LSWR

Exhibit A Flat car on left is a new US Model Power offering; Flat on the right is an older Freightline product. I have noticed that particularly with low end freight cars that the Australian version is often a "rebadged' (half the price) US product. Lima even went so far as to slap a V/Line sign on a SNCF bogie curtain car. I have examples of both cars. An enterprising modeller could even hack an old Rivarossi E9 (right, about $25) into a passable model of a Class 42 (left) I am only suggesting that our Canadian poster should not be put off modelling Australian railways

I have been able to buy quite a few used older Australian models for reasonable prices here in the USA including all three Lima C38 pacifics. They are toy trains compared with the latest Eureka offerings but they look the part. Another thing to remember is that much Australian equipment was built under license from American manufacturers. In fact a lot of the low cost models of Australian equipment are "rebadged" versions of the model manufacturers American product (made in China, of course!)

In BR steam days relatively few express trains had start to stop speeds of more than sixty miles an hour. Steam locomotives were much more effected by adverse gradients than present traction. Just look in the old railway magazines for the reports by train timers of specific runs with specific locomotives. The fastest passenger (non-stop between or at either timing point) up expresses going uphill from Eastleigh to Worting Junction (near Basingstoke) on the ex-LSWR main line, (23.275 miles) took 28 minutes according to the 1962 Working Timetable I have. This represents a speed of 50.89 mph. Down expresses going the other way downhill took 21 minutes at 66.5 mph. It was not unknown for these down trains to reach 90 mph below Micheldever to gain or make up time. At the other extreme it took the "Rail Motor" (M7 plus push-pull set) 22 minutes to go the 11.0375 miles between Wareham and Swanage, including a stop at Corfe Castle, at a speed of 30.1 mph. On the Old Road between Brockenhurst and Broadstone the Rail Motors would rocket along at a WTT average speed of 27.4 mph.

If you need to "justify" a Hawksworth carriage on your layout, here's a picture I posted on a previous incarnation of RMweb that may help. BR(S) Winchester City, 1966, third rail (not yet energized), 9F, leading carriage of inter-regional train is a Hawksworth.

The Brazilian model manufacturer Frateschi make two EMUs pictured here and here on the website of their Australian dealer Hobbies Plus in Stratford, Vic. Perhaps one of these models could form the basis of a Melboune EMU.

My picture from a slightly earlier period in 1965 at Fareham where you can take your pick of motive power. Plymouth - Brighton (BRCW Type 3) meets Portsmouth - Bristol (Swindon Inter-City) with BR Standard Class 4 2-6-4T waiting on the Gosport branch to take the Portsmouth carriages off the train from Plymouth.

That was quite a parade of both maintenance of way equipment as well as locomotives. What Australian standard gauge diesel locos were not represented? I even noted the Auscision VR B class in the mix.

As somebody who has taken a look at Bachmann's Thomas range here in the U.S. I would say don't get your hopes up too high. To me, the models look designed down to a price as a toy and for simple manufacturing. For some models Bachmann has used its British OO molds, others appear to have been developed from scratch and it's the latter that don't impress me. Of course, even the Underground Ernie range had bits that were useful to scale modellers, so your opinion may be different.

I appreciate all these pictures of today's Australian railways. I had a month's holiday in Australia in 1995 and had more cab rides in four weeks than I have had in the rest of my existence thanks to the friendliness of Australian railwaymen. I also came to the conclusion that Australia had more preserved locomotives per head of population than any other country. I remember the Victorian extravagance of Ballarat and its signal gantry, having dinner on the tram in Melbourne, Puffing Billy, the Sydney suburban network and riding the Indian Pacific across Australia. The rest of the world's rail fans don't know what they are missing.

I have in my collection an original full length Jouef TGV Atlantique (2 power cars plus 10 intermediate carriages) which I ran on my now defunct club's 20ft by 38ft modular layout at model railroad shows here in New England. Thanks to a large layout, 3ft minimum radius curves and Jouef's overscale wheel profile I could crank the train up to prototype speeds (185 HO scale miles per hour; I timed it). That got everybodies attention. I also have two complete Lima TGV Sud-Est train set (2 + 8) that I set up to chase each other. The Lima InterCity Swallow and Blue-Grey IC125 sets (also 2 + 8) I have couldn't be said to go quite as fast because in OO at 4mm to the foot a scale mile is longer than in HO at 3.5mm to the foot! In all cases I found that one powered power car could do as well as two powered power cars. All were unmodified with the exception of the Lima powered units to which I had added pickups to the unpowered bogie.