Steam engine enthusiasts forced to undertake night patrols
A SMALL group of steam engine enthusiasts will start voluntary night patrols at their Bendigo showgrounds museum after a spate of vandalism in recent months. The most recent events saw a member narrowly avoid being struck by a beer bottle launched at the group and 5000 litres of water stream out of the site’s water tank after being attacked with an axe. The Bendigo Steam and Oil Engine Preservation Group has a permanent museum at gate three at the showgrounds. The group of 20 recently installed a new water tank and two pumps to set up a display of historic engines during the Bendigo Swap Meet. The 5000 litres of water needed for the display was donated by Moneghetti’s of Elmore. But their efforts were hampered after vandals tried to destroy the bung before taking to the tank with an axe, leaving the water to gush out. “It just makes me sick,” the group’s president Rob Hocking said. “We are a group of only 20 people trying to preserve old engines that are part of the history of the goldfields and every time you leave something outside it gets vandalised. “It’s just ridiculous ... just senseless.” The group is hoping to repair the tank in time for this weekend’s swap, and will use recylced water offered by the Bendigo Swap Meet committee for the display. However, Mr Hocking said local youngsters indulging in a new-found hobby of beer-bottle launching were causing ongoing problems. “They are using some sort of spring device and firing empty beer bottles over the fence and into our yard,” he said. “One just missed one member of our group and we have a great mess of broken glass in the compound.” The group cannot move from the site as it would cost more than $500,000 to move the old machinery. “We have decided on an irregular basis members will go to the shed and patrol the area ourselves,” Mr Hocking said. “We can’t go on like this.”
