Tinkering with Ideas and Plans

Hi All,

It's been a busy time, and I have to post a huge thank you to the ARHS NSW branch, and in particular  Mr James Dalton, for the endless help he has been in collating information from an inquiry interstate.

Thank you James! He was able to supply me with information at a very quick rate, subject searches he provided at the resource centre and then communicated them to me in another state. The cost of receiving the information is very modest, considering all that is involved in getting it to me.

So thanks to James, I can move forward in my planning for HH. More to come on what I'm thinking of doing, but first some topography discussion. I've adjusted the layout of the terrain to have the hill at the front of the layout, offset to the left so that the yard area on the right has enough room. The bridge to be completed for the LHS is still a bit up in the air. I absolutely would like a bridge, just what design to be used is still not decided. It really is about just what I think I can achieve in a model, and how happy I will be at its completion.

The bridge is about available scale space and how much it would be to achieve in scale form. Then there's my limititations in building skills, as far as one that will be stable enough to transport around 

as part of a show layout.
I am however, happier with the layout of the left hand module with the hill moved over, and a greater focus on the scenery.
The yard on the right is going to be loosely located on Bulli in NSW. The thing that attracted me to this location is a few photos that I came across on line of the Post & Telegraph office. This one is actually two buildings built back to back. The why this was done has had me contact the local local history group, unfortunately without a response yet.
The scene around the office and Station building really lends itself to being recreated in HO.

                                     

The ARHS has some fantastic resources, and for Bulli they had plans of the Station buildings, the Post &Telegraph offices, the Goods warehouse, and photos to support. The scans digitally available are just brilliant, so clear and they've printed up just fine for me to use to construct models of them.

On the go next is construction of the baseboards, to see if my initial design is going to work, and be easy enough to handle. The list then extends to the back scenes that will be made up as calico screens that can be added on at setup. Lots to do, I've gotta say it is great to beginning a new project!
Have a great week!
Ooroo!
Geoff.

Post Early Days enthusiasm

Hello All,
It's been a busy time of late, not on the modelling bench unfortunately. There has been a flurry of new ideas, kits, layout design, Facebook Early Days challenges, and even some email chatter with the ARHS, busy times.

We shall put aside all the distractions to chat about a few developments. As I've only built the one show layout I've certainly not developed a well thought out process for coming up with a plan. There's always an initial thought, then it changes with ever increasing rates until the final plan is reached, just when that is is still hard to judge.

Hoskins Hollow is all about the trains in the scene, something I like. I wanted to simplify the design, but still offer something interesting to view, and indeed, operate. The basic module design has not changed, however what is on each module, has. I started out wanting two bridges, one on either side of a scenic break. That has changed to the LHS module being scenery with a ballasted deck bridge in the scene. Then in the centre module on the LHS is the 'hill' scenic break, leading into the yard on the RHS of this centre module, and the RHS module also.

I

So for the Station area, I've been looking at a few photos of Bulli and I must say that the Station area looks to fit the bill for something I could re create. The buildings are different in their orientation, and there is lots going on in the way of passengers and the like. An email to the ARHS will hopefully help fill int the gaps with building plans and more photo records.

The bridge I intend to build is one of the European Ballasted Deck type. There are a few photos around of this bridge that is in Chakola. I have a copy of the Greg Edwards Data Sheet, that is of huge importance to complete a valid model, thank you Greg, your work is outstanding! Copious amounts of the basswood I'm using to construct has received its first lot of stain, so that the building process is not slowed down.

I will complete a new plan soon, and post it here, have a great week!
Ooroo!
Geoff.

Early Days Workshop 2019

It's a little less than a week away from the annual get together of all those interested in Early Days modelling of NSWGR. The day is still rather new to me, however it has been going now for just on thirty years.

For me the best part of the day is being able to learn from all the gifted modellers/researchers that are involved in this part of the hobby. There is always a new detail part, or new kit, or newly discovered fact about the colour of a wagon or locomotive. Plenty for any train nerd, especially for our modelling period.

This year has seen the release of a few kits by two retailers at the event, so that's sure to have the nerds in a tizz. It's great to see the progress in the design and make up of the kits, certainly the hobby seems to be keeping up with new techniques that are available in 3D printing and the like.

A highlight for me is the tables set aside for everyones current projects if you are brave enough to bring them along. The photos above are from two such examples from last year. The level of detail, and thought involved is truly outstanding. I look forward to further progress this year. So what to bring? For me the actual modelling bench has been gathering a bit of dust of late. I had intended to finish an early BSV I've been working on for, well years, and yep! true to form, it's not finished yet.

If you are intending to come along, please bring something, everyone benefits so much from what you've done. More importantly, attend, it's a great day, for all the Train Nerds!

Hopefully I'll see you there!