VRBroadgauge

Maybe it was about 1930 and he was trying to obtain Phar Lap,,,

I can be built to standard gauge. May have to tweak my simplistic brakes. I'm using 13.7mm association axles so wheels will plug straight in. I'll send you one when I get them done shortly.

How about an international one? I'm doing a VR tri-axle horsebox for myself next. It'd probably fit into that rake nicely. If you'd like one Jerry I'll send one to you.

Not just one.... you'll need to talk to Kev. :)

I agree Simon. The thing is quite mad. I think it will be fairly strong. There's three layers of etch on the main beams and quite a bit of bracing. Kev is doing the test build to see how it goes. I spent quite a bit of time on it and I'm hoping it turns out well.

Whilst not broad gauge this is equally as interesting. Anyone hazard a guess?

My latest etches. VR tri axle Z (guards) van and a WT water tank.

Some photos from the Australian National N Scale Convention in Goulburn NSW. A great time was had by all. A big thanks to Phil Badger and crew for a well organised and informative weekend. I particularly enjoyed the tour of the roundhouse and catching up with old friends and making a few new ones. Kevin Knight and I flew the 2mm Finescale flag from our broad gauge flagship and received more interest than we anticipated. I have to say that Kev’s build job on my wagons is spectacular. Some got it - some didn’t. I managed to put together 82 axles of wheels to go with the 41 completed wagons that Kev brought down from Queensland. I’m glad I made the decision to model in 2FS broad. We’ll be ramping up some exhibition work in the near future.

I've gotten great service from PPD. Sometimes there's things that have to push the envelope. I've done this a few times and have always received the usual fine results. There have been over 50 wagons built from my designs and etched by PPD to date. It must be an Australian thing. A friend of mine also uses them and got a slap until he used the disclaimer. :) The use of stainless for rods is something that I'll probably pursue. I'm still coming to grips with my locomotive designs. Walschaerts gear has been a bit of a challenge but I'm nearly there.

I talked to a friend of mine who does lighting for theatres. He suggested a line of the golden LED's with a wash of a line of white LED's to bring out the details. He also suggested mounting them with barn doors so that the lighting can be both directional and adjustable. I'm enjoying your pictures immensely. I take it you're getting your etches from PPD. I trust you're not getting a slap every time you send them some artwork. Some of mine has been questionable (I like to push the envelope) so I've had to give them the disclaimer that if it fails it's due to my design. I've done a small train shed of St Alban's Abbey for a friend but nothing as grand as this. I like that you're thinking big.

A question about point control Laurie. What point control systems are you using on Yeovil? I'm aware that you've used wire in tube for some of your points. Is that right across the board? I'm looking at using servo motors and levers for all my non fiddle yard points. The levers are cost prohibitive but a long desired item. I was planning to use the 4mm society etched versions but it appears that they're out of stock. I have 29 points including two double slips and 6 signals on the layout proper and 13 in the fiddle yard. I may even have a crack at etching some versions of my own. I'd be interested to know what you're planning.

This bit of bench work is as follows. Up the left side is the fiddle yard with broad and standard gauge yards. The broad gauge complex (Wodonga) will need a turntable to reverse locos. The standard gauge (Albury) will not as locomotives in the down direction were engine first and returned tender first. Trains to Bandiana had two guards vans for ease of shunting. Across the top is Bandiord with both north and south Bandiana represented. This is dual gauge with three rail gauntlet trackage and mixed gauge diamond crossings. I was able to obtain some 1970’s aerial photographs which showed the tracks and warehouses still in place (as I remember them). Down the right side is Tallangatta (old). This includes a double slip switch to the stock sidings. There is a 50’ turntable, single stall engine shed, coal stage, water tank and water column, gangers shed, station building, goods shed and a couple of houses at the down end. All of these benches are attached to the walls and reinforced so that there is no need for legs. This section is level although there should be a slight down grade through Tallangatta yard. The datum bench height is 1200mm. Valances will be provided to the front of the bench work and point levers will be bracketed from this. I propose the use of servo motors for the control of points and signals. The fiddle yard may use mechanical throws. More to come.

I can see why you're enamored by Yeovil Laurie. The landscape is truly wonderful. It's so different to my part of the world.

Truly sent from the southern hemisphere....

Tallangatta 1941’s eventual home. A model of the model so to speak. The wall at left is a stud wall inside the shed. This serves two purposes. 1. To seal off the roller doors for insulation purposes. 2. The space it creates will house my workbench (for timber and larger metal work) and my paint booth. There will be access to the train room through some doors which will be mostly snibbed shut. I’ll be constructing the bench work to scale out of card to see how things look. Any changes are easier to make at this stage. It will also show any problems sooner than later.

This is my shed. Currently it’s full of stuff - some train related but mostly not. This drawing is my initial design for Cudgewa 1940. It’s a point to point layout with a reasonable size dual gauge fiddle yard simulating Wodonga and Albury yards. There are also two loops (bg & sg) simulating South Bandiana. North Bandiana is on the other side of Bandiord. Moving clockwise we have Tallangatta down the right hand wall. Then there is a 12m section of track that runs up grade through Darbyshire and the first highway overpass. The line then turns back toward the door and finishes at Beetoomba. I’ve taken the liberty of modelling Beetoomba in 1920 when it had a station, turntable, engine shed and coal stage. This will also feature an 18 opening trestle and the timber tramway that was bringing cut timber to the station. I’ve managed to get these locations modeled to scale. Bandiord was fortunate that I obtained aerial photos that were taken in the 70’s. I was able to scale them down and make the appropriate drawings. Tallangatta was designed from construction drawings and land titles that I was able to get. Beetoomba is about 500mm too short. I ran out of space. I’m hopeful that construction will start by the end of the year.

There's some parts on the M wagon etch that don't belong. If you look carefully there are a number of architectural items namely sash windows and 4 panel doors. Each of these fold up into a unit. *Kev. Three windows (2 sash and a fixed multi pane for a VR engine shed) and two doors (one four panel and a timber number with the diagonal framing to the back).

Watch out next week Burpengary Wagon Works...

There is no timber or metal framing. The base is just a piece of 1200 x 600 30mm foam. I basically used partial layers of foam as contours and glued them together with wood glue. I marked out the track geometry and contours on another 1200 x 600 piece of foam and did a sort of cookie cutter thing where each contour dropped down till I got to the bottom of the gully. The reason I took this approach is that I had the original natural surface center line levels and so was able to reconstruct the basic environment. It's not perfect but it's close. Fortunately there are a lot of photos of this spot as it was popular with gunzels in the past. I've got another trestle in mind to do the same way. There's a bit more work in that one but the civil engineering is more straight forward.

It's pretty green at the moment. It doesn't get England green but nice enough. The trestle isn't finished. I've only put a bit of paint over the Sculpt-it and foam to try a couple of things out. There's static grass and foam for the extensive fern beds in the gully.

I've always thought that I'd go summer or autumn. The grass is the yellow you see in the photos but there are other colours coming through. Nothing says oz like this landscape. There was a modeller in the US that did a model of the Yosemite Valley. His landscapes were like the Australian summer landscapes and I always admired them.

You get the general idea. The lateral bracing and timber kerbs need to go on. I’ve etched the refuge and will install that too. I’m still tinkering with the colours but it’s reasonably accurate. The deck is timber and ballasted. These were pretty amazing structures. The piles are basically reasonably straight gum trees which in some cases are bolted one on top of another. They held up a mighty amount of weight and many still exist.

I found these photos by Weston Langford. This is what I'm trying to achieve with my modelling. These sorts of goods trains in this environment. These photos were taken in summer - note the colour of the grass. I've made a model of this trestle to scale. I was able to find the original track geometry and centerline levels for the natural surface and recreate the rest off photos. The bridge is on an 8 chain curve on a 1:40 grade (up grade right to left in photo). There are 17 openings at 20 foot span. If anyone is interested I'll post a pic. It's not quite finished. This photo is approaching the first photo on a down Cudgewa goods. The line actually crosses two of those trestles in quick sucession - the second is higher than the one pictured. Just after that there is a climbing reverse loop that passes under the Murray Valley Highway twice before reaching Koetong (Koo-ee-tong) and then Shelley which was the highest railway station in Victoria. This was the top of the grade and trains stopped at Shelley and applied the handbrakes on the wagons to descend to Beetoomba (Bee-toom-bah). There were a couple of massive runaways and derailments of cement trains in 1964 on this stretch of line. This is Beetoomba. It was the terminus of the branch from the end of WW1 till 1921 when the line reached Cudgewa. This picture is looking back towards Shelley and you can just make out the start of the grade back up the hill. The locomotive is a VR K class 2-8-0. I'm building one of these and the drawings are about 75% complete. I'm still grappling with the valve gear (Walschaerts) and a couple of other details. Most of the 20th century locos of the VR had bogie tenders. The K is no exception. These locos were well loved by the crews and there are quite a few in preservation. I drove one at a heritage line until I broke it....

I look forward to seeing the results. Let me know what doors and windows you need Kev.

Doesn’t look like a whole lot of anything at the moment but I’m hoping the end result will be cutting edge. This is module 4 of 4 of what will be an exhibition layout. I’ve printed up a bit of track which is 5 metre radius. This will be the main line and the loop will be where the painted wagons are. Goods trains will enter from the right and pull up at the bracket signal which is on module 3 of 4. I glued in some 30mm foam insulation to tough in the topography. I know it’s too flat but we’ll fix that. This is just to get the basic shapes and see the relationship between the scenery and the track. There will eventually be a row of district railway houses above the right of way. Module three will feature a gated level crossing and some etched lacework signals. I have to do some research on 1940’s level crossings.