As I write this, we have experienced “unprecedented” rain! What a turn around from the horror stretch the east coast has been through recently.
Our Open Day on Australia Day was rather poorly attended, with very few members of the public visiting the park. We are not sure whether it was the fairly warm day, or competing events or activities, or even fear of the Corona virus. Nevertheless, we had a great day with our exhibits, and enjoyed being able to drive the vehicles for a lap around the park. The donors of the Pyramid auto-truck came up to see it and were impressed with our restoration. Our next Open day is ANZAC Day.
The new lathe is starting to prove its worth, with a number of jobs done on it. There is a bit of a learning curve for us ‘oldies’ mastering the new technology of digital readouts etc.
Good progress is being made on the International truck.
We travelled down to Bywong in late January and brought back the newly made wheels, a major milestone. They will look great when fully painted and stained. We have been working on springs and other items, and some of these have been assembled to the chassis, so it will not be too long before we have a rolling chassis. We have also overcome some of the obstacles encountered on the engine, giving us a confidence boost. We can expect progress on this important item now. Mind you, the project still a loooong way from completion! We are often diverted from our preferred activities by necessary maintenance; recent jobs being repair of the starters on two of the trucks, new leather buckets in one of the monkey-tail pumps so much enjoyed by the children, the electric motor in the fruit grader we demonstrate to visitors, the chicken debeaker that horrifies visitors when it is described, and so on. There is always something requiring attention, but it is our obligation to maintain everything to the highest possible standard.
The Fagan Park museums and Netherby Homestead are open every Tuesday, our volunteering day, and we open the museums on the second Sunday each month during the afternoon. All visitors are welcome.
Contact me at the park on a Tuesday or phone anytime if you would like to join us.
Ian Browning, Honorary Curator, 0419 435 475.
