This weekend is the 2011 Canberra Model Railway Expo being held at Kaleen, a northern suburb of Canberra.
Like last year, the exhibition will be at the Kaleen High School (now called University of Canberra High School) on Baldwin Drive, Kaleen. According to the web site, there will be 21 layouts on display plus a range of commercial outlets. Entry price for adults is $10.00.
I will be going to the expo on Saturday afternoon and I hope to see fellow modellers from Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne in attendance. The expo promises to be a great event so let's support the organisers and have a good time to boot!
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Sunday, 20 February 2011
The mystery and subtlety of weathering
Last Friday I drove from Canberra to Sydney for a work-related meeting in Hornsby. When I travel to Sydney for the day I usually take the Exeter turnoff from the Hume Highway for breakfast at the Exeter Post Office cafe. This trip was no different. I can heartily recommend the turkish toast with butter and vegemite!
Of course, this route off the Hume Highway means one continues north from Exeter to Moss Vale and Berrima before rejoining the Hume Highway and onwards to Sydney. Taking this route means there is a good chance to see a train or two roll through this part of the Southern Highlands. I only saw one train at Moss Vale but I did see some shunting in the sidings of the Berrima branch, near the large Omya factory complex. The branch here feeds the huge Blue Circle cement works at Berrima and the Ingham stock feed factory (grain). This means there are usually plenty of grain and cement wagons in the sidings.
Now I don't usually stop to spend much time looking at these wagons but on this trip the road that takes you to the highway was closed, meaning I had to turn around and find a detour. A train was shunting some cement wagons behind a stationary set of grain hoppers and I watched this for a few minutes before I suddenly realised what a wonderful example of weathering was in evidence on the NPRY cement wagons.
My weathering antennae is very sensitive at the moment because a fellow railway modeller in Canberra has turned his attention to building 1:35 scale WWII tanks (I think it's just a phase he is going through). And this chap has been despairing at the sheer brilliance displayed by military modellers who have weathered tanks so realistically and in such fine detail. The many different weathering methods for tanks abound in military modelling magazines and the brilliant AFV DVD on acrylic techniques. I bought my copy of the DVD from Crusader Trading in Fyshwick, Canberra, to see how it would work with model railways (Answer: yes it would work, but you'd never weather your fleet of rolling stock to this detail in a lifetime).
Anyway, if you're up for the challenge, here are a few quick photos of these cement wagons. The weather was overcast which wasn't great for photography but you'll get the picture. Just have a look at the different shades, textures, and general grime on these wagons. I doubt I could do justice to these examples in weathering my four AR Kit HO scale models of the prototype. The critical points of weathering interest, IMHO, are the subtle variation in shades, the peeled surface texture, and the streak marks.
I wouldn't mind seeing Mr Mig Jimenez having a crack at one of these cement wagons with his weathering techniques...now that would be something worth waiting for.
Of course, this route off the Hume Highway means one continues north from Exeter to Moss Vale and Berrima before rejoining the Hume Highway and onwards to Sydney. Taking this route means there is a good chance to see a train or two roll through this part of the Southern Highlands. I only saw one train at Moss Vale but I did see some shunting in the sidings of the Berrima branch, near the large Omya factory complex. The branch here feeds the huge Blue Circle cement works at Berrima and the Ingham stock feed factory (grain). This means there are usually plenty of grain and cement wagons in the sidings.
Now I don't usually stop to spend much time looking at these wagons but on this trip the road that takes you to the highway was closed, meaning I had to turn around and find a detour. A train was shunting some cement wagons behind a stationary set of grain hoppers and I watched this for a few minutes before I suddenly realised what a wonderful example of weathering was in evidence on the NPRY cement wagons.
My weathering antennae is very sensitive at the moment because a fellow railway modeller in Canberra has turned his attention to building 1:35 scale WWII tanks (I think it's just a phase he is going through). And this chap has been despairing at the sheer brilliance displayed by military modellers who have weathered tanks so realistically and in such fine detail. The many different weathering methods for tanks abound in military modelling magazines and the brilliant AFV DVD on acrylic techniques. I bought my copy of the DVD from Crusader Trading in Fyshwick, Canberra, to see how it would work with model railways (Answer: yes it would work, but you'd never weather your fleet of rolling stock to this detail in a lifetime).
Anyway, if you're up for the challenge, here are a few quick photos of these cement wagons. The weather was overcast which wasn't great for photography but you'll get the picture. Just have a look at the different shades, textures, and general grime on these wagons. I doubt I could do justice to these examples in weathering my four AR Kit HO scale models of the prototype. The critical points of weathering interest, IMHO, are the subtle variation in shades, the peeled surface texture, and the streak marks.
I wouldn't mind seeing Mr Mig Jimenez having a crack at one of these cement wagons with his weathering techniques...now that would be something worth waiting for.
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Winmar is no more
My New South Wales-based prototype layout, Winmar, finally came to an end last Sunday. I had been progressively dismantling the layout over the past three months and all that remained last weekend was the outside frame, the traverser, and some internal bracing (see photo).
The track had been removed some time ago and I had cut away most of the timberwork and the baseboard top. Anton's 60' turntable and the associated wiring had also been removed. The control panel was disconnected from the multitude of wires that fed into it (photo below - don't get confused by the orientation; the panel was actually sitting lengthwise on the floor but I reoriented the photo to make the panel easier to read ). All the wiring on the layout was disconnected from the track and point motors and much of it can be used again.
It was actually quite sad after the 16' x 8' outside frame had been totally unbolted and unscrewed from the woodwork. My dad had built the frame and the baseboard lattice grid for me back in the 1970s, using aluminium for the outside frame which I think was pretty revolutionary at the time. He bolted the aluminium outside frame to a wooden frame that comprised four sides and a 12" lattice grid supporting the baseboard (but obviously not including the operating well in the centre). He screwed every screw into the 12'' wooden lattice grid inside the frame by hand - and there were hundreds of those damn screws.
Later, I added risers and put a new plywood top on the frame and gridwork. Trackwork followed many years (and many houses) later. Scenery was postponed when it was clear that a move from Sydney to Canberra was beckoning around 2008. Since then, I have lived in four different houses. The current house has a double garage with a wall down the centre that splits the garage in two - each half being just wide enough for Winmar to fit but not allowing any movement of the 12 track traverser (fiddle yard). The traverser (photo below) was salvaged from the layout frame last Sunday and can be used again, given the right circumstances.
I now have an almost empty half-garage (albeit still prone to water seepage when it rains) which is waiting for some decisions as to how it will be used in the future. Competing for the space (in both halves of the garage) are the two cars that currently sit outide on the driveway. In Canberra, housing vehicles is a little more pressing than in more temperate climates like Sydney.
I recently had a couple of quotes for a carport out the front of the garage for the two cars. Alas, the carport would be outside the building line and unlikely to get official approval. The other option would be to see if we could add a second storey above the garage for a hobby room! I hear from some mates who were visiting model railraod layouts in Texas last year that building a second storey above the house or garage for a train layout is not as unusual as one might think! Obviously there's a cost to be considered with this option well above that for any possible (unapproved) carport.
The two Davids who helped me on Sunday with the final dismantling of Winmar were sure supportive of the second-storey above-the-garage option but I wonder how they'd feel if I started asking for building construction donations!
The track had been removed some time ago and I had cut away most of the timberwork and the baseboard top. Anton's 60' turntable and the associated wiring had also been removed. The control panel was disconnected from the multitude of wires that fed into it (photo below - don't get confused by the orientation; the panel was actually sitting lengthwise on the floor but I reoriented the photo to make the panel easier to read ). All the wiring on the layout was disconnected from the track and point motors and much of it can be used again.
It was actually quite sad after the 16' x 8' outside frame had been totally unbolted and unscrewed from the woodwork. My dad had built the frame and the baseboard lattice grid for me back in the 1970s, using aluminium for the outside frame which I think was pretty revolutionary at the time. He bolted the aluminium outside frame to a wooden frame that comprised four sides and a 12" lattice grid supporting the baseboard (but obviously not including the operating well in the centre). He screwed every screw into the 12'' wooden lattice grid inside the frame by hand - and there were hundreds of those damn screws.
Later, I added risers and put a new plywood top on the frame and gridwork. Trackwork followed many years (and many houses) later. Scenery was postponed when it was clear that a move from Sydney to Canberra was beckoning around 2008. Since then, I have lived in four different houses. The current house has a double garage with a wall down the centre that splits the garage in two - each half being just wide enough for Winmar to fit but not allowing any movement of the 12 track traverser (fiddle yard). The traverser (photo below) was salvaged from the layout frame last Sunday and can be used again, given the right circumstances.
I now have an almost empty half-garage (albeit still prone to water seepage when it rains) which is waiting for some decisions as to how it will be used in the future. Competing for the space (in both halves of the garage) are the two cars that currently sit outide on the driveway. In Canberra, housing vehicles is a little more pressing than in more temperate climates like Sydney.
I recently had a couple of quotes for a carport out the front of the garage for the two cars. Alas, the carport would be outside the building line and unlikely to get official approval. The other option would be to see if we could add a second storey above the garage for a hobby room! I hear from some mates who were visiting model railraod layouts in Texas last year that building a second storey above the house or garage for a train layout is not as unusual as one might think! Obviously there's a cost to be considered with this option well above that for any possible (unapproved) carport.
The two Davids who helped me on Sunday with the final dismantling of Winmar were sure supportive of the second-storey above-the-garage option but I wonder how they'd feel if I started asking for building construction donations!
Friday, 11 February 2011
Upcoming Canberra Model Railway Expo
I bumped into a mate of mine from the Canberra Model Railway Club the other day at Fisher Discounts in Fyshwick (Canberra).
Ron told me that the upcoming Canberra Model Railway Expo was on track for the April 2-3 weekend. The event is being held again at Kaleen High School, although I hear that the high school may have a fancier name these days on account of some new relationship with the University of Canberra. Whatever the case, I know the place as Kaleen High School!
Naturally, I will make the trip to north Canberra from south Canberra to see the exhibition and to chat with fellow railway modellers. I hope that a good contingent of interstate modellers make the trip because it's a good weekend in Canberra - some model railways and then plenty of other sites to see around the place.
Last year I got to catch up with friends from the mid-north coast of NSW which was great. Dinner at a restaurant in Dickson followed with another local modeller and a fine evening was had by all.
So if you're from outside Canberra, come to the Canberra Model Railway Expo on April 2-3 and spend some time here. It's a pretty good place to visit; even better to live here!
Ron told me that the upcoming Canberra Model Railway Expo was on track for the April 2-3 weekend. The event is being held again at Kaleen High School, although I hear that the high school may have a fancier name these days on account of some new relationship with the University of Canberra. Whatever the case, I know the place as Kaleen High School!
Naturally, I will make the trip to north Canberra from south Canberra to see the exhibition and to chat with fellow railway modellers. I hope that a good contingent of interstate modellers make the trip because it's a good weekend in Canberra - some model railways and then plenty of other sites to see around the place.
Last year I got to catch up with friends from the mid-north coast of NSW which was great. Dinner at a restaurant in Dickson followed with another local modeller and a fine evening was had by all.
So if you're from outside Canberra, come to the Canberra Model Railway Expo on April 2-3 and spend some time here. It's a pretty good place to visit; even better to live here!
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Wargaming at CANCON 2011
This weekend saw a major annual wargaming and games convention in Canberra called CANCON 2011. The event was organised by the Canberra Games Society Inc. in conjunction with the Australian Games Expo.
I have a slight interest in wargaming in terms of history, particularly the North Africa conflict during World War II. I also have a couple of books and magazines on military matters that I sometimes pull from the bookshelf for the odd read. I was therefore interested in seeing what this wargaming hobby looked like and whether there was anything that might be of interest to railway modellers.
So, on Saturday morning (yesterday) a friend and I drove to Exhibition Park to see what CANCON was all about. The first thing we noticed after we parked the car was that entry to CANCON was free. Now that was a nice surprise.
When we entered the pavilion we were amazed to see table upon table of wargaming activities. In addition, there were several commercial outlets selling everything from books and magazines, to military games and figures, scenic materials and paints. My friend was interested in the range of paints military modellers used while I was quick to spot a beginner's wargaming table where I settled down to watch the first battle of a WWII game. As it turned out, the wargame I was watching was indeed at the beginner level but was using a popular set of rules called Rapid Fire!. Whilst the scenery on the table was pretty spartan, the rules (seemingly) were incredibly complicated. I was assured that the rules were not as difficult as first imagined.
The thing about these tabletop wargames is the use of die and a tape measure. The rules tell you what capacity each piece of military equipment or personnel has to move and fire, distance per move, and what type of attack or defence is available. The die can tell you different things, depending on the game and the number of die used at each turn. But the die generally tell you things like intensity and whether or not you are successful with your action. The die also gives unpredictability to the game. The tape measure tells you how far something (a platoon or tank) can move and whether the distance between it and the target is within range. It still looked complicated no matter what wargaming table I watched.
Most of the wargaming tables were actually part of a pre-organised tournament. People had signed up to do battle at CANCON well before the event date. At CANCON, the tournament was a big part of the event. WWII wargames seemed the most prevalent, however, there were other period battles (including American Civil War, Mexican-American battles, Napoleonic conflicts, and more modern scenarios like Vietnam - using helicopters on stands). In addition, there were fantasy battles involving all manner of strange creatures, as well as the popular Warhammer figures and games.
Like railway modellers, the participants were intense and generally knowledgeable about their particular historical subject. The demographics and physicality of the people at CANCON was similar to that at a model railway exhibition, although I'd say that there were less females and less families at CANCON than one would see at a model railway exhibition.
Whilst the scenery on the wargaming tables was nowhere near as realistic as for model railways, the painted figures were absolutely amazing. Interestingly, the figures seemed exceptionally well painted for the scale (for example, 20mm or 28mm) but the tanks and buildings were not so well detailed. Mind you, if one was to go to a plastics model convention and see the work on 1:35 and 1:48 tanks and military models, you would see some examples of absolutely superb detail and amazing paintwork.
A feature of the hobby that was readily apparant was the strong sense of military history in the room. There was a plethora of books and DVDS (just like the model railway hobby and the historical nature of railways). However, more impressive than that was the knowledge these blokes had about military history. I wondered how many battles were played out on the tabletops and how many more (and intense) battles were part of the banter and challenges of the human interaction across the tabletops!
The Games Expo was in the neighbouring pavilion and had several commercial outlets selling all manner of board and card games. Having grown up with just playing cards, Monopoly, and Scrabble, I was astounded at the variety of games on sale. In the Games Expo hall were more tables for wargamers, as well as tables at which selected board games were being played.
Back in the first pavilion, I had a good look at the commercial stands. Like our model railway exhibitions, there was a good range of items serving the needs of the hobbyist/enthusiast/nut case! I decided that I should at least come home with some type of wargame so I purchased a boardgame based on North Africa during the Second World War. Funnily enough, yesterday (when I bought the game) was the 70th anniversary to the day of the Allies taking Tobruk!
My friend was equally impressed with the show, although his search for a particular brand of paint was unsuccessful. He was, however, filled with the buzz from the size of the event and from the people who were clearly very passionate about their hobby. I went back again late this afternoon for a quick final inspection, albeit CANCON is open tomorrow (24th January) as well.
As one wargamer said to me, "this hobby gives me the three things that most interests me: modelling, history, and strategy". That statement seemed perfectly reasonable to me and not too different from that of railway modellers.
World War II wargaming scenarios were popular, including these tabletop scenarios in Europe and North Africa.
The Allamo was a well set up game with some amazing figures.
Overall, I had a very good time at CANCON. Whilst I can't say that I have been converted to wargaming, I did at least enjoy the spectacular; the intensity of interest by the wargamers themselves; and an appreciation of another popular hobby.
But model railways remains the number one hobby for me, thank you very much!
I have a slight interest in wargaming in terms of history, particularly the North Africa conflict during World War II. I also have a couple of books and magazines on military matters that I sometimes pull from the bookshelf for the odd read. I was therefore interested in seeing what this wargaming hobby looked like and whether there was anything that might be of interest to railway modellers.
So, on Saturday morning (yesterday) a friend and I drove to Exhibition Park to see what CANCON was all about. The first thing we noticed after we parked the car was that entry to CANCON was free. Now that was a nice surprise.
When we entered the pavilion we were amazed to see table upon table of wargaming activities. In addition, there were several commercial outlets selling everything from books and magazines, to military games and figures, scenic materials and paints. My friend was interested in the range of paints military modellers used while I was quick to spot a beginner's wargaming table where I settled down to watch the first battle of a WWII game. As it turned out, the wargame I was watching was indeed at the beginner level but was using a popular set of rules called Rapid Fire!. Whilst the scenery on the table was pretty spartan, the rules (seemingly) were incredibly complicated. I was assured that the rules were not as difficult as first imagined.
The thing about these tabletop wargames is the use of die and a tape measure. The rules tell you what capacity each piece of military equipment or personnel has to move and fire, distance per move, and what type of attack or defence is available. The die can tell you different things, depending on the game and the number of die used at each turn. But the die generally tell you things like intensity and whether or not you are successful with your action. The die also gives unpredictability to the game. The tape measure tells you how far something (a platoon or tank) can move and whether the distance between it and the target is within range. It still looked complicated no matter what wargaming table I watched.
Most of the wargaming tables were actually part of a pre-organised tournament. People had signed up to do battle at CANCON well before the event date. At CANCON, the tournament was a big part of the event. WWII wargames seemed the most prevalent, however, there were other period battles (including American Civil War, Mexican-American battles, Napoleonic conflicts, and more modern scenarios like Vietnam - using helicopters on stands). In addition, there were fantasy battles involving all manner of strange creatures, as well as the popular Warhammer figures and games.
Like railway modellers, the participants were intense and generally knowledgeable about their particular historical subject. The demographics and physicality of the people at CANCON was similar to that at a model railway exhibition, although I'd say that there were less females and less families at CANCON than one would see at a model railway exhibition.
Whilst the scenery on the wargaming tables was nowhere near as realistic as for model railways, the painted figures were absolutely amazing. Interestingly, the figures seemed exceptionally well painted for the scale (for example, 20mm or 28mm) but the tanks and buildings were not so well detailed. Mind you, if one was to go to a plastics model convention and see the work on 1:35 and 1:48 tanks and military models, you would see some examples of absolutely superb detail and amazing paintwork.
A feature of the hobby that was readily apparant was the strong sense of military history in the room. There was a plethora of books and DVDS (just like the model railway hobby and the historical nature of railways). However, more impressive than that was the knowledge these blokes had about military history. I wondered how many battles were played out on the tabletops and how many more (and intense) battles were part of the banter and challenges of the human interaction across the tabletops!
The Games Expo was in the neighbouring pavilion and had several commercial outlets selling all manner of board and card games. Having grown up with just playing cards, Monopoly, and Scrabble, I was astounded at the variety of games on sale. In the Games Expo hall were more tables for wargamers, as well as tables at which selected board games were being played.
Back in the first pavilion, I had a good look at the commercial stands. Like our model railway exhibitions, there was a good range of items serving the needs of the hobbyist/enthusiast/nut case! I decided that I should at least come home with some type of wargame so I purchased a boardgame based on North Africa during the Second World War. Funnily enough, yesterday (when I bought the game) was the 70th anniversary to the day of the Allies taking Tobruk!
My friend was equally impressed with the show, although his search for a particular brand of paint was unsuccessful. He was, however, filled with the buzz from the size of the event and from the people who were clearly very passionate about their hobby. I went back again late this afternoon for a quick final inspection, albeit CANCON is open tomorrow (24th January) as well.
As one wargamer said to me, "this hobby gives me the three things that most interests me: modelling, history, and strategy". That statement seemed perfectly reasonable to me and not too different from that of railway modellers.
World War II wargaming scenarios were popular, including these tabletop scenarios in Europe and North Africa.
The Allamo was a well set up game with some amazing figures.
Overall, I had a very good time at CANCON. Whilst I can't say that I have been converted to wargaming, I did at least enjoy the spectacular; the intensity of interest by the wargamers themselves; and an appreciation of another popular hobby.
But model railways remains the number one hobby for me, thank you very much!
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Radio control
A couple of years ago I wrote a letter to AMRM asking why it was that real radio control had not taken off in model railways.
Power and digital command control (DCC) still rely on the track to transmit the energy and digital signal information to move locomotives. To me, the reliance on the track is a real weakness. Why wouldn't it make sense to run locomotives powered by rechargeable batteries and operated by wireless control systems (yes, I know that there is wireless control in DCC but the power and digital signal still relies on the track to convey this information).
We all know that to get a reliable model railway we need to have excellent trackwork. There is an emphasis on wiring the track effectively to transmit power (both DC and DC) and digital signals (DCC) for maximum operational performance. But getting the electrics right and ensuring the track is clean and well wired is often very challenging; and certainly time consuming.
A series of articles in AMRM followed explaining the operation of a Sydney suburban passenger set using battery and radio control. The premise was excellent but I did have some misgivings on the amount of work involved. I understand that Bergs Hobbies might be providing kits for this type of radio control as used in the articles.
The layout design special interest group (a NMRA group based in the US) ran an article about using radio control for model railways a few years back (Layout Design Journal, Issue 37, pages 42-45). I need to track down a copy.
As someone who is almost ready to jump onto the DCC bandwagon, I am wondering how likely and how soon it will be before battery and radio control becomes the standard operating system for model railways. Being able to disassociate control from the track would be a huge boon for the hobby. Such control is already available in model planes and model cars, albeit of a somewhat larger size to HO/OO scale model railways.
And I know how fast technology is moving in model railways. The marketing manager of Hornby in the UK was recently reported (in Railway Modeller, I think) saying that in a couple of years now it may be possible for model locos to emit real prototype engine smells!
Is DCC going to be just an intermediary step between between analogue control and remote controlled battery powered locomotives? I desperately need to know before spending a lot of money going down the DCC path!
Power and digital command control (DCC) still rely on the track to transmit the energy and digital signal information to move locomotives. To me, the reliance on the track is a real weakness. Why wouldn't it make sense to run locomotives powered by rechargeable batteries and operated by wireless control systems (yes, I know that there is wireless control in DCC but the power and digital signal still relies on the track to convey this information).
We all know that to get a reliable model railway we need to have excellent trackwork. There is an emphasis on wiring the track effectively to transmit power (both DC and DC) and digital signals (DCC) for maximum operational performance. But getting the electrics right and ensuring the track is clean and well wired is often very challenging; and certainly time consuming.
A series of articles in AMRM followed explaining the operation of a Sydney suburban passenger set using battery and radio control. The premise was excellent but I did have some misgivings on the amount of work involved. I understand that Bergs Hobbies might be providing kits for this type of radio control as used in the articles.
The layout design special interest group (a NMRA group based in the US) ran an article about using radio control for model railways a few years back (Layout Design Journal, Issue 37, pages 42-45). I need to track down a copy.
As someone who is almost ready to jump onto the DCC bandwagon, I am wondering how likely and how soon it will be before battery and radio control becomes the standard operating system for model railways. Being able to disassociate control from the track would be a huge boon for the hobby. Such control is already available in model planes and model cars, albeit of a somewhat larger size to HO/OO scale model railways.
And I know how fast technology is moving in model railways. The marketing manager of Hornby in the UK was recently reported (in Railway Modeller, I think) saying that in a couple of years now it may be possible for model locos to emit real prototype engine smells!
Is DCC going to be just an intermediary step between between analogue control and remote controlled battery powered locomotives? I desperately need to know before spending a lot of money going down the DCC path!
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Happy New Year 2011
Happy New Year to fellow railway modellers.
I hope Santa was generous over Christmas and that the festive season has been a rewarding one. Let's hope 2011 is a good year.
For me at Christmas time, I scored an Ezi-kit South Maitland Railways (SMR) 10 class kit which will be very nice indeed. I last saw one of these prototype SMR 10 class locos in action on a visit to the Rothbury Riot Railway at Branxton a few years ago.
I was actually up at Branxton a couple of days ago on my way back from a week's holiday on the NSW mid-north coast. I spent an hour or so by the trackside in 40 degree heat taking a few coal train photos. Madness I know!
Actually, Branxton would be a great location for an exhibition layout, either in steam days or in more modern times. There's plenty of railway action on the double track main line. The branch off the main to the Rothbury Riot Railway (ex SMR) would be an interesting extra.
My other Christmas presents of note included a couple of books - "Ray Love's Days of Steam" and the new softcover book from Train Hobby Publications, "Country Branch Lines - Cooma, Bombala, Canberra and Captain's Flat" - Part 3.
Other than doing some reading, some track plan doodling, and checking out two exceptional model railway layouts (one up at Hawks Nest and the other being the excellent South Coast Railway - see the blogroll), I had a pretty relaxing break.
Looking forward to 2011 and beyond...
I hope Santa was generous over Christmas and that the festive season has been a rewarding one. Let's hope 2011 is a good year.
For me at Christmas time, I scored an Ezi-kit South Maitland Railways (SMR) 10 class kit which will be very nice indeed. I last saw one of these prototype SMR 10 class locos in action on a visit to the Rothbury Riot Railway at Branxton a few years ago.
I was actually up at Branxton a couple of days ago on my way back from a week's holiday on the NSW mid-north coast. I spent an hour or so by the trackside in 40 degree heat taking a few coal train photos. Madness I know!
Actually, Branxton would be a great location for an exhibition layout, either in steam days or in more modern times. There's plenty of railway action on the double track main line. The branch off the main to the Rothbury Riot Railway (ex SMR) would be an interesting extra.
My other Christmas presents of note included a couple of books - "Ray Love's Days of Steam" and the new softcover book from Train Hobby Publications, "Country Branch Lines - Cooma, Bombala, Canberra and Captain's Flat" - Part 3.
Other than doing some reading, some track plan doodling, and checking out two exceptional model railway layouts (one up at Hawks Nest and the other being the excellent South Coast Railway - see the blogroll), I had a pretty relaxing break.
Looking forward to 2011 and beyond...
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