Building of SteamRanger's Mt Barker Depot


SteamRanger's loco and rolling stock depot was built in late 1995 and early 1996 in the disused goods yard to the south of Mt Barker station. The profile of the building was designed to complement the arched roof of the heritage stone goods shed. The construction was carried out under contract.

At the same time a turntable pit stradling the line to the north of the station was dug and a central pinion and ring rail laid by volunteers to accomodate the 85ft turntable to be relocated from Bridgewater




November 1995 - The framework starts to sprout

.....the roof trusses are soon complete

The wall cladding starts to arise by late November

and by the beginning of January 1996 Ian Johnson was able to photograph an enclosed building

..... with framing for the office block commencing

In March 1996 the northern end arches blend in with the heritage goods shed

..... as do the southern arches

By 2000, however, more undercover storage is needed, and in April a frame starts to rise for a truckshed and electrical workshop

A sizeable team contributed; Ron Williams, Peter Kither, Doug McKenzie, Tony Collins, Peter Charlson and Ian Johnston

... and .... Brenton Job, Kim Critchley, PC, Ralph Lee, Andrew Gramp and Kevin Marzahn

Back to January 1996 and our new turntable

Up beyond the station building Roger Burke has dug a square hole for the turntable pivot (Jan 1996)

..... and more eathworks are in progress for the ring rail

 ..... with fasteners set in a healthy concrete base

Meanwhile, at Bridgewater, Brenton Job and Peter Soar put their backs into removing redundant ring rail

and in February the Bridgewater turntable is jacked up the bottom face grit blasted ready to move to Mt Barker

Then on the 12th April 96 volunteers Pete Charlson, Barry Hawes, Trevor Clift and Mike Heyer, prepare for the lift

Up it goes ....

....and down onto the low loader

Next step - to build up our workshop machine area. Ian Jhnston and Daryl Simon take delivery of a donated Mill from Optima Energy (Aug 97)

and in February 98 our Mitchell Lathe is installed

... and the horizontal borer comes home to roost

Now the machine shop looks quite respectable!

Quite a busy area as Doug Gibson cuts up boiler tube for storage racks

And another view of the shop in November 99

April 200, and outside, Doug MacKenzie (atop the old well) gets busy making the station garden area look top notch

... a new station sign gives a professional look

Ian Johnston couldn't resist the urge to climb the hill to get a photo

Another important asset - our Mt Barker Water Tank

Brenton and Matthew Job up on top. Are there are any fish inside?