Monthly Archives: May 2015

Layouts

More that I thought was lost forever

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One of the main reasons I got into smaller more focused layouts was Blair Koostra. If you don’t know who Blair is, then you are in for a treat. Chris Mears found his new blog (about a Texas lad, modelling outback NSW Australia) as opposed to a NSW Lad, modelling Central Texas!

Follow through Chris’ blog post and visit Blair. Tell him I said hi!

Chris Mears's avatarPrince Street

I remain a very big fan of Blair Kooistra’s website, built to chronicle his work on researching and modeling the Walla Walla Valley Railway. It was among the first sites that I discovered that really focused in on produce traffic on a railway. The more I read his website the more I saw things that felt so familiar. I’ve maintained a link out to his from my website hoping someday it would return (wwvrailway.com). Quite by accident I stumbled across this:
http://northofnarrabri.blogspot.ca/2011_02_01_archive.html

I’ve only just discovered the new blog. The particular link I’ve included above discusses his previous work. I’m looking forward to stepping back from these archives and to seeing what he’s up to now. I still miss his old stuff but I have a feeling he’ll extend that same interest to Australian HO.

(He published some really truly outstanding research on car demand, traffic patterns, and loadings…

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Layouts

Quebec South Shore inspiration

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Chris points out a great blog, where the modeller, Matthieu Lachance, is building a perfect, small and operationally interesting layout, from what he’s seen in his area.

If you’ve not seen this blog before you should go to the link and take a look at his track planning and layout build threads. Very interesting and really well done.

Chris Mears's avatarPrince Street

I was cruising around the ProtoModeler forum and somehow found my way to a blog that introduces itself with these words:

April 1986, CP Rail’s local switcher is busy working on St. Pamphile Spur on Quebec Central Railway’s Chaudière Sub while talks about abandonment are heard…

That’s a pretty easy sales pitch. The blog itself is titled Quebec South Shore. I’m only just starting to reading through the posts and looking forward to learning more about it. You should too:
<http://theendofsteel.blogspot.ca/>

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Exhibition, Layouts, Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Sight seeing – May 26 (Albury, NSW)

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Apart from better weather, warmer temperatures, gentler breezes and being in NSW, Albury has nothing on Ballarat. Well except for the better weather, warmer temperatures, gentler breezes, being in NSW and the recent Murray Valley Modellers exhibition that was held last weekend on 22-23 May 2015.

One of the junctions on Town and Country

Image 1: My current favourite exhibition layout – Town and Country

It was a relatively large show, for a country show, with a lot of vendor support from around the region.

Layout’s of note

1. Town and Country – HO scale – Gavin Shuttleworth

Town and country is a fictional HO scale layout of the Victorian railways 1970’s to 1980’s era where the country meets the city with a suburb in between. The structures are either scratch or kit built from timber and styrene while the power is from a mixture of analogue and DCC with computer controlled automation.

I think the best part of the layout is that we have electric heavy rail, running under wires. There’s a lot of pictures for you to see, as I took quite a lot of the layout this time. I only managed to get a few shots in when I first saw the layout at the Geelong West show in January.

You can see all of the photos here [ + Link ] .

Batlow - in HO Scale model form

Image 2: the standard of modelling on Batlow is outstanding

2. Batlow – HO scale – Andy Lawson

Batlow, a small town in the foothills of the snowy mountains is famous for its apples.
Featuring a packing house and cannery as the two main industries as well as the goods
yard this small layout has lots of shunting to be done. This layout depicts the railway
as it was from the mid 1960’s following the days of steam.

Image 3: a track diagram of Batlow (Source NSWRail.net)

The only issue I had was with the control of the layout. It looks like the layout is DC controlled; the lack of DCC and sound really hampered the layout in gaining my vote for best layout.

The shunter (a new model Alco 48 class) shot off from a standing start, screeched to a stop and had all of the problems of those nostalgic layouts I remember from my youth. The modelling however was first rate. As you’ll see in image 4 below.

IMG_0929

Image 4: The packing house

For the Batlow gallery click here [ + Link ]

If you got the chance to go, I’d be interested in finding out what you liked.

 

Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Site seeing – May 23

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I’ve mentioned before how much I love taking my time when I’m working my layout. While reading Lance Mindheim’s blog [ + Link Here ] the other day I came across one of his older posts talking about exactly that; so I thought that I’d share Lance’s words on the subject.

Site 1: Lance Mindheim’s ‘Capturing the Essence of Industrial Switching Operations‘

I’ve followed Lance’s thoughts for a long time and while I don’t always agree with everything he writes I do agree with this article.

Specifically he writes: “Industrial switching operation is characterized by a slow, purposeful, rhythmic cadence. Locomotive crawl at a few miles an hour as they pull cars from the deck and deal them with precision to the customer’s door. The atmosphere is one of mass, momentum, and the sound of 2000 horsepower prime movers constantly throttling up and then cycling down…over and over and over.”

While it is a long post, there is a lot for the person interested in switching, but lacking in the understanding of what really goes on in the real railway world to absorb. Hope that you enjoy the article. It’s 4 years old, yet still as valid today for the switching minded as when it was written. I dare say it will remain as valid for many years to come.

Image 1: An image of one of Lance’s switching layouts

Layouts, Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Site seeing – May 22

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Off to the Albury model train show this weekend (a 4.5 hour drive north of home). Looking forward to that. If you get the chance drop in. I hope to be there on Saturday morning. I’ll be the big boof-headed Ballarat bloke wearing a big green hoody. Say hello. More on the layout next week.

Site 1 – Murray Railway Modellers [ + Link ]

Yep – it’s on again this weekend, and I’m going. Could not get there last year, but this year I am going.

You can see the program here (a very forward thinking club they’ve put the program guide online as a PDF – well done that club). Saving paper and time as you know what’s there before you go.

Layout Design, Layouts, Personal Layouts

Why I chose not to design my layout – Part 6

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Image 1: Ballarat station awash with a heaping helping of Vlocity sets (Wikipedia photo)

April and May have been  a modelling wasteland. Easy to say, but hard to stomach. So in the mode of personal repair this week, I headed into Melbourne on the train to do a bit of business and add to my track hoard for the layout. I hope that you’ll remember that I was short some track and needed to get some before the dreaded ‘kidney stones from Hell’ incident.

Now I spent more than I probably should have, however, I now have two Peco curved code 83 switches, two left and one right #5 Peco code 83 switches. I was going to buy some more Peco code 83 flex, but while at the Hobby store I had a look in the bargain bin and lo and behold there was some Atlas code 83 on sale at $AU 5.85 per length (about $AU2.00 cheaper per piece than Peco). 10 pieces later on and some code 83 rail joiners and I was on my way out the door – my wallet significantly lighter.

Off to the Albury model train show this weekend (about 4.5 hours north of home). Looking forward to that. If you get the chance drop in. I hope to be there on Saturday morning. I’ll be the big boofheaded Ballarat bloke wearing a big green hoody. Say hello. More on the layout next week.

Layouts, Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web, YouTube

Site seeing – May 1

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A month down the track and I am on the mend after discovering the joys and pitfalls (and there are no joys) of kidney stones. Not being in constant pain is allowing me to get back to normal operation; thanks to the skill of the urology team at the Ballarat Base Hospital.

But enough of me, and on to the first of this month’s site seeing.

I grew up with a very Scottish grandfather, very Scottish. I listened in awe as a child to his stories of the highlands. Working for the railways (in Australia) all his working life, it was perhaps fated that I should fall in love with the Scottish highland railway lines. One particularly holds me in awe all these years later – the line out to the Kyle of Localsh.

In the very early 1980s Michael Palin’s Great Railway Journey’s travelled the line, and quite apart from being a fan of Michael Palin this program only made my yearning to travel it greater. It still is on the top of my railway journeys bucket list.

Over the years there’s been a couple of great layouts on the highland lines. Two that come to mind are presented today.

Site 1: Portchullin – a layout by Mark Tatlow

I love the sound of diesel engines working, doing what they are supposed to do; industry, grime and dust. Hearing a diesel notch up, lifting its train, from station, industry or yard reignites my passion for modelling. I don’t know why; it just does.

While ‘tubing recently I came across Portchullin. It ticks all the boxes for me on how a great North of Scotland layout should be built and come to life.

You can watch “A day’s trainspotting at Portchullin” here:

Best of all the creator of the layout has a great website with lots of useful posts (which I’ve just begun to follow) here: (Offsite link)

If you are a signalling buff like I am, you’ll enjoy the excellent working signalling on the layout too. Mark also sells (albeit as a small run manufacturer) parts for signals, which you can also find on his website.

Site 2: Kyle of Tongue – a layout by Steve Flint

Featured in the February 1990 Railway Modellers magazine, this layout was completely immersive. You could feel the cold coming off the highland hills, and leaching into your bones. Unfortunately images are hard to come by on the web. However this image shows Port Pennan also by Steve Flint I believe.

This ought to give you an idea of the layout style that Steve is famous for.

Resources:
Great Railway Journeys – Confessions of a train spotter