Historical wagon rescued for museum
From the Spring 2007 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.
Above (L - R): Tumbarumba Shire
Council delegate on the museum
committee Graham Smith, Pat
Styche, Charlie Taylor and deputy
mayor Tumbarumba Shire Council,
Col Goldspink came to see the
wagon leave the forest.
Below: The wagon was safely
delivered to the Pioneer Women’s
Hut museum.
Photos by Sarah Chester
Forests NSW has rescued a historical wagon from its pine plantations near Rosewood and donated it to the nearby Pioneer Women’s Hut museum.
Dating back to the early 1900s, the wagon had been sitting for many years on the side of a track in Carabost State Forest near what was once Down Fall Village.
Secretary and project officer at the museum, Pat Styche, said the wagon most probably serviced Down Fall Village, which was built for construction workers building a railway between Tumbarumba and Wagga Wagga.
After the rescue operation was shown on Prime Television, a retired blacksmith from Wagga Wagga recalled working with a historical wagon that had been used as a mobile workshop 50 years ago.
The rescue operation was coordinated by Forests NSW Charlie Taylor. It took Charlie and numerous other staff a considerable amount of effort to get the wagon out of the forests and to the museum.
It was pulled by truck along a slippery, muddy road and then loaded onto a low-loader to be taken to the museum.
Pat, who could hardly contain her enthusiasm for the rescue, said she could not believe the museum’s good fortune.
“It had been sitting there unwanted until we discovered its presence. The wagon was in such good condition. Only one wheel with rotten spokes needed to be taken away and strengthened by Forests NSW engineer Peter Smith at the Batlow workshop.
“This would not have happened if it had not been for the generosity of Forests NSW – they have been absolutely fabulous,” she said.
Public Affairs & Media, Albury
