This month we introduce you to Rick Fletcher, our quiet achiever, one of the founders of OTHR, our talented web master and Special Projects Officer on OTHR's Board.

Rick was raised on the outskirts of Sydney when bread, ice, rabbits, clothes props and other staples were delivered by horse. Rick remembers travelling everywhere by train, tram and trolley bus in his youth and holiday destinations were reached by steam train. A visit to the Centenary of Railway display at Central Station in 1955 kindled a lifelong interest in railways, particularly steam trains.

After completing his university studies, Rick spent 24 years teaching a variety of technical subjects in secondary schools around N.S.W. before spending 13 years training teachers in diverse technical fields at the University of Sydney. Rick became involved in computer studies in the early ‘70s and followed that through with consultancies in schools and lecturing in computing studies, electronics and IT at the University of Sydney.

Rick's interest in the Oberon to Tarana railway's restoration was initially stimulated by a proposal to remove the track and infrastructure to make way for a rail trail. Concerned that the region would be losing an important item of rail heritage, Rick worked hard with a group of local people with similar views to establish OTHR.

Although he now lives on the Central Coast of N.S.W., Rick still works very hard for our group and distance from Oberon has been no obstacle for him. He designs and sponsors our website through his own website Ozsite Design and regularly represents OTHR at meetings held for heritage railway operators in Sydney. We always appreciate his visits to Oberon to help restore the track during the weeklong working bees and his encouragement and wise counsel when the challenges seem insurmountable.