This month we say hello to our enthusiastic and hard-working Track Manager, Peter Culley.

Peter was born in Bathurst but at a young age his family moved to the Jenolan Caves where he attended primary school there before going to boarding school in Bathurst. Peter had the good fortune to spend 10 years of his working life at the Caves as a Guide and reckons he spent more time underground than above during that period. Later he became a Senior Ranger at the Caves.

Peter was involved in the Rural Fire Service at the Caves for more than 25 years and received the National Medal for Service to the Community for his dedicated work with that group. He could write a book about the countless search and rescue dramas he was involved in around the Jenolan Caves while he was living in that area.

Through his interest in history, Peter became a foundation member of the Jenolan Caves Historical and Preservation Society. It was due to his interest in preserving our rail history that drew Peter and his wife Christine to join our organisation. To quote him, Peter said recently, “If we can save and restore heritage items like the Oberon to Tarana railway line, we can pass on a little bit of history of this great country of ours to the generations who follow us.”

Peter toils away constantly on the track restoration tasks and comes up with lots of new ideas to make the job quicker and easier for our volunteers. He sets a cracking pace with his early morning starts during the working bees and it isn't unusual to see him working out on the line or at the shipping container on any day of the week.

Many thanks to Peter for his good humour, dedication to the cause and willingness to put in the long hours to get the job done.