Epping Exhibition - one week on

I am back in Canberra after a week down in Melbourne with a work assignment. I return to Melbourne later in the week and I have plenty to do before then. In keeping with my tight schedule, here are some of the photographic highlights from the Epping Model Railway Exhibition.

First up, we have the award winner for best new layout - Grischun. Greg C.'s Grischun is representative of a Swiss alpine town with main and narrow gauge lines in HO scale. The scenery is superb, as one might expect from a Swiss-based layout. The catenary and running qualities of the layout were also of a fine standard. Grischun is a very good example of  a well-detailed and compact exhibition layout. I was also impressed with Greg's use of a painter's pole and roller for the lighting stands - very ingenious!

The next layout is Geoff Small's Oddwalls - a layout first exhibited earlier this year at the Canberra Model Railway Exhibition. The layout is HO scale and showcases a small rural town in the mid 1960s. This layout is another good example of an effective exhibition layout without taking up too much space. Oddwalls is a very well designed layout with good topography, a busy little town, and a nice parade of trains on the double track main line to keep the exhibition-goers entertained.

Another well presented exhibition layout was Bowen Creek. This HO fine scale layout has a relativiely simple track plan within some superb rural scenery. The layout is exhibitied in the box-showcase style with good internal lighting. The modules are constructed of 20mm square steel tube and the backscene is one continuous length of material used for advertising banners. This is a high quality layout for discerning tastes - a real standard-setter for quality.

Another exceptionally presented pair of layouts was Sunny Corner/Lily Flat. These two diorama-style layouts had some amazingly detailed and natural scenery. Both layouts were On30 and showed how effective the larger scale can with superb scenery and quality modelling.

Wallerawang (HO scale) is another fine layout, based on the station west of Lithgow, and presented by the Guildford Model Railway Group. The layout is 6.5 metres long and 2.8 metres deep, including the 14 track storage yard at the rear. The station buildings are the signature piece of this layout.

A perennial favourite, Jembaicumbene, was on show again. This HO scale NSW-based layout has had a very long exhibition life but still has plenty to offer the crowd. A good range of trains and a nicely detailed townscape are features of this layout

Branigate (or is it Brani Gate?)is a US-prototype layout in HO scale. A feature of this layout is the ability to change the lighting to reflect a particular time of the day. This was an interesting feature that might become more popular in the years ahead.

Turning now to some different track gauges, Duck Creek was also making another exhibition appearance. Duck Creek is HOn30 (i.e. 2.6" gauge prototype railway) based on the famous Puffing Billy railway in Victoria.

One of my favourite layouts, the Japanese N scale Enoshima, was also making another exhibition appearance. Every time I see this layout I find some new and interesting part of the city scene that I had overlooked before.

The Lake and Dale is an O scale narrow gauge layout based on the Lake District in England. It features a fine station scene and bridge with some typical English scenery.

In N scale we had Tarana and Carlo. Unfortunately, my photos of Tarana didn't come out so well. But making a new appearance at Epping was the suburban-electric layout, Carlo. Carlo is loosely based on the terminus of the Carlingford Branch at Carlingford, a suburb of Sydney. In real life, Carlingford was supposed to link up with the Epping to Parramatta leg of the now defunct expansion of the suburban network.  Maybe Carlo will feature an extension next year to show how it's done!

As always, the second-hand store was popular and retailers were well represented.

And finally, this is what the new Australian Journal of Railway Modelling looks like for those of you who may have missed seeing the new issue at the Epping Exhibition.

 Check out the AJRM website for info on how to purchase the magazine.

AJRM a big success at Epping

I enjoyed the Epping Model Railway Exhibition over the weekend. The event was even more pleasing with the successful unofficial launch of the Australian Journal of Railway Modelling (AJRM). Thanks to the advertisers, retailers and purchasers of the magazine over the weekend. And thanks to the Epping Model Railway Club for a great exhibition.

I was very pleased to see some new layouts and a couple of quality exhibits I'd seen only once or twice before. Glad to hear Greg C. won the best new layout award for his European-styled layout, Grischun. Well done, Coggo!

There was plenty of room to move around at the exhibition, even on the busy Saturday morning. While Sunday was a much quieter day, I understand that the three day exhibition may have exceeded previous attendances. I hear the second-hand stall did well again this year too. I look forward to the exhibition next year.

I am in Melbourne at the moment on a consulting project all week so I won't be posting exhibition photos until the coming weekend (sorry, Trevor).

I do hope to get to a couple of Melbourne hobby shops during any lunch breaks to show them the magazine and seek their support in selling the magazine to Victorian modellers.

Let it be said that AJRM wants to showcase quality modelling of all Australian prototypes. So if you're not from NSW, don't despair - send us some ideas for articles and we can take it from there.

We hope the ideas, insights and thinking from AJRM articles will inspire modellers everywhere.

AJRM is back

I wanted to let you know that the Australian Journal of Railway Modelling (AJRM) issue 11 has just been published. Stephen and I have taken delivery of the magazines. The magazine makes a welcome return after a seven year hiatus.

There is a website at www.ajrm.com.au (with a temporary redirect at the moment) and a Twitter feed AusJRM to keep people up to date with what's happening. The new web pages should be up in the next couple of weeks with details about purchasing, back issues, and subscriptions (with a couple of interesting features). As well, there will be a form for retail vendors to order copies for sale at shops.

Copies should be available from some of the commercial vendors at the Epping Model Railway Exhibition at Thornleigh in Sydney this long weekend. There are some great articles inside, even if I do say so myself.

Check out the cover here:

... and the magazine itself over the weekend.

Epping Model Railway Exhibition 2011

The Epping Model Railway Exhibition is on this coming long weekend in Sydney. The exhibition is on at the Thornleigh Brickpit stadium at Dartford Road, Thornleigh. Full details here.

The exhibition promises to be be bigger and better than last year. It's no secret that the lads from the Epping Club have their sights on having Australia's best model railway exhibition. I understand this year the exhibition will have more layouts and commercial vendors than last year.

I also hear that it's possible a former Australian model railway magazine might make a long-awaited reappearance at the exhibition. After seven years, the Australian Journal of Railway Modelling will be making a belated return to the model railway scene. The website details the magazine's progress. The website has a temporary redirect on it but will be upgraded soon. The new issue (No. 11) is currently at the printers and expected to be ready by the weekend.

I will be at the exhibition on Saturday morning and most of Sunday. I hope to catch up with lots of people over the weekend, and I will certainly be interested to hear what you think about the the new issue of AJRM. I think people will be suitably impressed.

See you on the weekend.

Toowoomba Model Train Show 2011

The Darling Downs Model Railway Club have their annual model railway exhibition this weekend in Toowoomba (Queensland). The exhibition is being held at the Founders Pavillion, Toowoomba Showgrounds, Glenvale Road, Toowoomba.

Opening hours are 9-5 on Saturday (4th June) and 9-4 on the Sunday.

I hope the weekend is a good one for both the organisers and the visiting public.

Albury Model Railway Exhibition 2011

Next weekend the Murray Railway Modellers will have their 2011 model railway exhibition in Albury (NSW). The exhibition is being held at the Mirambeena Community Centre, 19 Martha Mews, Lavington. Lavington is on the northern side of the city of Albury.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it down for the show but here's what's on offer:

1 Bring and Sell
2 EZ Track
3 Trainz
4 Albury Model Aircraft
5 Jaycar
6 Stafford Stamps and Collectables
7 Ray's Redeemed Railway
8 Altoona
9 Border Scale Modellers
10 Kookaburra Park
11 Ettamogah
12 Leopold
13 Austrains
14 J & K Hobbies
15 Road and Rail
16 Thomas
17 Blue Dog Creek
18 Mckenzie in H.O.Lland
19 Benalta
20 Aust-N-Rail
21 T-Track
22 Iron Horse Hobbies

Full details about the exhibition (including a map) can be found here.

I hope it's a great weekend for all concerned.

Leisurely Sunday behind 3016

It was a bright, sunny day in Canberra today. Just the perfect conditions for a leisurely little trip between Canberra and Bungendore behind preserved steam locomotive 3016. 3016 was built by Beyer Peacock in 1903 and has really stood the test of time with the NSWGR and then under the care of the ARHS (ACT) Division.

Above: 3016 awaits departure from Canberra station this morning on its trip to Bungendore and return

Our scheduled departure at 10.30am was delayed but it wasn't long before we were on our way. The smell of coal-fired smoke and the gentle rolling of the carriages make for a perfect way to watch the scenery pass by. Heading beyond Queanbeyan we got to see some beautiful vistas over a winding stream in a magnificent gorge. Although it's been dry around Canberra for a few months, there was still a good flow of water in the stream. Pine plantations gave way to rolling paddocks with the odd gathering of cattle or sheep. Between Queanbeyan and Bungendore the scenery jostled between hilly paddocks and lightly forested gums. It wasn't quite picture perfect but it was relaxing nevertheless.

Of interest to the railway modeller is the variation in colour and texture of the scenery. I realise that it's difficult in model form to match the subtleties and detail of the real thing, but I do think that such observations make it clear that colour, landscape, and vegetation are not homogenously ubiquitous.

En route to Bungendore we went through three tunnels, all of which provoked great excitement from the kids on board the carriage in which I was sitting today. I can say from the experience that it really is black inside an unlit carriage going through these tunnels!

We arrived in Bungendore where we had about two hours to have lunch and look around before the train left for the return journey. Precisely at 2.30pm the train left Bungendore (tender first) for the trip back to Canberra.

On the return, I paid special attention to the disused rail sidings at Queanbeyan. One set of sidings used to service the former Ampol oil depot. The Ampol depot is quite interesting because the buildings and some of the storage facilitites are at ground level, but the main railway line and oil depot siding is some way above this, necessitating piping up to the siding. Five large tanks were also above the oil depot grounds. The main unloading point still has the valves, as this photo illustrates, and you can see the steps leading up to them.

What remains in the actual depot itself is a small office and shed, and gas tanks, now occupied by Origen Energy. It all looked very despondent; quite a contrast to the halcyon days of rail freight traffic servicing this industry across the state of NSW. Similarly at Fyshwick in Canberra, I looked at the abandoned rail sidings servicing two large oil depots on the northern side of the tracks and the recently closed Shell depot (with Freight Australia oil tankers still in the loading bays) further down on the other side of the tracks. Modelling oil depots, even abandoned ones like the four I saw today, has a certain industrial charm (and even nostalgia) associated with them.

And then the train arrived in Canberra; the afternoon sun still shining in a blue sky but with the temperature becoming cool as the end of the day approached. I can certainly conclude by saying that rail travel like this on a bright sunny day is wonderfully relaxing. Thanks to the ARHS (ACT) Division for putting on the rail tour today and for their considerable work in maintaining the loco and carriages. I thoroughly recommend the trip to one and all.