Five months of determined track work in all types of weather has brought the Michelago Tourist Railway to Royalla almost back to operational status following its unexpected closure last January.

While there is still further work to be undertaken, it is hoped that a test train can run the track between Queanbeyan and Royalla in the near future.

The track bed suffered significant damage in several locations during the New Year's Eve hail and rain storm which damaged areas in southern Canberra (click on any picture to see a larger image).

When the water subsided, the hail melted and debris cleared away, the MTR track crew found:

• sections of track and sleepers had been stripped of large amounts of ballast, with ballast swept away (sometimes ending up more than a half kilometre from the track), leaving track and sleepers exposed;
   
• deep gullies had been carved parallel to the track where the line passed through cuttings, endangering the stability of the track;
   
• several storm water exits which normally allow rain water to drain from the track area had become blocked with debris;
   
• soil and plant debris had been pushed onto the track where flood waters had swept through open farm country onto the track.

South of the old Tuggeranong siding, the line was closed to traffic. Since January the Society has run only its Easter rail motors to Tuggeranong while locomotive-hauled trains have been running to Bungendore in place of the more usual destination of Royalla.

The size of the task to restore the line to running standard was daunting - the Society has only a small track gang (usually only 2-3 people at any one time), and limited amounts of machinery to assist the work crew.

In other words, much of the restoration would have to be done using hand tools.

It was determined that several projects would have to be completed before trains could run again on the affected sections -

1. clear the flood openings and line-side drains so that track drainage would not be impaired;

2. fill in the erosion gullies which paralleled the track through cuttings where storm water run-off had removed not only trackside ballast but also significant amounts of supporting soil and rock;

3. clear drains or rebuild water barriers where water tends to be channelled from high country onto the track area, or - on the lower side of the track - fill in eroded gullies so that water from future storms will hopefully be limited and not damage track structure;

4. retrieve ballast that had been washed away but was still lying close enough to the track to make retrieval feasible;

5. install new ballast where required; and

6. install replacement sleepers in areas where the storm had exposed time-expired sleepers which were no longer up to the task of supporting the track.

Since January, the track gang has worked two days a week on storm-affected areas - and there were many times when the crew felt overwhelmed by the size of what was a very physically-demanding operation.

But track manager Erik Jochimsen continued with working bees, tasking one project at a time, to get the repair work done.

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His liaison with local landowners led to some major help - one Royalla farmer (Tiziano Colbertaldo) offered to assist the track team with his expertise and heavy machinery.

His bulldozer initially re-opened the trackside road (also eroded and in poor condition) to make access to work sites easier.

He then used a front end loader/back-hoe to retrieve some of the ballast dispersed by the storm and to clear and re-establish drains which had become clogged with debris.

Later he used a heavy truck to bring to the work site surplus concrete blocks which were then manhandled to a water course which had suffered significant erosion.

While the use of machinery did not avoid the need for heavy labouring by the track crew, it made the task of re-opening the line achievable.

Certainly without this help, the time needed to get the track back to operational order would have been many months longer.

During June, Alan Ward moved the Society's ballast regulator to the work sites and spent two days redistributing and reshaping ballast.

There still are some sections requiring replacement ballast.

It is hoped a work train can be moved over the repaired sections to retrieve a wagon load of ballast from the Royalla siding, and missing ballast replaced in several locations.

In the meantime, the track gang will continue to manually move ballast back onto and under the track.

The size of the track repair task was daunting enough, but during the project it became essential that one of the 'workhorses', the Trackman work crew vehicle, receive urgent repair and maintenance.

So (further) essential work was carried out on a 'sister' machine, the Suzuki HiRail vehicle, and it was introduced to full service.

This combined rail-road vehicle is usually driven on roads until it is close to a work site and then transferred onto rails for the task of ferrying tools to the work areas. An attached rail flattop trailer carries tools and equipment, or is used to move spoil or ballast.

The storm has highlighted the challenge faced by the Society in maintaining this valuable line - to keep it open requires finance and manpower for maintenance, particularly with sleeper replacement.

The track gang has replaced a number of sleepers as part of this recovery operation (and in total, some 470 sleepers have been replaced since April 2005 when new track maintenance arrangements were put in place) but there is a great need for many more replacements of these expensive items.

But for the moment, it is hoped that the recent work will enable re-opening of the track soon.

Congratulations to those who have contributed to this mammoth task.