Caulfield Model Railway Exhibition 2010

The Caulfield Model Railway Exhibition is over for another year. This year marked the 40th anniversary of the exhibition run by the AMRA Victorian Branch. I went to the exhibition yesterday, flying down from Canberra, and had a great time.

There were 25 layouts out of 65 stands. The plethora of commercial stands at the one location made it very easy for shoppers to part with their money! Of most interest, were the Austrains Victorian Railways 4 wheelers (B, I, and IA) which sold out just after lunch on Saturday. I understand more packs were made available today from an express overnight shipment from Sydney. Austrains were also selling their newly arrived NR in Southern Spirit green and white livery.

A number of pilot models were on display at the Caulfield exhibition. Auscision had their forthcoming Victorian Railways GY 4 wheeler. Trainorama displayed their Commonwealth Railways GM and NSWR 48 class diesel locomotives. Elsewhere, the NSWR 48 class diesel (in four different versions) was on display from Powerline. Meanwhile, Eureka was also at the exhibition, fielding a number of inquiries about the continuing delays for the VR R and K class steam locos and the NSWR 40 class diesel. Ron Cunningham advised that Eureka were going to use a new manufacturer since they had been cut by Sandakan (Kader). However, I am not sure if the models previously announced have been cut by Sandakan or not. Perhaps Ron will explain more in due course on his website.

Of the layouts, the AMRA Victorian Branch were exhibiting their HO scale US prototype layout Wills Street for the last time. The layout was being offered for sale. The photo belows shows a BN&Q train heading through a rather deserted looking yard on Wills Street.

Another large US layout on display, and exhibited at the show last year, was from Glenn Brooks and the Latrobe Valley Model Railway Association featuring western railroad action based on the Union Pacific and Rio Grande. This layout was very impressive, both in terms of physical size and plenty of continuous train action.

The Coffs Harbour (NSW) Railway Modellers Group came all the way south of the border to display their large US-styled HO scale layout. The layout scenery and buildings are based on the US scene, but at different times during the day trains from the US, NSW and Victorian Railways all get a turn showing their wares around the layout under digital command control (DCC). The photo belows show US steam action with a long train of reefers.

VR-based layouts in HO scale included Benalta, Broadford, Coliban Valley, End of the line, and Tyobic. I hadn't seen Tyobic before and it followed the tradition of a VR country through-station with a yard. The layout had a split backscene, like End of the line, that sent a train through to the fiddleyard through a gap in the backscene just passed a nicely modelled railway crossing. The next two photos illustrate Tyobic.

In N scale, layouts on show included Georgetown (UK), Springhill Yellow Pine Division (US), and Enoshima (Japanese). I think Enoshima was being displayed at Caulfield for the first time and certainly drew in the crowds.

There were also two very different but very interesting layouts on display. The first, was the HO scale Howjadoit, that showed a small compact layout under different stages of construction. This display was a great demonstration of how a layout is constructed, something we need to show to the public more often.

The second interesting layout was the Oe scale Pierreville. Pierreville depicts a French railroad station where narrow and standard gauge tracks meet to transfer passengers between the systems. A nice feature of the layout was the fernicular railroad at the front. And I was quite intrigued by the system of getting trains on and off the layout (see photo below).

As well as enjoying the layouts and commercial stands, I caught up with several railway modellers that I know very well; most from Canberra or Sydney strangely enough. All in all, it was a great day out.

Beecroft MRE 2010

I had to go to Sydney today to sign some papers after getting a call last night from the real estate agent selling our Sydney home. Driving from Canberra to Sydney and back in a day (that's seven hours all up) isn't my idea of fun until I realised that the Beecroft Model Railway Exhibition was on this weekend. Amazingly enough, the M2 tollway exits onto Pennant Hills Road not far from where the exhibition was being held!

Not one to let opportunity pass one by, I managed to spend a couple of hours at the exhibition to make the trip to Sydney really well worth the effort.

The exhibition was held in a small hall on the corner of Copeland Street and busy Beecroft Road. I parked the car at the railway station car park and walked the short way to the hall. The hall was one of those special buildings trapped in a time warp from the past (i.e. my early childhood) but nevertheless functional for a small exhibition such as this. There was also a second-hand stall where I picked up a copy of Ron Preston's book on the 32 class for $40 - thank you very much!

I have included a sample photo of each of the layouts on display, minus a possible "Thomas" layout that I think was in a separate foyer off to the side of the main hall.

The first layout that greeted visitors upon entering the hall was the US-prototype layout Springfield in HO scale. I hadn't seen this layout before. The layout featured some nice kit-built industries and townscape while keeping the punters happy with plenty of train movement. The layout was operated using NCE DCC hand-held controllers. When not in use, the  controllers fit between the two knobs on the side of the layout as illustrated in the first photo (lower left).

Nearby, was a Hornby three rail layout and a small garden layout. Interestingly, my 10 year-old daughter thought the Hornby three rail layout the most interesting of all the layouts on display!

Moving around the hall counter-clockwise I caught up with Anton Bognar (Anton's Hobbies) who was displaying his HO scale European layout, Ochsenhausen. Next to him was the layout Back of Beyond featuring Australian N scale.

The next layout was Grischun, a Swiss standard and narrow gauge layout (HO scale) making its exhibition debut.Grishun was built by former Canberra-resident Greg C. and it was great to catch up with him there since we haven't chatted face-to-face for almost ten years! Grischun was up to Greg's usual fine standards and exhibition organisers should mark this layout as one to grab next time around! The scenery is terrific and there is enough train action on three different levels to keep everyone happy. Some nice HO standard gauge and HOn Bemo traction locomotives were particular highlights.

Next to Grischun was the well-crafted Mullet Creek layout in HO scale from Geoff Small. Mullet Creek shows some lovely waterway scenery based on the Hawkesbury River area north of Sydney. This layout also featured catenary and, like the prototype, always seems to get in the way when taking photos!

The simple Rydal Hill was next, demonstrating the virtues of a small layout when space is at a premium. The layout is a single line with a short dock at the rear of the station platform. The "banana" ends (illustrated in the second photo), brings the track on both sides of the scenic section around to the fiddleyard at the rear. I could easily imagine the scenic section at the front as a layout module connected to a small fiddleyard at the rear by these curved ends.

I had such an enjoyable time that I didn't notice that two hours had passed and we had to be on our way up the road to Hornsby and the real estate agents, stopping at MicroModels Hobbyland to pick up the fishbelly MLV produced by IDR castings (the last one in the shop folks!). Ian is casting some more of these MLV kits so make sure you get one this time around.

The drive home to Canberra was uneventful. I was so bored with the drive and keen to get home that I didn't even stop at Goulburn for the habitual scan of Goulburn railway yard and station. Nevertheless, the Beecroft Model Railway Exhibition gave the trip some entertaining focus and was well worth the look.

Malkara Exhibition 2010

The 38th Annual Malkara Model Railway & Scale Model Exhibition was held over this weekend at the Malkara special school in Garran, Canberra. The exhibition featured model railways, other scale modelling, and crafts as a major annual fundraiser for the school.

There were about fifteen model railway layouts on show, as well as examples of military modelling, woodturning, slot cars, radio control cars, and Victorian dollhouses. The number of layouts and displays seemed slightly smaller than in previous years but this didn't detract from the weekend.

For railway modellers, the weekend is just as much about meeting friends and enthusiasts as it is to watch the layouts. It was therefore great to catch up with so many people I know through the hobby; the local Canberra railway modellers, and the lads from Goulburn and Wagga Wagga. Runway 13, Pallas Hobbies, Model Railroad Craftsman, and Kerroby Models were the commercial stands in attendance.

Two new layouts on display included Wallerawang and Waterfall, both in HO scale. The Guildford Model Railway Club exhibited Wallerawang, showcasing a beautifully constructed station building based on the stone prototype. Waterfall was exhibited by the Illawarra Model Railway Association and featured some exquisite buildings, including the main station building and road bridge overpass. And whilst I'd seen the N scale Tarana before, it too was well worth some time watching the trains roll by.

Below: A couple of 82 class locos haul a coal train through Wallerawang

 Other layouts on show included Campbelltown (HO scale), Crestwood (HO), AustTrak N scale, Duck Creek (HOn2.5), Jembaicumbene (HO), Kangaroo Valley (HO), Nicholls Siding (HO), and the Epping Model Railway Club's Brisbane Waters (HO). There was also quite a nice British layout in 00 scale, Southern Revisited, that featured the Southern Railways with a single track double looped layout only 1 metre wide by a couple of metres in length. For its size the layout was well presented, even if the shortest width curves were only 17.5" radius!

With perfect sunny Canberra weather, the weekend at Malkara was a great success.

Model railway magazines - what do we like?

I had intended to do a quick summary of the contents of the latest issues of model railway magazines I have received recently. They include Australian Model Railway Magazine (AMRM), Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsman, and NZ Model Railway Journal.

However, rather than just describe the contents of these magazines, I want to open up a discussion about model railway magazine content. Now I realise that content for model railway magazines mostly comes from the readers themselves, and that magazines can only publish content that they receive. Except in some cases where the staff of a magazine write their own articles, nearly all model railway magazines published around the world rely on contributed content from readers and railway modellers.

Nevertheless, I am interested to know what people want from their model railway magazines since the readers are in fact the consumers. What are the features of a model railway magazine that readers want from such publications? What do readers enjoy and dislike about model railway magazines in general?

For me, I have a few key preferences that cover what I like best in a model railway magazine. These features include:

1. Model railway industry news - I like to be able to go to one place in the magazine to read a summary of what the local model railway industry is up to, especially about new products and new manufacturers.

2. Model railway layout article - I like to read about other people's model railroad layouts. What I really like in these articles is not just reading a description about the layout, but to get some insights into the thinking behind the layout, the construction (including scenery and buildings), and operation. There should be at least one "method" or "detailed tip" for readers to learn about. The article doesn't have to include ALL of my pet wants, but simply describing a layout is not enough for me. Good photos really help too, as does a track plan.

3. A construction article - I like to know how people do things in the hobby, whether it is scratchbuilding an industry or designing a traverser for a layout. And I need some detail - I need to get enough information in the article to be able to build the item, or use the techniques for something else. A construction article to my mind is not just what someone has done, it's about giving the reader something to do as well.

4. Advertisements - Well, they largely pay for the magazine so that's important! But I also like to know what's going on and what's coming up (as in point 1).

5. Innovative thinking - I like to hear about innovation in the hobby and different ways of doing things or seeing things. Innovation is not something a person or a magazine can initiate; innovation is one of those rare and intangible occasions that just happen. I realise this, and I certainly don't expect innovation to be featured in a model railway magazine on a regular basis like an editorial! However, when I do read about innovative thinking in the hobby, I always like it and appreciate it.

That's it from me; anyone else with an opinion on what they like (or don't like) about model railway magazines?

Remember Mansfield Hobbies?

Who can remember the hobby shop, Mansfield Hobbies? The hobby shop was located at Waitara, an upper north shore suburb of Sydney. The shop was under the proprietorship of David Anderson from 1978 to 1988.

Well I just got my latest issue of the Australian Model Railway Magazine (AMRM) in which an obituary for the former proprietor of Mansfield Hobbies, David Anderson, was included.

I well remember Mansfield Hobbies since I grew up about fifteen minutes from the shop at Waitara. As a late teenager with a burgeoning interest in modelling New South Wales Railway prototype in HO scale, Mansfield Hobbies became a frequent destination for me on Saturday mornings. I used to ride my pushbike to the shop most of the time, before getting a car in the early 1980s. David Anderson was always ready to provide advice and encouragement, and the odd sale of course, whilst chewing merrily on his pipe.

I bought my first serious Australian prototype models from Mansfield Hobbies (my first Australian kits were actually Friedmont and MRC purchased from Casula Hobbies which was a long way from where I lived at the time; so Joe was really my first supplier of Australian HO). However, it was through the local Mansfield Hobbies and David Anderson that I came across and made regular purchases of the high quality HO freight wagon kits from AR Kits that really established and held my interest in the hobby at the time.

I also saved diligently for a couple of the famous Mansfield Hobbies' brass locomotives from Samhongsa in South Korea. I bought a streamlined 38 and a 43 class diesel; the 38 regrettably sold a few years later. I did, however, receive a non-streamlined Mansfield 38 from my parents as a 21st birthday present. Mansfield Hobbies was certainly a leading player in promoting the NSW prototype to the hobby.

Mansfield Hobbies' brass locomotives were considered top of the range at the time and even today maintain their excellent quality. It was a credit to David that his brass locomotives were so well regarded and very popular for many years in the second-hand market.

David was always friendly and supportive, as was his wife who often helped out in the shop. I really appreciated his patience with this relative newcomer to serious railway modelling. David Anderson was certainly one of the major forces who encouraged me in modelling NSWR. He also demonstrated how the hobby is also a wonderful opportunity to meet interesting people and share common interests by virtue of the fact that he had regular "bull sessions" at the shop, particularly on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings.

I was very sad to read that he had died in late May. It just seems like yesterday that I was parking my yellow Oxford outside his shop and being greeted to a welcoming smile and a puff of pipe smoke as I entered the shop. Despite the intervening years, I still have very happy memories of a very fine man.

Thank you, David.

North Yard Model Railway Parts for sale

I just received my latest copy of NZ Model Railway Journal. I will write a summary report in my model railway magazine update next week when AMRM is due to be mailed out to subscribers.

A flyer inside the Journal advised that the business of North Yard Model Railway Parts is up for sale. Sadly, the owner of the business, Graham Selman, died suddenly on the 10th June.

Australian and New Zealand railway modellers would be familiar with the North Yard brand of model railway parts, particularly brass strip, wheel sets and gearboxes. I think Bergs (new website under construction) in Sydney used to stock North Yard bits and pieces.

Expressions of genuine interest for the purchase of the North Yard business can be sent to:

Neesham Pike Thomas Limited
PO Box 47256
Ponsonby
Auckland 1011
New Zealand

or email sharon.phillips@npt.net.nz

Sunday in the Central West

Today I had the pleasure, with about twenty other modellers, of participating in an invitation open day featuring a very large model railway layout near Bathurst in the Central West of NSW. The road trip from Canberra took just over four hours each way but the trip was worth every second.

The layout is based on the Main Western line from Bathurst to Sydney, incorporating the branch from Tarana to Oberon (in modified form). Several stations are modelled, including Bathurst, Kelso, Raglan, Brewongle, Locksley, Tarana, and Oberon.

The layout is of exceptional quality, even if the layout is still not yet finished. The layout resides in a purpose built "shed", with magnificent views west over some beautiful farm grazing land. Whilst I am not great at estimating room measurements, the shed could well have been over 90' in length and probably 25'-30' wide. The principal station on the layout is Bathurst and includes the iconic single track steel lattice bridge (photo below) on approach to the station and yard. The bridge was a very limited run brass "kit" from Anton's Models.

Operation of the layout is with digital command control (DCC) using the Easy DCC system. Today there would have been at least 10-12 trains in operation all at the one time. This was quite a sight as operators and their trains wound their way around the large layout, keeping a look-out for the position of trains in front and behind. There is no signalling on the layout as yet so keen eyes were required to ensure that trains avoided "trespassing" on the same track within a common section.

Most of the locos and trains running on the layout over the weekend were models brought along by the visitors. In some cases, those Eureka, Trainorama, and Auscision locos were getting their very first taste of operation straight out of the box!

I found operating a train on this layout quite inspiring. Much of the scenery has been completed and following your train through the Central West countryside was great fun. The station and yard buildings have also been constructed to a very high standard, as one would expect from the master craftsman, John Brown.

But for me, the day was made all the more exceptional by the generosity of the host and the camaraderie of fellow modellers who all thoroughly enjoyed the day. Model railways is a great hobby in that respect.

I'll finish this post with some photos; just a sample from a truly magnificent layout.

(Above) 4416 cruises through the station of Locksley with a short freight train.
(Below) 4917 headed up the train my daughter and I operated this morning. The train is seen here waiting in the siding at Brewongle.

The next photo shows a rake of four-wheeled stock wagons sitting on the siding at Oberon. The stockyards are waiting to be constructed which probably explains why there were no animals about!

The photo below shows the station buildings at Tarana. Note the main station roof line and chimneys. Also note the cutaway in the brick platform facing below the signal box for the point levers (not yet modelled).

The photo below shows a single brick arch bridge on approach to Tarana station. The dirt road has been very nicely modelled - the road swings around to the right towards Tarana station and acts a visual redirection away from the blue-painted back scene.

The next photo (below) shows another example of a brick viaduct, this time with the road going over the top of the railway line. The bridge in the foreground is a triple arch and the bridge beyond it is another single arch viaduct.

The fiddle yard has seventeen separate tracks. There's quite a lot of turnouts just in this one end section of the layout. There are over 150 turnouts on the entire layout, all electrically powered with Seep point motors. The track is Peco Code 100 in the fiddle yard and Peco Code 83 on the rest of the layout. Peco Electrofrog turnouts have been used, all back-wired to ensure good electrical contact and to maintain electrical polarity.

The final two photos show some train action. The first is the mid-section of a wheat train as it snakes between Locksley and Brewongle. This section of the layout was one of my favourite areas because of the way the track meandered gently through the countryside and through a number of stone arch bridges. The final photo shows 3827 in green as it heads up the Central West Express through Brewongle - a truly magnificent sight!