Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Merry Christmas

Hi All, 

I Thought I Would Wish You All A Very Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year. Catch Everyone In 2009.

Cheers John

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Designing & Building Multi-Deck Model Railroads

The Above Is A Book By Tony Koester Of MR Fame. The Book Is An Interesting Read, I Recommend It To Those About To Take On The Challenge Of Building Their First Multi-Deck Railway. I Was Reading It The Other Night And In Chapter Two Tony Is Talking To A Friend About His RR Design And The Friend Makes A Suggestion About Having Drivers Complete A Shift From Loco Depot To Loco Depot. Tony Really Liked The Idea And So Do I, I Think It Would Give Operators A Great Sense Of Operating A Real Railway If They Sign On At A Depot And Have Roster Of Trains To Run, Rather Than Picking Up A Train In Staging And Running It To Staging. The Great Thing About The Gwabegar Line Is That On The Section From Wallerawang To Mudgee There Were A Lot Of Trains Which Sole Purpose Was To Go To A Particular Station Or Mine Etc. Terminate And Return To Sydney. A Feature I Would Love To Include On My Railway. For Those Looking At Building A Multi Deck Railway Or Any Railway For That Fact Another Great Source Is Joe Fugate's DVD's.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Layout At A Glance

The Layout As Proposed So Far. This Post Will Be Added To As More Is Known.

Layout At A Glance:

Scale: HO (1.87.1).
Size: Not Determined Yet.
Prototype: State Rail Authority Of NSW.
Era: 1979-1983.
Height: 1350mm-1625mm.

Track:

Mainline & Loops: Micro-Engineering Code 70 Flex-Track.
Sidings & Branches: Micro-Engineering Code 55 Flex-Track.
Turnouts: 1:6, Scratch-Built To Proto:87 Standards.
Minimum Radius: 900mm.
Maximum Gradient: 1 in 40.

Control System:

DCC Wireless Throttles.
Track Power Electrically Interlocked With Signals & Points. 
Points Contolled By Tortoise Slow-Motion Points Motors.

Scenery:

Hard-Shell Using Cardboard Strips Covered In PVA Soaked Paper Towels.
Trees Supplied By Track-Side Trees.

General Notes:

Typical Trains That Will Be Modelled Are Block Coal, Cement, Ore & Wheat As Well As Passenger And General Freight.

Addendum:

As You Can See My Design Preferences Have Changed, After Reading A Few Books With Eye-Catching Photos I Decided To Move The Era Forward Almost 20 Years To The Late 1970's, Early 1980's. I Have Also Decided To Build This Layout And The Rollingstock To Proto:87 Track & Wheel Standards

Givens & Druthers

This Is The First Draft Of My Givens & Druthers.

Givens:

  • Minimum Radius: 750mm.
  • Maximum Gradient: 1 in 40.
  • Minimum Turnout Radius: No.6.
  • Minimum Height From Floor: 1225mm.

Fleet Numbers Are Limited To The Following:

  • 20 Locomotives.
  • 200 Pieces Of Freight Rollingstock & Departmental Vehicles.
  • 10 Piece Of Passenger Rollingstock Including Railmotors.

Druthers:

  • An Accurate Representation Of The Gwabegar Line Between 1967-1973.
  • Accomodation For Prototypical Length Trains In Crossing Loops And Staging.
  • Shadowbox Design To Showcase The Scenery And Trains.
  • Interlocked Signals & Points.
  • Prototypical Safeworking Procedures.
  • Track & Rollingstock Built Using Proto:87 Standards.
  • Timetable To Be As Close To Prototype As Possible.
  • Double Deck To Maximise Space.
  • No Climb-Unders, Nod-Unders Are Fine.
  • Use Available Space Efficently.
  • Room Must Be Fully Finished Before Layout Can Commence (Painted Walls, Carpet & Lighting).
  • Room Must Be Climate Controlled To Reduce The Effects Of Expansion & Contraction.
  • At Least One Branch.
  • 4-5 Stations On The 'Mainline'.
  • Staging Will Be In The Form Of 5 Track Reverse Loops.
  • Must Be Of Linear Design.





Sunday, December 7, 2008

Introduction

This Blog Will Account The Building Of My Model Railway. I'll Start By Setting Out My Aims/Goals & Constraints.

Aims/Goals:

  • Construct A Railway That Faithfully Portrays The Operations Of The Mudgee Line.
  • Construct Rollingstock To As High A Standard As Possible.
  • Construct The Layout To As High An Electrical, Operational & Scenery Standard As Possible.
  • Operate The Layout As Prototypically As Practical.

Constraints:

  • Budget, I Have A Mortgage And Thus I Can't Spend As Much Money On Models As I Previously Have.
  • Time, I Work In Sydney So I Travel An Hour & A Half To/From Work And Work Long Hours.
  • With The Above Hanging Over My Head I Am Limiting My Model Fleet & Size Of Layout So I Can Finish It In A Timely Manner & Keep To My Aims/Goals.

Below Is A List Of Locations On The Mudgee Line. This List Will Have To Be Culled To 4-5 Mainline Stations & 2-3 Branchline Stations.

  • Irondale - Site of Colliery Can't Remember Name
  • Piper's Flat
  • Ivanhoe Colliery
  • Portland
  • Commonwealth Portland Cement Works
  • Renown Colliery
  • Cullen Bullen
  • Invincible Colliery
  • Tyldesley Colliery
  • Ben Bullen
  • Capertee
  • Torbane
  • Excelsior
  • Weenga
  • Carlos Gap
  • Vulcan - Vulcan Portland Cement Works
  • Brogans Creek
  • Walton's Cutting
  • Haystack
  • Clandulla
  • Charbon
  • Kandos
  • Kandos Cement Works
  • Rylstone
  • Morton Main
  • Lue
  • Havilah
  • Wall's Siding
  • Mount Knowles
  • Mount Frome
  • Wilsonlime
  • Mudgee
  • Munna
  • Warrobil
  • Gulgong - Jct Sandy Hollow To Maryvale Line
  • Puggoon
  • Tallawang
  • Birrawa
  • Craboon - Jct Coolah Branch (Branch To Be Modelled Hopefully)
  • Dunedoo
  • Liamena
  • Towealgra
  • Wongoni
  • Merrygoen - Jct Troy Junction To Merrygoen Line
  • Toogarlan
  • Neilrex
  • Piambra
  • Binnaway - Jct Werris Creek To Binnaway Line
  • Murrawal
  • Deringulla
  • Ulamambri
  • Coonabarabran
  • Yearinan
  • Bugaldie
  • Wittenbra
  • Baradine
  • Kenebri
  • Merebene
  • Gwabegar