The Merry Month of May.........

Welcome to 'the Merry Month of May'.

Modelling Report:

Progress is slow and steady on my Barra Town layout.

A major project is under way consisting of ballasting and weathering the track. I have used Peco code 80 track both setrack and streamline and it's amazing how much better it looks after ballasting. I'm painting the sleepers grey and will 'dirty up' the track after the ballast glue dries. There is one pre-used point which I think I'm going to have to replace. It's the one taking trains into the back platform. Ballasting is a slow process even for a small layout like this so while I'm doing this I'm also fiddling with rolling stock and scenery/buildings.

Buildings and scenery are the two areas of model railways I like the most with electricals being my least favourite, so not a lot of trains have actually run under electricity on the layout yet. Actually none have, so that's an area I need to do something about!

I often get sidetracked, so I found some telegraph poles in a box and have been fitting those as well.

Also because the river end of the layout is easier to access more work has been done at that end than the road overbridge end but I will have to bite the bullet one day I suppose! By the way it's not really a river. It supposed to be a part of a larger river/lake and you just happen to see a small part of it. Sort of like the little bodies of water which abound along the Hawkesbury, so there is no visible source for the water. I'm in the process of 're-watering' the river with satin estapol to fix the problem outlined in the last post. Sometimes the traditional way is still the best. I also found a snazzy little fishing made by Noch so that will be fitted when the water dries (see below).

The other thing I discovered recently were more grape vines for my Ga Hong Ha layout, again by Nokia. Yes I know it sounds strange but quite a few grapes are grown in the area where Ga Hong Ha is supposed to be situated in Vietnam, mainly in the cooler hills. The buildings are from a company in the UK and still need to be painted.

Heritage Photos:

From top to bottom:  Brand new L275 outside Clyde Engineering works at Clyde/Granville, freshly painted 3616 (with the Giesl Oblong Injector), "American" end platform suburban coach in the Clyde Yard, P Class 3255 on a tour train (set 108), and 3526 on a tour train at Picton (note white lining - a mistake made on the loco's initial restoration- the lining is now gold.

Vietnam Photos: A couple of Vietnam photos just to add variety. The first one shows a D12-E class D12E-637 doing a bit of shunting in the pouring rain and the second shows US built boxcar still in use more than 50 years after delivery.

 
There'll be more in a week or so so stay tuned. Don't touch that dial!

See you then.

Birthdays.........

I've been spending the last week or so organising a party for my wife's 60th birthday so not a lot of modelling going on.

I did, however, get the new legs onto Barra Town with my wife's help so I was quite happy about that. 'She who must be obeyed' seemed quite happy to be involved.

As I wrote in my last blog the legs have wheels and I wasn't too sure whether they would be successful. I probably need to install a couple of cross pieces just to add a little bit of extra strength.

Fortunately they are just what the doctor ordered. I can move the layout around the space I have in the garage so access each side more comfortably. Also the layout is now at a much more comfortable height. No more bending down to do scenery work or take photos.

I still have to bolt the legs because they are currently held with g-clamps which I keep on running into (annoying). So the sooner I get the bolts fitted the better.

Another task I've started on is converting my Tomytec office building into a bank for Barra Town.

 

Considering it's origins, the model is quite similar to the real Commonwealth Bank in Coonabarrabran, though a little smaller. I've added Commonwealth Bank logo and sign. I still have to paint the yellow panels. I was thinking of adding an ATM on the side but I think that's way off.

If you haven't seen them before, the Japanese models (Tomytec, Kato) come pre-painted and can be clipped together if you don't like gluing. The first kit of this building I bought in a well known western Sydney hobby shop for $30 or so. It was used on my Vietnamese layout. The Barra Town one I got from my Japanese source and it cost me about $15.00 including shipping. There's a lesson to be learned there I think.

The second photo also shows what a great modelling tool Google Earth is. I've never been to Coonabarrabran but Google Earth allows me to wander the streets to my hearts content taking 'snaps' of interesting features just as if I was there.

This Weeks' Heritage Photos:

I'm continuing my project to scan all my prints into my computer. At some point I will start working on them to improve the quality but for now here's a couple you might find useful.

 Again these were taken with my trusty 'Instamatic' camera around Bathurst Yard sometime in the late 60's. From a modelling point of view the telegraph poles/yard light poles are interesting, as well as what appears to be a match truck of some sort between the 49 class diesel and the van. The goods train with all the 4-wheelers and covered open trucks is also evocative of the times.

 Another shot of unusual rolling stock. These appear to be some sort of 4-wheel sleeper carriers and a ways and works van. Photo taken at Clyde in Sydney.

The UP Spirit of Progress hauled by double 44 class back to back enters and leaves Strathfield Station heading for Sydney terminal while a youthful photographer takes aim. Again, sometime in the late 60's.

Well that's your lot for this time. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings.

So I'll talk to you again next time.

April showers.......

Welcome to April.

I've been a bit lax with blogs in March. Hopefully I can get back to once a week in April, which was my original intention.

Some History

As I noted previously I've been going through many of my old photos and scanning them into my computer.

So here's one for the books. Sorry about the quality but this photo shows my original attempt at Australian modelling. It's HO.

The models are the original HO NSW kits, a UME flat wagon and MRC refrigerated van by MRC models (in wood) and an RU wheat hopper and BDX open wagon (in carboard!) by Rod Tonkin. The RU used a Lima chassis and the BDX had a very rough cast metal underframe which gave it the weight it needed. Later I purchased the original Berg's brass 32 class for the princely sum of $59.95 I believe, an enormous sum for a student in those days. I still have the locomotive, but after being dropped on a concrete floor it isn't quite the locomotive it was! This would have been around 1967-9. I could check the dates for the models in AMRM but I haven't yet. I was introduced to Australian HO by a friend of mine Stewart Livesy who gave me a copy of a new magazine called (then) Australasian Model Railroad Magazine probably around 1966.

Before I entered the Australian model world I had had a Marklin layout since about 1963-4 which slid under my bed on casters.

My modelling was sort of interrupted (or at least slowed down considerably) when I went to Papua New Guinea in 1971 to teach for 7 years. When I came back in 1978 I had partially switched to N Scale. It was pretty rough and coarse and didn't run very well so later I reverted to NSW HO for a number of years particularly when the Lima models became available.

What's happening on my current layouts?

Below is a photo of the new legs ready to be fitted under the Barra Town layout. The horizontal pieces look a bit odd to allow for the layout frame. Currently the layout is resting on one of those white fold up tables. The frame will increase the height of the board considerably. Because I have limited space in my garage I have fitted wheels as per a recent Model Railroader Magazine article so I can move the layout to give me more room on the side I am working on. A bit of an experiment. I'll let you know how it goes. The big changeover is scheduled for tonight if everything goes according to plan and "she who must be obeyed" agrees to help. I'll let you know how that goes as well.

I finally got the three main trestle pieces fitted as well but still have to fit the pieces at each end and have started painting the river and adding water. Also the timber trestles need more paint and weathering.

 I have always used satin estapol to simulate water on my layouts, building it up in layers.

This time I have been trying a water based clear paint. A bit of a failure unfortunately. The paint has dried to a cloudy white colour, particularly where it's a little thicker. I don't know why this has happened but I'm going to have to go back, repaint the river bottom and then use estapol. At least I know that works.

Unfortunately nothing has happened on my Vietnamese layout since last post.

Your heritage photos for this week:

Again sorry for the poor quality. They are all photos of the opening of the electrification to Campbelltown in 1968 (4th of May). Taken with a small  126 'Instamatic' format camera hence the square images.

The same day was also the declaration of Campbelltown as a city.

The celebrations included a visit by the Vintage Train (1709 and 1243), a couple of S sets and a 20 class and 30 class tank. The AD60 was pulling the tour train I was on. The 40 class passed us pulling an UP Moss Vale Passenger (I think!) 1709 is seen being admired outside the long gone Campbelltown Loco.

Well, that's your lot for this week. See you in about a week's time.

Cheers.

Rainy day... dream away....

Welcome back.....

Plenty of work going on on my Barra Town layout this week. Roads and scenery have made some advances with more to come. As well I've been trying to make some sort of sense of the various unmade and partially completed kits I've collected over the years. I didn't know I had so many!

I suppose at some stage I will have to make some decisions about the 'era' the layout is meant to represent. At the moment the layout could be anything from the 1960's to present day. It's a real 'transition' layout, but I probably need to narrow it down a bit. Why is this important? Well it has a lot do with colour schemes, rolling stock codes (three letter codes or four letter codes for freight for example) and even things like, is it a CountryLink station with appropriate signs, or is it earlier NSW railways with the older signage? Anyway it's my layout so I suppose I can run whatever I like even if  that includes a Southern Pacific SD9 with a string of boxcars!

You might notice that I still haven't ballasted a lot of the track, particularly in the yard. This is because I want the ballast to appear on top of the ground rather than have plaster on top. I also want to do a little 'fine tuning' of the track before I finally apply the ballast. For example I've discovered that  a small part of the platform is too far onto the track, so wide rolling stock scrapes the edge. This will need to be fixed before the ballast is laid. Another issue is the backroad at the station. The track I used was poor quality 'leftover' track. I intend to replace it and the point which also seems to have  a problem. It's also much easier to solder track wiring when there's no ballast to get in the way.

You also might be wondering why I rarely show the other side of the layout. Currently it has a coal mine complex left over from a previous layout. I'm in the process of deciding whether it should be replaced with a wheat silo. The idea is to use that side as a makeup track as well so having a coal mine makes this a bit awkward because the mine building is over the sidings rather than beside them. Anyway I seem to have more grain hoppers than coal anyway.

As you can see there's a lot more work to be done.

Here's something to look at while you're waiting for the work to be completed:

 I took this photo yesterday at Campbelltown Station of a four car K set operating on the Blacktown Yoyo. These trains are often non airconditioned and overcrowded, so hot and uncomfortable particularly in summer. 45 degrees in one of these sets is no joke. Sydney Trains seems uninterested in putting on an 8 car set. Anyone who has caught this train, particularly coming back from Parramatta to Campbelltown in the afternoon peak will know what I mean. And of course they don't run at all on weekends. Did we do something wrong? You get the feeling that the powers that be aren't all that interested.

Your heritage photos this week consists of 900 class railmotor on the Up Canberra Service (Canberra-Monaro Express) in the 1980's in candy colours, and 6042 hauling passenger cars on a tour in the later 1960's.

There was always a bit of a disagreement as to how you actually said "Canberra-Monaro". I remember once listening to a station announcement naming the "Canbra/CanbErra- MonAIRo/MonAro" Express as the next train due. Two bob each way?

And from my Vietnam Railways archives:

141-206 on a plinth outside Da Nang Station. These 2-8-2 locomotives were built in China as direct copies of earlier French locomotives during the 1960s.

Well that's your lot for today. I hope you got something out of my ramblings.

Until next time.

First Day of Autumn

Welcome to autumn.

A lot cooler than the last few weeks and a little damp. Work on my Barra Town layout has picked up a little bit.

I've been continuing the work on scenery and in particular made a start on roads for Barra Town itself. I use 20 thou styrene sheet to make the road and then paint it in either Faller road colour, or if I can't find it, $2 shop grey acrylic which is very similar.

I still haven't finalised the placement of the town buildings but I think they're probably nearly right. Note the half finished DPM kit next to the general store. I found this and another DPM kit during a bit of a search through my storage boxes and drawers. Again they will have to be modified to Aussie styles at some point.

The other thing I noticed is that the Faller road colour looks OK on the roads, but looks a bit dark on the station platform. I might lighten it a little bit. A sort of 'faded' colouring. The signal box in the photo will not be used. It will be replaced with a  water tank at some stage with a water column between the main line and the passing siding.

I've also been working on some rolling stock.

This is where my KHG is at this time.

If you remember I spent some time looking for the correct colour for NSW Indian/tuscan red, This is Tamiya Dull Red and it comes in spray cans (TS33). It looks pretty good to me. Of course colours change and fade under the harsh Australian sun so you might disagree, but I'm happy with it. I started adding some decals, but discovered that my stash of M&J decals are way past their use by date so literally fell to pieces. I think I read on a plastic model website that you can refresh decals by spraying them with clear enamel or something like Testors decal spray. I will be trying this. You see being old I seem to have misplaced the decals that actually came with the kit! I think I do have other yellow stripe decals somewhere. My other decision is to whether use the three letter code or four letter code (KHG or NVKF). 

I've also been 'exploring' Coonabarabran using Google Earth. What a wonderful tool this is.

 My intention is to use Coonabbabran as a template for Barra Town, not copy it exactly. I used the street view and took some screen dumps. I really do like the clock tower. It may mysteriously appear on Barra Town at some point.

It's all very interesting and keeps me occupied.

Now for your prototype images for this week.

Above is 86 class electric locomotive 8619 in Bicentennial paint scheme at Central back in the day when authorities still thought that electric traction was part of the future. Before they got greedy and sold it all off.

This is what's at the other end. 8634 in 'candy' colour scheme.

Fast Electric Parcel Van with another van in tow leaving Ingleburn on the UP. Note that not only is the van no longer with us, but the very nice and very old house in the background also mysteriously disappeared one night even though it was supposed to be heritage listed. Ah Campbelltown. Beautiful one day, knocked down the next!

And your weekly Vietnam Railways image:

Type 1 D19E Class 937 about to pull out of Platform 1, Saigon Station on one of the 'SE' trains  1760 km journey north to Hanoi. Chinese built locomotive. Metre gauge. 1950 hp.A newer version was built in Vietnam.

Well that's your lot for this week.  I'll talk to you again soon.