Doug Milne can’t wait for the sounds of St Joseph’s Cathedral’s antique pipe organ to ring out again for the first time in more than 40 years.

The tubular-pneumatic action organ was built in 1925 and 1926 by Whitehouse Bros of Brisbane at a cost of 1320 pounds and was in use at the Catholic cathedral until the late 1970s when it was disassembled.

Doug, a retired school teacher from Brisbane, is working to restore the organ alongside Max Ford from Sydney – a meticulous process expected to take from one to two years.

“There aren’t too many around like it today (pneumatic), ordinarily they would have been converted to electro-pneumatic,” Doug said.

While he’s not a professional – and doesn’t even play the instrument himself – Doug was asked to help restore another pipe organ at his own parish in Brisbane before being approached to do the same job at St Joseph’s.

He refused payment for the work, which helps keep the costs down for the diocese.

While the pipe organ is intact, the restoration has been a big job, with many challenges thrown up along the way.

The organ has been disassembled, vandalised and subject to the elements, including rain and heat.

“The pipe organ was partly pulled apart, as Whitehouse were commissioned to restore it and convert it to electric but they went bankrupt,” he said.

“It’s been water damaged at least three times, including to parts of the valve that we’d already restored. We also found that the keys, which were made of ebony and ivory, were cracked.

“In addition, I work as a volunteer at my own church and can only come up in my spare time, and Max lives in NSW.”

But Doug said there was light at the end of the tunnel.

“We are restoring it as it was, and it is tedious, but we’re now to the stage where we’ve started to connect up all the controllers and systems that have already been restored.

“I’m not a professional so it’s been a matter of trial and error and learning things as we go, but I’m very enthused about the state that it’s in now.”

Doug has fond memories of his childhood in Rockhampton and recalls visiting his grandfather’s home in West St, not far from the cathedral. He remembers the intense heat in summer, which has also impacted the pipe organ.

“It’s been a big job but I love fixing things, I love a challenge and I won’t start something unless I’m 98 per cent sure I’ll get the outcome I want.”