dullsteamer

There's a 4mm scale exhibition layout based on Fingal which has appeared at a couple of shows on the mainland: http://australianmodelrailwaymagazine.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-august-2019-issue-of-amrm-is-at.html You might find these pages are useful: http://www.railtasmania.com/modelling/index.php https://tassiemodelrailways.com.au/about-tassie-model-railways/ http://www.sdsmodels.com.au/latenews.htm (Scroll down the page for TGR Y class diesel) Cheers, Mark.

Japanese HO encompasses two scales and three gauges - 1/80, 1/87, 16.5mm, 13mm and 12mm. https://www.imon.co.jp/webshop/index.php?main_page=addon&module=mt_pages&page=scalegauge_table All the best, Mark.

Okoba on the Hisatsu line of JR Kyushu has a spiral and a switchback. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okoba_Station Cheers, Mark.

Russian. First loco looks like a class L 2-10-0. Cheers, Mark.

KiHa35, Kusatsu line. Returning to the depot empty.

The MILW version looks good!

We went through the same nonsense when we painted 3830 in 1997. After going to a lot of trouble to match the samples we had from the loco, all we seemed to hear from self-anointed experts was that the green was "wrong". And they'd back it up by showing you a colour photo photo taken in 1965 on some cheap Eastern European slide film that hadn't aged well, if the purple grass and yellow skies were any indication. I got so sick of hearing this I'd tell people we'd painted it "Wrong Engine Green" when asked. Mark.

If the job isn't properly specified, and the person sent to Meiningen lacks the experience or professional qualifications to oversee the job, you shouldn't be surprised by the result. Mark.

The vans were labelled like that until they were reliveried for the Blue Spot parcel service. That's when they got the railmotor stripes. Somewhere I have a photo of a van and 400 class railmotor No.402 side by side in the same livery. Cheers, Mark.

I think there's more Norfolk and Western A in it than Big Boy...

Nah, these are steampunk... All the best, Mark.

On Sunday 8th December the Sydney Tramway Museum will have a special running day to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the opening of the first permanent electric tramway in Sydney, the George Street line. We have two of the original C class single-truck saloon cars that ran on the line for the opening, and they'll be in traffic on the day. We'll also be running another typical early George St car, F class No.393, which dates from 1901. As a bonus attraction I'll have the steam tram No.1A out on display as well. The Motorlife Museum of Wollongong will be bringing some veteran cars for display on Tramway Avenue. The museum will open at 1000am, and cars will run until 400pm. You can get there by public transport - the museum is next door to Loftus railway station. On the same day Sydney Trains will be hosting a small event at Cronulla station to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Sutherland to Cronulla branch, which replaced the steam tramway between the two suburbs. We'll have our AEC double deck bus there to transport guests to the museum at the conclusion of the event. It should be a good day, so if you're in Sydney come along to Loftus and say g'day! All the best, Mark.

G'day Stuart, Our archivist is currently reorganising our document collection, so I can't get access to the GA drawing of our Nagasaki 1050 series car at the moment. In the meantime I've found a scale drawing of the Tosa Electric Railway 1000 series cars, which were very similar to the Nagasaki 2000 series cars and derivatives. All the best, Mark.

It certainly could be. But the downside is that a model of Richmond as it was would need a lot of space, as it was a typical sprawling NSWGR terminus. Compact it wasn't! Cheers, Mark.

That's been the case for a long time here, going all the way back to The Model Dockyard in Melbourne in the 1960s. They commissioned Japanese manufacturers to build HO scale models of the NSWGR C38 and AD60 class locos, and the VR R class 4-6-4s. Bergs Hobbies of Parramatta in Sydney also started commissioning brass models of NSWGR prototypes in the 1960s. They later produced whitemetal loco kits, and an injected-moulded kit for a Sydney suburban station building. Most recently they've been working their way through the many and varied suburban and interurban EMUs that ran in Sydney. Mansfield Hobbies was another retail outlet that commissioned a range of brass NSWGR locos, which are still highly regarded and command high prices. Casula Hobbies at Liverpool have produced wagon and carriage kits for many years, but now also have a range of RTR rolling stock. They've also announced a RTR NSWGR Z19 class 0-6-0 in HO. The former Tom's Hobbies at West Ryde were affiliated with Trainorama, whose retail outlet is now known as Bob's Hobbies. Orient Express in Adelaide have for some years catered to the SAR modellers with RTR wagons, carriages and an F class 4-6-2T suburban tank engine. By contrast, Auscision went the other way, and went from being a manufacturer only to having a retail shop in Seven Hills in Sydney. I'm unaware of any other retailer/manufacturers, but I'm open to correction on that. All the best, Mark.

G'day Callum, I don't own one myself, but there's a few blokes in my club who have Eureka 50 class models. They're certainly nice looking, but they seem to be a bit patchy in regards to build quality and running. One model only managed two circuits of the layout before it shed its rods on one side. As an alternative you might consider the Footplate/DJH white metal kit, or one of the older Bergs brass models. Cheers, Mark.

My young friend in Hitachi-Omiya tells me that the Suigun line will be reopened between Hitachi-Daigo to Asaka-Nagamori from the 20th of November, and that work will then continue to reopen the rest of the line to Mito. Mark.

Fred, that's an impressive collection of Pacifics you have, I'm more than a little envious. There are three in particular I have a connection with. The first is the JNR C54, as I'm modelling the JNR during the late Showa period, when steam was on the way out. I wouldn't call them a failure. They were simply overtaken by improvements in technology and changes in policy. They were a development of the earlier C51 4-6-2s, intended to improve their route availability and ease of maintenance. But after the initial batch was built in 1932, the decision was made to start with a clean-sheet design, which became the C55 class. Withdrawals didn't start until the late 1950s, and the last two engines in service were withdrawn in 1963. The second is the JNR C55s, a type I'm very fond of. They were the first JNR standard engines to incorporate features based on US practice of the time such as bar frames, one piece cylinder/saddle castings, firebox combustion chamber, self-adjusting driving box wedges, radial buffers and the like. They were fast, free steaming and popular with their crews. I might point out that there were 21 streamlined engines, C55 20 to C55 40. In later years when the tinware came off they could be identified by their enclosed cabs with a higher roof than the other engines in the class. The third is the NSWGR 38 class. But I'll save that for later. All the best, Mark.

Very nicely done, Ross. Good to hear your first exhibition outing wasn't too stressful. All the best, Mark.

I hope not. The young bloke who recently stayed with us as part of a student exchange program lives in Hitachiomiya, and travels to school each day on that line. All the best, Mark.

KiHa81 forming a Hatsukari limited express on the Joban Line. Cheers, Mark.

Prior to 1962, the main interchange between VR and NSWGR took place at Albury on the border between the two states. For interchange of passengers there was as very long platform with standard gauge on one side, broad gauge on the other. Passengers left one train and walked across the platform to their next train. Interchange of freight took two forms. Until 1962 Albury had transshipment sidings where loads were exchanged between SG and BG wagons. Once the standard gauge line from Albury to Melbourne was opened in that year, the other method was to exchange the bogies of wagons at a new facility at South Dynon yard in Melbourne. Wagons equipped for bogie exchange were identified by a black "X" on a white square, and the letter X as the last letter of the wagon code. Two other break-of-gauge stations were at Oaklands and Tocumwal, where VR broad gauge lines crossed the border into NSW. All the best, Mark.

The Shell Bitumen sidings at Rosehill were still in use at least until the mid 1980s. I shunted them many times on the trip trains T87/T88 when I was at Enfield. Both the station sidings and Rheem siding at Rydalmere were also still in use then. The last time I can recall shunting the Co-Op siding at Carlingford was on T88 sometime in 1986. All the best, Mark.

Yes, a lot. Sydenham, Tempe, Rockdale, Hurstville, Oatley, Sutherland, Heathcote and Waterfall. Cheers, Mark.

James, Sorry I have replied sooner, I've been on a road trip through southern NSW with my son while he's on holidays from school. The layout at Mulgrave didn't change between 1939 and the complete electrification of the Richmond branch in 1991, so it would be entirely appropriate for a 1950s era model. I wouldn't include an oil depot though, as they weren't typically a feature of suburban stations or smaller country stations. You might consider a small flour mill or meatworks instead, as there were a number of these on the suburban network that had rail service until the 1990s. This website has a few useful photos showing how Mulgrave looked in the 70s and 80s. https://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Mulgrave&line=NSW:richmond:0# All the best, Mark.