Some videos of Lambing Flat

I have very recently acquired a mobile phone that takes very good videos, so I had to try it out on the layout!

The first video shows 5165 exiting the loop with a goods train headed for Demondrille. The train is comprised mostly of loco coal in U, B, G, LCH and CCH wagons, bound for southern loco depots, plus two empty rail tank cars in transit back to Sydney.

The second video shows recently cleaned 3610 heading in the opposite direction, towards Temora, with a block load of empty stock wagons.

Some of the new 'intrastate' stuff, Pt 1...

The constant deluge of r-t-r rolling stock does make it very easy to fill up the yards with lovely models of the delightfully picturesque wagons that kept the intrastate traffic moving back in the steam/early diesel era in which Lambing Flat is set and quite a few have joined the roster since my last post on the subject some years ago. However, as long term readers will be aware, I don't like things 'straight out of the box'. Before a model will be accepted by the Traffic Officer, Lambing Flat, it has to be weathered, at least! And, while the vast majority of Lambing Flat's new stock is r-t-r, I do occasionally assemble the odd kit or two!

Below are images and brief descriptions of some of the intrastate (ie non-bogie exchange) NSWGR stock that has joined the roster recently.

As with any NSWGR layout set in the wheat growing areas of the state, lots of wheat wagons are essential. I have plenty of four-wheel RU hoppers, courtesy of the old Trax kit and the original Trainorama r-t-r version, but the more modern wheat hoppers have been neglected. A trio of Austrains WHX hoppers were acquired, two as originally delivered and one of the 'Manildra' signwritten models. On the two original condition ones, I replaced the Austrains bogies with the correct type for my period, the 2CE bogies from On Track (and the wheels, as the wheels that come with the On Track bogies are too big). I also altered the wagon number on one of them, as I had somehow managed to acquire two vehicles numbered WHX30756! They were lightly weathered to represent vehicles that have only been in service a short time, as this batch of WHX were delivered in 1971/1973, so fall towards the end of my preferred time period. First I painted the wheels and bogies black, painted the wheel faces Tamiya XF-10 Flat Brown and then 'washed' the bogies with the Flat Brown and Aqueous Hobby Color H343 Soot, I painted the brake hoses and Kadee 'tangs' flat black, then I lightly sprayed the body of the vehicle with a very dilute mix of Isocol alcohol and Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth. Another light coat of Isocol alcohol and Soot tied it all together. Being very 'modern' wagons by Lambing Flat standards, if they are included in a train, the train is more likely than not to be diesel-hauled!

Up until the release of the Trainorama r-t-r BWH hoppers, there was only one BWH on the layout, an AR Kits kit-built and superdetailed model that I completed in the mid-1980s. A trio of Traino r-t-r BWH hoppers were acquired and weathered back when they came out and, more recently, this Powerline version has also joined the fleet. It is straight out of the box and weathered with my usual acrylic paint technique. I really should have changed the handrails on the foot walk to the correct shape, but I'm not going to live forever... It 'disappears' amongst the considerable number of vehicles that now populate the layout, so, I'm not going to mention it if you don't...

No NSWGR post-war layout would be complete without plenty of these little beauties, the ubiquitous S truck. This is just one of the fifteen Austrains/SDS 'ultimate' S trucks that have joined the many, many kit-built versions of this essential wagon on the layout. This one is from the first Austrains batch, which came painted in a very deep black, so I have weathered it to represent the condition of them when they were relatively new, with a worn interior, but a lightly weathered exterior. In the background is, from the left, an Austrains GSV modified to post-war condition, as per Ian Dunn's article, 'Modernise Your GSV', in AMRM Issue 298 (February 2013), an Austrains '1921' CW and a highly modified Camco '1947' CW kit. Next is the end of an MBC, converted from a very old Rails North epoxy MRC kit.

Here are a few more weathered S trucks from the first 'black' Austrains batch, along with a weathered Austrains CW.

This photo shows a better view of the interiors of two of the S trucks, plus a weathered Austrains SRC refrigerated van and lots of stock wagons from a variety of sources.

 And here are a few more, standing in front of some weathered SDS rail tank cars. The COR tank is heavily weathered, but the Golden Fleece version is relatively clean. Believe it or not, the photos of Golden Fleece RTCs I have seen that were taken in the 1960s show them quite clean and bright.

The second batch of Austrains S trucks came with a much greyer paint finish, so that has been utilised to represent S trucks that have been in service longer than those represented by the weathering done on the first batch. Also shown here is a Trainorama K wagon which was weathered at the same time, using my usual acrylic paint technique. Surrounding the newly weathered vehicles are some of the many open wagons on the layout, including r-t-r Traino steel S trucks, kit-built ILM D and BD, plus Trax/Casula S and K wagons and a very old Bergs K wagon (with Dreadnought ends).

Another Austrains S from the second batch, along with a Eureka RSH and Traino K wagon, with Austrains PV explosives van and MV louvred van, all weathered with my acrylic paint and Isocol alcohol method.

An Austrains '1921' CW, plus two Eureka LCH and a CCH four-wheel hopper wagons, stand in front of a rake of stock wagons, including an Austrains '1915' CW and a Silvermaz '1948' CW, heavily modified and backdated to their appearance on delivery, before the extra vertical strengthening timbers were added to the sides.

I'll finish off tonight's post with a couple of stock wagons, starting with this SDS BCW. This has had a canvas (stretched tissue) roof covering added, but otherwise is 'straight out of the box'. It is is pretty good condition, just a little grubby, which is appropriate for Lambing Flat's time period, as these vehicles were introduced in 1959, so were quite new at the time the layout represents. Weathered with my usual 'misted' acrylic techniques.

There are two '1959' BCW bogie cattle wagons on the layout, the modern SDS version shown above and this old Protype kit, constructed back in the early 1980s. Not knowing any better at the time, I had constructed it with a double roof, as per the four-wheelers. I recently took the double roof off and fitted a new canvas covered single roof, as it should be. The new roof was painted and weathered and the body reweathered to blend it all together. Not up to the standard of the SDS version, but not bad for a model for which the masters were constructed in the late 1960s...

A definite relict of the past, an Austrains '1915' CW. While most of these were 'converted' to the '1921' CW specifications during the 1930s and 1940s, at least two soldiered on until 1965/'66! (I've seen them in a video taken at Nyngan.) Weathered with the usual acrylics method.

Last, but not least, is the last of my Austrains GSV sheep wagons to be weathered. It had taken so long (the rest were finished years ago) because I didn't have a replacement GSV roof for this one (they were mistakenly fitted with CW roofs at the factory). I obtained replacement roofs from Austrains for the rest of them, but not for this one, for some reason lost in the depths of time! So, I finally got around to scratchbuilding a new roof (and modifying the model to represent the post-WW2 appearance of the '1927' GSVs, as per Ian Dunn's article 'Modernise your GSV' in AMRM Issue 298 (February 2013). It's late completion also means that it is the only loaded sheep van on the layout, as it has been fitted with some of Ray Pilgrim's 3D printed sheep. The roof was completed very conventionally with strips of timber and styrene, with corrugated aluminium for the roof itself. Weathering was by my standard Acrylic paint method, with a combination of washes and drybrushing to get the base elements, with the whole thing then airbrushed with light coats of 'misted' colour to tie it all together.

There are still quite a few to describe, but that will have to be in a future post...

The 'modern era' comes to Lambing Flat: Bogie rolling stock

The Indian red diesels need something to haul, so, thanks to all the lovely r-t-r 1960s/1970s bogie rolling stock now available, it is a simple matter of pulling something out of the box, checking the couplings and wheels against the standards gauge, weathering it and putting it on the track. So easy!

Here are some details of some of the 'bogie exchange' vehicles that have joined the fleet recently.

This is an On Track Models BLF that I converted to a BLX about two years ago. I wanted a 1960s era BLX for Lambing Flat, but didn't want three of them, so I purchased a single-pack BLF from Barnes Hobbies in Newcastle and, since a broad gauge only BLF wasn't *quite* right for NSW standard gauge Lambing Flat, I spent an hour or two modifying it. First I replaced the spoked-wheel broad gauge appropriate bogies with a pair of 'bogie exchange' bogies from the spares box (from under an On Track LLV, I think), then carefully removed the 'F' from the BLF code with a toothpick moistened with Metho. When that was done I put an 'X' in its place (SEM decal sheet, I think), then covered the 'P' plates with 'X' decals from a BGB decal sheet. Then I cut some 2" x 4" timber and 'bodged up' the shunter's steps to something more closely resembling the timber version more appropriate to the period. After a couple of years in 'pristine' condition, I finally got around to weathering it, lightly, as befits my era, with airbrushed Tamiya and Aqueous Hobby Color acrylic paint. 

This is an Auscision KLY in PTC blue. It is a little late for LF's 'core' period, but I do like the KLY vans! I lightly weathered it to represent a very new vehicle that hasn't managed to acquire more than a light coating of road dust, once more with airbrushed Tamiya and Aqueous Hobby Color acrylics. However, I wasn't happy with it, as it looked a little too clean, so I came back a couple of weeks later and added some more 'dirt'. Much more as I remember them now.

In keeping with the 1970s PTC blue theme is this SDS OCY, carrying a load of RACE containers. Another one lightly weathered to represent how I remember OCYs from the 1970s. Below is another shot, this time without the containers, showing the grubby deck.

This is a pair of Orient Express Reproductions r-t-r OX SAR open wagons, fitted with tarpaulins, as the lack of interior detail does look a little strange on the layout. The vehicles themselves are straight 'out of the box', except that the far vehicle has had a red SAR logo added. The wagons were then weathered with my usual acrylic paint diluted in Isocol alcohol method and then some tarps, made from some old BGB printed foil tarps I have had 'in stock' since the early 1980s were added. The tiedowns are thread, superglued to the tarp and the vehicle. The tarps were sprayed with flat clear once they were fitted, to kill the sheen of the original BGB item. A light spray of Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth was then 'misted' over the tarps (and the wagons) to 'tie it all together'.

This is an Austrains 'Manildra' WHX fitted with SDS exchange bogies and the black panel where the old code was added penned in with ink. The model was then sprayed with flat clear to seal the ink and then it was weathered using my standard sprayed acrylic method. I'm very pleased with the way this one has come up. Below is another shot with the yard looking very 'late 1960s'.

While not quite 'bogie exchange' vehicles, (for bogie exchange we need the GX subvariant) this pair of Eureka G wagons fill the need for high speed capable bogie open wagons on the Sydney-Melbourne corridor. Despite having been introduced in the early 1950s for coal haulage, photos of 'high wheeler' mainline trains in the 1960s show plenty of G type wagons in use and most are in pretty good condition, so these two were weathered accordingly.

Not everything new on the layout is r-t-r; the occasional kit-built model still sneaks through! This is a NSWGR BDX constructed from a AR Kits injection-moulded kit. I hadn't built an injection-moulded plastic kit for a very long time, but it had come to my attention that one major class of late steam/early diesel era rolling stock was not represented in Lambing Flat's collection, the BDX bogie open wagon. An opportune purchase at the 2017 Brisbane exhibition recently addressed that oversight and, in something like record time, the model was assembled! Of course, it isn't built as the manufacturer intended (something I never do!), but has had some extra detail added to represent the appearance of one of the 1963/1967 batch as it may have appeared towards the end of the 1960s. As I hadn't been able to find many decent photos of BDX wagons from that period while I was building it, there was a certain amount of guesswork involved and I eventually found out (after it was painted!) that the top right handrail wasn't quite in the right position! As with the rest of them, the photos I have of them in the late 1960s show them to be in quite good condition still, so it was weathered accordingly.

Of course, if one is going to run post-1966 goods trains, one should have the occasional 'red' van to put on the back. As I only had one (the Trainorama GHG with InFront Models dress-up kit I reviewed in AMRM Issue 287, April 2011), I thought it was about time I had another one, so this Trainorama MHG had the handrails and lampirons picked out in black and then lightly weathered to represent a newly rebuilt and repainted van.

However, the 'high wheelers' of the 1960s didn't only trail nice new Indian red brakevans; there were also the 1920s-built SHG vans that were fitted with new 2AE high speed bogies around 1962 to help fill a desperate shortage of brakevans capable of high speeds to run on the newly-opened 'Gauge' to Melbourne. The release of the SDS SHG/BHG brakevans gave me the opportunity to add a BHG to the collection (I already had two kit-built SHGs, so only a BHG was acquired). Unlike the other goods vehicles shown here, where I went for the fairly new, lightly weathered effect, this BHG was heavily weathered to represent the appearance of the prototypes in the 1960s. I really like the attention to detail that SDS have given to this model and I particularly like the Indian red window frames, which was so characteristic of Gunmetal grey brakevans in the late 1960s.

That's enough for now (there is a lot more to come!). Next time I will describe the huge number of new four-wheel and bogie 'intrastate' vehicles that have also joined the fleet.

Some more activity!

Every now and then I get the yen to actually do something on the layout and, sometimes, I actually get to do it!

The first project to get underway laterly was to superdetail and fit a Tsunami chip to one of the Austrains 'roundtop' 36 class I have had lying around idle since I went DCC in the mid-2000s.

The work went well and by 9 November 2014 the detailing work was complete.

 The two photos show above show 'before and after' shots of each side of the loco.

This is a close up of the left hand side of the loco, showing the added Nathan lubricator, plus various pipes and handrails. 

 The right hand side of the loco with the various added 'bits'.

 The right hand side of the tender with fire irons, plus added lamp brackets and handrails and a fall plate between engine and tender.

By 13 November she had been undercoated.

On 14 November a start had been made on weathering.

 The inspiration for the weathering. John Stormont took this photo of 3607 at Cootamundra in 1954 and the photo was originally printed in the January 1990 edition of the RTM's 'Round House' magazine. I am aiming for a scruffy, but reasonably well-kept appearance.

While the weathering is nowhere near complete (plus the loco still has some details to be added, after painting) by 23 November she was 'under trials' on the layout. Unsuccessfully, it turned out, as there appears to be a bind in the mechanism! I'll sort that out before I do any more painting.

Meanwhile, some work has also occurred on the layout. I have finally got around to more work on the backscene behind 'New Yard' and made a start on the foundations of the scenery.

 On 16 November I had painted the section of backscene between the existing Haskell backscene behind 'New Yard' proper and the painted backscene behind the old part of the layout a nice sky blue and started gluing slabs of foam down to form the scenery.

 By the next day the glue had dried and I had carved the foam to the rough shape of the landscape.

 On Saturday 22 November I had attached a modified Haskell backscene between the existing one and the painted section and glued slabs of foam on the yard section of baseboard. The backscenes don't quite match yet, but a little painting at a later date and some judicious tree planting in the foreground will take care of that eventually.

 A shot taken from approximately opposite the station building, showing how the new section will eventually blend in. The road bridge and embankment already makes a good 'view block' between the two scenes (the station and the new yard).

Another shot along the length of 'New Yard' showing a bit more of how it all fits together. I'm looking forward to getting the scenery down as I am heartily sick of running trains on a 'Plywood Central'.

It's been a while...

Good grief! I've managed two posts in the same year!

No particular theme with this one, just a few random shots of models I have completed over the last year or so.

Lambing Flat now has a very modern diesel, an Auscision 422 class. It has been fitted with a Loksound chip loaded with the sound scheme from DCCSounds. It runs and sounds very well. It has not been weathered yet, but will be as soon as I can get around to it. As it is a *very* 'modern' engine for Lambing Flat it will only get a very light weathering so it represents the prototype in its first weeks of life. In the meantime, it is very nice listening to the lovely GM growl of one of my very favourite NSWGR diesels.

Another project almost completed is this standard NSWGR brick and steel road overbridge.The bridge was built from measurements I took in January 1995 of the road overbridge just south of Jerrawa Viaduct on the NSW Main South line, though the model has been slightly modified to suit the position it will occupy on the layout. The 'steelwork' of the bridge was constructed from Evergreen Styrene shapes. The 'brickwork' was made by glueing brickpaper over thick card. The brickpaper was downloaded from the Paperbrick site:http://paperbrick.co.uk/ A very useful site indeed! I had originally intended to build the model with correct 'English Bond' brickwork and downloaded sample sheets of that bond... however, I also downloaded a sheet of stretcher bond in the same colour... guess which one I printed out when it came time to start construction! I didn't realise I was using the wrong bond till about halfway through construction, so perhaps it isn't that noticeable! Now all I have to do is weather it and instal it on the layout. 

Some may have read my review of  Bragdon Enterprises' weathering powders printed in the August 2014 issue of AMRM. Here are a couple of different photos of some of the models I weathered for the review. Above is a StructOrama ready-to-place HO scale shed modified from standard (bottom building) to look more like a NSWGR building (top building), in order to house the wagon repair staff and equipment at Lambing Flat's 'New Yard'. As befits my period, I resolved to repaint it in NSWGR 'stone' colours. First I carefully painted the window frames Tamiya XF-2 Flat White, then did the walls in Tamiya XF-20 Medium Grey. Once that had dried I painted the roof with Tamiya XF-16 Flat Aluminum the window trim, doors, barge boards on the gable ends of the building and the downpipes Humbrol No.62 Leather, which is the closest colour to NSWGR Medium Stone that I have found. Then the inside of the gutters was painted dirty black and the gutters themselves Tamiya XF-10 Flat Brown to represent the NSWGR Dark Stone colour. The edge of the base was painted Tamiya XF-55 Deck Tan to represent the concrete slab the building rests on.

The photo above shows it before weathering, as a comparison with the standard article. Below is the building after weathering with the Bradgon powders..

Below is my Eureka 620/720 class two-car diesel train (not a bloody railmotor, you ignorant Sassenachs! ;), weathered with a little acrylic paint and some Bragdon Enterprises weathering powders. The silver wheel faces were painted brown with a Floquil paint pen and the grills undercoated with Tamiya Matt Black, then the entire train was weathered with the powders. I'm aiming for a fairly clean look (the 620s were fairly new in my timeframe, as well as reasonably well looked after), so I was after a 'dusty' look, but not 'disgusting'! I'm still not completely satisfied though, particularly with the roof and grills (there was no black in the sample pack), but it is definitely a huge improvement over the unweathered version.

I also reweathered my Trainorama 4429, as the acrylic paint weathering applied back in 2005 had started to fade, particularly on the bogies, so I brushed on a quick coat of Grimy Grey Bradgon powder and this is the result. I'm very pleased and quite intrigued at how quickly and easily one gets realistic results with the weathering powders. 

Here is another 'before and after' comparison showing two Austrains 48' goods brakevans. The LHG at the bottom is straight out of the box, except that I have painted the wheel rims brown. The OHG at the top has had the coupler release levers removed (the prototypes were screw coupled), had the wheel rims painted brown, a little dilute acrylic brown 'washed' over the underframe and a little brown/black 'washed' over the roof to tone it down a bit, while the rest was done with the Bradgon weathering powders.

I'm still weathering the 'old fashioned' way with acrylic paint. Here are a couple I have completed over the last couple of years. Here is an 'as delivered' Trainorama MHG weathered to represent a fairly recently outshopped vehicle, as not everything was decrepit and ready for the knacker's yard! A light dusting of Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth and some Aqueous Hobby Color H343 Soot, with some Tamiya XF-10 Flat Brown for the rust has bought up the detail, but kept the vehicle looking relatively clean and new.

This other Traino MHG has been more heavily weathered to represent a vehicle that has been 'out on the road' for a much longer period, to the extent that it has suffered a broken window at some stage and had the window frame replaced with an Indian red one from carriage stores, something that was quite common in the 1960s. 

I've also been madly weathering what seems like boxes and boxes of Austrains four-wheel vans, using my standard diluted acrylic paint methods. Here are just a few examples.

I haven't just been 'plonking', I have also completed a pair of IDR NSWGR B wagon kits. As usual, they aren't *quite* as the manufacturer intended... I have added uncoupling levers and substituted some much closer to scale door bangs than were provided in the kit. A very nice model and dead easy (and quick) to put together. This one has been weathered and I've also added a little 'left over' coal to the interior for when it is running empty.

Infrastructure hasn't been neglected either. This is a close up of the signal box at Back Creek Jct seen in an earlier post. The box was constructed from a Stephen Johnson urethane kit I have had salted away for about 20 years, with the platform scratchbuilt from timber. The box nameboard was assembled in Photoshop and then printed out.

The junction signal for Back Creek Junction was kit-bashed from a combination of old Ratio GWR posts and balance weights, modified Casula etched brass signal arms, home cast whitemetal finials (from self constructed masters, no pirating here! ), Uneek etched brass ladder and the rest scratchbuilt. It is based on drawing of a standard Byles era bracket signal.

Every now and then a small detail item gets added to the layout. After twenty years or so of unfettered access to the railway reservation where the private siding to the Co-op cool stores leaves the main line, a gate has been provided. I scratchbuilt the standard NSWGR pipe gate in brass wire about 10 years ago, undercoated it about two years ago and finally painted and weathered a couple of weeks ago! The standard colour scheme for gates at private level crossings and private sidings was a red colour, but I have never seen one in 'pristine' condition, the ones I saw were always dull, dirty and rusty, so the model was finished accordingly. It is hinged and is openable.

There seems to be a bit of a theme developing here... of projects that take decades to complete! I recently rediscovered an old Vacey Ash (Biltezi) card kit for a British 4mm scale church that I purchased back in the late 1970s. The price tag on it was $1.00! I originally purchased it because it resembled the sort of Gothic revival churches erected in Australia in the 19th century. It was built pretty much as the designer intended, as I will use it as a 'background' building, however, the flat, printed 'slate' roof was extremely unconvincing, so I covered it with some corrugated card and then scratchbuilt bargeboards and gutters. The slightly 'wonky' bell tower is down to a certain giant cat... 

And another 'long distance' project, I photographed and measured the prototype of this flammable materials store at Young on 25 August 1983, over 30 years ago! The unknown dimensions of the building were worked out by 'straightening up' the 1983 photos of the building in Photoshop, adjusting the size until the known dimensions matched HO scale, then printing it out as a plan. Waiting 30 years to build it has made it a lot easier to build! Construction is card, with a box constructed from thick card with corrugated card glued on top and details scratchbuilt from timber and styrene. The sign is a Photoshopped and printed image of the original.