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Australia - Modern Scene


Gwiwer
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34.7km from where I'm staying (Harrington Park) to the museum, the trip is onbiggrin.gif

 

Cheers

 

Craig

 

The Zig-Zag Railway is also well worth a look if you have the time. Basically recreated on the trackbed of the original mainline over the Blue Mountains but as no NSW kit was readily available it is stocked with ex QLD stock etc and is thus 'narrow gauge'.

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This started as an Australian Prototype thread. Should there be a separate Australian Modelling thread in Overseas Modelling?

 

Cheers

David

 

Possibly but since its still a principally British forum it might not attract much. Aside from Andy May from the S Gauge group with his Western Australian stuff, and the more recent addition of 'Broadford' there doesn't seem to be much publicly visible Aussie modelling in the UK. But I think that's largely down to lacklustre promotion at the Australian end.

 

B.

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Hi guys,

There's some stunning pics on here and it's great to see some Aussie interest developing here - so many Brits don't know of anything beyond our own shores, when there is a truly fascinating world out there!

I can't contribute any prototype shots unfortunately as i've not been yet but here is another modelling link: http://eurekamodels.com.au/

and here is an example of what these guys produce;

post-6892-12649536398361_thumb.jpg

Apologies for the poor picture quality but it was a rush job!

The model itself is SUPERB!!!!!!!! I got it with sound and it is one of my best sound fitted locos - the whistle is awesome!

 

A year or so ago, i also managed to pick up "Locomotives of Australia" by Leon Oberg, ISBN 9781877058547 in Ian Allen bookshop in Manchester, England. An excellent reference book if rather expensive!

Cheers,

John E.

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I don't think it's down to lack of variety or interest, as I have hoped to show, but might be through lack of knowledge of somewhere so far away.

 

I think you're spot on with that Gwiwer - Australia's railways - even things like the Sydney local services are something of a revelation when you first come across them. And that even applies if you've done some research before setting foot onto the 'plane let alone off it at the Aus end (and perforce I had to do quite a lot of research as I was in Aus for professional reasons).

 

Mind you getting at Aus model shops is not particularly easy if you are stranger to the country as it seems the best way is first to find somewhere selling model railway mags (it was easier to find 'Model Railroader' and 'Railway Modeller' in central Sydney than it was to find any Australian mags :huh:, I eventually ran them to earth at Central station ) then try to find a shop in the state you happen to be in.

 

The first time I was out there I had the good luck to get to a top quality exhibition - walking straight in to a GW layout of course :rolleyes: . But it did have some excellent indigenous layouts including both 4mm and 7mm finescale. But that GW layout illustrated another aspect of the hobby in Aus - a lot of interest in British and US outline and limited Aus outline r-t-r although know the latter has improved in both quantity and quality over the last 5 years.

 

And the visit to an Aus exhibition resulted in the appearance of the loco shown below on an 'under construction layout set in (old) South Wales B) But the supply situation over here for anything else Australian - other than by mail order - is I suspect far worse than trying to obtain British outline stuff in Aus.

 

post-6859-1264957295241_thumb.jpg

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The Zig-Zag Railway is also well worth a look if you have the time. Basically recreated on the trackbed of the original mainline over the Blue Mountains but as no NSW kit was readily available it is stocked with ex QLD stock etc and is thus 'narrow gauge'.

 

We were up in the blue mountains yesterday as far as Katoomba, we didn't get to Lithgow unfortunately.

We did have a ride on http://www.scenicworld.com.au/index.php/rides/scenic-railway-en which is billed as the steepest incline railway in the world.

 

Have also managed to find a few model shops nearby, luckily our local newsagent had a copy of Australian model railway magazine!

 

We also took a trip into Sydney from Macarthur, out on a DMU and back on a doubledeck unit, spotted some other stock including an XPT and an IR NSW class 44 in the container terminal at Minto.

 

We're planning on taking a trip to the NSW railway museum at Thirlmere early next week too.

 

Cheers

 

Craig

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I have found this thread quite interesting.

 

On the modelling front, I would be very interested to find out more about the Australian N Gauge manufacturers and N Gauge scene in general. For example, what scale is Australian N.........

 

More than happy for this to start into another thread btw

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Mind you getting at Aus model shops is not particularly easy if you are stranger to the country as it seems the best way is first to find somewhere selling model railway mags (it was easier to find 'Model Railroader' and 'Railway Modeller' in central Sydney than it was to find any Australian mags huh.gif, I eventually ran them to earth at Central station ) then try to find a shop in the state you happen to be in.

post-6859-1264957295241_thumb.jpg

 

If visiting, you would be best to contact a local modeller and ask them to show you around the shops, as they are hard to find and often not located in city centres due to the high rents. There are nowhere near the number of model railway shops in Australia that there are in the UK, and probably nowhere near the number of railway modellers either.

 

Keep in mind that Australia is a vast place, you could stuff the entire UK in there around 60 times, and with a population of only 21 million.

 

As a result, many Australian modellers purchase via the Internet, and some sellers of RTR models only deal via the Internet. Model railway shops have been dying off in Australia steadily for some years now. Because of the geographic distances, modellers often find it more convenient to buy by mail order, and doing so via the Internet is becoming more the norm.

 

There is one main model railway magazine, the Australian Model Railway Magazine, published primarily by volunteer labour by the Southern Cross Model Railway Association, a NSW club. It is mostly distributed by mail, but is sold to a few news agents and bookshops, but is not easy to find. It does IMHO, an excellent job, and features almost exclusively Australian prototype.

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Just after midnight last night there was an extraordinary procession of work trains heading north out of Sydney. Bevan Wall captured them all on video.

 

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=O_ede-GpVjY

 

Cheers

David

 

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.

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What Australian standard gauge diesel locos were not represented?

 

Most, actually. Varied though the parade was it didn't include a good many SG types such as ALF, ALP, AN, BL, CLF, CLP, DL, EL, FL, HL, KL, PL, NR, Y, 48, 80, 90, 91 nor any of the recent QRN deliveries. And there will be some I've missed from that list as well.

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Hi all,

 

Just back from Sydney following our break there!

 

Went to the museum at Thirlmere, plenty to see but unfortunately quite a lot of it was out of bounds due to building and upgrade work, still spent an enjoyable morning there though.

 

Also managed to pick up a few models too, considerably lightening my wallet in the process, we were staying near Campbelltown with a few visits being made to the Hobbyco store there as well as their store in the city, it reminded me of visiting Beatties years ago, picked up a few models too,

 

A Lima (Hornby International) 422 class,

post-291-126989774283_thumb.jpg

 

and an Austrains NR class,

post-291-126989781252_thumb.jpg

 

I also picked up a cheap Life Like Trains GP38 in Australian National livery as something for my son to use on his set too,

post-291-126989793613_thumb.jpg

 

These will now sit alongside my old Powerline 48 class which was brought back as a present by my parents a good few years ago,

post-291-126989821921_thumb.jpg

 

Overall we had a great time, I loved the place so much it was a real wrench coming backsad.gif

 

Cheers

 

Craig

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A couple of shots taken on the Hunter Valley line at East Maitland Dec 08/Jan 09.

 

The first is NR74 in Ghan livery as seen on NR75 near the start of the thread.

post-7104-127015252765_thumb.jpg

 

This shows three brand new 92 class locos heading through East Maitland hauling coal.

 

post-7104-127015254679_thumb.jpg

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Finally got round to getting some pics of my jaunt to Australia on fotopic, didn't get much chance to take any current scene pics but did manage a trip to the NSW transport museum which was only half an hour's drive away from where we were staying!

 

The collection is at,

http://craigsrailwaypics.fotopic.net/c1835275_1.html

if anyone's interested!

 

Cheers

 

Craig

 

 

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A few of my own.

 

Highest point on the Sydney - Melbourne line at the top of the Cullerin Range.

DSCF6284.JPG

 

Melbourne-bound XPT passing the above point. The crest is obvious.

ST23_Cullerin_2008-01-12.JPG

 

Same train climbing out of Gunning when the upper quad signals were still there.

DSCF6332.JPG

 

Interail/QR National 421 class stabled at Yass Junction.

DSCF6340.JPG

 

Pacific National steel train climing the grade at Jindalee.

DSCF2925.JPG

 

Clyde Bricks on a PN wheat train at Cootamundra North.

DSCF2940.JPG

 

44211-4306-4916-4201 on the NSW Rail Transport Museum charter at Jindalee.

DSCF2977.JPG

 

Same train at Binalong. Note the steam era water columns still in situ.

DSCF3028.JPG

 

RailPower S312 at Goulburn Roundhouse.

DSC_0624.JPG

 

RailPower GM19 in storage at Goulburn Roundhouse.

DSC_0669.JPG

 

Cheers

David

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Notice that those four NSW locos are all to different scales!!

 

Great pics there, David.

 

:icon_thumbsup2:

 

And we complain about the difference between HO, OO, P4 and such .......... :P

Agreed - a good set of pics David and among them such contrasts as the the "bulldogs" in Goulburn, one a beauty and the other looking like a wreck. Also, for those who know the highest point on the British main line network, a remarkable contrast with the high point of the Sydney - Melbourne route in what seems to be rolling lowland countryside yet is almost at the same altitude as mountainous Druimuachdar. That also shows just how flat Australia isn't despite the oft-held vision of a vast flat land.

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This isn't modern scene, but it is modern heritage... but QR are putting on an all stations training run Mon, Tues and Wed from Ipswich to Shorncliffe. No special tickets or anything, just normal paper or go cards.

I'll try and hop on at Oxley or Corinda. Hehe.

http://www.translink.com.au/event.php?id=187

 

Don't know anything much more about it, but I hope to get lots of photos tomorrow or Tuesday.

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