Another beautiful Autumn day as 6 Z’s (and a couple of Z posers) met at Medlow Bath of Sunday 25^th before wending our way down Mt Victoria and through Lithgow and towards Portland. The purpose of the trip was a tour of the Mt Piper Power Station which had been arranged for us by Craig Tebbet. Mt Piper produces 15% of NSW base load power.

On arrival we were given a quick overview of the operation then, passing through the high security perimeter, were shown the large crushers which pulverise the coal to be sprayed into the steam boiler. Up six storeys and along steel grates (no vertigo please) we were shown how the full weight of the boiler is suspended on coil springs to compensate for the expansion and contraction from temperature change. We were then shown the two steam turbines and generators producing 25,000 volts each. This is then stepped up to 500,000 volts via transformers for transmission. Lastly we had a look at the control rooms and computer wizardry required to make the whole thing work. Everyone was suitably impressed with the sheer size and complexity of the station.

We then took off for a very pleasant drive along the rural roads to Tarana where we enjoyed lunch at the historic Tarana pub.

President Barry gave our collective thanks to Craig for his organising efforts and we dispersed in our different directions towards home. A long but excellent trip.

Again thanks to new members Andrew, Ray and Anthony and partners for being part of the day.