Visit from Conservation Volunteers Australia

In 2009 the Office of Rail Heritage approached CMR with an offer to have a group from Conservation Volunteers Australia visit Cooma to assist with restoration of the rose gardens and to catalogue the large amount of donated artifacts accumulated over the years.

The group of 2 ladies and 4 men, led by Eveline Dingley, arrived on Monday 10^th May. The members of CMR did not know what to expect, but by Friday 14^th May it was clear that the work of clearing long grass, dead trees, re-instating the rose gardens and cataloguing heritage items was beyond all expectations, and much more than CMR members had been able to achieve since inception.   

The work carried out opposite the station and around the Barracks during the week will provide a good start and it is hoped that in future members of CMR will be able to keep the area as it is now.

As far as CMR is concerned, a group from Conservation Volunteers Australia will always be welcome at Cooma and we have no problem in recommending them to other areas. CMR wishes to express our thanks to Eveline Dingley, Maxcine McDonald, Taz Gould and overseas volunteers Myung Jin, Chung Lee Lee, Molhan Lee, Suyeon Lee and Vincent Lenours.

The visit created a lot of publicity in the Monaro newspapers. Below are photos of the group from the Cooma Monaro Express on May 18th and from the Snowy Times on June 8^th.

More Charters

The outlook for CMR bookings has improved markedly in the last couple of months. We have charters stretching away until January next year! March 2010 had its share of special outings, a couple of which are described below.

Saturday morning, and we prepared the three operative units for the morning charter. It was a big group, some 80 strong.

Six CMR members were on duty, so we could provide a commentator in each passenger area. There was much discussion and hilarity on the way to Chakola.

Once there the 80 lined up for the group photo. As you can see, the weather was nearly perfect for the occasion. (It remained excellent throughout most of the month – much better than the very warm days experienced in Sydney.)

Upon returning to Cooma, the group had provided their own food supplies for lunch on the platform, with CMR providing tea and coffee.

The following Monday afternoon brought us a larger group of some forty seniors from around the Cooma area. The five CMR members on duty were occupied with helping people with walking frames and wheelchairs onto the train. Once again, it was a trip filled with good humour and joy. After a post-trip cuppa on Cooma platform, they departed well satisfied with their experience.   

Refer to our OPERATIONS page for the schedule of regular CMR services or our Group Tours page if you have an upcoming function that would benefit from the unique CMR experience.  CMR can be contacted on 02 6452 7791 or by e-mail to manager@cmrailway.org.au.