There hasn’t been an update for a long time due to a house move and redesigning part of the layout, however work is progressing well with all the hard work done. The landscaping and updating the electricals to operate DCC are next.
I will have the layout ready for its first outing to the Rosehill Exhibition in June 2019 which I am greatly looking forward to along with Peter Street’s layout Williamsdale which can be viewed on this site. So come along and say G’day.
After a successful move with the layout intact. I was confronted with a room that needed gyprock and plastering as well as new light fittings so with the right man for the job it will take place within the next week or two.
The layout will have to be re configured with the addition of one module and minus the curved module but that will be half the fun. The turntable will be moved to the new module as well as the points which will be operating from the mainline as the prototype. I do hope to have it running by Christmas but as we know all well made plans things could change. My other project Capel St Edmund L.N.E.R /ex GE in EM gauge could start late 2019. All for now
With a house move imminent it is difficult to know whether the layout will relocate in it’s present form. This could be the last post so I will have to see whether a new project will be built in the new house. I am hoping that it survives but you never know. I will leave the blog as is until after the move as I have had great fun in sharing the layouts progress with you all. I appreciate the interest and comments that fellow modellers have made both here and overseas. I have taken a few photos by Galah Cam,no drones in the early nineteen sixties. All for now.
Having built the Keiran Ryan Models signal early this year my thoughts turned to kit bashing the same signal kit into a NSWGR landmark. After studying photos I took while on a trip in 2013 the one I’ve built is on the approach to Boorowa. There are many variations of land marks so if you are building a particular landmark study as many photos as you can. These can be found on the internet. I’m afraid I cannot give a step by step description of construction as once I started it was difficult to stop.
The post and ladder are constructed the same way as the signal and is very easy to fold. The rest of it is done by studying photos and estimating the height by how many rungs on the ladder compared to the photo of the prototype etc.
Back to installing DCC decoders. All for now.
After a hectic Christmas and new year at last some progress on the signals, with making up the extension cables to the GF Controls gfcontrols.co.uk servo drives and guess what they work! Next step is painting the signals, firstly a light spray of grey self-etch primer is carefully applied, then by thinning Humbrol satin white with enamel thinners a couple of thin coats are better than one thick coat, especially on the lattice post, being sure not to paint in the linkages etc, a drop of light oil will help. After making sure all is ok proceed to place on the layout and scenic making sure that they can be removed at any time.
At the recent Liverpool exhibition I purchased from Keiran Ryan Models an etched nickle silver lattice post signal. A few days after the excitement had died down I decided to start building it. The etches are nice and crisp with no tiding up to do also the folding of the post is straight forward without a problem the rest was assembled with studying photo’s from different sources. If a working signal is required then care must be taken not to use too much solder around the weight and signal arm areas to keep the pivot points clear.The ladder was constructed using the jig from Keiran which is available separately.
The outer home signal is based on a timber example which is an AM Models kit from Casula Hobbies. As the post is a one piece casting all the attention was concentrated on the arm and weight areas same care taken as on the lattice post. These kits are a good result if a working model is required the I suggest time is taken to work them out and proceed slowly. The base plate and mechanism is covered in a previous post.
All for now
Since first building the layout 7 years ago there have been quite a few upgrades not only to the buildings but also the landscape so I thought of posting an update of the approach to the terminus. There are still a couple of things to upgrade like the signals so hopefully as time allows I will be able to carry them out. The publications that have influence me most are by Barry Norman,Gordon and Maggie Gravett, Model Railway Journal and The AJRM (Branchline Modeller) and being a member of the NSW Model Railway Club another source of inspiration is viewing other blogs attending exhibitions forums and seeing other modellers layouts in all prototypes and gauges. All for now
The first kits I bought back in 1989 were 2 Rails North MLV’s so with the new SDS Models 2AE bogies I decided to install them to the vans, a bit of fettling to the bolsters and for $14 a pair complete they run very smoothly. As I have an AR kits MLV I will give it the same treatment down the track. All for now.
As there are no modelling projects to share signals seem to be always a fascinating topic. On a field trip to Crookwell back in 2004, with good friend Richard Grace, to the extensive remains of the Crookwell terminus, on the approach stands this very good example what I believe to be a McKenzie Holland tapered timber signal. This one has a few variations especially the counterweight position when compared to say the one at Boorowa. On closer inspection the Crookwell counterweight appeared to have been moved.
Burrowa is an HO scale model railway set in the NSW southern tablelands 