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About, Site seeing, Site Updates, Sites of interest, This Site, Web, YouTube

Site seeing – January 27 – The ‘times they are a changing’ edition

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I received an email from Shawn Branstetter earlier this week announcing that his site http://shortlinemodelers.com/ would be closing down very shortly. I was, to say the least devastated. Shawn’s site is a treasure trove of useful articles and ideas.

I contacted Shawn for comment and post it here in its entirety: “Unfortunately it is true Andrew. I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do with the content however, the Facebook page will remain active. Whiteriver Productions has expressed interest in hosting the content and I don’t want the name to go away I just don’t have time to be a developer, writer, very poor editor and illustrator by myself and find time to build. It’s just too much. Somehow I will make sure all content is available to everyone. As soon as I figure that out, I’ll let you know.”

Site 1: Get it before it is gone – Shortline Modelers

Go see it and grab anything you can now. Not sure how long this will remain available or where it may move to. Check out his cement modelling articles – they are outstanding.

Site 2: Shortline Modelers on Facebook

Head on over to the Facebook page and follow him there if you have a Facebook account. This will keep you in touch with Shawn for the future.

About, Ballarat Tramway, Museums, Site Updates, Sites of interest, This Site, Web

Site Update – 13 November 2016 – Ballarat Tramway #18 Page

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During 2016 Ballarat Tramway museum’s number 18 has undergone some major mechanical work to keep her running. Among the works being undertaken are motor rewinds, wheel reprofiling, work on the axles to bring them back into true, work on the Brill truck, journals and bearings. All of this is normally underneath the tram and out of the public view.

During our regular Tramway Tuesday working bee members have been involved in preserving the tram, and thankfully preserving the skills involved in maintaining trams like Grandfather used to. It is only one benefit of volunteering at a working Tramway Museum.

I’ve updated the number 18 page with a gallery for the work being undertaken. I’ll add photos as I take them over our Southern Hemisphere summer as she gets put back together. These photos are a rare and interesting chance to see under the skirts of a tram. I hope that you enjoy them.

Drop me a line or post a comment on the page if you find something you like.

 

1. Small, About, Inglenook, Layout Design, Medium, Operations, Site seeing, Sites of interest, Switching, Timesaver, Web

Site seeing – November 4 – The ‘I got track plans coming out my ears’ edition

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Small layouts are my thing. Like most modellers in Australia space here is at a premium. So a small space layout, offering lots of operating potential, is the way to go.

Recently a long time model railroad friend Shortliner Jack shot me several links over to look at. We’ll be coming back to look closely at those this month. For right now though let’s take a look at a downloadable and one of Shortliner’s links.

Site 1: Designing small shelf Layouts for operating fun

Presented back in 2015 at the NMRA’s Thoroughbred Limited 2015 MCR Convention in Kentucky I felt that this download (in PDF format) provides a great overview of small layouts and a bit of learning about the why and how along the way.

small-layout-handout

The details shown on the Inglenook drawing on page 4 are wrong (you can find out more about Inglenooks in this post); besides that however there are some exceptional small layout designs that should inspire the modeller in you to get out there and make something.

Site 2: Railroad Line Forum – Layout Design Ideas

This is the site that Shortliner Jack pointed me to as a source for his next layout inspiration. Being in the far north of Scotland, buried in snow for 9/10ths of the year, and surrounded by only boxes of Whisky for company he has a lot of time to work on layouts. One layout in Proto48 caught his eye specifically:

There are so many more designs in this thread large and small that you’ll spend several hours looking through and pondering them all. Great ideas and thanks to Robert Chant for sharing his design on the forum.

 

1. Small, About, Layout Design, Site seeing, Site Updates, Sites of interest, This Site, Web

October 31 – A very big thank you to all

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It’s been a long road, with many changes since the original Andrew’s Trains site hosted by FotoPic went under. With files lost, and images gone, and an audience to rebuild it seemed a big hill to climb. After some time I’d gotten the HVL website (www.huntervalleylines.com) established, files and images uploaded and people coming back to visit and a lot of good press going.

Then change rolled around again and before I knew it the hosting company no longer supported my prefered image and blogging packages. With the loss of that support all the content I had worked so hard to upload, discuss and write about was gone.

In 2013 I made the move to the WordPress free version. It was a hard decision to start again for the third time but it seems that it was ‘the charm’. Sometime yesterday a visitor dropped in and viewed the site and helped to double the stats from 2015.

When I started this blog in 2013 I did so very quietly, to get my feet under me while I began transferring data across. 2014 was quiet again as I got used to the platform and my direction.

2015 was the year that things really took off. I had more time to work on the site and the content (though sadly I’ve been grossly under employed since this time in 2014 after being laid off).

2016 has made me very glad to have stuck with it, to get it done and rebuild. With more time to develop the content (the upside of being laid off) and less spent on the mechanics of the site, projects coming out of mothballs with the freeing up of a little money over the next 6 months, I look forward to what I can give back to you.

site-stats-october-2016
Site stats to October 31 2016

I’m a one man band. There are times when I just don’t have the energy or the time to post. Sometimes there is too much to post. I’ve done the best I can to make it all work. Thanks for being willing to come along for the ride. Small layouts are my thing. I enjoy the fact that they are easy to build, take up little space and allow you to operate when and where you are able.

In summary I just wanted to say thank you for your ongoing support, suggestions and comments. I love model railways, and small layouts in general. Mostly I like my fellow modellers who share their dreams, their schemes and even their memes about railway modelling.

All the best, and for those who like my family are Northern hemispherically influenced, Happy Halloween.

About, Acrylics, Ballarat Tramway, Museums, Oils, Pastel Powder, Powders, Site Updates, This Site, Weathering, Web

Site Update – 17 July 2016

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I’ve been quiet the last month; too much work and not enough time to focus on more enjoyable things in life such as modelling. Additionally the weather in Ballarat has been amazingly cold and that has put the brakes on any outdoor activities including spraying and other painting tasks that I have waiting to be done.

In the meantime I’ve been working on a couple of models and updating the site; adding several new pages and a new section and a gallery. Enough of the blather and let’s move onto what’s new on site.

Update 1: New section – Weathering

BLI Trackmobile weathering
BLI Trackmobile weathering

I’ve been asked by several people to show how I weather my railway models (at my local model club, and online) and I’ll be building up the information here about how I weather using weathering powders, pastel powders, graphite and acrylic and oil paints. For now there is a gallery of some of my HO cars fleet. There are other cars (in HO and O scale) not yet complete that I’ll add over time.

Update 2: New subsections in Ballarat Trams

IMG_1674_2&3 Road_Bergonia's Monday_In the morning LightAs a volunteer conductor on the Ballarat Tramway Museum I have unprecedented access to the trams, and the infrastructure of the tramway museum. Slowly but surely I am collecting tram and infrastructure photos of the tramway. Each tram and the tramway infrastructure have their own page. While mostly empty I’ll be filling each page with images taken over the last several years. Mostly my images were taken in the last 9 months and are representative of the current state of the museum fleet, grounds and infrastructure..

As always use the links on the menu at the page top to get around.

1. Small, 1:43.5 (7mm Scale), 1:48 (US O Scale 1/4"), About, Australia, Layout Design, O Scale, Operations, Proto 48, Sites of interest, Switching, This Site, UK, Web

Heads Up!

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April is now and forever more deemed to be the ‘O scale’ small layout month.

Overall layout - outstanding

Throughout April I’ll be posting layout plans, and information, on small and achievable layouts that have already been built in O scale, or that could be up-sized from the smaller scales to fit in a maximum visible space of 8 feet x 2 feet (2400 x 600 mm).

The only requirement is that it must be based on the recognised scales of:

  • 1:43.5 (UK & Australian Standard gauge)
  • 1:45 (European)
  • 1:48 (US & Australian Broad gauge)

So this includes 0n30, Metre gauge, standard, broad, and anything else that you can imagine. Traction can be steam, diesel and, or electric. If you have an industrial track plan or layout that is small in nature I’d be really interested in seeing more information or links to your website especially.

I’ll still be posting the usual informative and layout focused information as normal, this is simply something special I’ve wanted to do for some time.

If you have any ideas or layouts that you’d like to share during April drop me a line through the comment field and I’ll work with you to get that information into a post!

Don’t forget to ‘Like‘ this post and ‘Comment‘ if you find it useful or would like to offer or need further information. If you’ve not already subscribed to keep up to date you can do so now using the link at the top of this or any post or page.

About, Information, Manufacturers

Industry news – Atlas buys BLMA models

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I got a media release from Atlas this morning announcing that effective immediately they had acquired BLMA Models.

The email is copied in part below:

FOR RELEASE ON JANUARY 6, 2016

Atlas Model Railroad Co. Agrees to Purchase BLMA Models Inc.

HILLSIDE, New Jersey: Effective immediately, Atlas Model Railroad Co., has agreed to purchase BLMA Models Inc., of Fullerton, California. Founded in 2000, BLMA manufactures quality HO, N, and Z scale rolling stock and accessories. Upon completion of the acquisition, Atlas will own and release all current tooling, inventory, and will continue with production plans outlined by BLMA, prior to the sale.

Craig Martyn, Founder and President of BLMA Models, stated:

“What started as a hobby business 16 years ago has turned into something larger than I ever expected. The experiences, knowledge, and most importantly, the friendships gained through developing BLMA have been life changing, and I will be forever grateful to the many that supported my endeavors.

As to the changeover process Atlas stated that:

Paul Graf, Chief Executive Officer of Atlas Model Railroad Co, stated:

“BLMA’s reputation for detail and prototypical accuracy is compatible with Atlas’. The HO and N rolling stock will fit seamlessly into the Atlas Master line of product. The details and accessories are a perfect complement Atlas’ existing product line.

“We have known Craig since he first entered the market, and have had a good relationship with him and BLMA through the years. We are happy that Craig will be able to work with Atlas over the coming years as we incorporate the BLMA products into Atlas’ line, as well as bring some of BLMA’s planned new products to fruition. We plan to make the announcement of the first product from BLMA’s existing products as soon as the purchase is completed.”

On January 6th, 2016, BLMA will stop selling product direct, in preparation of shipping the inventory to Atlas. During the transition, BLMA will process open orders for pre- ordered rolling stock, though Atlas will physically fulfill the orders. These models include:

  • N scale GSC 60’ Flat Car (Run #2)
  • N scale ACF 52’ Gondola (Run #3)
  • N scale Trinity 31K Crude Oil Tank Cars
  • HO & N Trinity 5660 Covered Hoppers
  • HO & N Trinity 64’ Modern Reefers – Tropicana
  • HO & N Bx-166 60’ Box Car – BNSF

In the coming years, Craig will work as a consultant to Atlas, ensuring a smooth transition, assistance on development and help with marketing. Atlas expects to release many popular BLMA items with all-new numbers, paint schemes, and more. Furthermore, Atlas will develop and release items already scheduled internally by BLMA.

For further information, please visit www.atlasrr.com or www.BLMAmodels.com

Interesting times.

About, Personal Layouts, Web

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

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The end of the year is nigh, and it’s time for the jolly old Elf to ride around the place whipping down chimneys and all that stuff. As one train-lover to another I thought I’d share an image of the season with you.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, and a Happy and safe New Year
It’s all down hill from here! Cheltenham, VIC 21/12/2015.
Photo copyright: Ian Andrew Martin 2015

Thanks for stopping by this year and being a part of the HVL and Andrew’s Trains. I hope that you’ll drop by again next year too.

I wish you all the best wishes of the season, no matter what your personal beliefs, hoping that you have a safe and Merry Christmas and a bright, interesting and enjoyable New Year.

About, Class 1, Information, Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Why I carry a camera on every trip out and about

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You never know what you are going to capture with your camera. Sometimes you’ll get a photo, and unprecedented access to things that you might never have believed would happen. Other times you manage to get a great series of photos just before a major event happens in the life of your chosen subject, after which event, things are never the same.

Just after we cam be back to Australia from the United States in 2006, my wife asked me why I bothered to take all of these photos of trams and trains. I told her that it was simple: “Today’s photo is tomorrow’s history”.

Over on the Rails West blog there are two recent posts that follow in just this theme.  Zip on over for a 1979 trip through the SP’s Hardy Street shops in Houston Texas.

Click the link to take you there: A trip to the Roundhouse…(Part I).

About, Information

Kidney stones – I must have rocks in my head

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Wednesday morning, 1:00 AM and a call to the ambulance because I thought my appendix had ruptured. Unfortunately I was not that lucky. The result, after 3 days in the hospital, is I’m stabilised, but have further surgery to get through (in just on 4 weeks) to hopefully break up the kidney stones .

For the next few days I’m going to be taking it easy, I’m still quite sore, but expect to see more posts in the next couple of days.

Thanks for reading the blog and I’ll be back with you again soon.

Regards

Andrew Martin