dullsteamer

G'day James, Even though I've worked for the railway in NSW since 1975 in its various incarnations, I've never modelled it. But I can still help you with your search for information. A useful source of information for modelling perway and structures is here: http://grapevine.com.au/~datashet/set_ldscat.html More general information about the NSWGR can be sourced from the Australian Railway Historical Society here: https://arhsnsw.com.au/resource-centre/ And I might as well mention my own club's NSWGR layout, based on Waterfall. That happens to be where I live, and also my home depot. Apart from them being a friendly bunch of people and a short drive down the road from my place, I figured I'd join because I was already qualified for the road! http://imra.org.au/waterfall_.html As you'll see, we used Peco Code 83 track on Waterall as its a fairly close match to the appearance and geometry of NSWGR track of the period we modelled. A lot of NSWGR stations and yards were on large, sprawling sites. If you're not of a mind to build something big, you might consider one of the suburban goods yards or industrial sidings for ideas or inspiration. Sydney had a network of segregated goods-only lines that were very busy in the period you're interested in. Many of these sidings were in fairly restricted locations, verging on cramped. They were served by what we called "trip trains", which would call at various locations to deliver or collect traffic as required. The ARHS recently published a book by John Oakes that covers all the yards and sidings in the Metropolitan area, containing many photos and track diagrams. https://arhsnsw.com.au/product/sydneys-forgotten-sidings/ I still have my 1989 edition of the Sydney Metropolitan sidings handbook, which contains track diagrams, shunting instructions and load tables for the various classes of locos in use then. I can scan pages from that for you if you're interested. During the steam era Sydney suburban trip trains would typically be hauled by 50 or 53 class 2-8-0s, or 36 and 59 class locos towards the end of the era. Early diesel era working was with 41 class locos, later on replaced by 48, 49 or 73 class units. All of these loco types have been produced commercially in HO. There was also a small parcel service provide by dedicated electric parcel vans. These were operated out of the former Mortuary station in Sydney Yard. Larger suburban stations had separate parcel offices, often with their own sidings. Sydney EMU trains have also been produced commercially in HO. Anyway, there's a lot of information available, as well as a good selection of models to choose from. Good luck with your project, feel free to ask me for help if you need it. All the best, Mark.

Great work, Ian. The next time someone asks me to define the difference between "railway modelling" and "modelling a railway", I'll refer them to the AFK. Your emphasis on realistic operation and the way you've achieved it is very impressive. Thanks for sharing your work with us. All the best, Mark.

It was a big event for us, I wouldn't have missed it for quids. Mind you, I was buggered the next day. Cheers, Mark.

It does, but only on the one side that was accessible to the vandals. Luckily the car was withdrawn still carrying overall vinyl advertising. The graffiti will just peel off along with the vinyl. I've taken one panel off already. As we thought, the original SLR livery is intact underneath, and in good condition. Cheers, Mark.

Early on Wednesday morning the Sydney Tramway Museum took delivery of our newest exhibit, a former Sydney Light Rail Variotram, No.2107. Built by Adtranz at Dandenong in Victoria it entered service in 1997, and was withdrawn in 2015. After 3 years of storage in a western Sydney suburb, and lengthy negotiations between Transport Heritage NSW and the STM, 2107 arrived at Loftus on the back of a massive transporter at about 0200. The delivery and unloading was without incident, and after some preparation work and the removal of the unloading ramp the car was driven into the depot under its own power. 2107 is the first production low-floor tram to be preserved anywhere in the world. After three years of outdoor storage it needs some cosmetic work to make it presentable. The car carries vinyl overall advertising, but we removed a section and discovered the original livery is still in good condition underneath. All in all the car is in good condition, and should be back in service fairly quickly. The other six cars in the fleet have all been scrapped, but we were able to collect a large quantity of spare parts to keep 2107 going in the future. I finished work at 0100, so I raced home, woke my son up and then we made our way down to Loftus to help with the unloading. It was a long night, but it was worth it to be part of our tramway history. I managed to get a few photos, but they're only low-res taken with an iPad, so I apologise for their quality.

The museum trams shown are standard gauge. They're former Kyoto Municipal Transport Bureau cars. Umekoji also has one of the narrow gauge Kyoto cars running on a short length of track in the park. Japan's first electric tramway was the private Kyoto Electric Railway, which opened in 1895 using 3'6" gauge. The municipality started building a standard gauge tramway in 1912, and took over the private company in 1918. They converted most of the lines to standard gauge, but the 6.6km route 10 from Kyoto station to Kitano remained narrow gauge until closure in 1961, worked by the original Brill cars like No.27. Others survive in various locations around Kyoto, as well as the operating car at Meiji Mura open air museum near Nagoya. All the best, Mark.

'30 returned to traffic in 1997. After a couple of light engine trials and some time spent running her in down at Port on the Cockie Run, the engine ran a trip for invited guests around the Banko circle from the Powerhouse museum around the middle of October, then had it's public launch at the former SMR workshop at East Greta on Saturday 25th October. We ran '30 engine and van from Eveleigh to East Greta on the Friday. Because of the Beresfield collision on the 23rd that almost didn't happen, but then CEO David Hill insisted that we go as planned, so we were the second train through Beresfield once the road was opened. Once we arrived at East Greta we stabled the EHG crew van on the coal stage road, put the engine in the shed and knocked the fire. That night we had a BBQ and a big session with all the HVTC staff who had worked on the rebuild, as well as old mates from other heritage operations. On the Saturday morning some of the old mates from Richmond Vale generously offered to light the engine up and get it prepared, so we had the rare luxury of a sleep-in. But the punters started arriving early, and it wasn't long before someone stuck their head inside the crew van out of curiosity, and woke us up. So we were up and about in plenty of time for the day's events. When the train hauled by '01 arrived from Sydney we marshalled the two locos nose-to-nose in front of the shed, and got ready for the formalities. The photo below shows '30 at New Loco after we returned from our stay at Port, and she'd been finished off cosmetically in preparation for the handover ceremony at the Powerhouse. The core members of the rebuild team are, from L to R; Rex Peters, Don French, Albert Taylor, Mark Newton (me), Dave Matthews, Jenni Edmonds, Ross Goodman, Tom Anderson, Andrew Grant. (To be continued.) All the best, Mark.

That depends on the division they work for and the role they're performing. There's plenty of folks working in and around the corridor who are issued with orange high vis trousers. All the people in my wife's depot have them. Cheers, Mark.

Sounds familiar. My mate Doug was often asked the same sort of questions when he was exhibiting "Setagaya" and "Enoshima". Cheers, Mark.

Kato do a two-car Kiha20 set that you can still find. If you're up for a bit of simple kitbashing and painting you could make some Kominato Tetsudo Kiha200s out of them - they're based on the JNR cars. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10167010 All the best, Mark.

Kashima Rinkai #6018 with Girls Und Panzer wrapping. Cheers, Mark.

Some diagrams from the 1947 Locomotive Cyclopedia. Sorry about the poor quality images but all I have to work with at present is an iPad - a device I loathe. Cheers, Mark.

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No, but they typically have a firepan or flamepan. You still need to control the amount of air entering the firebox for combustion, and prevent the flame from blowing back and out of the firebox. Watch some video of Cuban oil burners and you can see why running without a pan is not good practice. I'm not at home right now, but when I get back I can post some photos and diagrams showing typical firebox, burner and firepan arrangements on US-built locos. Cheers, Mark.

There's no difference between the basic design and construction of fireboxes for coal or oil fired locos. The differences are in the details. Coal fired locos have ashpans, oil fired locos have firepans, and use refractory brick lining on the lower firebox sidesheets to prevent damage from the burner, and to provide a heat reserve. The firehole of an oil fired loco usually has a fixed fire door with a peephole to view the fire, and a small door to admit sand to clean the tubes. All the best, Mark.

500 series are attractive, no argument there, but I think the E5 and E6 series are the best looking Shinkansen stock. When it comes to special liveries, I think I preferred the 500 series EVA. Cheers, Mark.

Gorgeous model of a rather attractive loco. Mr Allenden was an artist! Cheers, Mark.

I reckon the first location is the better of the two. You'll have room to place all the bits and bobs that typically accumulate around places like this. All the best, Mark.

Seen this morning at Arncliffe on the Illawarra 3526 and 6029 on Central to Hurstville shuttles for the 2018 Transport Heritage Expo. The 35 had 4403 as distributed power, and 6029 had GL112. Cheers, Mark.

I've always thought that having a number of identical locos on a layout is way more realistic than having a "pick and mix" collection of different types. And I'm also a fan of the "Russian" 2-10-0s. If I'd stuck with modelling US railroads they'd have been my choice for shortline power as well. But since I opted for the JNR, I wound up with a fleet of 7 Kato D51s instead. Cheers, Mark.

I have a small fleet of Halling HO electric tramcar models. In my opinion they're very good in every respect. The running is quiet, smooth and controllable whether on DC or DCC. The finish is excellent across the board. The older types of cars have bodyshells with clear inserts for the windows and clerestorys, whereas the modern designs such as the Flexitys have a clear shell that's overpainted with the livery and details. But either style gives a very crisp and attractive finish. If the railcar is as good as their trams it'll be worth having. All the best, Mark.

Tomix have released a new batch of their Oha50/51 subseries passenger cars. These cars were built specifically for service in Hokkaido, and were "cold proofed" to suit. The most obvious difference from the 50 series was their smaller windows. I missed out on getting any of these the last time they were in production so I made sure I got some this time around. They arrived yesterday. After detailing and numbering them I thought I'd make up a consist representing a Hokkaido local or branch line train. The loco is a DE10 from Kato. Cheers, Mark.

The return working passes East Maitland with 3642 this morning: http://www.jnsforum.com/community/uploads/monthly_2018_04/large.IMG_1363.PNG.861bc8c41c3593e4c583dffcf4bd5910.PNG

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/08/carriages-detach-from-train-engine-in-india-and-roll-away-at-speed Good effort. I'm not familiar with modern Indian coaching stock. Air brake or vacuum? Cheers, Mark.

A train believed by some to be from North Korea... Looks remarkably like a China Rail DF11z to me. Cheers, Mark.