Digital image of newspaper clipping titled: “'Historic' Melbourne trams to call Launceston home”, by Jessica Willard Newspaper article with pictures of two Melbourne trams numbers 742 and 770 being loaded and transported from Newport Railway Workshop to Launceston. Initially they will be put into storage until consultation with local council and community groups. Plans include transforming the trams into indoor seating areas in Riverbend Park. The trams will travel on the Spirit of Tasmania More than 1500 applications were received through the expression of interest process, which was mostly for W-Class trams retired from Victoria's railway and tram network over the past 30 years. VicTrack is in the process of allocating all retired trams from Newport and is expected to take two years.trams, tramways, w class, w5 class, sw5 class, newport workshops, launceston, tram 742, tram 770

Black and White Photographs 8 partly hand operated presses and jigs for undertaking a particularly assembly process at Preston Workshops. Has foot controls on the underside of the bench. No details of date - assume c1975. Black and Decker presses.On the rear of the photograph has in pencil "Presses - jigs - Preston - MMTB"trams, tramways, preston workshops, equipment

Series of 10 black and white photographs of the construction of the prototype or mock-up model of the prototype for tram 1041 at Preston Workshops c1971. See Reg Item 2502 and 7370 for other photos. .1 - external view shows the centre door and the mock-up construction. .2 - external view showing small entry door - at the back of the tram? .3 - Front entry door. .4 - internal view showing conductors desk and seats .5 - internal view showing conductors desk, ticket machine and microphone. .6 - another view looking along the tram length. .7 - same photo. .8 - Drivers seat showing the mock-up pedals and drivers console. .9 - ditto - different view. .10 - close up of the drivers pedals mock-up box. The photos could have been taken at different stages of the design process and after layout changes had been made.Item 6 has MMTB stamp and "P25/1/1016""trams, tramways, prototype tramcar, tramcar bodies, preston workshops, 1041 mock-up, interiors, tram 1041, pcc class, gibson ticket machines

Typed report on the use of precision casting methods at Preston Workshops foundry to reduce the amount of machining post-casting. Looks at the methods of precision casting, the type of equipment needed for this, and those companies in Melbourne using shell moulding, Includes an extensive list of items and the number of units used each year that this method could be used for. Report by J Scholtz dated 12-7-1963.Yields information about the examination of costs and methods of using shell moulding processes at Preston Workshops.Document or report 7 foolscap sheets - carbon copytramways, technical information, preston workshops, costs, foundry, castings, plate shop

The Canadians developed a machine that used "ping pong balls" instead of cylindrical incendiary capsules and, in 1977, the FCV purchased a Premo machine for evaluation. The 32mm-diameter balls were made from high impact polystyrene and contained 3.5g of potassium permanganate. They were injected with 1ml of glycol which would ignite after a short delay The first Premo machine used four slipper blocks, which were loaded via a hand-operated hopper which, when rotated forward, the balls would be fed into four feed chutes to individual slipper blocks. Each slipper block has an opening allowing individual balls to enter and exit once injected. The original design of the machine was not suitable to meet the burning objectives and a number of modification were necessary. Following close inspection and field testing it was clear that utilising four slipper blocks was excessive and would generate too much fire. It was acknowledged that satisfactory spacing could be achieved by using just one slipper block. Selective spacing could be achieved by the speeding up or slowing down of the slipper block transferring the capsules during the injection process. Regulating the speed that the injected capsules were being dropped controlled the amount of fire created on the ground. This machine was the result of many years of experimentation at AltonaSignificant development of aerial incendiary machines enabled expansion of the fuel reduction burning program across Victoria.Aerial Incendiary machine for use in helicopters Modification at the Altona workshops over many years by Barry Marsden forests commission victoria (fcv), planned burning, bushfire, bushfire aviation

In November 2024, a small group of cheerful volunteers from the Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association (FCRPA) toiled over nine days to dust-off, photograph and record nearly 300 artifacts in DEECA's Altona Museum. It followed a similar project at the FCRPA's Beechworth Museum in February 2024. The Altona project was generously supported by DEECA / FFMVic to engage professional photographer Mark Jesser from Wodonga whose boundless energy and good humour helped to create these amazing images. Special thanks go to the FFMVic Chief Fire Officer, Chris Hardman, as well as Andrew Stanios and Kat Jensen for making it happen. FFMVic crews and the ever-patient staff from Altona took a strong interest and also helped to shift some of the heavy items like pumps and the Bedford tanker which was very welcome. The Forests Commission and its successors continuously encouraged bushfire research and innovation. In 1946 a large parcel of industrial land was purchased at North Altona as a fire cache and workshop. The Altona workshop became a hotbed of new technological thingumajigs… a marvellous blend of Aladdin’s Cave of Wonders coupled with Wallace and Gromit’s madcap contraptions… an exhilarating place where lots of gizmos were invented and tested… mostly with astounding results... but nearly always with some head-scratching frustrations… and thankfully not too much explosive mayhem. In fact, a lot of Australia’s pioneering equipment development was led by staff from Altona, often in collaboration with other State forestry and fire authorities. The CSIRO also contributed significantly. The US Forest Service, the US Bureau of Land Management and US State agencies such as the California Department of Forestry and Fire (CalFire) as well as the Canadian Forest Service faced similar challenges and proved strong and willing partners in sharing knowledge, ideas, equipment and expertise over many decades. The collection at Altona started in the 1970s by fire equipment wizard Barry (Rocky) Marsden. As obsolete equipment was returned to the Fire Protection Workshop for auction, Rocky began the process of selecting some which would be interesting to retain and display. The items at Altona represent just a small sample of the amazing story of Victoria's forestry and bushfire heritage. The largest item was undoubtedly the Bedford tanker which took two days and nearly 1000 photos which were later stitched together with photoshop. The oldest item is probably the Ericsson wall telephone from 1904. There are also many unique items, but the CSIRO incendiary machine and ping-pong incendiary machine developed at Altona probably had the most significant impact on fire management in Australia. There are plenty of gaps in the collection, but some items are in regional DEECA offices. It’s hoped to merge the FCRPA's Beechworth collection to Altona one day and rename the site to honour Rocky Marsden. There may be some additions to the Altona museum over time, but space is limited. The museum is available to visit by appointment. Peter McHugh - January 2025 forests commission victoria (fcv)