Here are the photos as requested.

I firstly would like to sent the best wishes to clubs that are in a worse position then Altona. Below are a set of photos that were taken on Saturday following the ran event on the Weekend of the 4th - 5th of Feb.

Flood MapHere is a rough overhead shot of the effect of the floods. Due to the amount of water, it reached around to our new junction. In the photos you will see the depth and damage to the drain.

Standing at the entrance to the centre of the track

Standing on the Platform

Looking at the top north corner

Behind the clubhouse / New Junction

The Clubhouse

Looking towards the steaming bays

Submerged Track

The disappearing track - top north corner

Entrance from the steaming bays / Main Lines

The cutting and New Junction

The depth of the water at the Junction. As this is lower then were we pump the water from we maybe in trouble.

On the hill looking at the Junction

The cutting or should I say river?

Melbourne Water Drain Damage

The below set of photos shows the damage to the drain that runs on the south west corner of our block.

The earth wall was originally where the end of the pipes were. The track has been removed due to undermining of ground below the track and how close the edge of the drain was to the track.

Eroding of the earth. It was at the start of the pipes two weeks ago!

Track removed looking towards the from of the block

Removal of the track on top of the underground drain.

The drain flows into an open concrete drain the other side of our fence (after the road). Neil (Vice President) and wanted to get an understanding of how far the corrugated steel pipes run (the end is concrete) to see how bad the problem would be. So armed with a torch and measuring tape I ventured into the concrete end of the drain.

This is where the problem occurs. The tape measurement read 16m. Which means that the corrugated steel pipes run until 1m outside of our fence! This means that the possibility for further damage is high.

We have taken the step to remove the track for the short term and will be discussion our options. But at the present it would appear that we will not be holding our Annual Interclub Run.

More to follow new to follow.

We did have a joke about changing to an RC Boat Club.

Kind Regards,

Rob

Sorry to hear and see what has happened Rob

after the water goes down it may not be as bad as it looks

Don't give up on your invite day yet that is still a few months down the track ( pun not intended )

Even if you have to shorten the track temporarily you can still have a good day and I don't think anyone would grumble about it

With the pipes is it Melbourne Waters headache or AMR's ?

If that last question is out of line I do appoligise

MMR do send AMR all the best and hope you all are back on track ( pun intended this time ) soon

Bill

That certainly some water that got dumped on your grounds,

THe rest of the post is just a ramble, since my work is involved in the business of relining of rehabilitation pipes/sewer pipes (170mm to 3mtr Dia)

not that it may help directly, we make a product at work that is used to reline pipes, unfortunately though the cost is quite high and is often used for places where host pipes can not be easily dug up, replaced, mainly government tenders worth thousands of dollars

Also entering that pipe (all most any diameter), more than 4mtr in (closed or opened) , is classed as confined space according to Aus Occ health safety laws and can extremely dangerous, that type of work is only be done at work by our field technicians holding a current confined space license

Of course Im glad you made it back, even though the bird may not of....hehehhe

THe Aus installer of our product http://www.interflow.com.au/02_products ... bline.html

Hi Bill,

There water has gone down a heap, but will still require pumping.

The reason for the possible stopping of the invite day, is the out of action track. It requires point switching that will become a headache, if we have a good turnout.

I have met with Melbourne Water and they have informed us that it is the responsibility of the Council. I have left messages for them to call me back / emails - So we will wait to hear from them.

Hi Hunslet,

We found out the main reason for the large volume of water. The council a couple of years back made a large earth wall that runs to the north of the property. This cause water from the paddock and school (north of the railway) to run into our property!

I wish it was that simple to repair the pipes be relining. The problem is more about the erosion of the earth around them. This was caused by a contractor removing a rock wall that was protecting them. From what we can see there is a further undermining of the earth from where it currently sits.

No comment on entering pipes.

With the expected unstable and drenching rains predicted for the end of the week, who knows where we will be.

Rob

We got 2 metres of water over the track at Campaspe Miniature Rail (Echuca Vic)

I've got some pictures but don't know how to post them.

Allison

Money mnoey money.....

Sorry Wongm, but bridges dont come cheap....

I saw 'scrap' for sale online where there were flat wagons aimed at bridges for farmers they were $13k ? seems steep but a fitting end for some full size rail wagon.http://www.a-tm.com.au/index.html

Wogm,

It would appear that the cheapest option (melbourne water / council) is to remove the pipes and turn it into an open drain.

We have 3x 20ft container flats that we can use as a bridge, just awaiting to hear back from the council.....

Rob

I believe these are the images that Alison is talking about.

To get an understanding of the of what Campaspe Valley looks like when dry - http://www.users.on.net/~paul.cox/AMR_I ... index.html

Afternoon All,

Finally we have met with the council. They have come up with a couple of options for the collapsed drain, however they need to be costed and money found.

The timeline is a bit open ended...

Thus after the meeting the board met, and we have come up with a the simplest and cheapest option to have trains running out the back loop.

What we will be doing is pushing both lines closer to the fence away from the drain. We expect, should the drain continue to collapse, that we will have at least a year before it is at the rail again.

In the meantime, we have installed a temporary bypass, that allows us to run from the station to the cutting. As seen below

Morning All,

It has been a while since an update has been given.

Well, over a year later we are closer to having the loop returned to service! We have been busy working away to expand the loop and reconfigure it to miss the drain and damage. Just recently the council completed works and we have been going great guns to get the loop back.

Yesterday afternoon (19/2/2012) the track was reconnected. Works are still on going to finish up ballast in a couple of spots (it is a bit like a roller coaster!)

Enjoy.



Also, Altona will be hosting it's Inter-Club run this year on the 26th of May. Details will be out shortly.

Rob