J OURNAL

AUSTRALIAN MODEL RAILWAY ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

Vol. 57 No. 302 ISSN 0045-0715 Mar-Apr Print Post Approved PP340929/00013 2008 Information and Directory of Office Holders - AMRA

Federal Committee President Graham Larmour 42 McMillan Street Yagoona NSW 2199 02 9790 5074 email: [email protected] Vice President Denice Tyson 22 Tobruk Avenue Carlingford NSW 2118 02 9872 3512 Secretary Terry Flynn 31 Postman's Track, Helensburgh NSW 2508 02 9385 4133 email: [email protected] Business hrs. Registrar Stephen Chapman PO Box 429 Moorebank NSW 1875 02 9824 1295 email: [email protected] Treasurer Brian Tyson 22 Tobruk Avenue Carlingford NSW 2118 02 9872 3512 email: [email protected] Website: http://www.amra.asn.au email: [email protected]

New South Wales Committee President Barry Wilcockson 11 Richmond Close St Johns Park NSW 2176 02 9610 7356 Secretary Geoff Lanham 18 Calvados St Glenfield NSW 2167 02 9829 3362 Treasurer Marilyn Wilcockson 11 Richmond Close St Johns Park NSW 2176 02 9610 7356 Clubroom address and phone: 48 Barry Avenue (P.O. Box 277) Mortdale NSW 2223 02 9153 5901

Victorian Committee President Gary Danson 77 North Avenue Bentleigh 3204 03 9557 3908 Secretary John Harry 68 Lahona Avenue Bentleigh East Vic 3165 03 9570 4406 Treasurer Stuart Westerman 10 Gardenia Crescent Cheltenham Vic 3192 03 9583 8655 Clubrooms address and phone: 92 Wills Street Glen Iris Vic 3146 03 9885 7034

Queensland Committee President Bill Dunn 7 Jackson Street Clayfield 4011 07 3357 8109 Secretary Treasurer Kenneth Edge –Williams 49 Cambridge St Carina Heights 4153. 07 3843 5965: Club Rooms address and phone 20 Murphy Road (PO Box 352) Zillmere Qld 4034 07 3862 9633

Western Australian Committee President Frans Ponjee 9490 3636 or 0427124895 e-mail:[email protected] Vice President John Maker 0417941553 Secretary Neill Phillips 9403 0924 e-mail:[email protected] Treasurer Ron Fryer Clubrooms address and ph:24 Moojebing Street (P.O.Box 60) Maylands WA 6931 08 9377 3456

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All rates quoted include GST Casual Rates apply for one off advertisers Regular rates apply when ads are ordered to appear in six or more issues AMRA JOURNAL is the official journal of the Australian Model Railway Association Incorporated and is published six times per year. Circulation is 1000 copies (Australia Wide). Our ABN is 93 381 859 617. Advertising Deadlines: All advertising copy/artwork should be sent to the Advertising Manager by the 14th of the even month (February, April, June, August, October & December). All payments for advertising must be made in advance by the same date. Regular advertisers may pay in two equal installments with the second payment being due by the 14th of the even month preceding the advertisement’s fourth appearance. Further advertising enquiries should be directed to the Advertising Manager Dale Kay 3-5 Brunning Street, Upwey, Victoria, 3158 (03)9754 6858 or Fax (03)9754 4730 email: [email protected] AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008 PAGE 31 JOURNAL BOX ... EDITORIAL Inside this issue: It is amazing how quickly JOURNAL time comes around. It feels like only last week I was editing the January February is- Editorial 31 sue. I have had quite a positive response to requests for photo- graphs and the quality is improving all the time. Take a look at this issue’s centerfold. Having said this, please don’t leave it to Popvalve 33 these few members to be the sole contributors of pictures. If you have any good quality photos send them in. Bear in mind the focus of the shot should be the train or the rail related object. (Subjects can be of Eskbank 35 anything as long as it is related to trains.) The main cover still must be, by way of the constitution, Australian profile and it is preferable to have Aus- sie content, but, if you have a very special shot from elsewhere you think is worthy of print send it in too. I am always on the lookout for unusual Australian 4mm 40 themes. The railscene in this issue is a good example. On another note, of late the number of articles for JOURNAL has been on the decrease. I receive articles from the faithful few but, I think as members of the AMRA Local Rail News 44 there should be more authors/modellers out there, so, if you have a news- worthy article send it in to me. No excuses for lack of communication. I have email, fax and snailmail available, so come on, get writing and send Colour Centre-fold Ctr in those favourite topics of interest you have had hiding for all these years That’s all for now so until next issue…… GOOD MODELLING 47 Branch News Stuart Pattison

Credits Editor/Publisher Stuart Pattison 3-5 Brunning St Upwey Victoria 3158 Tel:(03)97546858 Fax:(03)97544730 email: [email protected] COVER PHOTO

Advertising Manager Dale Kay Most of us spent 3-5 Brunning St. Upwey VIC 3158 Christmas gobbling Tel: (03)97546858 Fax: (03)9754 4730 down roast turkey and email: [email protected] ham with family and friends; QRN's 42105 Typing Dale Kay wasn't so lucky spend-

Sub Editors: ing Christmas and Box- Queensland Ken Duncan ing Day sitting idle at Tel: Yass Junction. 0732812564 Photo by Daniel Nor- E-mail: [email protected] man (Vic) Victoria Dale Kay 3-5 Brunning St Upwey VIC 3158 Tel 0397546858 Fax 0397544730 email: [email protected] New South Wales Chris Winston PO Box 277 Mortdale NSW 2223 Tel 0408 445 495 email:[email protected] NOTICE Western Australia This publication accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or reliability of articles Editor ,The Branchline Ted Thoday or advertising published herein, statements made or opinions expressed in pa- email: [email protected] pers or discussions, nor do we necessarily subscribe to the views expressed or Cartoonist implied by contributors. Printer Kingston Digital Neither is any guarantee implied or expressed as to the good conduct or practice Printing Manager Stuart Westerman of advertisers herein. This publication reserves, at all times, the right to refuse Popvalve Photo Tony Hough acceptance of any matter considered unsuitable for publication.

PAGE 32 AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008

JUNIOR ENGINEERS DEPT. By Alan Bollans W.A.

This picture shows young people are still fascinated by the steam locomotive. It was taken at a recent 'run day' of the Batavia Coast Miniature Railway at Geraldton in WA. Just look at the concentration on the boys faces as the owner of 'Titch' explains the finer points of how a steam locomotive works. Three of the boys (my Grand- sons) are Brothers and all three have already had their photographs of prototype locomotives and trains pub- lished in Railway Digest. Note the HV vests and ARG hats.

JOURNAL DATES

JOURNAL NO COVER MONTHS MAILING DATES EDITORIAL BRANCH NEWS ADVERTISING Last Monday MATERIAL 3rd Friday MATERIAL Odd Months Last week days Even Months 14th Day Even Odd Months Months

303 MAY/JUN 26/05/08 31/03/08 18/04/08 14/04/08

304 JUL/AUG 28/07/08 31/05/08 20/06/08 14/06/08

305 SEP/OCT 29/09/08 31/07/08 15/08/08 14/08/08

CLOSING DATES & REQUIREMENTS Set out above are the CLOSING DATES for JOURNAL, in the various categories of material, for 2007. KEEP THIS TABLE HANDY ( YOU MAY PHOTOCOPY IT OR, EVEN CUT IT OUT!) BUT, MAKE SURE YOU DON’T LOSE IT.—Editor. All material not in electronic form should be sent to the Editor or the Advertising Officer as appropriate, with hard copy to the editor. All material in electronic form should be directed to the Editor or the Adver- tising Officer. Deadlines will be strictly observed; that means material MUST be in the hands of either the Editor or Advertising Manager by the dates set out above. If you do write an article and you use a computer please send an email or disk copy to the Editor. It saves a lot of time as articles don’t have to be scanned and corrected. All dead- lines will be STRICTLY enforced.

AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008 PAGE 33

The Editor AMRA The Editor AMRA 2 JOURNAL JOURNAL Dear Stuart, Dear Stuart, Open Letter to the National and State Executive I am pleased to announce the Federal Commit- Dear Sirs tee of Management unanimously approved a new I have been a long time member of the AMRA standard titled, “Fine tolerance wheel and track (NSW) for nearly 30 years and obviously having standard 2008”. This standard covers the following continued my membership for so long, indicates my track gauges - Z, N, TT, H0, EM, S, 0, and 1. pleasure and acceptance of the Association. Over The development and approval of this standard these years I have attended many club nights and I is an example of the AMRA improving on alternative read every JOURNAL and actually look forward to standards. As far as I am aware, with this new reading the other state news roundup. However, standard, the AMRA is the only national model rail- moving recently to Canberra has broken my direct way association that has a fine tolerance (fine scale) contact with my clubrooms, in my case Mortdale(nee standard which is compatible with ready to run mod- Rockdale) in NSW. So, now, apart from JOURNAL, I els. This standard does not replace the existing AM- have no contact with the club. Finding myself for the RA wheel and track standard and is designed spe- first time in this position, has made me think of all cifically for members who want to make their own the other members of the AMRA in a similar situa- track or machine their own wheels. tion, where distance precludes them from direct par- Because of the length (6 pages) of the standard ticipation in the weekly events in their state’s and the small number of members who will it, a hard clubrooms. I would think that, of the 1,273 members, copy will not be distributed to all existing members. only a small percentage actually attend clubrooms, Instead, it will be placed on the AMRA members So, one could ask why non-participating mem- only website. Members who do not have internet bers remain members at all. access will be able to receive a hard copy by send- In my case, the reason has been and will con- ing a self addressed A4 envelope to myself. The tinue to be the fact that I believe the AMRA is the standards committee is now working on a couple of best placed body in Australia to represent , support standards which should prove helpful for members and promote the hobby and, that my small member- planning to build new layouts. I hope the minimum ship fees contributes to this cause, even if I no long- radius standard is finalized by the time you read this er get a direct benefit . (I actually believe the AMRA letter and work on a track centre distance standard should be the pinnacle national body in Australia has begun. If any members have Australian proto- and, ALL other Model Railway clubs in Australia type rolling stock and loading gauge diagrams, par- should be members of the AMRA.) ticularly for narrow gauge prototypes, this infor- This raises the question of how non-attending mation would be helpful in developing the track cen- members can get some direct benefit from their tre and loading gauge standards. Members of the membership like their city cousins. standards committee are also keen to develop a My suggestion is that sometimes the people go carriage mass standard. Members interested in this to Mohammad and other times Mohammad should standard can help by weighing and recording the go to the people. length of their models and sending in their data. In By this I mean the following: particular data for scales other than 1:87 HO gauge 1. Non-attending members are invited to their is mostly needed. State’s clubrooms maybe once or twice a year for Terry Flynn: Federal Secretary AMRA Inc a State convention. The logistics of course would Mem #6820 need to be worked out, for billeting accommoda- tion, for convention activities, home layout visits, The Editor OOPS DEPT. dates, times etc. but not insurmountable. JOURNAL or Dear Stuart, 2. that the AMRA goes to the members for Annual I'll bet that any of the good burghers of Picton, NSW, Regional Conventions in the NORTH ,SOUTH, wistfully looking at that photo on the back cover of EAST and WEST of each state. These regional the last JOURNAL, thought...... "If only we did have conventions could be advertised locally to pro- the wires down here...... ". Interesting thought, isn't mote new members and perhaps result in new it? A 46 based at Picton to assist down trains into regional clubs being formed. the Southern Highlands...... V sets to Moss Vale 3. National Conventions, maybe cost prohibitive but and beyond...... still food for thought. My guess is Gosford. So, over to you gentlemen for any comments Bill Whale David Low Mem # 3347 (Sorry Bill, I would not have known this. Member # 3586 I model USA. Thanks —Ed)

PAGE 34 AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008

BOOK REVIEW By Steve Malone (Qld)

STEAMING IN YOUR GARDEN coal from central Queensland and the reject Victori- By Tag Gorton an Char from the Lions live steam 5” gauge track at Atlantic Publishers Bracken Ridge helps with the success of these mod- This is an A4 size soft cover full colour book els at the Queensland Branch. with 112 pages. It contains 7 chapters dealing all types of Steam powered Garden railways that use 32 or 45mm track. From the rustic Narrow Gauge trains to splendid mainline trains, this books covers all in detail in Tag’s colourful and informative style. The book also covers the history of garden rail- ways in the UK. A good read for both beginner and experienced enthusiast alike. Two Australian Garden railway Enthusiasts fea- ture in the Book, Geoff Green in Melbourne and Queensland Branch’s John Rogers. John features as a modeller who brought inex- pensive Gauge 1 mainline steam locos to the world’s standard gauge 45mm gauge modellers with his conversion of a Ruby, a Narrow Gauge industrial 0-4 -0T loco into a BR B4, a neat Standard Gauge 0-4- 0T tank steam locomotive. The final chapter deals with coal fired locomo- tives, something well known in the Queensland Branch, with six coal fired models being built in re- cent years and a few more in progress. The excel- lent Queensland fuels available such as Blair Athol

AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008 PAGE 35

ESKBANK c.1899 By David Low (NSW)

It was during my attendance at one of the Early quality layout in my own right, and not part of Days Conventions held in May each year that dis- a club. cussions turned to building and displaying an early I wanted somewhere to display and run the early days exhibition layout (early days is defined as the days models, both mine and my fellow opera- period 1855 to 1930). tors. Talk revolved around the fact that as more and I thought that displaying an exhibition layout was more early days models were being produced as giving something back to the model railway kits, both rolling stock and locomotives, perhaps it hobby. was timely for someone to produce an early day’s So what to model? Real or imaginary? It just layout. Silence. My ears pricked up, and I thought had to be a real location, and I was determined to be “Why not me?’ I had previously built a number of brave/silly enough to call the new layout by it’s real home layouts including my last layout based on name, and let the knockers have a field day! But PARKES, which appeared in Issue 253 (August what location to model - back to the Early Days Con- 2005) of AMRM. ventions. So, building the layout was not a real problem. By some strange co-incidence, these conven- However, this time the layout would need to be port- tions over the years seemed to gravitate around the able (all my previous layouts were not portable and main Western line, in the area from Penrith to Bath- were always destroyed with each move of home). urst, with many presentations concentrating on sites So why not a proper exhibition layout? Again, with in this area. Further, a number of talks centred on my involvement with the Epping Model Railway Club the Katoomba/Lithgow Valley areas (e.g. talks on (EMRC), I had gained first hand knowledge of build- Mort’s Freezing Works and Hoskins First Steelworks ing and running an exhibition layout. at Lithgow, the Lithgow Overhead Coal Stage and In my time at EMRC I was involved with the construction and exhibiting of BRUNSWICK PARK, a large exhibition layout depicting North Strathfield in the 1960’s, now touring the exhi- bition circuit. This is a rather large layout with the baseboard modules built to an Epping Club standard design and size, one which was used on the club’s previous layouts of BRISBANE WATERS and EAST MATELEND (The standard size module was shale mining in the Wolgan Valley). 2.4 mtrs long,900 mm wide by 100 mm deep, con- It was perhaps fate that one day sitting in the structed of 7mm ply tops and 15mm ply sides and bistro of the Lithgow Workmens Club, looking out ends). over the main Western line, that right in front of me I therefore had the experience with both home was the old Lithgow station, now closed to traffic but layouts and Club exhibition layouts, and hence it still in good condition. In fact, other old railway arte- was logical that the next layout I built would be my facts still existed at the site, including the waiting very own exhibition layout. shed on the up platform, the original drive through Why an exhibition layout? I had a number of goods shed, and a beautiful, fully maintained signal reasons: box. Was this to be my new exhibition layout? The Bragging rights - I wanted to be the first modeller next step was to take photos and do some research. to display an “Early Days” exhibition layout. I searched through all my books looking for an- More bragging rights - I wanted to display a good ything to do with this site. Importantly, in old copies

PAGE 36 AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008 of the ARHS Bulletins I found a full story on the main tude with the exact date of some of the items to run Western line, from Penrith to Bathurst, with a full on the layout. history of each station along the line. The Bulletin I now had the location, a track plan and a peri- revealed that the station I had been looking at from od. All I had to do now was build it, and since a the Workmens Club was in fact the very first station friend had also now secured plans of the station and at Lithgow, built in 1882 and originally called ESK engine shed, pressure was mounting to make a BANK (later ESKBANK), named after the estate of start. John Brown by which it stood. Eskbank House, Additional site visits were made to measure and Brown’s residence, still stands in the estate grounds photograph the buildings. However, the final track beside the line (now a muse- um). I also went to see the histor- ic photo collec- tion held by the Lithgow public library, which had some beau- tiful shots set in the early days of the station. The Bulletin had a number of track plans showing the ESKBANK station area at certain times in it’s life. plan was going to be a compromise, a HO represen- One of these plans, dated 1885, showed ESKBANK tation of the actual yard would be hundreds of me- at a time when it was probably at it’s busiest. On the tres long, so compression and more compression old track plan was the existing station building, wait- would be the order of the day. The best we can hope ing shed, goods shed and signal box, but it also for is that the model plan gives us the FLAVOUR of showed a turntable, engine shed and overhead coal- the real thing. I used real measurements for the sta- ing stage at the other end of the yard. Photos that I tion and platforms, and the engine shed. The coal had collected also showed all these structures, but stage is only half relief. The middle yard suffered the where were the last mentioned items? most compression. With my interest raised by all this research, I couldn’t wait to visit the Eskbank site again. This time I went The layout ended up consisting of 3 main scenicked to the other end of the yard, and behold the original modules at the front, the left module containing the site of the old turntable and engine shed were clear- main station precinct, the middle module has the ly evidenced by sandstone footings etc. still existing yards, and the right module has the engine sheds in the ground, and it was fairly easy to discern where plus coal stage. I wanted the scenicked front area to the overhead coal stage would have been. have natural breaks at both ends to disguise the ex- I WAS HOOKED! ESKBANK it was gong to be, its to the fiddle storage roads at the rear. The rear and the period had to be the 1890’s. storage yard was recently pictured on page 42 of But when exactly? I wanted the period to be at least Issue 265 (August 2007) of AMRM. The real ESKBANK has a road bridge right next to the station which was used as the exit scenic break for this end, the overhead coal stage used to disguise the other end. Perfect. I agonised over the back-scene, and finally set-

pre-1900. The station was built in 1882, the signal box in1885, and the overhead coal stage was built in 1888. So the choices were the 1880’s, 1890’s, late 1890’s, or maybe 1899? The later date allows for P and T class locos. “ESKBANK c. 1899” has a nice ring to it, and the small c. for circa allows a little lati-

AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008 PAGE 37 tled for a plain blue background (darker at top fading Eskbank the layout has appeared so far at the Octo- to lighter at bottom to vaguely represent the sky). I ber 2006 AMRA Hurstville exhibition, the June 2007 reasoned that as my painting skills were poor, I Epping exhibition and again booked for the October should leave the back-scene plain blue (even clouds 2007 AMRA Hurstville exhibition. I am not sure as to allude me). I would have loved a photo/computer future outings for the layout, as it generally requires generated back-scene of the Megalong/Jamison 4 people to set it up, run it over a 3 day show and valley but that was too hard for me. pack it away. This is not so easy for a one man pro- As mentioned at the beginning, my attendance duction team now residing in Canberra. Neverthe- at the early days conventions over the years has less, I feel I have achieved what I set out to achieve, enabled me to build up my collection of early days displaying a unique layout depicting the NSWGR in kits which were sold at these conventions. Other the late 19th century. items, especially locomotives, were sourced else- where (e.g. the big “J”,”O” class and ”H” class locos from Bergs), culminating in us early days modellers now having a fairly extensive collection of items ap- propriate to the 1899 period.

PAGE 38 AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008

AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008 PAGE 39

RAILSCENE By Daniel Norman (Vic)

All that remains of NR33 after the 2006 level crossing accident at Lismore in south-western Victoria. Monday 21/01/08.

2008 ANNUAL MODEL RAILWAY SHOW

The 2008 W.A. Model Railway Show is on over the long weekend on the 31st May 1st & 2nd June. If there are any Modellers or Retailers interested in entering their Layouts or Display in this show please contact us on my Email address [email protected] and we will send you further information.

Photo: Peter Higgins

PAGE 40 AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008

AUSTRALIAN 4MM (EM18.2) By George Noble (W.A)

I have been railway modelling in 4mm EM The method I used to manufacture diesel locos was gauge (18.2 mm track) since 1982. The modeling to use Athearn chassis and convert them to EM. The RTR market then, did not offer quality to a large ex- wheels were re-profiled and spaced out on their ax- tent as it does today. les with a brass washer to take up the extra space. I I found a majority of people in WA in those days found it an easy conversion and the result giving a were attracted to English (Hornby) or USA products smooth running loco. The bodies were scratch built Most likely they were the products that were for sale from plastic card. So far, I have built a GM CLP with and promoted to a big extent. the C/R livery. Mixing with other modelers in AMRA–WA one When it came to steam the only locos in Aus- layout stood out to me. This was the layout of Ted tralia running on standard gauge track were in NSW Thoday, which was 4mm. EM 18.2 mm gauge. What and the CR on the Trans-Continental Railway be- made it stand out was the code 75 hand-built wider tween Kalgoorlie and Port Pirie. When the CR want- track and the fine scale wheels etc. of the rolling ed their steam locos they mostly used the examples stock. The down side to this was, as I was to find already running in NSW. out, the slow progress and a considerable lot more A steam loco with big attraction, in my opinion, effort than those who could buy everything ready in Australia would have to be the NSW C-38. The made. CR never owned a Pacific loco but, watching 3801 in Model rail- action made a ways should be lasting impres- “ FUN “. You sion on me. It are entitled to was not going to feel proud of be easy to build your efforts no a C-38 in 4mm matter how as no-one much ability you makes a 5’ 9” feel you have or boxpok wheel of don’t have. any pattern for The diffi- 4mm. For culty for me was the wheels, I I wanted to bought Maygib model in EM spoked type and and the English made thin over- railways still lays out of brass held an attrac- and glued them tion but they to the wheels were not the with Loctite 406 railways that instant adhe- were around sive. where I grew up After reading east of Kalgoor- about and dis- lie. The western terminus for the Commonwealth cussing with people, the feeling was that if I was go- Railways was in Kalgoorlie. Whilst growing up I was ing to go to all this effort I should use the best metal very interested in watching the CR movements available. I chose to use nickel silver instead of around Kalgoorlie and Parkeston, their loco depot. brass and found a supplier (Austral Wright) in Welsh- The track gauge of 4’ 8½”. had the look of an im- pool. From the experience I would say soldering it pressive railway to me. Living out east of Kalgoorlie, was a pleasure, however some advice – make sure I could see the trains on their way east. Going in to you wash all the residue of flux away after each days meet the train was always an impressive sight. What work. Annealing the nickel silver to roll a boiler was really did it for me was seeing the restored GM “1” in not as easy as brass, but it worked and I created a the Commonwealth Railways livery. This was a real- nice boiler. ly nostalgic experience, bringing back so many The starting place was to source a drawing of memories of where I had grown up, something no the loco, which I obtained from Data Plans in Can- other railway could do. berra. The drawing is in HO and I enlarged it from To model Australian railways in 4mm EM track 3.5mm to 4mm to the foot. I also bought the book was not going to be easy or rapid. “38“ by John B. Thompson, which has a wealth of I guess, if I had listened to lots of people, I information. would have never started on any of these projects. I The chassis I made from N/S and the method I originally spent 2½ years making baseboards and used was to solder 2 pieces together and glue a hand built track with the Brooke – Smith ply sleeper drawing to one side with PVA glue. I then cut it out and rivet method if you know what I mean.. with a piercing saw, finishing off with files.

AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008 PAGE 41

I was able to use Comet parts for the coupling Chimney rods and some of the valve gear, suitably modified to Dome suit. Safety Valves The chassis is compensated using MJT horn Steam electric generator blocks on the middle and rear axles. The front axle is Cylinders fixed and a NWSL 28/1 ratio gearbox is connected Valve gear crosshead and slide bars with a short piece of silicone rubber tubing to a Chime whistle Mashima 28 x 16 can motor and flywheel. With most Rear pony truck compensated chassis built, the rear axle is fixed and Tender bogie side frames driven; I have found driving the front fixed axle has caused no problems. After much experience and With the construction of the body I found it very experimenting with previous chassis builds I was easy to make inaccurate, out of square and out of able to make a chassis that allowed me to put the line work, so you have to continually check your coupling rods on and have it glide smoothly from a work. Don’t be surprised if you make a mistake and standing start with out a lot of trouble. “This comes have to un-solder and re-do the task. In the long run close to ecstasy.” One goes into building loco chas- if you settle for a mistake it will be obvious to you sis and starts to think it is a black art. It is not easy to and it will annoy you every time you look at it. start with. I think I came close to throwing a chassis Riveting was achieved by tapping from behind against a wall in frustration, however I now find if you with a punch and small hammer. The work must be are precision like in your approach to accuracy, keep kept in line and I did this by taping a steel rule to it your work in square and precise in tolerances it can and kept the punch against it. Also use the incre- be achieved. ments on the rule so your riveting is evenly spaced. I was able to use a number of English 4mm The body has 3 fixing bolts, one at the front and components, as prototype didn’t make any differ- two at the back. This allows you to adjust for side ence. The Westinghouse pumps were made from ways and up and down sitting of the body on the Dave Alexander (UK) parts The buffers, handrail chassis. It is very important to get this right. Time knobs and valve gear rivets are Alan Gibson. Front spent on this and the satisfactory look of the body etched coupling is PC. Etched fold up chassis spac- will certainly help to make a convincing model. When ers are Perseverance. Rear coupling is KD no.5. the model is finished and painted and it really looks Bogie, rear pony and tender wheels are Alan Gibson like a particular loco, it will give you a buzz, even Transfers came from Australian hobby shops for HO. more so when making something you can’t buy and I feel that they look satisfactory The etched-in N/S nobody else has. numbers for the cab side look very nice. One thing I have noticed with a metal body I was still faced with making a lot of compo- compared to a plastic one is it can create resonating nents from scratch for example: sounds, so will have to be adjusted and insulated from the chassis to some extent. With painting I used acrylic etched primer, bought in a litre can and sprayed with an airbrush. The finishing coat is Tamiya paint, custom blending of 2 colours. I agonized for a long time about whether to make it black or green. There seems to be a differ- ence in the greens and the time and environment had an effect on the colour also. In the end I made SOUND: LOKSOUND ESU cheapest available. up a suitable green and numbered it “ 3813”. 3813 was used on the Western Endeavor from O GAUGE: ACE Trains, Bassett Lowke, Bing, Sydney to SA whilst 3801 carried on to Perth. They Hornby, Leeds, Lionel, Milbro etc. proved they were well made, world class locos. The designing engineer was quoted as saying “they ran 00/H0 & DIECASTS: Dublo - Triang; Corgi, 12,000 miles a month so the trip to Perth and back Lledo, was taken in its stride”. Loco 3813 was always green. It was stripped in 1973 for an overhaul. The overhaul was halted and the loco was never put back together until in my miniature world of 4mm where 3813 lives again for me. Am I happy with all the work I have done? YES!, I am very happy and it is fantastic for me to see it running and see the loading gauge difference between a C–38 and English stock built to the same scale. 29 Pupuke Rd, Birkenhead, Very soon when the N/S and brass N.S.W RUB Auckland, 1310 New Zealand set coaches are finished and are behind 3813 a big part of their lives will be recreated. Ph (64)9419 1994 - Fax (64)94191995 www.railmaster.co.nz

PAGE 42 AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008

PILATUS RAILWAY By Stuart Pattison (Vic)

Recently one of the men who works for my Exhibition in Paris in 1889. company, Derek Tankard, travelled, with his wife, to Discs (flanges) on the lower side of the horizon- Switzerland and Europe. On his return he presented tal cogwheels roll along both sides of the beam that me with a CD ROM of pictures he had taken, whilst supports the rack and under the rack itself. there, as he knew I was interested in trains and thought this might interest club members, especially those of you who either intend travelling there or those who model European. Much to his delight he discovered “The Pilatus Railway”. This is a cog wheel railway system, claimed to be the steepest in the world.

Derek & Wife at the entrance to the railway

When engineer Eduard Locher put forward the idea of building a railway up to Mount Pilatus (see photo above) in the 19th century, many people thought he was crazy. Nevertheless, the 4618-metre stretch of railway from Alpnachstad to the Pilatus Kulm (summit) was opened in 1889 (steam opera- tion to 1937). With a 48% gradient, this is still the world's steepest cogwheel railway, made possible by a bril- liantly innovative construction using two horizontally revolving cogwheels. It was presented at the World

Pics 2 to 4 show various scenery along the route

AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008 PAGE 43

A map showing the route travelled by The Pilatus Railway

A Pilatus Railway car slowly traverses the mountainside

Further information is available at http://www.pilatus.ch/ Thanks to the Pilatus website for the first two pic- tures. All other pictures copyright Derek Tankard. Pictures used with Derek’s permission.

PAGE 46 AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008

LOCAL RAIL NEWS By Geoff Brown (Vic)

During mid September the Victorian Rail Freight tonnes instead of the 180 tonnes for the 5000 class. Network Review Committee visited the north east area PN have indicated 9 will be allocated to coal traffic and of the state conducting inspections and holding public six to intermodal working. meetings. Other areas to be visited are Horsham, The WAFarmers Group are calling for a rail net- Portland, Shepparton and Maryborough. A number of work renewal in that state. The group’s spokesperson rural councils have submitted submissions and after said the government still owns the track system, and it the review a report with recommendations will be sub- should invest in the grain network. With a large ques- mitted for the development of Victoria’s rail freight net- tion mark hanging over much of WA’s regional rail work. network the Planning and Infrastructure Minister said On 27.8.07 operator El Zorro entered into an that at the end this year the state will have to pick up agreement with AWB Grainflow to provide two trains the costs of maintaining about 1000 kilometres of to haul grain, one broad gauge and one standard track. gauge in Victoria and New South Wales. As El Zorro In South Australia hopes are being raised (again) has no grain wagons and is expected it will lease its that rail will return to the south-east of that state. A requirements from Chicago Freight. Look forward to pulp mill at Penola is close to getting approval, and if seeing some interesting trains in the next few months. successful, has indicated the finished product will be In September some XGAY grain wagons stored at transported to Adelaide by rail. Penola is approximate- Dimboola were moved to Cootamundra. I understand ly 50km short of Mt Gambier. It will be interesting to AWB own these wagons. see if the gauge conversion goes all the way to Mt Towards the end of September the last fuel train Gambier, if it happens! ran from Geelong (Corio) to Mildura. This leaves On September 12 V/Line introduced a new livery Shepparton as the last country area to be still served for its passenger fleet. As was indicated by the gov- by a fuel train, but for how long! The service to ernment back in February the Sprinter rail cars and Wodonga ceased some time ago. Shell Australia has the interurban H cars were to be internally refurbished obviously taken the decision that it’s cheaper to haul and repainted in a livery to match the new V’Locity their product by road. railcars. I hope Auscision Models take note with their The House of Representatives’ Committee on planned H cars. SCT Logistics have begun using their Transport and Regional Services has released its lat- own G class locomotives from Parkes (Goobang Junc- est report for the inquiry into the integration of rail & tion) to Perth. SCT Logistics CEO Geoff Smith said road networks and their interface with ports. The re- the whole company is excited about the company’s port is titled The Great Freight Task – is Australia’s transport network up to the challenge? The committee received 194 submissions, conducted 30 hearings and inspections and found that many ports suffer from defi- ciencies in their transport and logistics infrastructure. These include missing supply links and a lack of rail capacity, bypasses, ring roads and rail loops need- ed to reduce traffic congestion in approaches. The committee suggested that it was important that ‘emerging technologies’ such as double stacking con- tainers, modern signalling systems and development of intermodal hubs, were incorporated into Australia’s transport network as quickly as possible. I question double stacking as an emerging technology. Australi- an National was doing it more than a decade ago and development. He went on to say “it is clear that the the US even further back. For New South Wales the transition from government owned railways to private report recommended the completion of the Maldon- ownership has resulted in a significant decline in rail Dombarton Railway. Federal Labour has also made a infrastructure investment. This lack of investment has similar promise in the lead up to the election. I have resulted in the loco shortage that the industry is expe- located Maldon on my map of NSW, but where is riencing today”. Dombarton? My guess is somewhere near Wollon- In a recent report on the East Coast route up- gong! The report has also highlighted the deteriorating grade the Australian Rail Track Corporation has indi- condition of regional railways used to transport the cated all crossing loops between Casino and Acacia grain harvest, resulting in additional traffic pressure on Ridge will be able to accommodate 1500 metre trains. regional roads. The report can be viewed at Also the major reconstruction of the Leeville viaduct www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/trs/networks. has resulted in the 40 km/h speed limit being in- United Group Rail has confirmed an order from creased to 115 km/h. The ARTC is currently carrying Pacific National for 15 General Electric 4300 Cv44-ACi out rehabilitation work on five other North Coast line locomotives. The units will be similar to the QRN GE bridges. C40 ACi 5000 class, except they will weigh in at 140 On October 1st the Queensland Transport Minis-

AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008 PAGE 47 ter announced the second and major stage of an in- type, and still with a V/Line logo. vestigation to identify a potential route for a rail freight On October 2nd not long after John Eassie re- corridor connecting QR’s Western line near Rosewood leased his VR VPCX cement wagons at the Croydon to the standard gauge Sydney Brisbane line to the Exhibition I noted three of them at Tottenham. Two south of Brisbane. The Minister said the Southern were red with the V/Line logo and one was red with Freight Rail Corridor Study was a significant step in the large VR logo. How long ago was there a Victorian preparing for major freight growth in Queensland. Any Railways? Yes, about 25 years. My guess is it must decision on whether a railway is constructed would have been captive on the Berrima (NSW) to Somerton depend on the proposed Inland Railway going ahead. train and escaped re-badging. Seeing I have three of This is a change, considering previous Queensland the Austrains VR JX wagons one will now become a Governments’ intransigence on standard gauge in that VPBX using Bill’s Billboards very useful decals. I have state. Confused! Read the ongoing article on the sub- done a similar thing with a modified Lima VR ELX ject in the October Railway Digest, page 16. wagon. Just re-code to VOBX using Bill’s decals and The NSW government has approved the con- leave the VR logo on. It’s legit! struction of a container yard at Enfield adjacent to the Noted on 26/11 was a Sydney bound Pacific Na- marshalling yard. The terminal will include rail sidings, tional inter-modal pacing my suburban. The train was warehouses and container storage areas. Containers a mix of CF CQBY’s, VR VQCY’s and NSW NQPY’s. will be brought to the terminal by truck and loaded What took my eye was the number of different bogie onto shuttle trains for transfer to Botany Bay. The ter- types under the NQPY wagons. The bogies included minal was opposed by Council and local residents. 2CF (XFA), 2CH (XCH) and of course the 2CL (XCL) Melbourne based Southern Shorthaul Railroad as originally fitted. In model form the CQBY is next has ceased operations in Victoria on October 5 citing year (perhaps, perhaps) from Auscision Models. The a lack of business opportunities. SSR’s broad gauge T NQPY are available from AR Kits as the OCX and class (T373) has been converted to SG and moved to from Casula Hobbies as the OCY. The VQCY are still NSW. On 29/11 I noted two SSR standard gauge J available from Steam Era Models as the FQX. All the class in the Agents Sidings at South Kensington, obvi- abovementioned bogies are available from AR Kits. ously waiting to catch a lift on the next QR National Be daring, make your wagons look that little bit differ- Melbourne-Brisbane service to Sydney. ent, if PN can do it, then so can you! The Victorian Rail Freight Review Committee has In the most recent Eureka Times, (14th edition), met with the Chief Executive of the ARTC at Albury Ron Cunningham of Eureka Models mentioned the and was told that a saving of around $25 million could factory is pressuring him to proceed with the tooling be achieved if the proposed Wodonga rail bypass was for the Victorian Railways K class locomotive. I replied laid in standard gauge only. The committee’s view is to him (via email) on the basis of, bring it on, and that the bypass be SG only is consistent with the pointed out all the really good features of the real ARTC stance that the Seymour Albury line should be thing. In contrast to the planned R class, the K class converted to SG to create a double track, one gauge would represent a far better choice for the modeller. It line, rather than implement a passing lane program as was a very versatile locomotive! At home on a branch, in NSW. Who knows we may have some N class on or main line, and with a maximum speed of 80 kmh standard gauge as a result. That is, if the Victorian they could even be used on a branch passenger ser- government still wants V/Line trains to go through to vice. They were a very free running engine. So don’t Albury. be surprised if the K class is now offered for late 2008 On page 37 in the November Railway Digest is a or early 2009 delivery. If each Victorian modeller were photo to gladden the hearts of Alco fans. It shows ex to buy just one it would make Ron very happy. Eureka West Australian NB1872 and ex New South Wales 45 are also indicating the 38 class, the CPH railmotor and class (now numbered 103) hauling the Balco train into the first train pack will be delivered in February. To the Adelaide port area. Who cares if the locos are date Ron has been quite good with his deliveries. In painted in Patrick Portlink red! contrast Auscision Models, Austrains and Trainorama From the pages of October MotivePower comes have all pushed back their delivery dates for models news on the sale of Blue Scope’s Pt Kembla locomo- from late 2007 to February 2008 (maybe). tives to Pacific National. As most are English Electric, Trainorama have indicated a price of $120.00 it will be interesting to see if they stay at Pt Kemble or (gulp) for a pack of two ZLP guardsvans, now ex- end up somewhere else. pected around July with an August delivery for the Also in MotivePower is a photo of ex Freight Aus- PHG and MHG brakevans. If you missed out on the tralia V544 now at the head of the Leigh Creek coal first run of the gunmetal OHG be warned! There will train. In the days of Australian National the train was be a limited re-run with new numbers in January. 160 wagons, each weighing 80 tonnes and hauled by As I conclude my notes the Federal Election has four GM class locos (magic). Today the train is 170 come and gone. With a conclusive change it will be wagons, each 100 tonnes and hauled by V544 and very interesting to see what effect there will be on the two 82 class locos. direction of rail freight nationally. During the last term QRN operations on the East Coast continue to of government Labour gave the rail industry little be a source of interest with great photo opportunities recognition. This time round things may be different, and a marvellous mix of locos, and wagons. A case of although I am not going to hold by breath. Happily the something borrowed something blue. Every now and person who was Transport Minister last time has been then you see something out of the ordinary, such as a given a different portfolio in the new government. container three pack with the centre wagon of the well

PAGE 48 AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008

AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008 PAGE 49

FRANS FATIDIC I’ve also been told that Jim McKenzie is in Fre- Another year is underway and our Club is going mantle Hospital following surgery, on behalf of all well. members, get well soon, we hope by the time you I would like to say a big thank you to everyone read this that you are well on the road to full recov- who helped Rob Kay, Dennis Ling and Dave Edgell ery. rebuild the Shenton Park layout, virtually from Frans Ponjee scratch, in a very short time, a great effort by all con- THE TRAIN SET cerned – a good case of many hands make light A mother was working in the kitchen, listening to work. her five year old son playing with his new electric The reconvened Extraordinary General Meeting train set in the living room. She heard the train stop went off without a hitch all resolutions were passed and her son saying, “All of you b******s who want off, and Alan Porter and Ron Fryer explained all about get the h**l off now, ‘cause this is the last stop! And our finances, a great job done by both. all of you b******s who are getting on, get your back- It was a concern, though. that only a few people side in the train, ‘cause we’re going down the tracks.” turned up [even less than the original, scheduled The horrified mother went in and told her son, meeting] but obviously everyone thinks the Manage- “We don’t use that kind of language in this house. ment Committee is doing a good job. Now I want you to go to your room and stay there for My thanks also to Jim Gregg for putting the two hours. When you come out, you may play with Constitutional amendment proposals through and your train but I want you to use nice language.” who is now rewriting the Constitution Two hours later, the son came out of the bed- A couple of our members have had to endure room and resumed playing with this train. Soon the stays in hospital but it is good to see and hear that train stopped and the mother heard her son say, “All both Graham Bell and Barry Keens are on the road passengers who are disembarking the train please to recovery and are doing well. remember to take all of your belongings with you. We thank you for travelling with us today and hope your trip was a pleasant one.” She hears the little boy con- tinue, “For those of you just boarding we ask you to stow all of your hand luggage under your seat. Remember, there is no smoking on the train. We hope you will have a pleasant and re- laxing journey with us today.” As the mother began to smile, the child added, “For those of your who are p****d off about the two hour delay, please direct your complaints to the fat b***h in the kitchen.”

This picture shows the layout ready for its move to Shenton Park and gives an excel- lent indication of what has been achieved over about six weeks

PAGE 50 AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008

PRESIDENTS REPORT down on a 1 in 33 grade to staging and storage On Saturday, 18th February, a very large num- tracks. ber of members were present to see Peter Dusha New locomotives continue to arrive in both receive his Honorary Life Membership badge and steam and electric models. The new electric K27 is certificate. Peter served as Club secretary for over extremely popular, with a Brisbane hobby shop sell- 11 years, in what is one of any clubs most demand- ing 15 locos in 3 weeks. These are extremely good ing positions. The club is grateful to Peter for his value. professionalism in carrying out this role. Meanwhile the steam powered K28 is also a The 40 ft container has been relocated to a po- very well detailed model. Brian Wilson (of Edwin sition alongside the railway fence, opening up the fame) has just completed a QR B9½, this model is yard. This container will be used for storage, freeing beautifully finished and has a cassette system in the the garage to be turned into our workshop. This will firebox, allowing coal or butane firing. Also Jason allow the relocation of tools and machinery over the Jones has just completed his Roundhouse Katie Kit next few months. We have had concrete laid for the in a beautiful deep blue colour. proposed new 20ft container and an additional con- After the success of the group’s first display creted area in front of the garage. inside the BRISBANE MODEL TRAIN SHOW in We are pleased to welcome the following new 2007, the Display for 2008 will be extended, plans members– are in place for this improved presentation. Michael Barfield- Mackay The Main Running days continue on the Third st Jason Hite – Manly West Saturday. The EVEN Month 1 Tuesday night run Bruce and Tyler Meiklejohn—Geebung was washed out in February, while there are some Qld Financial membership @ 30 December 08 home track visits planned for the ODD month first – 228 Tuesday night runs. The Third Tuesday lunch runs Remember, club opening times and special also continue. events are included on our web page – www.brisbanemodeltrainshow.com.au on the AMRA (Q) home page,

Bill Dunn Branch President (Q)

NARROW GAUGE REPORT Work continues on the Mike Bertucci’s “ Won- derful World of Narrow Gauge” On30 layout for the AMRA May 2008 BRISBANE MODEL TRAIN SHOW. A significant number of trees will be needed on this display so everyone’s talents will be required here. The new Bachmann 0n30 4-4-0 has hit the shops in Brisbane and will prove to be a popular item, Queensland had a fleet of 4-4-0s first built in Photo by Ian Renshaw of Brian Wilson’s QR B9½. the US, but later built here in Queensland, some built at Kangaroo Point where the story bridge stands. When completed these were driven some LIBRARY NEWS Km down Main Street on portable track to the near- Ted Ward is working on the Construction of a est railway line. new Work Table and shelving arrangement and Alex Meetings continue on the Third Tuesday even- Cairns continues with his work with the magazines. ing, however some meetings in 2008 will be held We have received a large collection of QR rol- elsewhere, visiting interesting home layouts. lingstock drawings and information from the Eric Outdoor Track News Lyon archives. Eric was a coach builder and he had Approval has been given to extend the outdoor a special interest in carriages and railmotors. These track with a simple branch line arrangement heading have been neatly formatted in large folders.

AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008 PAGE 51

A member also has some bound “Railway Mod- recommends a Kadee No 5 is probably the most ellers” for sale from 1954 to 1981 at only $5 each. suitable for S scale use (perhaps more specifically Some good bedtime reading here. Contact the for QR outline). The coupler should be mounted so Branch if you are interested. that the centre of the knuckle is ½” above rail height. The Kadee height gauges can be used if they are Steve Malone modified so that they are at the correct height. Where longer necked couplers are used, they SN 3.5 GROUP NOTES should be set up so that the draw bar is parallel to The SN3.5 Group started 2008 with our first the rail (not drooping). meeting on Sunday, 10 Feb 08 at the AMRA (Q) clubrooms at Zillmere. With a lot of shows to attend Ken Duncan and the bi-annual Modeling the Railways of Queens- land (MROQ) convention, which is usually well sup- THE 2008 BRISBANE MODEL TRAIN SHOW. ported by SN3.5 Group members, it is going to be a The 2008 Brisbane Model Train Show will be busy year. the 31st run by the AMRA Qld Branch. The SN3.5 Group have several members in- The Show will run over the May Day long week- volved with the running of the AMRA(Q) Model Train end, opening on Saturday, 3rd May. show once again this year. Early reports are that the Show Times are:- 2008 show is going to be bigger and better than last Saturday 3rd May; 9 am to 5 pm. year. Sunday 4th May; 9 am to 5 pm. Our calendar is already looking full with activi- Monday 5th May; 9 am to 4 pm. ties, especially during August when the MROQ con- The 2008 BMTS has expanded with an extra vention (2/3 Aug), Railway Modeling Club of Qld hall for an increased number of railway layouts, show (9/10 Aug), and the AMRA (Q) open day backed up by several heritage displays. Trade (possibly 16 Aug). Luckily August is a five-weekend Stands from around Australia will also be a Feature month this year otherwise spouses could rightfully of the BMTS 2008. claim to be railway-modeling widows. There are 17 brand new Railway Layouts de- A few projects were completed. Alex Cairns buting at the BMTS 2008 Many of the layouts fea- finished painting John Lovet’s DH2. As often hap- tured in previous years have been upgraded and pens the exact shade of paint used on a model is improved for 2008. often determined by the memory of the modeler. For As usual, the younger modellers will have many QR’s DH class shunter it was found that Verdant layouts to interest them, and there are several ‘U’ Green was the name of the colour used. Apparently Drive layouts where they can show their skills. NSW steam locos were painted the same shade, Young modellers can even build their “own” Railway which is available in Australian paint manufacturer Buildings to take home, under the guidance of veter- Railey Paints range. As usual Alex’s detailing exper- an modeller, Jim Fainges. tise has been displayed again and Johns’ DH is a There is a new ‘U’ drive layout, visitors can winner. drive from the ‘cab’ of a Queensland Railways PB 15 Ken Edge-Williams is progressing well with his steam loco. Kuranda display layout. He intends to have the lay- “Thomas” and his friends are back in several out complete for the Brisbane show. The layout de- layouts on display, while the Brisbane ‘LEGO’ Train picts a segment of the Kuranda line including sever- Group will again have their large layout on show. al tunnels and bridges. Ken asked one of his con- Live Steam Rides will be operating under the tacts in QR engineering if he had some information EXPO Place canopy. on bridge 11 of the route. He was presented with a The ever popular “AMRA Qld” Canteen will book of detailed QR drawings of all the Kuranda line provide a wide variety of food and drinks at very rea- bridges that included copies of original drawings sonable prices. from the construction of the line in the late 19th cen- This year, we have introduced some of the sug- tury. The book was produced for the contractors gestions that patrons made last year including the working on the bridge strengthening project in 1998. provision of several “Patrons Rest Areas” around the (Information about the project can be found at halls. www.onesteel.com/images/db_images/casestudies/ The members of AMRA Qld are working very bridgerail19ssp.pdf.) hard to make the BMTS 2008 even better than the As mentioned in a previous SN3.5 bulletin, the 2007 Show. group has been reviewing standards in regard to coupler heights. Our various running and display John Lovett. sessions with Rosevale has revealed that our non- BMTS 2008 Show Layout Manager. standard coupler heights can cause a significant amount of operating difficulty. Gary Schwarzrock, Alex Cairns, and Ian Childs have all been working on the problem. Firstly Gary produced a coupler height gauge for using Kadee couplers on S scale. Alex has successfully used the gauge to recalibrate his wagon fleet. Ian has contacted Kadee and ob- tained specifications of their range of couplers. Ian

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The Australian Model Railway Association Queensland Branch Inc A non profit Association Incorporated in Queensland Presents, THE BRISBANE MODEL TRAIN SHOW RNA Grounds - Alexandria Street, Bowen Hills. Brisbane Labour Day Weekend 2008 Saturday 3rd May 9am-5pm Sunday 4th May 9am-5pm Monday 5th May 9am-4pm Trains of all types and sizes. * Train rides. * Steam trains for your backyard. * Special interactive displays. * Trade and information displays. * Food & drinks at a reasonable price. Adults $10; Concession $8; Children (5-15) $5 A great day out for the whole family. The largest train show in Australia. RNA Info line 3852 1831 www.brisbanemodeltrainshow.com.au

Two cranes move the 40ft container to improve access to the outdoor layout.

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT progress for the Branch. I look forward to reporting I was privileged to make a number of presenta- these exciting events as they happen. tions to members at our Christmas afternoon tea on 15 December. Thirty year membership certificates Barry Wilcockson and badges were presented to, Bert Hetherington, Val Hogan and Ron Houghton. Congratulations to all MORTDALE BUILDING REPORT three for reaching this milestone. Next was the The big news on the building front is that the presentation of Branch Appreciation Awards to John floors have been professionally cleaned and sealed Coffey, June Larmour and Fred Stell. These mem- and what a great difference it has made, the Art Soci- bers work quietly around the clubrooms and these ety appreciated the effort to have them cleaned. The awards are to show the management committee’s other news is that the lock has been fitted to the vid- appreciation for what they have done. June has or- eo cabinet and the show computer has been mount- ganised the club and exhibition kitchens over many ed and is running a welcome message. years and is the driving force behind Needles and Natter. Fred has been stepping in and filling the gap David Bennett in the kitchen when needed, mopping the floors and Mortdale Building Supervisor putting out the garbage bin each week. John has tak- en on the daunting task of maintaining the electrics EXHIBITION NEWS under the O gauge layout and adding improvements such as replacing the grain of wheat lamps in the sig- FOUND - Assistant Exhibition Manager nals with LEDs. This year the management commit- A sincere thank you is extended to Alan Cross tee also decided to present three Junior Encourage- for volunteering to learn about the running of the Ex- ment Awards. The awards were made to Adrian Bat- hibition. Alan has been heavily involved in the hobby ey, Ben Gilmore and Mitch Morgan. Ben has assisted for some years and is a relatively new AMRA mem- in keeping the HO layout running smoothly, and ber. Thank you also to the several members who keeping running opportunities shared out fairly. Mitch enquired regarding this issue. was noted for the willing way in which he assisted in the kitchen at last year’s exhibition, which took a load Glenn Percival off the ladies. Adrian is a new member who has rolled Exhibition Manager up his sleeves and become involved in work on the N scale and HO scale layouts. Mitch and Adrian were CLUBWEAR presented with their awards at a later date as they We now keep limited numbers of logo embroi- were not present on the day. dered items ready for purchase, effectively resurrect- Christmas and New Year have come and ing the “AMRA Shop”. You may if you wish take your gone and we are back into the swing of things again. garment to any embroiderer to place your name on In mid January the vinyl floors were professionally the opposite side of the garment; we ask only that it stripped, sealed and polished. This is the first time be done in a monogram font of approx. 2cm height, since the vinyl was laid in 2003. It looks great and the colour to match the club name on your garment. now it is up to all of us to keep it looking good. After the AGM is out of the way, I will produce a All fixed layouts are receiving plenty of atten- new order form which can also be filled in and sub- tion. See the respective layout reports for details. A mitted electronically – this will be a taste of things to general meeting of members voted to finish fitting the come for Branch operations, from clubwear to exhibi- legs to the modules of the exhibition layout and then tion applications, rostering and more. pack it away until next AGM to ask the members I thank all those who have supported this project whether to recommence work. The reason for this is since June 1992, providing a professional (and hope- the enormous amount of work being done on the fully comfortable!) face to our club. fixed layouts is seen to be using all of the Branch’s labour force. Before the exhibition layout work begins Glenn Percival again there will be discussion and a vote by members Coordinator as to whether we continue with the Moss Vale / Bowral as planned, or decide on a new concept. This looks like it is going to be a year of great

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N SCALE LAYOUT REPORT meeting took 3 hours and every person behaved as The platform at Bownen has had the brick facing the gentlemen I know they are. Thank you one and replaced with 0.4mm thick plywood which has been all. scribed with brickwork using a laser cutter/engraver, Denis Gilmore these have been stained with wood stain that produc- HO Layout Supervisor es an effective brick appearance. Soon the platform surface can be covered in an extremely fine sand to O SCALE LAYOUT REPORT represent the gravel surface that was used by the Work is now proceeding, under the direction of railways. Ash has continued to apply ballast to the John Coffey and Maurie Haynes, to install permanent branchline and work is progressing well with the rail wiring and control panels. Rumour has it that these panels will be rather more modern and “flash” than joints being wired around to improve reliability. st the existing ones – got to come into the 21 century David Bennett and learn from the examples pleasingly displayed on N Layout Supervisor the “N” and “HO” layouts. For those interested in more detailed information on the planning, design and construction aspects, “PIZZA DISCUSSIONS” refer to the separate report from John Coffey - also in HO FIXED LAYOUT – STONEY CREEK – this edition of JOURNAL (NSW News). So official opening of the extension will be some February 14th, 2008 950 hours months off yet. As the actual date becomes clearer, Stoney Creek has been a hive of activity over nd announcements will be made at the Club and through the last little while. The 2 of February saw 39 people these pages. In the meantime, we intend to provide turn up to hear the proposals to redevelop the main progress reports. line and the Deawy and Fayenton areas. It would be nice if some of you who do not make Three main proposals were presented (so as not it to the Clubrooms very often are able to join us the bore the socks off the regular readers), one of the when that day arrives. Norm Read, looking from proposals was accepted and has been approved by above, will no doubt grace us with his presence to the Committee of Management, as the change will applaud this first major change to “his” layout since it alter a major piece of the clubs assets. The changes was renovated on its move from Rockdale. will begin after the Open Weekend in April. The layout Apart from that, casual observers of the layout committee will need all that time to plan the yards and should be on the lookout for a rebuilt station at Ho- many other things before we start dismantling what ganvale and a Picton-style viaduct near the oil refin- we have operating. ery. Sequence running made a welcome return after a little absence over the Christmas holiday season. Bruce Harris This form of running will be the forerunner to full time- On behalf of O scale Layout Supervisor, Don Stone table operation and a great way to learn about the layout and how it works. The layout takes on a whole new character when operated instead of simply run- O SCALE LAYOUT “UNIVERSAL TRACK” ning trains around and around. EXTENSION REPORT Just a gentle reminder to all uses of Stoney The running of trains was carried out to test the points Creek, this is a layout in it very early stages of pro- for both coarse and finescale wheels. It was done gress. The control system is not fool proof. Sound with temporarily connected power controllers and and non-sound loco will NOT run well together on the temporary wiring patches to provide continuity for same track at the moment. Sound loco’s can be run traction power through the points on the main line. but only with other sound locos, as the controllers The results confirmed that Maurie Haynes has done have to be turned up a little. Non-sound locos will run an excellent job in building points capable of universal much faster when on the same track as sound locos. operation. By arrangement and when there is enough sound The 'O' scale extension is still in the "above the loco’s one main line can be used for sound locos. baseboard" phase. All the baseboards have been Last workday saw the usual group of willing work- constructed and most of the track has been laid. The ers turn up and put in a good days work. The inner "stately, venerable gentlemen" of the 'O' scale con- balloon loop at Deawy was brought into service. This struction team (henceforth to be known as "The Mag- work required a large amount of woodwork to be nificent Seven" for the rapid progress of their achieve- done to fit the point motor in, good work in trying con- ment) were deservedly commended in the January ditions Terry and Geoff. Barry continued with the very Mortdale Matters. under rated but very important task of terminating the Presently there are 13 sets of points constructed 100 pair cables that run to the CTC room. Stan and and in place, providing the main line passing loops as Ben took on and did a great job of marking the block well as the connection to the original layout; plus two wiring under Deawy, in readiness for the go ahead to sidings around the curve at the eastern end on the redevelop this site. Graham continued with terminat- inside of the main line, and a yard with three sidings ing signal cables under the layout around Yerriyong. along the south side on the inside of the main line I would like to thank all the people who turned up and passing loop. This yard contains a separate two for the layout discussion day and especially the pre- road engine servicing / storage facility, one track of senters who put in the effort to put forward ideas. The which can also be used as a head shunt for the sid- ings.

AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008 PAGE 55

Work still to be done to complete the trackwork is the construction of the final 2 sets of points. It is envisaged that these will be installed near the sid- ings at the eastern end of the layout. One point set may provide another short siding for use as a loco- motive storage / servicing facility, with perhaps a single road engine shed to appear later on. The oth- er point set may be used to connect the existing two sidings at their far end with a short common section long enough for a locomotive. This will provide a locomotive run-around capability for train reversing. Most of the timber panels for mounting of terminal blocks and relay hardware associated with point switching have been installed. "Below the base- board" electrical work is just beginning with the in- stallation of terminal blocks and DIN rail on which the cradle relay bases will be attached. The first stage of the permanent wiring between the point rails and the terminal blocks for traction power con- nections is also just starting. Tortoise point motors are still to be purchased. Quotes for bulk supply of Tortoise motors for the 'O' scale layout extension and for the 'N' scale layout have been sought. Point motors for the 'O' scale layout will be required in a few weeks, after stage 2 of the traction power wiring between the terminal blocks and the cradle relay bases is completed. Control Panels and Power Supplies are yet to be designed, with the necessary material purchases and construction to follow. It is intended that I will be providing reports for each issue of Journal, covering just the progress on below the baseboard electrical work for the universal track extension until this project is finished. Bruce Harris / Don Stone will continue to provide the over- all 'O' scale report with above the baseboard items such as building works, scenery developments, etc. John Coffey Electrical Designer 'O' Scale "Universal" Track Extension

“MORTDALE MATTERS” MONTHLY NEWS OF THE NSW BRANCH AMRA NSW is publishes “Mortdale Matters”, which contains further details of news and events around our Mortdale Clubrooms. If you’d like a free Top – June Larmour, Fred Stell and John Coffey were subscription, please contact our publicity officer Phil- presented with Branch Appreciation Awards for their out- ip Lee either in person, by email at publicityof- standing work around the clubrooms and supporting the [email protected] or via our website: NSW Branch. December 15, 2007. Photo: Barry Wilcock- www.amransw.asn.au son Copies of “Mortdale Matters” are available by Middle – Nearly 200 years of experience combined be- email, snail mail or on our website. tween Gordon Wallace, Neil Sorenson, Maurie Haynes and Ken Butt made sure that the new “Universal” track on the O scale layout was well laid. Photo: Bruce Harris

Bottom – (If space allows) In the HO Stoney Creek lay- out's Centralised Train Control (CTC) room, the first live indications - the state of the four Read Yard access pushbuttons - were tested on Sunday January 20th. The CTC room is connected across all input and output lines running between the PLCs and the rest of the layout, with plenty of scope for expansion. Thus any status of opera- tion of the layout will be able to be shown if desired. Pho- to: Glenn Percival

PAGE 56 AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008

AMRA NSW BRANCH INC. PROGRAMME – APRIL 2008 TO JUNE 2008

APRIL Wed 2nd “Daylighters” - General Activities (see Notes) 10am until 5pm Fri 4th Pre-Open Day – Working Bee 7pm until 10pm No Facility Fee Sat 5th * * OPEN WEEKEND * * 10am until 4pm, visitor entry by gold coin donation Sun 6th * * OPEN WEEKEND * * 10am until 4pm, visitor entry by gold coin donation Wed 9th “Daylighters” - General Activities (see Notes) 10am until 5pm Fri 11th Feature Night – TBA 7:30pm until 10pm Sat 12th General Activities & Monthly Forum (see Notes)10am until late Ladies Needles & Natter 2pm Wed 16th “Daylighters” - General Activities (see Notes) 10am until 5pm Fri 18th Exhibition Layout Construction Work Night 7:30pm until 10pm No Facility Fee Sat 19th Layout Operation (see Notes) 10am until late Sun 20th Stoney Creek Work Day 10am until finished No Facility Fee Wed 23rd “Daylighters” - General Activities (see Notes) 10am until 5pm Fri 25th Public Holiday Layout Operation / Structured Running (see Notes) 10am until late Sat 26th General Activities (see Notes) & Layout Construction 10am until late Wed 30th “Daylighters” - General Activities (see Notes) 10am until 5pm

MAY Fri 2nd Exhibition Layout Construction Work Night 7:30pm until 10pm No Facility Fee Sat 3rd Layout Operation (see Notes) 10am until late Sun 4th Stoney Creek Work Day 10am until finished No Facility Fee Wed 7th “Daylighters” - General Activities (see Notes) 10am until 5pm Fri 9th Feature Night – Play Back (Audio / Video / DVD). 7:30pm Sat 10th Layout Operation (see Notes) 10am until late Ladies Needles & Natter 2pm Wed 14th “Daylighters” - General Activities (see Notes) 10am until 5pm Fri 16th Exhibition Layout Construction Work Night 7:30pm until 10pm No Facility Fee Sat 17th General Activities & Monthly Forum (see Notes)10am until late Wed 21st “Daylighters” - General Activities (see Notes) 10am until 5pm Fri 23rd Layout Operation / Structured Running (see Notes) 7:30pm until 10pm Sat 24th General Activities (see Notes) & Layout Construction 10am until late Wed 28th “Daylighters” - General Activities (see Notes) 10am until 5pm Fri 30th Exhibition Layout Construction Work Night 7:30pm until 10pm No Facility Fee Sat 31st Layout Operation (see Notes) 10am until late

JUNE Sun 1st Stoney Creek Work Day 10am until finished No Facility Fee Wed 4th “Daylighters” - General Activities (see Notes) 10am until 5pm Fri 6th Exhibition Layout Construction Work Night 7:30pm until 10pm No Facility Fee Sat 7th Layout Operation (see Notes) 10am until late Mon 9th Public Holiday Layout Operation (see Notes) 10am until late Wed 11th “Daylighters” - General Activities (see Notes) 10am until 5pm Fri 13th Feature Night – H.O. Signal Workshop 7:30pm until 10pm Sat 14th General Activities & Monthly Forum (see Notes) 10am until late Ladies Needles & Natter 2pm Wed 18th “Daylighters” - General Activities (see Notes) 10am until 5pm Fri 20th Exhibition Layout Construction Work Night 7:30pm until 10pm No Facility Fee Sat 21st Layout Operation (see Notes) 10am until late Wed 25th “Daylighters” - General Activities (see Notes) 10am until 5pm Fri 27th Layout Operation / Structured Running (see Notes) 7:30pm until 10pm Sat 28th General Activities (see Notes) & Layout Construction 10am until late NOTES WORK NIGHTS: every Monday night & 1st, 3rd & 5th Friday night, please check with the appropriate layout supervisor, 7:30pm until 10pm. No Facility Fee. LAYOUT OPERATION: O and N Gauges operational, HO (fixed) as permitted during construction. GENERAL ACTIVITIES: the facilities may be used as permitted e.g. layout construction, some running, model- ling, library, etc. Members Facility Fee unless otherwise indicated: Adults $5, Juniors/Seniors (70+) $3. Guests are welcome unless otherwise indicated. This programme may be subject to change without notice where necessary. Updated programmes available from the Clubrooms, by e-mail to [email protected] or from www.amransw.asn.au. Address: 48 Barry Avenue (PO Box 277), Mortdale NSW 2223. Phone (02)9153-5901, Fax (02)9153-5905.

AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008 PAGE 57

PRESIDENT’S REPORT The same method was implemented for the A pleasing increase in attendance at the last driver's cabs, under supervision, then, after a period, Social Meeting with a very interesting presentation by the visitors changed over so everyone had an John and Mary de Lande from Brunel Models. Wow! opportunity to be totally involved with stations and What a collection of 'bits' for the serious modeller. We driving. It was definitely a great day and we received will see that this trend continues. many thanks and compliments on the size and extent Attendances at running sessions for 'Broad- of the S.V.R. and its’ operating realism. Gauge' and the 'Juniors' Group recently continued to We also received invitations, by arrangement, for show popularity with 24 and 23 attendees the A.M.R.A. members who assisted on this day, to respectively. visit the 'Castle Hill' layout. Our attendance at the Sandown Exhibition in A couple of comments from those who were March was the 'Wills Street' layout, 'U-drive' and drivers were interesting, for example; Quote -"Boy, Construction stands in what was a very large that was fascinating, as you really had to concentrate exhibition. Thank you to those members who assisted and you had the definite feeling of being 'in-charge' of again. your train!". Our 'Open-House' weekend will be held on Second quote; "The driving was really realistic 26/27th. April and we are keen for members to assist and the signal 'Mimic' panel was so clear, once you and participate. got the ‘hang’ of it, so you felt you were under control Preparations for the Caulfield Annual Exhibition at all times". are preceding and members will be asked for Some of our visitors are also members of the assistance soon. So, remember, 23/24th. August!! Melbourne Model Railway Society, (M.M.R.S.), Improvements to the Lloydhurst Terminus on the situated at the Auburn Railway Station and one is S.V.R. layout are proceeding under the direction of also an A.M.R.A. member. Bill Secker, Roger Lloyd and the Tuesday night When the session was finished, the 'Wessex' 'workers'. Group adjourned to their usual 'Eatery', Sophia's in Gary Danson Camberwell, prior to going onto the M. M. R. S. President layout, for their Committee meeting. We were invited to join them, which some of our members did. We WESSEX' OPERATING GROUP VISIT TO A.M.R.A. then moved to the M. M. R. S. layout and were invited CLUBROOMS. to join them in an inspection and brief running On Tuesday, 22nd. January, 2008, the Club and session. a number of the 'Daylighters' Group hosted 11 I wish to thank Gary Danson, President, Jack members from the “Wessex' Operating Group” from Treseder, Rick Brumpton, John McCallum, Bill Mt. Evelyn, who operate the 'Castle Hill' layout, Secker, Tony Hough, and Lawrie Bugeja of the based on English prototype running, . 'Daylighters' Group who assisted me with this This visit was organised with Reg Baker, absolutely great day! 'Manager' of the group and was introduced by Jack Reg. H. Monash, Treseder and myself. Jack and I had the opportunity Daylighters' Group Co-Ordinator. to visit them last year and in the 'Spirit' of the hobby, we thought we should return the favour. We welcome to the Victorian Branch the We provided a 'BBQ' for them with the usual fare following new members: associated with that type of lunch. Member No Joined Name As the visitors became involved in a typical 7089(SM) 06.09.07 Thomas Brasher 'Time-table' operating session, it became a full 7094(OF) 22.09.07 Ken Brown 'hands-on' type of operating experience for them. 7095(FM) 22.09.07 JudyBrown(Mrs) We suggested they accompany members of the 7096(OM) 22.09.07 Richard Harvey 'Daylighters' Group on selected stations, firstly as an 7098(OM) 29.09.07 David Fletcher 'overview' to get the feel of our operating system, 7103(OF) 17.10.07 Alan Williamson then literally take 'charge' and operate the stations 7104(FM) 17.10.07 NinaWilliamson(Mrs) and control the train schedule utilizing the 'Bell-code' 7106(OM) 17.10.07 Brendon Ricardo principle. 7138(OM) 20.01.07 Piers Keating

PAGE 58 AMRA JOURNAL NO. 302 – MAR/APR 2008

APRIL 6 SUN 1330-1730 Timetable Operation USA prototype (General) 10 THU 1930-2230 Social Meeting Model – Passenger Rolling Stock DVD Presentation – Wayne Armstrong Photo – Buffered Rolling Stock 12 SAT 1330-1730 Timetable Operation General – B.Y.O. Train 13 SUN 1000-1700 Large Scale Train Running Garden Railway (General) 18 FRI 1930-2330 Timetable Operation Australian prototype (Steam Era) 19 SAT 1000-1500 Junior Running Day B.Y.O. Train 20 SUN 1130-1730 Waybill Session General – B.Y.O. Train 25 FRI 1300-2200 SETTING UP FOR OPEN WEEKEND Put your name on the Duty Roster 26 SAT 1000-1700 OPEN WEEKEND ) Members only to help raise funds for our Branch 27 SUN 1000-1700 OPEN WEEKEND ) 0900 - 1800 MAY 4 SUN 1330-1730 Timetable Operation Australian prototype (Broad gauge) 8 THU*1930-2230 Social Meeting - Model – Structure/ Permanent Way/ Diorama Frank Kelly Photo – Level Crossing 10 SAT 1330-1730 Timetable Operation General – B.Y.O. Train 16 FRI 1930-2330 Timetable Operation USA prototype (Pre 1970) 17 SAT 1000-1500 Junior Running Day B.Y.O. Train 24 SAT 1230-1530 Trains away from Wills Street Venue to be arranged 25 SUN 1000-1700 Large Scale Train Running Garden Railway (General) 25 SUN 1330-1730 DCC Operation General – B.Y.O. DCC Train 30 FRI 1930-2330 Timetable Operation Austrian prototype (General) 31 SAT 1130-1500 Waybill Session General – B.Y.O. Train JUNE 1 SUN 1330-1730 Timetable Operation USA prototype (General) 12 THU 1930-2230 Social Meeting - Model – Locomotive Swiss Railways - John Gilmour Photo – Locomotive Footplate 14 SAT 1330-1730 Timetable Operation General – B.Y.O. Train 15 SUN 1000-1700 Large Scale Train Running Garden Railway (General) 15 SUN 1130-1730 Waybill Session General – B.Y.O. Train 20 FRI 1930-2330 Timetable Operation Australian prototype (Modern Era) 21 SAT 1000-1500 Junior Running Day B.Y.O. Train 27 FRI 1930-2330 Timetable Operation (SH 28/06 -13/07)Steam / Electric (General 1960s) 29 SUN 1330-1730 DCC Operation General – B.Y.O. DCC Train

Work nights on the club layouts are held each Tuesday at 1930 hours. Daylighters are retired people and anyone else interested in maintaining the clubrooms and operating the layouts. They meet each Monday or the Tuesday following a public holiday commencing at 1000 hours and finishing at 1530 hours.

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An old SAR/ANR Bluebird Railcar now parading as a CFCLA crew car sits at South Kensington. Monday 21/01/08

© Daniel Norman

Wednesday 6/2/08. 8pm. PacNat's NR49 & DL44 cross Seperation Street at North Geelong as they continue their journey westwards.