Coverplate Fairy is a neighbour...

[Conrad Zalewski]

Last night, I had another lengthy chat with a different bloke from one of the at least four (possibly five) companies taking off the coverplates. Here are some highlights of the conversation:

- Each company has a different contract to take off plates. The company he works for (I forgot the name, but it's not GB or RMS) are now doing Metroad 4 and 5 approach roads. This would explain why signs with multiple plates are getting the half treatment at times.
- Once they take them off, it's the property of the company. The company he works for do trade the plates in for scrap, but it's about $1/kg.
- They are given three sizes of alphanumerics to put up, only one of which is used. They give the rest back to RMS. He said they were the company which did A28 and they gave back 1½ palettes of unused A28s back to them.
- There is no need for advanced warning signs, as long as there are two trucks, and they are in and our in under 80 minutes.
- The bloke I spoke with was the one taking the plates off when Michael Mak met them in North Richmond when they were doing the B59s. He remembers someone talking to his colleague. The photo of the truck Michael took (Force Towers) is a higher company. They used them now and then when their boss needs a big job done overnight.

Here's the kicker - this bloke is my girlfriends neighbour! I asked if I can take some of the 40ish plates that were in the back of his truck (all Metroad 4s). Not problem at all. I took eight. I'm also free to check out his truck whenever, and he'll also make sure he gets me 3-5 of 'each number' too.

Now, the best part, what can I do with all these coverplates you ask? Absolutely nothing! I'm happy to post details of what's available at any given time to whoever is interested in taking them.

Today, we have on offer six Metroad 4s of varying sizes. I can get more, but I didn't want to if the need isn't met.

[Paul Rands]

Awesome work Conrad!

Nice to get some inside info on how the project is working. Do you know if they are doing outside of Sydney?

I would like to get a couple of the coverplates, but would prefer NR or NH, but SR would also be nice.

Regards,
Conrad
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[Conrad Zalewski]

They're doing A1 from Newcastle to Taree next week. I think he said he went further north a few months ago too, so definitely plenty outside of Sydney too.

When they come up, I'll let you all know.

Regards,

Conrad

[Sam Laybutt]

The paragraph below makes perfect sense now why we have seem to shocking coverplate jobs (amongst the majority which are really good), if you are trusting the works guys to pick the right one. Obviously RMS didn't have the resources or didn't think it was worth doing the work themselves?

I don't normally collect signs but given your post Conrad, you are making it mightily tempting...

Subject: [Aussie Highways] Coverplate Fairy is a neighbour...
From: f1f...@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 13:05:29 +1000
To: aussie-...@googlegroups.com

[davis]

At the same time it also means the RMS program office will probably be interested to take reports or examples of poor jobs and get the contractors back to complete the work to the standard specified.

[Conrad Zalewski]

Agreed, especially knowing which company did which. Didn't Sam show the three goes they had at a B73?

Two more things I remembered:

- The company this bloke works for apparently is a lot faster and efficient at removing the plates then the other companies.

- The most sought after plate is (typically) SR69.

Regards,

Conrad

[Matty B]

Hi Conrad. I would be awfully interested if you get your hands on any NH or NR1's.
Cheers,
Matt

[Vincent Muller]

I'll go ahead and second the request for any NR1s :)

Vincent

[Musa Hodzic]

Can I get a small MR4 off ya? Also try and get one NH1 and NR1, would love them. A NR32 would be perfect for my house number, an SR40 just because I loved that route, if not, then SR44 because I live close to it.

Maybe I've asked for too much.

[barbs]

I would be interested in any coverplates, Im not fussy lol... (happy to pay postage + extra for your time)

[hubertla...@gmail.com]

Would I be able to get a NH1, NH31, MR4 and MR3? J

 

 

Conrad you are an absolute legend! J

[Michael Mak]

I would love to have a NH1/31, MR4 (If you have extras lying around), MR5, MR1, NR1/32?

Michael

[Conrad Zalewski]

So at this stage, four MR4s have been snapped up (Sam (large), Musa (small), barbs and Hubert).

Just to clarify, I can't take 'requests' per say, I can only share what he gets. I'll post details as soon as they're available.

Good news is that he is going up doing about 180 signs on the the Pacific Hwy between Hexham and Taree from the 29th. I have put a request in for "lots of 1s" - I'll share details once I get more.

Regards,

Conrad

[Conrad Zalewski]

No worries - that's one MR4 left, unless I get more emails between now and about 9 tomorrow morning, I could get more at this stage.

Regards,

Conrad

[Brendan Terrett]

Thanks for getting all of this information! Now it makes sense why there are so many dodgy cover plating jobs. I'd be interested in just about any upcoming cover plates you can get :)

Sent from my iPhone

> Regards,
> Conrad
> <photo.JPG>

[Adds]

i wouldn't mind getting a NH1 or NR1 please?

i missed the blokes during the early hours of the morning the other day when they removed the coverplates off the huge sign out the front of my house for the Pacific Motorway!

[Erk]

I'm more than happy to take an MR4 off your hands, also an MR9 & a SR44 if you manage to snag those ones.

I think the demand is there! LOL

Erk
usually near A44/A9 & A9/M4

[Leo Giusti]

I think I would like a SR40 and NH/R1 if possible.

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[Musa Hodzic]

Thanks mate. Looks like they're going like hot cakes LOL.

[barbs]

Thanks Conrad :)

[Conrad Zalewski]

No worries at all everyone - figured this was an opportunity too good to miss.

So Erk got the last MR4 I took. I've got post it notes on each of them.

I am happy to store them (and hopefully any subsequent ones) until a pick up or drop off location and date is arranged. I live near Mt Druitt, girlfriend lives near Parramatta and I work at Rhodes, but I enjoy going on weekend drives, so I am pretty flexible.

Regards,

Conrad

[Ben Johnson]

Great stuff Conrad...

I'm interested in a couple of NH1s for sure!!

Ben

[Erk]

Sweet! Today's my lucky day!

Thanks, Conrad!

Erk

[Musa Hodzic]

I'm in Blacktown. We could easily meet somewhere I guess.

[Henry Ung]

There are a lot of members living in the Mt Druitt area including myself. It seems to be the largest concentration of aussiehighways members for some apparent reason. It would be good to meet up and trade stuff :P

[Michael Mak]

Windsor here :) 

Sent from my iPhone

[m780a1]

Nice work!

I wouldn't mind a NH1 overlay (or any overlay for that matter...) :)

[Paul Rands]

Ex-Penrith, St Marys, Willmot and Lakemba here. Got mates and relos in those areas, so not hard to get to those places again. :)

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[Brendan Terrett]

Matraville here :/

I do go to UWS so I suppose that makes me an honorary westie

Sent from my iPad

[Paul Rands]

I know a lot of folk who became westies after finishing at UWS :)

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[Matty B]

Central Coast here.. Westies by the sea!

[Albert Alcoceba]

Werrington here :D

[Adds]

Also central coast here.

[Vincent Muller]

Wollongong here :/ I don't suppose you'd want to make a trip out to my work in Auburn if you manage to pip a spare NR1 Conrad? :p I'm also happy to meet you halfway between Auburn and Rhodes during the week.

On Tue, Aug 27, 2013 at 11:35 PM, Adds <adds...@gmail.com> wrote:

Also central coast here.

[Conrad Zalewski]

Once I get all the plates everyone wants to pickup - I'm happy to arrange a place to meet anyone. We can discuss details when the time comes.

I did get a few plates during the week, but no duplicates. I will keep most of them though (sorry!). They are: NR1, NH1, NH31, MR5, MR6 and SR1. That last one isn't a typo either :/

Tonight's the night that they're going up to do Hexham to Taree. I'm hoping that on the weekend I will be able to pick out a lot of NR1s and anything else that's available.

--


Conrad...

[Michael Mak]

Conrad, would you be able to get the abomination up at Tamworth? Like the MR95 and the others?

[Conrad Zalewski]

No idea - this bloke claims I know more about the alphas then he does. I can ask if he's been up there in recent months though.

With at least four companies working and him not knowing what he's doing and where he's going until about 2-3 weeks out - it's really a lucky dip!

[Paul Rands]

NR1 x2 for me please :)

--
Paul Rands
paul...@gmail.com

[Ben Johnson]

I'd absolutely love a couple of NR1 or NH1s, and a MR5 / MR6 if at all possible. Happy to pay/trade for your trouble.

Ben

Sent from my iPhone

[Coonabaraman]

I will eagerly put my hand up for a NR1, a NH1 and a SR1 if it happens to come up again and you want to relinquish it. :)

Also very happy to trade wine for coverplates (we own a vineyard). LOL

Ben (the other one).

[Andrew Ison]

One of those (any will do!) will look great in my car hole.

[Andrew Ison]

... if there are still any available, I live in Camden and can pick it up.

[Vincent Muller]

I found out during the week that where I work isn't too close to Rhodes, if you're still able to procure an NR1 - thanks Conrad!

On Sat, Sep 14, 2013 at 8:37 AM, Andrew Ison <andrew...@gmail.com> wrote:

... if there are still any available, I live in Camden and can pick it up.

[Vincent Muller]

*isn't too far. Same diff :p

[Conrad Zalewski]

I haven't had much luck in the last couple of weeks. I think he's been working days shifts and looking at what I've seen in the truck it's installation of new road signs, not alpha's.

When I see him out, I'll have a chat to him to see if there's anything else he can get. Sorry about this guys, I honestly expected more 'action' than what we've seen.

Regards,

Conrad

--


Conrad...

[Andrew Ison]

No dramas mate! You are definitely going above and beyond here anyway... momentos for us road geeks! :)

[Conrad Zalewski]

Had a chat with the guy, and he's been working flat out over the last few weeks, 13-14hr days. He's been up as north as Kew, but there's still much more to do he says. I asked about SR44s because of the recent activity, and he said that's not them, but G&B. Over the coming weeks, he'll be doing a lot of North Western NSW.

Now, I've got some good news, and some not so good news which turns into OK news.

Good news: I got four, rather large, NR1s today (photo attached - sorry about the quality, it was a shaky panorama - rest assure the plates are straight). The truck was also full of varying size A1s but I was not able to take them - yet.

Not so good news: The guys boss isn't keen on him taking plates so they aren't available as freely as we both initially thought. He said "he threw out hundreds of NR1s over the week".

OK news: We agreed on some financial benefit, and the neighbour is keen to get plates for me, provided they are sold.

I have always insisted I do not want any money (and "I" still don't) - however, this will need to change to get more plates - I'm thinking $20 each? Apologies, but this is a necessity for more plates. Hopefully we could get to a point we could make requests too - maybe?

So, with this in mind, is everyone still interested - more so these latest NR1s?

Regards,

Conrad 

[Brendan Terrett]

Yes, I'm still greatly interested in these. :D

Sent from my iPhone

On 20 Sep 2013, at 7:18 pm, Conrad Zalewski <f1f...@gmail.com> wrote:

Had a chat with the guy, and he's been working flat out over the last few weeks, 13-14hr days. He's been up as north as Kew, but there's still much more to do he says. I asked about SR44s because of the recent activity, and he said that's not them, but G&B. Over the coming weeks, he'll be doing a lot of North Western NSW.

Now, I've got some good news, and some not so good news which turns into OK news.

Good news: I got four, rather large, NR1s today (photo attached - sorry about the quality, it was a shaky panorama - rest assure the plates are straight). The truck was also full of varying size A1s but I was not able to take them - yet.

Not so good news: The guys boss isn't keen on him taking plates so they aren't available as freely as we both initially thought. He said "he threw out hundreds of NR1s over the week".

OK news: We agreed on some financial benefit, and the neighbour is keen to get plates for me, provided they are sold.

I have always insisted I do not want any money (and "I" still don't) - however, this will need to change to get more plates - I'm thinking $20 each? Apologies, but this is a necessity for more plates. Hopefully we could get to a point we could make requests too - maybe?

So, with this in mind, is everyone still interested - more so these latest NR1s?

<photo.JPG>

[Vincent Muller]

Yeah man, I'll take top right if it isn't already claimed. $20 will be fine :)

Vincent

[Brendan Terrett]

Can I take the bottom right if it's not claimed?

Cheers

Sent from my iPhone

On 20 Sep 2013, at 7:18 pm, Conrad Zalewski <f1f...@gmail.com> wrote:

Had a chat with the guy, and he's been working flat out over the last few weeks, 13-14hr days. He's been up as north as Kew, but there's still much more to do he says. I asked about SR44s because of the recent activity, and he said that's not them, but G&B. Over the coming weeks, he'll be doing a lot of North Western NSW.

Now, I've got some good news, and some not so good news which turns into OK news.

Good news: I got four, rather large, NR1s today (photo attached - sorry about the quality, it was a shaky panorama - rest assure the plates are straight). The truck was also full of varying size A1s but I was not able to take them - yet.

Not so good news: The guys boss isn't keen on him taking plates so they aren't available as freely as we both initially thought. He said "he threw out hundreds of NR1s over the week".

OK news: We agreed on some financial benefit, and the neighbour is keen to get plates for me, provided they are sold.

I have always insisted I do not want any money (and "I" still don't) - however, this will need to change to get more plates - I'm thinking $20 each? Apologies, but this is a necessity for more plates. Hopefully we could get to a point we could make requests too - maybe?

So, with this in mind, is everyone still interested - more so these latest NR1s?

<photo.JPG>

[Michael Mak]

Ditto, I will take one too if this is still available 

Sent from my iPhone

[Leo Giusti]

Ditto and am willing to pay $20.

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[Paul Rands]

Yep I am still interested too. Hoping I am not too late for NR1 :)

I am planning to pass thru Sydney soon, so could do a pick up sometime in the next few weeks.

--
Paul Rands
paul...@gmail.com

[Andrew Ison]

If any are still available, I'll stake my claim! :)

[Omegaville]

For those who are on the fence, I'd suggest that $20 is an excellent price.  If it was on eBay it could easily double or triple... if it ended up in an antique or ephemera shop, add an extra 0 to the end of the price.

Guy's boss sounds like a dick... but probably just doing his job...

[barbs]

Im happy to pay $20 for an NR1

[Conrad Zalewski]

Vincent/Brendan - Unfortunately these are already claimed. Apologies.

Everyone - I should come into possession of about 20 "1" plates in the next couple of days. I say "1" because apparently there are a mix of NH1 and NR1. There are some plates which have NR1 on one side, and NH1 on the other side! I will post a photo with size details for who wants which ones. 

I am also fortunate enough to be able to take requests. I will compile a list of all requests and the bloke will see what he can do. I did mention I wanted an SR44, he knows a bloke at G&B so anything is possible. To not overflow the topic, can these emails please come directly to me (f1f...@gmail.com). I know some of you have already made requests earlier, can you please contact me directly regardless.

He is going to do Wylong to the Victorian Border in the next couple of weeks.

Regards,

Conrad

[Andrew Ison]

Request wise, either Metroads 5 or 9 would be great as they are the closest to where I live, but happy with anything! Also happy to pay what is fair...

[Conrad Zalewski]

Hey all,

As hoped, I came into possession of 21 NR1s. NH1s are quite difficult to get a hold off apparently - there are not many out there. One of the NR1s have a brown background instead of the green - must've been taken from a Tourist Drive sign.

According to my list of requests however, 21 NR1s should be enough to distribute to those who are interested. The plates only slightly vary in size, around the 400mm squared mark. All are in good condition.

Currently my list includes: Sam, Paul, Rob, Leo, Brendan, Daniel, Andrew, Matty, Vincent, Musa, Hubert, Michael, Adds, Ben Johnson, Ben (Coonanbaraman). Please confirm if you are all still interested in a NR1. Also, if I missed someone please let me know, as at this stage, there may be some extras. I suspect some may be interested in more than one? Anyone specifically interested in the brown background one?

I spoke with the guy this evening and provided him with a compiled list of everyone's requests. Some of them he said "are done, and would be difficult to get a hold off" (MR5, NH31), some of them he knows his company won't do (NH39 for example), and others he might be able to get his hands on even though his company isn't doing them (SR40 and SR44). He's going up to the coast tonight to do work on SR111.

Regards,

Conrad

On Sat, Sep 21, 2013 at 7:40 PM, Andrew Ison <andrew...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Request wise, either Metroads 5 or 9 would be great as they are the closest to where I live, but happy with anything! Also happy to pay what is fair...
>

[Paul Rands]

Awesome job Conrad. I will email you off list.

--
Paul Rands
paul...@gmail.com

[Andrew Ison]

Yep, still interested (assuming you were referring to me!)

[Vincent Muller]

Yep, definitely still interested Conrad. I'll nut out details for a pick up off list tonight, if that suits.

[Choko]

G'day Conrad, please add me to the list if any are still available. I'd be keen to buy a smaller NR/NH1 coverplate off you (whatever type is fine), happy to pick it up, will send you an email off list.

 

Cheers, Choko

[Omegaville]

If any of you are cricket fans, get onto SR111 stat :)

[Matty B]

Love your work Conrad. Definitely still interested!

[Sam Laybutt]

Ahh he must have uncovered the A43s at the F3 junction on Tuesday night!

There should be heaps of NH1s but i guess his company didnt do the F3. Still a heap of NH1 coverplates around Newcastle though...

---

Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 23:17:09 +1000
Subject: Re: [Aussie Highways] Re: Coverplate Fairy is a neighbour...
From: f1f...@gmail.com
To: aussie-...@googlegroups.com

[Musa Hodzic]

Thank you for keeping us posted and updated on these. Great work mate.

I confirm.

On 24/09/2013 11:17 PM, "Conrad Zalewski" <f1f...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Leo Giusti]

Thank you Conrad. Just out of interest, do you know where they came from? Paul R and I think 

[Conrad Zalewski]

The batch of NR1s were from the bin at his work, so there's no saying where they'd be from.

Some of them have writing and/or stickers on the back with some details.

Regards,

Conrad

[Conrad Zalewski]

Good news - I can get A1s! Need to get a rough number of interested people though as he doesn't want to get too many, and I don't want to ask for too few.

$20 a plate and once again, please contact me directly if you're interested.

Regards,

Conrad

On 1 Oct 2013, at 18:05, Leo Giusti <ttd...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Leo Giusti]

Okies. Will look at the sticker on the back of mine.

[Conrad Zalewski]

Hi all - Long time, no email, apologies. I've been patiently waiting
without heckling the neighbour day in, day out.

I spoke to him today to see what (if anything) was available, and
there are two - SR69 (about 10) and NH15 (unknown amount at this
stage).

I know some people have already told me they were keen on the above
plates, so I can let everyone know whats available if anyone else is
interested once I have them. I've still got a few A1s as well if
anyone is interested.

Other than that, we need to start arranging delivery or pickup of the
set aside plates. I'll contact those who've previously contacted me
about the ones I've set aside.


Regards,
Conrad

[Paul Rands]

Hi Conrad,

Put me down for an SR69. Not sure when I will be up your way next, but it will be in the next month or so. I need to go to Tennyson to pick up some audio gear

--
Paul Rands
paul...@gmail.com

[Adrian Biankin]

Are there any cover plates left? I highly doubt, but no shame in asking :P