Saturday Evening I received an email from Meagan with 3 Pictures attached for my approval. Meagan wanted to make sure they were 100% before making the second one. I am so impressed with Meagan's attention to the detail, it took my breath away. The pictures are attached.
My wife and I have now returned from a trip to Melbourne. We drove down for the AMRA Train Show at Caulfield Racecourse. (The round trip, 2955 klms). The show itself was quite enjoyable and layouts I had not seen before. The venue was quite large and not crowded. (The outside temperature was 9°C). The layouts that I liked the most, was "Monbulk Creek 1:480 scale, and Dauntsey Lock 1:350" scale, on both the rolling stock was laser made. I apologise for the video shaking. Unfortunately due to video size I can only upload one video.
Until then, cheers for now.
Last Saturday 16th was my running day with members from the train group. It was quite a successful day with 9 members in attendance. Some got involved in the train operation.
I am waiting for some uploads of videos taken, so I can add them to this blog.
The thing that brought most attention was the Garratt. As you can see in the 4th picture of my previous blog, the Garratt is standing in Loco outside the shed and clear of the fuel line for the Diesel Fuel storage tank. I decided to drive it to Narellan and bring back a coal train, at this time the loco tender was sitting under the overhead pipe line and when I applied power it just sat there and the sound just kept repeating "lamps, lamps, lamps". I turned the power off and reapplied it and I had no functions, but the loco ran. So I ran it in "silent mode". The sound eventually returned and all was normal. Sunday I decided to go out and rearrange the trains back to their starting positions ready for another session, "when ever that may be". When I put the Garratt back on the Loco Road, I again lost the sound. I thought it was loss of voltage in the track, but it checked out ok. The sound returned after I moved the loco away from the shed, but it started to return from "no volume" and increase to the "set volume". Conclusion, the overhead filler pipe for the diesel tank on the tower affected the sound decoder in the Tender of the Garratt. The pipe is constructed from Piano wire and is free from any power sources, so why does it do it ?? and it's only with the Garratt !!
Yesterday I had a play with a members 30 Class and gave it a touch up with some weathering power over the boiler. I was so impressed with the way it took the "new shine" off the paint that I decided to do mine, and I did mine all over. It's not over done, but it looks the part. I'm very impressed with it.
Nothing else has happened on the layout, just added some "Give Way" signs to a couple of intersections, and a few more trees and bushes, but that's all.
Cheers for now.
When my second package of scenery arrived from, "Modeller's Warehouse", I then had to find some time to place it on the layout. When I looked at it, on it's arrival, I thought it was more than I actually needed, but now that I have placed it all, I think I could do with more. It really fills the layout and removes the so called bare spots, which were just grass.
Cheers for now.
In my last blog I mentioned about some new rolling stock. Well my wife not only has the flu, but has another virus with it. So the only solution was to have them mailed to me. The parcel arrived yesterday and I spent some time today setting them up.
This last couple of weeks I have finally finished the Diesel Storage Tower. Not having a steady hand didn't help, as there were a few small pieces involved, but I managed it ok in the end. Having small pieces meant that I had to glue one item and let it dry over night with some support before gluing the next piece. This went on for a week or more.
A few days after I posted my previous blog, I received two emails, one with a plan, and the other with a photo supporting the plan. (This plan and photo was, received with thanks), It shows the actual layout and piping for the fuel tank and the two refueling roads which was for the 620 Class Diesel Cars. The tank and stand apparently was from Cootamundra. The piping was of 2" diameter and had non return valves in the pipes and apparently no valve cocks. That's if I read the plan correctly, which means I don't have to go searching for valve cocks to put in the pipes.
So what was my next move, remove it and start again, naturally. This meant moving the Loco office and meal room out of the way. because that's where the piping goes. It looks pretty rough there at the moment, but I am waiting for glues to set (Epoxy) and then I can straighten it up and paint it. Thought I had better post this before I get more emails.
Cheers for now
What a better time to complete a project, seeing that I have been sleeping on it for some time now. Today we have an "Ironman Event" on here from Port Macquarie to the Camden Haven, so our only road out of here is closed to traffic.
I only have one picture showing this fuel tank, so I have done what I thought it would have been like, and my space between the tracks was another thing which restricted me in it's size. In the picture there appears to have been a "Fuel Bowser" at the bottom of the tower for refueling the Diesel Locos, and seeing I had one in my leftover box, I decided to use it. Detail in the photo is not clear at all, and some is out of view. Just adds a bit of detail to a bare module.
What I have left is, if I need to add some detail to the fuel pipes, and then paint it before sealing it into position.
That's the advantage of doing abandoned Branch Lines, not too many can say whether it's right or wrong, especially when they didn't know the line, and if it's not on a blog, that's better still.
You will notice there are no trains on the layout. I have packed them away so that they don't collect dust, because I haven't run them for some time.
Early in the week I was asked if I would replace the couplings on two locos for a friend. My wife was waiting to go shopping and I said this would only take ten minutes, and we could drop them off on the way. Ten minutes turned into an hour, my hands just got the shakes, and I couldn't hold the Kdee's together when I tried refitting them to the locos, but I did it. "So much for getting old".
Cheers for now.
Over the few wet weeks I decided to try and build the diesel fuel storage tank for Campbelltown Loco. Things didn't work out as I had anticipated. The stand which was going to be styrene ended up in brass wire. The tank is a water tank laid on it's side. Then I tried to do the hand rail around the platform, and this is where the frustration started. So I walked away from it all and what you see is where I'm up to.
Another thought I had was to come off the Camden Branch Line just out of Campbelltown, rise up against the wall and run along the wall above the Camden Modules with Manangle above Narellan and on to Picton which would be above Camden. This would have allowed for the CPH and another small Branch Line train (possibly a 19 Class and a HCX or freight) to break the monotony. But again calculations squashed that idea, as the grade up to the Main Southern Line would be too steep. So at the moment I will just sleep on it.
Not something you would sing and dance on. Again, nothing available to say whether it was or it wasn't like it is. Just sayings, that it was there at some time.
I have in mind, that this layout appears best done with no particular time frame in mind, but to what information is available. For Instance, Campbelltown Yard, I have several track plans spaced over quite a few years, so I decided to use one that suited my operation the best. Even now as I get older, this layout is becoming complicated, but I seem to manage it ok. (Yet to try the X200 with the CCA car).
Recently, I came across an old video I made in my younger years regarding doing scenery with foam. It has been on youtube for a long time but I could never find it. Now I have found it, it maybe of some help for modellers who want mountainous or deep cuttings in their scenery.
This video was made some 15 years ago, when I was building my Kamilaroi layout.
Cheers.
This week I finally finished Dairy Farmers and Loco Office. Now the freezer plant may not be exact, but it will stop the milk from "going off". It is similar to the one for the freezing plant at Boggabri, and it was a simliar size building. So, if it worked there, it should work for Dairy Farmers. I can only assume what was in place there, and a paling fence would be an obvious choice around the back. I may find some scenery somewhere to add around this area, but it will take time.
One other thing I discovered I need at Campbelltown, is a coal stage. My thoughts on this, is to make it from timber, in a bad state of repair. This could be as a half there and half rotted away. It would be aged towards the end of the steam era. It would also be a manual loading type. An interesting structure to try and build !!
This will be my last blog for 2021, as I'm off for a time away, so please have a happy Christmas and hope 2022 is a much kinder year to you all.
Cheers.
It has been a few weeks now since I completed a brief description of my Camden Layout. In these few weeks I can say I have not been sitting on my backside, "although I have", because I have constructed both the Dairy Farmer's building and the Loco Foreman's Office / Employee's meal room, for Campbelltown.
This is episode nine and we finally arrive at Camden. "The end of the Line". It has been a slow haul, but I hope it has been well explained. Camden Rail Line had many different motive power units during it's life time.
When the train left the Nepean River, it travelled along the side of Aygle Street, with a slight incline past Dairy Farmers, crossed Edward Street, then curved right into Camden Station. In Camden Yard there was a loading bank for the loading of coal into 'S' & 'K' trucks, before the construction of the Narellan Coal Loader which was able to load Bogie wagons. This loading bank was opposite the station. The Goods Shed was for my memory, a one of it's kind, because it had an awning over the rail line so that wagons could be unloaded when the weather was wet. I suppose it was an "Open Air" instead of a enclosed drive through.
Leaving Elderslie the train negotiates a large sweeping right hand curve to cross the Nepean River. This river starts in the Southern Highlands passes through Menangle, Camden, Penrith and ends up at Yarramundi, where it becomes the Hawkesbury River all the way to the Ocean at Palm Beach. I have seen a movie taken using a drone. The drone was flown from the bridge, up stream for about a Kilometer then back to the Bridge, then down stream to a weir and back to the Bridge. This gave me a birds eye view of what the area may have been like along both sides of the river banks.
One thing I must add before I start getting questions about it's progress, is that the "N" gauge layout has been sold.