robertc

Now the 40 class has been tweaked and is running nicely it is back to the pair of 42's. Ted Freeman once again made special decals for me for all of them. They make the locos look much better. Now I can install the missing hand rails, rear ladders, windscreen wipers etc. Windows were installed with Kristal Klear being applied very thickly for the portholes and number lights. Survival in the outdoors takes precedence! Cheers Bob

Today my NSWGR 40 class is deemed finished ( for the moment) and will now go into service. Here it is seen on a test run just passing the points at Nine Yard Junction. A welcoming ceremony for this and the recent 44 class will be held one afternoon with friends. :>) cheers Bob

Excellent paint jobs there Paul. cheers Bob

I'm a modeller building in the transition era of NSWGR and lots of my models are diesel. Despite the false image that some have of the guild that is all old men sobbing into their beer about the demise of their favourite mobile tea kettle, it is far from the case. One of the most popular threads is an Australian built US diesel layout. Even my modest foreign prototype input gets plenty of interest. There are French and German modellers there too. I have got far more back from my membership fee than I could have imagined. The addition of a separate folder for steam and electric modelling will just make it easier to find subjects on that topic rather than first going for the search function. Bob Comerford

Today Rohan Fergusson normally known for his superb NSW HO modelling turned up with 4472 in 7mm. Imagine my disappointment when I found a British steam engine instead of a NSWGR ALCo! :>) The first hour was spent fixing intermittent shorts between brake gear, wheels and siderods on loco and tender. Then after an oiling session which improved the running immensely I managed to find an old H&M controller to run it. I was worried it had a coreless motor and a run on address 0 on my layout might overheat it. We then found the tender objecting to my generous curves and humps and hollows. But finally managed a few circuits so he could see it run ( wrong road in the end). A very short video can be seen here. http://trainsinshed.blogspot.com.au/ cheers Bob

Thanks Chris, always good to know what options are out there. Watching the exhaust on your 38 suggests to me it is very efficient. cheers Bob

A great scale for live steam operation. I watch the Gauge O running videos and admire the watchmaking but they usually are running around after the loco. The bigger scale does make it easier to fit r/c. Do you know what he is using to build the track Chris? cheers Bob

Well ,that is certainly one individual gronk. Well done, looks very realistic. cheers Bob

I admire your hedging around your line Phil. I guess a hedge trimmer and blower are essential scenery tools for your layout. I have put off doing similar as I am bit worried about creating a snake haven, haven't come up with a better solution yet that doesn't involve laying lots of bricks :>) cheers Bob

Any suitable volatile liquid carrier will suffice Marty, the originator of the idea used white spirit if I remember correctly. cheers Bob

It is sometimes pointed out to me that my decision not to go battery powered radio control (BPRC) outdoors means I will still be stuck with endless cleaning of track and wheels. Well maybe yesterdays running session demonstrates the reason I stuck with track powered DCC. The trains have not been run for some time and we have had plenty of downpours in the interim. While I am lucky I don't live near a coal fired power station or the ocean I am surrounded by plenty of household wood heaters and apart from a couple of days at the start of spring where it reached 30C here, the wood heaters have been belching out smoke on a regular basis since. So there is plenty of crap deposited on the rails outdoors. I first ran my railmotor out of the garage and it was obviously not a happy chappie, starting and stopping and wanting a push every few feet. So did I grab it and rush back inside to scrub the wheels clean and return to polish the layouts rails taking a good deal of time and expending sweat in the process? NO, I grabbed my bottle of powdered graphite mixed with kerosene and a brush and painted a foot (30cm) of track, ran the railmotor through it and from then on the railmotor behaved as reliably as normal. The railmotor is very light by O gauge standards and the other train I set to running was pulled by a diesel that might weigh more than twice as much as the railmotor. It rolled around at a crawl for a while without a hiccup before I sped it up to a speed I thought appropriate and laid back in the sun to watch the pair perform for an hour or so. Here is the CPH So while not as perfect as BPRC I do still think it is reliable enough to suit me at this stage. cheers Bob

Pickups and sideframes next. There's that clean bench again ! :>) cheers Bob

The mechs for the 42's are being built in between all the other happenings lately. There has been some thought from certain quarters that my workbench is either always tidy or has been photoshopped. Just to dispel that rumour :>) cheers Bob

I don't think advertising and computer skills are Greg's forte Chris. :>) One only had to look at his web site to know it needed serious work. Haven't been to it for some time, I purchased some O gauge W irons and bogie castings from him in years gone by. cheers Bob

Square balsa used to be the first 'go to' for many modellers Martin. Thoughtful train modellers would take the hard/ heavy stuff leaving the light/good stuff for the aeromodellers. :>) cheers Bob

A little more progress. Getting to the stage where it is becoming more like a job :>) Basic chassis, bogies and chassis mounting rails shown. cheers Bob

Greg seems to have found his niche with gauge one. Was there any other O gauge at Liverpool besides Arakoola?

Is the water gin a kit? GME were (are?) heavily into NSWGR gauge one models in urethane. I did consider returning to it at one time but (perhaps wrongly) thought my yard too small to do it justice with the larger locos and stock so opted for O . cheers Bob

Darren, the only option for a 1:48 930 might have to be a total scratchbuild. I have never looked at it seriously but I suspect doing a cut and shut on an FA body to make a 44/930 would be a lot more complicated than the 42/S/GM one. I can't remember any being done in HO or N to give a clue to the issues. I suspect the demand for a 930 in the appropriate scale would not be enough to justify an Asian brass version. One advantage of working in S scale was I never had a scale issue, it was all 1:64 with modellers I conversed with in many countries. cheers Bob Hi Chris, did you go to Liverpool?

I wonder if these were Col Shepherd ones? The maker of mine and yours are the same. Maybe I got one of your pair? cheers Bob p.s. Apparently one of Col's finished here. http://www.binnsroad.co.uk/railways/shepherd/index.html

A few coats of yellow and the basic idea takes shape. You can get an idea of the range of paint manufacturers represented in these models too :>) Unlike using petrochemical solvent based paints I can spray and brush without a care that it is high humidity at the moment. cheers Bob

They do exist as do SAR modellers but they keep themselves well hidden Martin :>) A pity, much more colourful than NSWGR dirty black and red-brown.

Hi ??, if I ever end up with another body and the time it will be an S. It would be good to see a VR O gauge modelling thread on here. There are two of us who fly the NSWGR flag. regards Bob

Plenty of painting now to go. My shaky hands really make this bit interesting :>) So far 5 different brands of paint have been used. I need to thin out the collection of bottles so these pair are being used as part of that process. The wiskers will be decals. cheers Bob

If this summer weather keeps up I'll have to go outside and start gardening :>) From -1 to 16 in two days overnight minimums and mid summer maximums for the first two days of spring. Amazing! There has been a lot of work adding small details to the two 42 class bodies.Hard to see where the hours went and still more to go. Some front handrails and rear ladders will go back on when decals have been applied. Top of the rear doors filed flat after looking at the photo :>) cheers bob