Got another tail to tell ya......
Well I was going past the train shed on the way to the garden shed, when what must have been a strong magnet in the shed pulled me inside.
I often go in for a quick look to see how its all going, where its been and what the future may hold. The shed is long and the lights are in two sections. So I put the light on for the left hand side and just did a bit of looking around. The far end near the roller door is illuminated enough to be able to see whats there. Part of the thinking is that with the high cost of electricity these days, if I don't need to see it, light stays off.
It was after about five minutes of being in there when I heard a scratching noise coming from the "dark end".
Living near the bush, wildlife is prolific in the area. There are plenty of rabbits, wallabys and bandicoots all of which would find it hard to get on my roof and would have no reason to be there.
So the next group I thought of was sulphur crested cockatoos, rats (yes they can climb) and good old possums.
Then I looked upwards towards the sound. Most of my looking is generally in the downward direction, either following a train along or looking on the floor for a part I have dropped. With my gaze up towards the sound in the far corner, I could see a shadow.
In the dark it looked fuzzy and as it seemed to hang down into my "airspace" I needed to find out what it was. So off I went around the layout to the second light switch to see what the protrusion was.
There was a long fluffy bit hanging down and on closer inspection and having had previous experience in dealing with these pests deduced that it was yet another bloody possum.
A previous blog not that long ago had dealt with this same hole that was now secreting a possum.
Now most wildlife when humans approach them do a bolt in the opposite direction. (Not all, bulls in a paddock excepted). I then decided a bit of noise from me might dislodge him/her from the hole and allow me to yet again reseal this hole.
Well some yelling didn't do it either. With the news over the weekend that playing Pavrotti music in the carpark of McDonalds quickly clears the kids away, I remembered none of his music was in my collection. The closest I could get was Demis Roussos. I thought the song "Forever and ever" would match the situation but ended up selecting "Rain and Tears" which summed up the weather of the moment and my emotions.

O No

So I was starting to think that this possum is lifeless. I started to look around the layout to find something to throw at his rear end. Everything was too valuable. The next thing I thought of was to ring "Wires". I am sure they would be able to remove it easily. I started to panic when I saw my 421 class, a 32 class and a loaf of bread EHO parked on the layout just under his arse. What will happen if he suddenly comes awake and drops down onto the layout? He has already dislodged the piece of timber I had temporarily screwed over the hole.
I thought if I rang "Wires" they might come out and be distracted by the layout and want to play trains instead. So I decided to go for the long thin piece of timber trick instead. Outside I found a piece of timber about 4 metres long. Reasoning this would allow me distance between me and the possum when I prodded it to find out if it was dead or not. If he was dead and fell down it would just be the layout that suffered, if he was alive he could only go in two directions. Either up into the hole where he started off or worse drop down onto the layout and end up running who knows where.

A close up of the rear end of a possum

The 'testing stick' was positioned near his tail hoping to reveal whether he was past or present. The first flick of the stick did nothing and probably needed to put poked nearer to a sensitive part of the animal. A second jab closer to the middle section resulted in a wake up call for him. This was good news as a live possum is probably easier to remove than a dead one, its just the flee direction that is the unknown quantity.
I didn't know if he had just been having an afternoon siesta but reflecting on his position there would be no way that I could have a sleep on a sofa with a hole in it and get comfortable.
Well if I had just woken him up, he certainly made up for it by his thrashing around. Luckily for me he decided to move in the direction that his head was situated on his body. He soon was now extracated from the hole in was inside the roof cavity completely. Deciding that the outside of the shed was a better place to be than on the inside I heard him up on the roof.
Now one of my long projects to do is to repaint the shed roof and walls. They are battle scarred from the various sorties with the ferals over the last 13 years. I don't think I can get away with the excuse of "weathering" as a reason for not repainting. Prior to the layout being built, the walls were free from obstructions such as a layout to enable painting to be done quickly.

The bigger hole

As a temporary fix I have reattached the piece of timber that fell down from the hole. And the only answer is to get around to boxing in the eaves. What this will do is allow me never to bore you with future blogs on possums.

NSW Lives on
Some people who have read my recent blogs would think I might have gone Mexican and followed the blue and yellow system. Only partly true.
I now have a small fleet of Victorian locomotives and rolling stock, enough to add more operating interest to the layout.
Recently at the Liverpool exhibition I paid for two of the Auscision 46 class locomotives and like all the other locos just be patient until they turn up.
I also intend to erect some overhead wiring which makes the operation of electric rolling stock more complete. I can't see the point in buying electric rolling stock unless the overhead is present. One thing is for sure that all the trackwork and ballasting should be complete before the overhead as there will only a small opening of a few inches to get your hands under.
I have already ordered some insulators from overseas and collected a few substation/transformer kits. Living near the railway line also makes it easier to get a closeup view of the infrastructure.
I won't be able to start overhead construction until the locos turn up as I am not sure a what height the overhead will be. At least Southern Rail have made a few staunchions available.
A few NSW shots follow:

A major change will be happening to South Coast Rail next year on the layout. What will happen will be outlined on this blog.

Bought some pickles today!!
A kernock on the door today and a courier had delivered a parcel I had been waiting for. It was a flat top T class on the second issue. I was too slow for the first run.
The reference to pickles in the heading title comes from the fact that my T class is numbered T333. Anyone old enough would remember the '333' pickles company. That wasn't the real reason for selecting that number, it was just that it would be an easy number to remember.
This foray into Victorian modelling has given me a lot to learn about the system. At this stage I am quite happy to stick with the alphabet classification and be able to recognise the difference between a T and Y class. I am not interested in delving down to bogie types, exhaust stacks, grills on windows etc. I am basically pleased that Austrains and Auscision have gone to the trouble to make the various variations to keep us modellers happy. Such choices would never have been available not so long ago.
I was a bit reluctant to post this blog as many may have thought that I have deserted the NSW system and gone troppo and started collecting mexican equipment. I said to myself then that the next blog would  have a NSW theme to it. Sorry maybe next one.
So now my Vic loco pool stands at a Y class, B class and a flat top T and a high nose T. Maybe all I need now is to get and S class (Trainorama are doing a rerun) and possibly an X class.
Anyhow I went down the shed tonight and a short empty stock train took advantage of the new loco for a run up to Kameruka.
A few shots follow

He's back
Having more comebacks than Dame Nellie Melba, my good friend Jim has resurrected his Kamilaroi Model Railway site again.
It has been offline for a few months but now under a new blog name its all go again. Having formerly modelled  Yass Junction and the Yass Junction branch his new venture takes him to a layout based on Moree and Boggabri up in the North West. This is the area many modellers have had a crack at. There must be something about this area though as a few blogs for the North West have gone horribly quite of late.
Not much there at the moment but bookmark the blog as Jim has promised to share more of his future modelling on the site.
His site is called : KamilaroiModelRailway. (Note there are no spaces)

 Victorian Passenger Services due to commence.

You can almost feel a trend happening on South Coast Rail with the blue and the yella colour scheme getting more prominent. As can be seen in the above shot a T class has also been added to the roster.
And not only a T class but the first passenger car set, the Auscision "E" car set has made its first trial today running as far as the Candelo Coal Mine branch. Along with the B class it is as expected in pristine condition, but will soon succomb to a bit of weathering.
Lucky as always the official photographer just happened to be on hand to record the trial run of the train from Bega to Candelo.
The E cars come with a warning on the box regarding the couplers locking and causing derailments on curves sharper than 28" and advise the fitting of long shank couplers to overcome this issue. What I will do is put some on but only at one end of each car. This widens the gap for curves but having the couplers long/short at the ends doesn't make the gap between cars as big as fitting long shank couplers to both ends of the carriages. I must admit the cars look good close coupled as they are delivered.
Anyhow nothing more to reveal at this stage so I will put up the remaining photos taken today. And please don't think I am abandoning NSW rail, I am just expanding my modelling possibilities.

Let it B

A great Beatles title to their famous song and also the designation of the Victorians first main line diesel locomotive.
The 'B' class could be best described as a loco that doesn't know whether its coming or going or two heads are better than one. Either way I had an opportunity to grab this unit from the recent Epping Model rail exhibition. It was a model that had loose side grills but was reassured that the mechanics were all fine and the grills could be easily be reglued.

My previous blog justified my recent interest in the blue and yellow schemes of Victoria. As with my NSW modelling I am trying to stay true to the 50 - 70's era. 

I must admit my sudden interest in VR has left me missing out on a few of the earlier offerings. The VR S class were missed, flat top T's and the beautiful red clerestory non air coaches that Auscision had recently offered. All now out of stock, I'm hoping they do a re-run. (If you have a box of them you no longer want, let me know).

To aid this lastest interest, I purchased a Train Hobby Publication titled "Rail Scene Victoria" which covered the "Blue and Gold generation 1950 - 1979" It is an excellent book of around 98 pages and good value for $42. It captures the era and type of train I would like to model.
One picture on page 31 shows a B class on the Gippsland line hauling a long train of briquettes. I have great memories of these trains travelling through Dandenong when I was still at school many years ago. I was visiting my Aunty and Uncle at the time and would venture up to the station and watch the parade of train pass through.

A recent addition to the fleet was a pack of JX cement hoppers. These were advertised on the Austrains website as out of stock but I managed a pack off the shelf at Toms/Bobs Hobbies recently. I was surprised to see a recent E bay sale of a similar pack that had reached over $330 and considering I had only paid $150 it proves you need to ring around shops first in case they still have old stock. I suppose I should do the same for my passenger cars. LOL.

Today with two friends I paid a visit to the Hills District Model railway exhibition at Castle Hill. They also have a second hand stall there and as we got there just after opening we headed for the stage where the second hand stall was. I said to the guys let me know if you see anything Victorian there. Alas no Auscision passenger cars but I did come across a pile of Steam Era goods wagons. I grabbed the lot. I thought GY, I, should grab the lot. U don't see them often. A good haul indeed.

A fine new standout layout was Binalong, very well modelled so if you are in Sydney get along tomorrow and see it.

Y Not?????
Why indeed, why not a Y? Well it had to happen one day.

Anyone studying a map of the New South Wales south coast would realise that the far reaches of SCR are very close to the Victorian border. 
Although it hasn't made the news as far as I know what has actually happened is that the Victorians are going to extend their line from the Gippsland area to connect up with the South Coast line.
So what has happened is that it was requested that a loco be brought up for driver training along the current route.

Luckily there was a photographer who had been tipped off about a Y class loco coming up for the trial and managed to get a few shots in the local hack spots.

Although this was only a Y class on driver training, as the line is currently used by NSW Main Line locos there will be no trouble in the future if heavier VR locos are required to run. 

This loco had to be trucked up from Bairnsdale and was also dropped onto standard gauge bogies.

The Y class went into the goods yard at Bodalla to allow the crew to get some ground training. It turned out to be a waste of time as they discovered that the ground here was similar to the ground in Victoria.

In the above photo you can see that the car driver is Holden back and waiting for the train to pass through the crossing. Otherwise it would have been a case of a GM meeting another GM.

The loco has just picked up the electric staff for the next section and to make the crew feel at home a couple of ELX wagons were attached.
As can be seen the loco is in pristine condition (despite some piping coming adrift on the side of the loco) I'm sure that there will be plenty of time to get weathered.

With the waterfall in the background flowing the Y treads across one of the three bridges located in the 'gully' corner.

Coming out of the tunnel that links Narooma with Bodalla the Y drifts on the downgrade at this location.
One thing is for sure that you can't rule out further insurgences of the Blue and Yellow onto the south coast. On the other hand the Mexicans will have to get used to seeing 44 class at Bairnsdale in the future.

Good news/Bad news
Well, I decided to give you the good news first. The school building for Emu Flats has been completed, well 97.5% completed. Still guttering/downpipes and a step to get into the front door.
The kit took a few weekends to put together but it was enjoyable down the shed with some CD's on in the background.
I photographed it on the spot currently taken by what seems a smaller house when put next to it. You might think it should be the other way around, small kids = small school, adults = larger home. The school building I presume is to the correct scale so I will just have to watch I don't put the two together.

Well that's it for the good news and now comes the bad news. Many years ago when I moved into the garage, I had all good intentions to completely box in the eaves to keep the predators out. My previous slackness had seen the roof cave in which was covered in a previous blog. A part of the roof collapsed down into the room. That hole was caused from a combination of water and a paste of rat poo. The hole was eventually repaired and the rats were given a touch of Ratsack which eventually quietened things down in the ceiling. It was during the assembly of the school building and in between the quite seconds of the CD tracks, I heard another noise. But the noises were larger than the rats. I thought for a moment 'are they breeding larger rats?'
So when I looked in the direction of the noise I noticed a small hole in the corner of the roof. You can see it in the photo below. (The right hand hole).
Now at the moment I don't do any night time modelling in the shed and when I had finished on a Sunday night the hole in the roof was represented by the right hand hole, but the following weekend, shite a brick, the hole was now the larger hole as indicated by the left hand hole.

This was some rat I thought to myself. But that idea proved to be wrong when on the Sunday, going into the shed when I turned on the light I spotted a large bushy tail sticking out of the end of the roller door. Bugger another possum. And when the second light was turned on there were overturned locos and rolling stock looking like and earthquake had struck the shed. He had even walked on my wire fence that I had spent ages drilling holes and inserting wire. These were bent over and I hope he got a sore foot out of it. Well knowing that he was still inside the roller door, I went around the front and managed to put the roller door up and down about 12 times all in quick succession. I was hoping this would really put him off making the roller door home. Climbing up a ladder at the end of the layout I peered inside, and he peered out. He was still alive but a bit groggy after his "ride". I didn't mean him any harm I just wanted him out of the shed.
Well Sunday night, possum 1, me 0. I thought he has hopefully got the message that the shed is a no go area and I left the hole open to allow him to gracefully go try one of the many trees in the area that may make a more natural home.
So on the Monday night I went down to the shed, on with the light and up the ladder to see if my mate had got the message or not. Yes he was gone, but as it was dark he may have been off seeing some mates. My greatest worry was that although he wasn't in the roller door he may have been somewhere else in the shed. There would be nothing worse that a frantic possum running all over the layout wrecking it. 
It was then I got a small piece of 3 ply and propped it up over the hole thinking I had now won. The piece of timber in the above photo held up the ply.

Well a few days later I found out that he was on the "outside" but wanted to get back in again. As the above photo will attest 3 ply is no match for a possum. He had dislodged the piece of ply which had fallen down onto the layout, knocked over my one and only sedum tree (again see previous blog for info) and generally had littered the hill with plaster droppings and enough timber shavings to do a beaver proud. Pity I wasn't modelling a logging industry.

What I hadn't realised was that he was using the timber prop as a means of getting down into the roller door more easily. Now one other thing that he has managed to do to my wall can only be best described as skid marks. So now with this ugly mark showing up on the wall, I have come to the realisation that the shed  roof and walls are going to require a repaint soon. Time flies, its over ten years since it was first done.
So now in the next photo I finally got the big guns out. I screwed a piece of pine onto the ceiling and so far after a week or so he hasn't managed to chew through this bit. I hope he has got the message and moved on, but with the colder months approaching he might decide to hang around a bit longer.

 The only thing I am afraid of is that this piece of timber will do some damage if he gets to dislodge it. It will then be game on!

 422 arrives

Another promise finally arrived in the post this week. After what seems to be a long wait that us modellers are getting used to, it was announced that the 422 class loco had finally hit the shores.

Most of us NSW modellers would have had a least one Lima 422 class loco on their layout. Now while the mechanisms weren't the best you could obtain at the time I thought the body work seemed reasonable and could be dressed up for a reasonable looking loco. It was probably the closest representation Lima had done for a loco. Remember the 44 class in the VR colours? Was it suppose to represent an S class?

The loco was another product from the Auscision stable. It is my first loco from them as it is the first they have produced to suit my era of modelling which is roughly 50's to 70's. It is the era I grew up in. I must say the ordering of the loco was painless through their website. No printing of pages, sticking the order form in an envelope and licking shut. From ordering via the internet until arrival it was a matter of days.

I have found the Auscision company probably the best organised of all the groups. Although admitting I haven't ordered from all groups) This starts with their website which is always up to date, easy to find your way around and graphically excellent. Although you couldn't expect all manufacturers to equal their site, theirs stands out.

Well enough back slapping and the loco finally found its way to the layout this weekend for its first foray on the layout. It proceeded as a light engine trial around the layout and went well. As expected the locos come clean as a whistle, looking like locos coming out of the workshops. My intention as soon as I can find someone is to get it weathered. It wouldn't have been clean for long in real service. I was very dissapointed with my previously purchased pre-weathered loco as have a few other people I have spoken to. Its not just a matter of setting up a spray gun and driving the train/loco past it.

A load trial was conducted with a coal train and I just happened to have a camera handy when the first run slipped through Bodalla with the train.

Bodalla loop is tucked in between a cliff and a drop to the floor

The train was waiting to cross a light engine movement consisting of a double 44 class locos. Soon after they moved off towards the next crossing loop of Batemans Bay.

Well the 422 has been well received, now if only those other guys that are doing the 40 and 48 class locos would get a wriggle on.

Schools Out for Summer
So where did 2012 go to? I must admit I haven't been very busy on the layout during the last year.
Its nearly March and to prove I haven't faded away completely it is about time I posted.
2013 is the year all the models promised years ago may finally arrive. This should move things along and re stir up the modelling juices in me.
I have recently commenced the building the Emu Flats school building. This kit was reviewed late last year in AMRM. The kit was purchased from the Model Craftsman at Blacktown although the kit was manufactured in USA. This was my first laser cut kit and it has been going together fairly well. 
The reason behind the construction of this kit was because it will be a future subject of an "Other Side of the Tracks" episode. Unfortunately when an idea springs into the head for an OSotT it sometimes requires props or models that I don't have to hand.
The easy ones are done that utilise whatever is around e.g. the trains, cars, people or other things. So to keep the numbers up the school building was next. Hopefully it will feature in a future AMRM. I haven't been told to stop doing them yet, so I hope you are still enjoying them.
Haven't had any rocks on the roof yet!
As can be seen in the photos its nearly 50% done. It was just plonked in another houses position (with permission of course) for the photo. There is a big shortage of flat land on SCR and I was thinking of placing it somewhere near the building in the second photo above when completed.
Completing this building reminded me of the BranchLine convention that used to be held at Macquarie Uni a while ago. Condition of entry was that you had to come with something you had built for the layout, or a model. Some of my models on the layout were taken to Macquarie after the mad last minute rush to complete them.
Today was unfortunate as we had lost power at 11.0pm on Saturday night after the storm that hit Sydney and didn't get power back until late Sunday afternoon, so only limited work was done on the school. The loss was made more confusing to me as both neighbours had power but we didn't. The word soon spread that a large pine tree had brought down wires in another street nearby. When someone explained how the wiring power worked I wasn't so phased about it all.
Well thats all for now, I will be getting ready for the Forestville exhibition next weekend. Who knows the 422 class might be released there?
And if so expect to see another blog next weekend.

Farewell 2012
Well another year nearly gone and my last post definitely for the year. It has been a mixed year 2012 with a few events that have slowed things down. However 2013 is already shaping up to be a better year.
To do tonights blog report I had to go back through some older blogs and on reflection it shows how quickly time flys. You can remember putting up those reports and photos and realise it was two years ago. I still maintain it is a fantastic electronic diary of our past achievements all there recorded. So if you have a layout and no blog no matter how big or small, create an account and start one up. You have nothing to lose, if its not interesting then no one will view it, but who cares?
I was going to wish you all a merry Christmas but its too late, so at this stage the best I can offer is I hope you all have a great 2013 and happy modelling.

 Luckily we have our group to keep the flame burning. We recently got an email re another get together at Phils. His current layout features on two of my previous blogs. The first was on February13, 2010, the second on November 2011 and then there is todays report. The layout takes pride of place in what in normal households would be regarded as a garage, but has been put to better use to contain a great model railway. The previous setup suffered from water seepage that flowed over a sandstone wall forming the inside wall of the room. It would have been more suitable for modelling the Wolgan Valley Railway than the Main North but after a big makeoverof the room its everything you could wish for. The three rows of flouros over each portion of the layout, as Phil pointed out was to eliminate all shadows. Works well.

Phil makes a start on his garden railway

A lunchtime barby was organised as a means of getting around the usual rain soaked night we somehow manage to end up with on many of our train nights. It was a beautiful day weather wise and after lunch we adjourned to the layout room to turn a wheel. There was a fair  bit of progress made since last visit (see previous blogs)

WICKHAM BRANCH

The bus is still trying to get to Morisset

The Wickham branch is for those who like a bit of shunting. Although there is a lot more work to be done here the basic laying out of the buildings has been done. The last shot here shows where the branch joins into the Newcastle branch. Earlier blogs didn't have track laid in this area.

I have an idea that the Newcastle branch here was made as a cover for the wine rack under neath. I would have thought that being Newcastle it would be a good reason to store 'port' there. It seems to be made from stout timbers.

NEWCASTLE BRANCH 

Again the buildings have been laid out in their approximate positions. This is one branch that won't be cut back to Wickham or where ever.

 BROADFIELD LOCO

Ideally situated inside one of the balloon loops is to be the loco depot of Broadfield.

 

 This shot highlights the very neat set up of the room. The two photo montages were prepared from black and white calendars by his daughter who works in the graphic arts arena. They certainly came out stunning. The loco numbers for 3648 were prepared from when you could actually purchase 'surplus' numbers for a few dollars each (based on weight) from Transport House at Wynyard. And also a wall mounted TV for watching sport or even train videos!!

  THE MINE

Not sure what this area is called (hence the above title). It fills in another balloon loop. The main lines pass beneath this section. In the second photo can be seen another steam photo that completes the far wall of the room.

 

 

 HUB SET

Long awaited as are most models a surprise for us to see was the HUB set no doubt sitting here at Broadfields ready to form the Up Midday Newcastle Flyer to Sydney.

It certainly was showing a bit of road grime. Maybe the cleaners were on strike?

 

 

Up the pointy end of the Newcastle Flyer headed by 3803. A common train found on the short north in the good old days. 

Well after a few enjoyable hours we all set sail for home and I look forward to seeing it again in the future for another update.
2013 is going to be an interesting year in a few ways. It will be nothing major as I have just checked the results of tonights $30 million Lotto. Yes we won a prize. What is $30 divided by 20 people?

I hope 2013 is a great year for you all and that some of the promised locos and rolling stock eventually turn up. See you all on "the Other Side" of the calendar

A northern wheat drifts in to a stand