in turn receiving a good insight into CMR operations.

The day commenced with operations manager John Wynes addressing his troops before the patrons arrived. As was noted later, having so many orange vests on hand made for the best crowd control both on and off the train. A special mention must be made of Alan Ward and sons, who, as they have in the past, kept a tight control on loading at the small Snowy Junction platform after the races. Also a special thank you to Graeme Linkenbagh, who spent much of the day as a flagman on the road crossings.

Jean Wynes and Gaye Speldewinde sold the tickets to the train and the race meeting itself. (Photo: John Gibson)

The weather had been predicted to include clouds and showers, but to the relief of the race organizers, it was more or less sunny and pleasant all day. A total of 16 return journeys were carried out and I think that the numbers of returning passengers will attest to having had a good time.

The last trip was not completed until nearly 7pm and the railmotors headed back to the shed (below) in the fading evening light. Then followed a 'thank you' BBQ on the platform for the volunteers who made the day such a success.

Martin Bennet's Photos

This is the second of Martin's photos to appear in the Newsletter. More will be featured in future Newsletters during the next year or so. Thank you Martin for sharing them with us.

A Historic Event

Thursday 1st December 2011 was another of those significant moments in CMR's history. A number of members and guests gathered on the station to witness the formal unveiling of the Powder Van and the presentation to four of our members of (very well deserved) awards recognising their contributions to rail heritage in NSW and in the CMR in particular.

Representing the Office of Rail heritage were Michael Herringe, Heritage Program Manager, and Keith Howard, Relationship Manager. When it was discovered that the local MP would be unable to attend the ceremonies, Mike and Keith stepped in at short notice to conduct the proceedings.

Lifetime achievement: Christa Harlander. Recognising her efforts for food preparations on charter tours since the start up of rail heritage operations.

Leadership, Management & Organisational Development: Lindsay McLachlan and Peter McFarlane – for the establishment of safety and maintenance structures for the safe operation of CMR's rolling stock. CMR President James Sullivan acknowledges Lindsay's work after he accepted the award.

Conservation, preservation, restoration and reconstruction projects: Rob McCutcheon – efforts in reconstruction of 3 torque converters' for CMR and also for the Rail Motor Society in Paterson (north of Newcastle). Also motor rebuilds for CMR.

Mike cuts the ribbon to officially unveil the Powder Van and hand it over to John Wynes and James Sullivan.

After the handover (L to R): new CMR committee member Rodney Clancy, John Gibson, Keith Howard, James Sullivan, Mike Herringe, Geoff Percival and John Wynes.

Three of our four most deserving award winners.

The event was well covered in the local media. The photos above were supplied to us by Bruce Davies from SMEC and CMR thanks them for allowing us to use them.

But Wait There's More

CMR member Tracey Lawrence received an ORH award for her work at Trainworks at Thirlmere. Congratulations Tracey!

Refer to our OPERATIONS page for the schedule of regular CMR services or our Group Tours page if you have an upcoming function that would benefit from the unique CMR experience. CMR can be contacted on 02 6452 7791 or by e-mail to manager@cmrailway.org.au.