1. Small, HO Scale, Layouts, Liked off site, Site seeing, Switching, Web

Site Seeing February 21

21/02/2015 Andrew Martin Leave a comment

It’s all operations Saturday, thanks to Martin Hogg, the owner and operator of Brett.

Site 1: Brett – a full operating session video

Martin Hogg’s released a new video (Brett’s been featured recently on the blog).

This time you get to see a full operating session from start to finish.

This video shows just how much enjoyment you can derive from switching on a relatively small layout with a reasonably simple track plan.

I’m guessing the operating session lasted around 25 – 30 minutes from start to finish. As soon as I get some feedback from Martin I’ll update this post and let you know for sure.

Good work that man! On you Martin.

Update 1:
I talked with Martin Hogg today and he confirmed that the operating session takes about 25 minutes (although he says its heard to be sure as he was busy phaffing around with the camera to be sure). He’ll be running another session to confirm that but I’m pretty sure that it’ll be right around the 25 minute mark, depending on the work to be done.

Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Site seeing – 20 February

20/02/2015 Andrew Martin Leave a comment

While looking around for some research material for a fellow weatherer recently, I came across a site with a surprisingly large amount of information on prototype trucks. Now that the information pertains mainly to ‘N’ Scale is neither here nor there. The more information you have on trucks under freight cars the better.

Site 1: Mark Peterson’s N Scale Model Railroading Projects & Resources

For the N Gauge modeller Mark has a lot of useful information for N gauge modellers, but there’s more there than just that. Go take a look at the site and then check out the truck detail page.

Visit http://www.spookshow.net/for more.

Site 2: Trackside Treasures

For all things Canadian, including up to the minute updates of train movements. Eric Gagnon’s site states that it’s about ‘Trips, Trains and 35+ Years Trackside with Canada’s Railways’.

You can read more about the railways of Canada and his published works here: tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com

Layouts

Site seeing – 20 February

19/02/2015 Andrew Martin Leave a comment

If you’ve taken a look at the layout design gallery over on the original HunterValleyLines.com site, you’ll note that I really like small layouts.

Today’s site seeing picks up on that theme with a small layout build over on the RMWeb site.

Site 1: Tilley S Yard

The layout design for the Tilley S Yard (an Inglenook using a double lift traverser) and set in the mid 1950s in the ATSF Zebra stripe era. What I think will be really interesting is the scenic treatment on this layout.

Set in Chicago in the winter, there’ll be snow about and on the ground. I must say I am looking forward to how this layout grows over time and how the scenery, affected by the weather in Chicago comes out. The link to the first post is below in the resources section.

Resources:

RMWeb: Tilley S Yard, an Inglenook set in Chicago in the winter of 1956-1957 (Offsite Link)

Layout Design, Layouts, Liked off site, Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Site Seeing 18 February

18/02/2015 Andrew Martin

Introduction

The IAIS Grimes Industrial Line

1 – The IAIS Grimes Industrial Line

In my site seeing post yesterday I mentioned the publishing bonanza we’ve inherited thanks to the internet. One of these great sites is the free (as in Beer) internet Model Railroading Magazine – the Model Railroad Hobbyist (Link Here).

Apart from a great magazine that I’ve read since issue number one, there are the modellers blogs that are associated on the site. Among the best of the blogs is the Grimes Industrial layout blog of JFMcNab (Link Here).

You can also see a range of photos from his layout on the Unofficial IAIS Railfans website (Link Here).

Take some time and take a look around and discover the Grimes Industrial Line. I think you’ll enjoy the Grimes Line sites.

Resources:

Watch one of James’ videos from his YouTube channel:

Information, Layout Design, Layouts, Liked off site, Operations, Switching

Moving cars …(without a locomotive) — Part III

18/02/2015 Andrew Martin Leave a comment

Over on Chris Gilbert’s new layout thread I’ve posted a suggestion for a car puller. Using nothing more than a map pin. You can view my response here: Offsite Link

As always happens you post one thing and then find another site with an even better idea. Rails West has already done all of the hard work and provided not one but three posts all about car pullers.

Moving cars …(without a locomotive) — Part III.

via Moving cars …(without a locomotive) — Part III.

Enjoy your reading on car pullers.

1. Small, Exhibition, HO Scale, Layout Design, Layouts, Liked off site, Scenery, Sites of interest, Switching, Web

Layout Builders of Note – Chris Gilbert

18/02/2015 Andrew Martin

Introduction

I’ve known Chris Gilbert for many years thanks to the Internet, specifically RMWeb. Chris has always managed to be a great mentor on things model railroad, even if he was not aware of his mentorship. He’s been successful in building, exhibiting and publishing a range of model small exhibition layouts over the last several years. What gets me is how quickly he puts these model marvels together.

Florida Springs (V 2.0) – An HO Scale exhibition layout

Chris in his own style said that he started the layout on Tuesday the 10th of February with a trip to his local hardware store.

Within five days he was at this stage:

As if that was not enough to make me feel like I need to pick up my game, his detailing is exquisite. If you take a link at post number 5 (link here) you’ll see what I mean.

Every time I see what Chris can do in so short a time, I am simply bowled over. He thinks about something and then he gets it done. It’s something that I am going to aim for in my modelling this year.

Before I can get there though I have to complete some other modelling projects to finish for my local model club show in April (you can read more about that on the Modellers of Ballarat blog (link here).

I’ve listed other sites in the resources section below. Enjoy having a look at Chris’ layouts. They really are magnificent works of art.

Resources

· You can find out more about the O scale Fort Smith Railroad layout (External Link) here.

· You can visit Chris’ YouTube channel (link here) – and watch his videos of Haston and North Haston – great stuff.

Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Site seeing 17 February

17/02/2015 Andrew Martin

Introduction

I love the internet publishing phenomenon. What Gutenberg did for the printed book, the internet has done for the publisher. We now have more access to more information than ever before. I cannot vouch for the veracity of the information provided, in general for the modeller the publishing boom has been a godsend.

We now have access to more free, high quality photos of areas, industries, locomotives, railroad operators and rolling stock than in any time in the history of railroads. I could not create the prototypical layout designs I do without this access.

If you’ve not read this blog before, I live in the Western Gold Fields of Victoria, in the fair city of Ballarat. The city is steeped in our country’s (albeit short) history. Primarily Ballarat’s history focuses on the Eureka stockade and the beginnings of the Australian democracy movement. Geelong our nearest sea port (and Victoria’s largest Regional centre) is a short 88 kilometre, 60 minute drive south. (Unfortunately there is no direct rail service there at the moment.) But I digress…

Site 1 – Rail Geelong

Today’s site seeing tour focuses on our nearest big regional centre Geelong, and its railways. I only discovered the site thanks to T-Trak Ian’s blog with a link from there to the Sadliers photo page (Link Here)

There is a lot of photos there, and even though I am relatively short drive down the road, I’ll be using Marcus Wong’s site for quite a bit of research in the near future.

You can visit Marcus’ excellent site here: http://www.railgeelong.com/

Layouts

Sadler’s Sidings – 01 – An N scale table top shunting layout that uses T-TRAK/Unitrack technology.

17/02/2015 Andrew Martin Leave a comment

I’ve been catching up on email from the last few days (the weekend weather was too nice and allowing myself some “offline down time” was simply too enticing). One thing that did pop up today was a Post from T-Trak Andrew about his T-Trak (module style) table top layout based on an Australian company ‘Sadliers Logistics’. Interestingly Sadliers provides Freight Car Load (FCL) and Less than Car Load (LCL) service across Australia using their own fleet of wagons. (Do I hear anyone saying ‘everything old is new again’?
The layout is a deceptively simple layout, but has multiple switching locations on it to keep one or two operators busy for an easy 1/2 hours work each night, assuming you are not replacing all wagons. if you wanted a longer operating session then you’d replace all wagons on the layout and have to switch in everything from staging.
Here’s the statement that nails about his approach:
“The overall scenery style is to be generic Australian. While I intend to operate Australian prototype rolling stock most of the time there will be sessions when I will break out my British, European and Japanese items and go IRWIL mode. (IRWIL – I Run What I Like).”
Take a look at his site. I think you’ll enjoy it; I did.

T-TRAK Andrew's Blog - Adventures in N scale Model Railways

G’day Folks, Back into it at last.

Sadler’s Sidings is my current really active project. It is a table top modular shunting layout that uses T-TRAK/Unitrack technology to join 3 by 300mm long modules plus a 100mm long ‘end of the line module’ and two clip on bufferstops.

The basic concept is focused around a freight forwarding company called ‘Sadler’s Freight Forwarding’. I chose the name Sadler’s for two main reasons. Firstly there is the prototype Sadleir’s Logistics who make use of regular rail service with their sidings in Melbourne, Perth & Sydney. See: http://www.sadleirs.com.au/sadleirs-logistics/interstate-road-rail. Secondly, my grandmother on my mother’s side was a Sadler who migrated out to Australia from England early last century. By using that spelling I can capture the flavour and concept of the prototype operation without issues of trying to be `accurate’. The layout is to represent a Sadler’s rail depot in the…

View original post 334 more words

E-Book, Site seeing, Sites of interest, Web

Site seeing – February 15

15/02/2015 Andrew Martin

Introduction

Today’s site seeing adventure is for those of you interested in railroad operation, in this case dispatching. Today’s link came across the wire thanks to the ‘Ry-ops-industrialSIG’ SIG group on Yahoo! Groups.

Site 1 – Train Dispatching

Today’s link points to Train Dispatching by J. G. Lachaussee. It has two separate sources of the same article (one from Scribd – the other directly on the site.) The article is as published in ‘The Sandhouse’ – A Publication of the Mississippi Great Southern Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.

I’ve had a quick read of it and found it to be really interesting to see the information presented by a long time dispatcher himself. You can read more of the article here: <Offsite Link>

The article is by J. G. Lachaussee; published in the November 2011 issue of The Sandhouse.

Site 2 – Scribd

A while back I began a short history of the 40’ Hi-Cube Boxcars that rode the rails for a short period from the late 1960s through to the 1980s. So far I’ve only completed the SP and SSW part of the document and have not yet completed the other owners or operators or the modelling section for the final eBook.

There seems to be an inordinate amount of modelling interest in these very specifically operated cars; the model manufacturers have made a lot of them over the years. In fact there are more models available than those produced by the car makers themselves.

They’ve lived in model form for longer than they ever did during their prototype railroad days. If you’d like to take a look at the first part of the eBook please go to: https://www.scribd.com/doc/103033209/A-Very-Short-History-of-the-40-Foot-Hi-Cube-Boxcars

Now it is time to go model with my 10-year-old son.

1:43.5 (7mm Scale), Australia, O Scale, Site seeing

Site seeing – February 14 – with a difference

14/02/2015 Andrew Martin Leave a comment

Site seeing with a difference this St Valentines Day. The family headed for the ocean today to Geelong Victoria. While we were down that way I took the opportunity to visit K & L Model Railways Hobbies & Model Construction Supplies of 81 Ryrie St, Geelong VIC 3220.

All I have to say is – what a surprise. The shop is small, but what it lacks in floor space it more than makes up for in stock. They have a great range of O scale parts, kits and so on.

Had a chat to the owner to the owner this morning and I’ll be back there again once I have a bit more disposable income.

With K & L’s assistance I’ll be building a rake of O scale (7mm:Foot) NSWGR 4 wheel RU Grain wagons (see a photo here: Offsite Photo).

These cars have been on my build list for some times but not being able to find a local source of Brass ‘W’ irons and sprung axle blocks has meant that I’ve had to hold off on the build.

With K & L’s owner assuring me that he can get me everything I need the RU planning process can begin. I expect to build the first body out of styrene, then I’ll cast the remaining bodies before tackling the chassis out of brass section. This will make mounting and securing the ‘W’ irons much easier.

All the best on a lovely ‘cool’ summer Saturday in Ballarat.

Andrew's Trains

Site Seeing February 21

Site seeing – 20 February

Site seeing – 20 February

Site Seeing 18 February

Moving cars …(without a locomotive) — Part III

Layout Builders of Note – Chris Gilbert

Site seeing 17 February

Sadler’s Sidings – 01 – An N scale table top shunting layout that uses T-TRAK/Unitrack technology.

Site seeing – February 15

Site seeing – February 14 – with a difference

Small Layouts Designed to Work since 2003

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Small Layouts Designed to Work since 2003