Showing posts with label Bullo Pit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bullo Pit. Show all posts

Thursday, 9 March 2017

Forestville Model Railway Exhibition 2017

Last weekend I attended the Forestville Model Railway Exhibition hosted by the North Shore Railway Modellers' Association (NSRMA). As I hadn't been to the Forestville exhibition for over ten years, I made the trip up to Sydney to see what was on offer. There were sixteen layouts on display and eleven commercial outlets.

The layouts that caught my eye included the following:

Bethungra Spiral (HO scale) from the Epping Model Railway Club. This layout continues to showcase some exceptional rural NSW scenery and the interesting prototype track plan based on the Main South Line at Bethungra. A good selection of trains paraded through the layout during the day.


Guildford Model Railway Group exhibited their layout Goulburn (HO scale) which is always a delight to see. The layout is 6.5 metres long and 2.8 metres deep. The main station building is a key feature and looks terrific. Once again, a good variety of trains flowed through Goulburn to keep up the model railway action. Interestingly, this layout runs on traditional DC power.


Another large layout was Morewood (HO scale) which features four main lines and ten sidings. This layout was very popular with the kids who loved all the action and colour this layout offered.


The Yard (HO scale) from Alistair McMaster is a fictional NSW-themed layout featuring a cement plant and associated railway yard facilities. This layout is DCC using the popular NCE system. Peco code 83 track is used throughout, including insulfrog turnouts. The layout provides a good demonstration of sound-chipped NSW diesel locomotives from DCC Solutions.


Another NSW-themed layout was Back of Beyond (HO scale). This layout represents a small rural town with a narrow gauge connection supplying logs to the local sawmill.


 Koolabar (HO scale) represents a fictional NSW branch line from the 1960s. The single main line saw a range of trains crossing at regular intervals to keep the punters interested.


Stumar's Roundabout (HO scale) was an interesting tiered layout featuring six separate scenes. Jurassic Junction held a particular fascination for the kids.Walker Models were atop, stand 22.


In O scale, the British Uley Junction was a work in progress. The layout is point-to-point based on Great Western Railway (GWR) practice and covers two distinct periods: Edwardian and the 1930s. Buildings that are yet to be constructed had mock-ups in place and this is a good way to visualise things before embarking on scratchbuilding projects.


The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) was represented at the exhibition with the Kansas City West Bottoms layout. This layout is a small switching layout just under three metres in length. The track design allows a good range of switching opportunities to keep the interest of both the operator and the public.


Another small layout was Steve's Follie (HOe). This narrow gauge layout utilises N scale track but HO scale throughout.


In N scale, there was the 7.5 metres long South Bend and Hilltop from the Hills Model Railway Society which was a very nicely scenicked layout where trains moved between three levels in a folded dog-bone track arrangement. A smaller N scale layout was Mosquito Hill measuring 1.2 metres by .45 metres in length and featuring logging operations. And Waterman's Cove was a US-themed N scale layout featuring a working cable car and multiple tracks in a holiday wonderland.

Other layouts included Malfunction Junction, Jersey City Waterfront, and Bullo Pill.

Commercial exhibitors included Austrains, Casula Hobbies, Eureka Models, Forest Miniatures, Hobbyland Hornsby, IDR Models, Matt's Ballast, Model Railroad Craftsman, Modeller's Warehouse scenery supplies, Southern Rail, and Walker Models building kits.

Sunday, 19 June 2016

Epping Model Railway Club Exhibition 2016

The 2016 Epping Model Railway Club's exhibition last weekend was a good one.  There were 22 layouts on display and 23 commercial exhibits. As usual, the second hand stall was very popular for sellers and buyers alike. The modelling clinics were a little different this year with a focus on building home layouts. The clinics were managed by David L. from the Epping Club in concert with the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) who manned the stand and answered questions from the public relating to all the facets of building a home layout. Great idea, David!

I caught up with a good many fellow modellers at the exhibition and still managed to actually see the layouts on display. Here is a sample of the layouts that caught the eye of my camera.

Goulburn (Australian/NSW, HO scale) was a new exhibit from the Guildford Model Railway Group. The layout is 6.5 metres (22') long and 2.8 metres (9') deep. The main feature of the layout is a wonderful model of the prototype Goulburn station. Other building features include the long run-through goods shed, steel footbridges, and the workshop area with overhead crane. Trains from the period of the 1960s to the present day made their appearance, reflecting the individual membership's era preferences. The layout is operated by conventional DC control.


Gordon (VR/SAR HO scale) was a layout I had not seen before. It represents the prototype in near the Dandenong Ranges top of the Great Dividing Range between Melbourne and Adelaide. A good variety of Australian locos and rollingstock from the 1960-1980 period was on display. Interestingly, the May and June 2016 issues of Newsrail feature two articles on the prototype Gordon station.


Bullo Pit (British, O scale) is a 7mm/foot scale layout based on a real location in Gloucestershire in the 1920s. The layout represents the tidal inlet from the River Severn and associated rail infrastructure. There was plenty of shunting going on with a range of four-wheeled wagons.


Erbschaft (German, HO scale) is a fictitious town set in the 1960s.  The layout is Marklin with centre-stud track and a good range of locos and rollingstock. Buildings are mainly kit-built structures from Faller and Kibri. Erbschaft was a very nice medium-sized layout.



Over the Fence (Australian/NSW, HO scale) was a new layout to the Epping exhibition, although it had debuted at Sandown in Melbourne earlier in the year. Once again the houses and buildings on the layout represented superb renditions of real structures modelled to scale in styrene. A double-track main line kept trains moving throughout the day; a highlight being the running of an Auscision Countrylink XPT that looked superb snaking its way to the rear of the houses. The durable H&M Clipper transformer powers the trains and never seems to miss a beat.


Oddwalls (NSW, HO scale) made another exhibition appearance from the craftsmanship of Geoff Small. Oddwalls represents a fictitious rural NSW town set in the 1960s. The station area with the main street and country-style buildings are the central scenic highlight of the layout with plenty of detail to be spotted throughout. This layout is compact-sized and an entertaining NSW-themed layout that runs well and looks great.



Wumbat (NSW, HO scale) represents another fictitious NSW rural-based layout. The layout dimensions are 3 metres by 1.2 metres and consists of six modules. Note the impressive way the layout is displayed in a theatre-box style of presentation.



Industry Lane (British, OO scale) is based on a fictitious industrial branch serving a number of industries: fuel/oil, cement, and a large manufacturing complex. The focus of the layout is shunting and this is accomplished using short wheel-based freight wagons and a single locomotive operated with digital command control (DCC). The entire layout, including fiddle yard, is only 1.5 metres (5') in length. The fiddle yard uses a sliding traverser to move trains on and off the layout. I really enjoyed this layout and admired what could be achieved in a relatively small space. Industry Lane was my favourite layout from the exhibition.
 

Moonan Flats (NSW, O scale) represents a what-might-have-been scenario had the real railway reached this town in the Barrington Tops of NSW. The station layout is simple but highly detailed, enabling a good showcasing of NSW outline O scale locomotives and rollingstock.

 


Wallerawang Junction (Australian/NSW, HO scale) is based on the prototype station on the Main Western line beyond Lithgow. The era modelled is the 1960 to mid-70s period when Wallerawang was a busy rail station and yard. There was plenty of steam and diesel train action on this layout.


Bullenbung Creek (NSW, HO scale), the featured layout at the Modelling the Railways of NSW Convention earlier this year, made its first Epping exhibition appearance. The layout took its inspiration from Belfrayden on the Uranquinty-Kywong branch line. This lightly-trafficed rural branchline has been well modelled using hand-laid code 55 rail soldered to PCB sleepers. The layout is operated using DCC and locos all have sound. My favourite was the 24 class (2417 pictured below) which performed its duties with no-fuss aplomb.


The Yard (NSW, HO scale) was another NSW-themed layout making its first appearance on the exhibition scene. The focal point is indeed the yard and the Pioneer cement silos. Other rail-served industries included stock pens, loading ramp and goods shed. Track is Peco code 83 with insulfrog points operated by Tortoise switch motors. The layout uses an NCE Pro Cab for DCC operation.


Stikodelom (NSW, O scale) showcased some quality O scale locomotives, rollingstock and scenery. The location is fictitious but certainly has that generic rural NSW feel about the place. The Beyer-garrat (pictured below) is a very impressive sight in this scale.



Bethungra was the new layout from the Epping Model Railway Club making its debut exhibition appearance. The trees on the layout are superb (well done, Phil). Unfortunately, I don't have any photos but can direct you to this Youtube clip from John Thoroughgood who captured the layout in a nice two minute video.

And of course, there was the ever-popular Lego layout.


I really enjoyed the exhibition and the opportunity to chat with friends from the hobby.  I'd like to thank the Epping Model Railway Club for another successful event.