A fundraising page is being set up to help pay thousands of dollars to replace nine tonnes of sleepers stolen from the Ladysmith Tourism Railway.
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Volunteers discovered the brazen theft at a meeting on Saturday, February 10.
About 130 sleepers were cut out of bundles and stolen from the side of the heritage track, with the team only able to lay 10 last year before the thieves got to them.
It is understood the perpetrators may have been wearing high-vis clothing, masquerading as railway workers.
Another witness allegedly saw a ute carrying sleepers heading in the direction of Wagga.
The group – which has been working since the 1990s to restore the railway – paid $5500 to have the sleepers delivered from an Orange supplier, and still owe them $3800 for wood they are unlikely to ever see again.
The sleepers were needed in order to pass safety requirements to get the track back up and running for the public.
“We purchased the sleepers and inserter to bring the track up to standard for public running,” Richard Goodman, the group chairman, said.
Treasurer Wally Bell said a gofundme page is being set up to help pay for the stolen sleepers, and to start the daunting task of raising money to buy more sleepers.
Mr Bell said on Monday he was expecting the page to be up and running “very shortly”.
A police investigation is under way, with witnesses reporting they saw a white dual cab ute being loaded with the sleepers on Tuesday, February 6.
It’s understood the perpetrators may have been wearing high-vis clothing, masquerading as railway workers.
Another witness allegedly saw a ute carrying sleepers heading in the direction of Wagga.
Mr Bell said the group had been buoyed by the support it had received from Ladysmith and the wider community.
He said even Austrack had been in touch with a offer of cement sleepers, which are unfortunately too heavy for the Ladysmith site.
The volunteer group, formerly Tumba Rail, took out the lease for the strip in 1995 and started restorations, but their project was stalled in 2003 due to an insurance company collapse.
In 2013, it recommenced running but purely for maintenance purposes, celebrating its centenary on May 14 last year.
If you’d like to help, you can contact Wally Bell on 0458 263 443 or 6926 3446.