Sunday, September 25, 2016

BRIDGE WORKS

      The bridge over the Gwydir River at Gravesend .On the now disused Moree to Inverell line.                    This  photo was taken in November 2011.And the river level would be a lot differant at the moment                                                            

With the burden of silo construction removed .I had a bit of track planning to do ,as to the yard layout .I needed the silo finished for this as the distance out from the backboard of the silo rail line would dictate the main line through town and the distance out for the rail bridge.
I always make the rail line at an angle to the front board or with a curve or dogleg in it to add interest to the scene.But being out west I wanted to create the illusion of distance ,so I kept the track parallel with the front for the full distance of the boards .Which is approx 7 mtrs.
With the planning of a yard I usually  make a list of all the things required for a NSW railway yard .Then put all the structures that are made for this on the board ,then shuffle them around until you come up with a track layout that fits in the space available and looks right.


                 A COLLECTION OF TRACK  LAYOUTS ,NON OF WHICH WON 1ST PLACE







When I had come up with a good yard layout I moved to the opposite  end of the MUNGINDI section to work on the bridge section that brings the line into town past the stock sidings and silo.
The silo and bridge have been moved a little further to the south than originally planned,so I had to move the river bed about 1.2 mtrs to the south ,which with foam is relatively easy .Just put an angle cut through the base foam ,then turn over and re glue at 100mm down..
The bridge I am modelling doesn't represent a  bridge in real life but a collection of bits that combined are all NSW practice.I kit bashed a Central Valley  150' steel through truss bridge into a 125' bridge as used on the north coast line.
Also a  through girder kit ,which although not exactly right is that close that I couldn't be bothered to correct it.And timber trestle approach spans.Which all up comes in at 2.3 mtrs in length.
The piers where a bit of a problem,with not much information available on the height of the different sections and dimensions .So from my research it appears that there where 3 different sizes used on my bridge .
So you guessed it i made masters and had the 3 sizes made up so I could adjust the heights and then glue the top cap section on to suit the varying heights in the river crossing.

                                          
                          PIERS FOR THE TRANSITION FROM GIRDER TO TRUSS BRIDGE


                                   
               PIERS FOR THE TRANSITION FROM PLATE GIRDER TO WOODEN TRESTLE


           THE 3 DIFFERANT SIZED PIER CAPS,INCLUDING THE BIGGER 1 FOR THE                                     CENTRE  PIER TO CARRY THE  TRUSS BRIDGES




                                               A PLAN FOR THE MANILLA BRIDGE PIERS


                        THE BRIDGE IN PLACE WITH THE RIVER BED CARVED OUT BEFORE                                                                       THE  SCENERY IS BUILT UP






                                 STARTING TO BUILD THE SCENERY UP AROUND THE PIERS




                                                   FINISHED SCENERY BUILD UP ,
                              WITH A GRAIN TRAIN TO GIVE PERSPECTIVE OF SIZE







Sunday, August 28, 2016

THE NEW ENGLAND CONVENTION

There has been some action at the C Depot construction site with the Transformer platform completed as far as possible .Until the base is installed in the module ,which will be after the display at the
Armidale Convention  in November.

Link To Registration
http://www.newenglandmodelrailwayclub.com/content/convention.shtml

So its basically finished !

                                                 TRANSFORMER  & PLATFORM


                                     ELEVATOR TOWER AND GRAIN RECEIVALS  SHED


                                      OUT LOADER IN EXTENDED POSITION









                                                   OUT LOADER IN STOWED POSITION



                      I will also  have the sections of ASHFORD -- MUNGINDI  extension on display
                     to demonstrate the steel frame foam scenery method . And the method for turning
                     a commercial tree into the gums in this river scene.And some other bits and pieces.






Sunday, May 8, 2016

TO C OR NOT TO C

           BINIGUY C DEPOT SHOWING THE EASTERN END OF THE STRUCTURE.

Most people don't realise Shakespeare was an avid NSW  modeller .And was perplexed with the age old question of what type of silo to model.Although he was more transfixed with the B style type.
I have the same problem .
Well with modelling MUNGINDI and all ,and with 2.1 mtr modules and very flat terrain the need for some way of hiding the back board becomes increasingly difficult .
I have always been impressed with the vast size of some wheat silos in these small towns and so I have been doing a lot of head modelling.A past time where you go through all the possibilities and different ways you can create the desired scene in your head.This way no one gets hurt.
Some people never progress past this point!
So with tape in hand and a stop on a work trip the silo at BINIGUY was measured up.
This silo was constructed in 1965 as a C depot of 40,900 Tonnes capacity. NORTH STAR has the same silo but with some variations .
Once back home the calculations revealed if a half width by full length model was produced to hide the back board I would need a base board 400mm x 2.1 mtrs long .Which would be good as the modules are 2.1 mtrs long.

                                             BASE BOARD ON LAYOUT MODULE
Station area is to the left of board .But board will be moved by 1 third to the right t create more station room


A board was cut and then after a lot of shuffling  around with the structures I wanted to be at MUNGINDI it was discovered that the silo would have to be in 2 sections 2 thirds  on 1 baseboard the other third on the next ,to allow enough room for the station building.Which meant moving the bridge further south (which is also 2.1 mtrs long)
That,s why I never plan any thing in to much detail as a well drawn plan doesn't always translate to a ideal modelling proposition.
So the other good thing about a C depot is its a lot of the same sections repeated.So a master was made for the side scalloped concrete walls complete with down pipes and cast up.A 3 bay section was made although the silo is made in thirds with an different number of sections per third .The castings where cut and shut to suit.

                                             2 CAST SECTIONS JOINED TOGETHER



The profiles where cut from Custom wood.Here showing the ridge line peak and the elevator tower with louver sections cut out awaiting the casting for these.A wheat wagon gives an impression of the size
Although the wheat siding  track is actually out from the board.The trucks run along the side of the silo to access the receival shed on the side of the silo in front of the elevator.



                                                                        WESTERN END



























                                                                  ELEVATOR END

              


                         ELEVATOR WITH CONCRETE EFFECT BEFORE  PAINTING



                                     GIANT DOG GUARDS SILO FROM ALIENS






                                         TRUCK IN RECIEVALS SHED FRAME WORK



                                    MAIN SILO ENTRY DOORS ON ELEVATOR END



                   LOUVER CASTINGS IN PLACE WITH CONCRETE EFFECT ON PART OF WALL


                             FROM ELEVATOR END SHOWING ROOF PROFILE SUPPORTS

ROOF SUPPORT SHEETING IN PLACE


                                                          WESTERN END WITH ROOF ON



   
                   ELEVATOR END WITH MOST OF ROOF ON AND CONCRETE EFFECT



                                                         WESTERN END OF SILO     




                                            ALIGNMENT METHOD FOR THE 2 SECTIONS


                        VENTILATOR FANS WITH SUPPORT AND ELECTRIC CONDUIT
I have finished painting the silo now but will wait until i have the recievals shed finished to show this.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

TRAINBUILDER IP SET

                                  


Having received my set of No 1  INDIAN PACIFIC cars from TRAINBUILDER of Melbourne .


A close inspection was required over the weekend.The cars are fantastic.I must confess I'm no expert on these cars as I haven't seen them much,except for a few times at Central.

The cars where available in 5 different eras or styles

No 1 RAILWAYS OF AUSTRALIA 1970,s
No 2 Railways of Australia 1980,s
No 3 INDIAN PACIFIC Eagle signs 1990,s
No 4 set as carriages that visited Melbourne in 1995 for standard gauge promotion
No 5 The GHAN Sunset colour scheme 1990,s

Each set comprises of
HGM-ARJ-ARL-ARM-AFC-BRJ-DF-CDF-ER-HM
Additional cars of ARL-ARJ-BRJ are available



   






They come fitted with short shank Kadee,s for display purposes ,with additional longer shanks .Which I fitted on each door end of the cars. This allows enough space to operate around my 36" curves without any problems.The cars do not come  fitted with interiors to save on weight and expense.But do have an etch Venetian blind to each window ,which are also fitted at different heights through out the cars.



The overall finish is a very good representation of the stainless Steel finish .The detail and fluting certainly is a big difference to the Lima cars we all have.








The power car is a stand out with all its roof detail and name board bringing up the rear of the train.
                     It would seem that the entire production run was sold out before their arrival .

                                        So I thought I would share this with you in video form