Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2024 i Australian Model Railway Magazine

Materials Required The components • 1 Camco CW (or GSV) kit from Casula Hobbies [Editors note, Casula Hobbies has since released the CW and GSV as r-t-r models] • 1 Sound Effects Module GL 401 (cattle) or HQ 405 (sheep) from Gwydir Valley Models • 1 Oval Speaker 25mm x 12mm from Gwydir Valley Models • 1 TCS FL2 function decoder • Replacement wheel sets; Steam Era Models 25 × 10.5mm RP25-88 spoked wheels. Note: PR88 wheels have been replaced by PR99 wheels in the SEM range • Evergreen Styrene No. 278 'I' beam and sheet • 0.4mm phosphor bronze wire • Couplers of your choice • Various bits and pieces – see text WARNING Safety glasses should always be worn when cutting any material. I know it's a little…

Recently, I completed a diorama for the Inland Rail project community consultation team to display at their public events and careers presentations. The diorama was different to what I had done before with this being built in HO scale and as a static model. The brief called for a construction theme aligning with realistic safety precautions, the diorama needed to be interactive, and it needed to be portable and easy to set up as it was going to be transported around regional New South Wales (NSW). I drew up four designs with different track configurations and different vehicles to be included. The Inland Rail staff picked a concept of an operating mainline with a passing loop and wanted to add a track being 'constructed' beside the existing line. To fit…

Installing the modules After the first module went in, it was a relatively straightforward task to install the neighbouring modules. As this section of the layout comprised some of the first modules I built, I had to make allowances for my attempts at amateur carpentry. Those early modules suffered from a lack of squareness, not by much – just a few millimetres, which I sheepishly think may have occurred during the three or so years that they had been stored. But that is a bit like blaming tools! Fortunately, given the size of the modules, it is a relatively easy task to square up as you go. Clamps attached to the benchwork ensured that the modules joined up, and, amazingly, the tracks aligned. For the sections of the branch line…

I've spent a great deal of time working on setting up the workshop and train room in my new shed and precious little doing much modelling or layout building over the past nine months. As an occasional sanity break, I decided to work on a couple of projects that I could tinker with on and off through this period. Both were locomotive projects and while one has stalled the other is progressing steadily. I mentioned in a past 'In The Loop' (AMRM issue 359 April 2023) that I was considering scratch building a Queensland Railways (QR) PB15 steam locomotive and this project has progressed from plans to reality. While progress has been slow, I'm happy with the results so far, although I've occasionally felt that this project has been cursed.…

To support Specialised Containerised Transport's (SCT) growing refrigerated goods warehouse and distribution business, from 2004 to 2006 19 ABFYs (Ex Australian National ABFX louvre vans) were converted to insulated refrigeration vans. GEMCO were contracted to undertake the conversion of ABFYs to ARBYs at their facility in Forrestfield in Western Australia, which involved stripping the van and performing the following modifications: • Cutting out the louvre sections and plating over to fully seal the opening. • Removing the side doors and installing three sets of plug doors on each side. • Fabricating an additional section of body side to match the three plug doors. • Installing a corrugated double skin roof. • Removing the roof, end and side wall panels from the 'A' end of the van and installing a false wall.…

This issue, Steve Bucton shares some models based on his mid-1970s to late-1980s era. Steve has a knack for replicating the weathering traits of this prototype era with a high degree of fidelity. His favourite weathering technique is to apply and rub back using custom mixes of Monroe (formerly AIM) and Tamiya weathering powders. Using a short bristle brush dipped into Tamiya X20A acrylicn thinners, then selecting different shades of powders to mix in a small palette, Steve works the 'muddy' mix into all the nooks and crannies of his models. The weathering is then cut back using different brush types and techniques, leaving various levels of grime and discolouration. This gives Steve just the right level of control he needs to produce the 'in-grained' effect of the era that…

Auscision Models Have received painted pilot models of their r-t-r 'Flexivans' and Public Transport Commission (PTC) and Victorian Railways TVF flat wagons, 20ft insulated and reefer containers, and their Manildra Group MGFH flour hopper wagons. Auscision Models expect imminent arrival of their PTC CHS – NHVF r-t-r coal hopper wagons and Southern Shorthaul Railroad BGVF grain hopper wagons. Casula Hobbies Casula Hobbies have received pilot models of their New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) Z12 4-4-0 r-t-r steam locomotive and their CX composite express lavatory coach and their HCX express lavatory composite brakevan. CGL Models The Queensland Railways (QR) 1620 class diesel locomotives r-t-r in HOn3½ and HO are expected to arrive early 2024. Ixion Model Railways Ixion's VR bogie stock wagons –the LF sheep wagon and the MF cattle…

Frosted windows – Putting the O in Casterton I have been building some Bluebird railcar kits that I bought about seven years ago, which had been languishing on the shelf while the layout was being constructed. When I had almost finished the first one, I blithely sprayed the whole railcar with clear matt to secure and protect the newly applied lettering and numbers. As soon as the matt coat dried, I saw the enormity of the disaster – all my separately shaped and fixed windows were now frosted to almost complete opacity, obscuring the interior details that I had carefully painted the correct colours! For the next two kits I adopted a different sequence of construction, applying lettering to the body and spraying the matt 'clear' coat before installing the…

KATIES LANE Introduction I have a vivid memory from 1970. I was on my way home from Canterbury Boys High school in Sydney and paused at Canterbury Railway Station. I watched a grimy and knocked around 48 class rumble through on the goods line with a couple of wagons. As a teenager in the early 1970s, I would catch the bus into the city over the old Pyrmont bridge. I would see the sprawling goods yards of Darling Harbour and occasionally a burst of smoke from the ancient 19 class 0-6-0 steam locomotive shunters. During the 1980s, I caught the commuter train from the Blue Mountains into the city. Twice a day, I would gaze out the window at the Crago Flour mill and wheat silos in Newtown. When we…

Materials Required Parts required: • Steam Era Models (SEM) (R2) I / IA 11' 6” open wagon kit • Lyndons Trains: Cement containers for KCC wagons (two per wagon) decals are included • Custom Hobby Decals: decals for KCC wagon signage and lettering. • Evergreen styrene, various sizes – see references in text. Tools: • Sharp craft knife with No. 11 scalpel blade • Vernier calipers as required • Soldering iron: This is optional on brake rigging and also on container lift rings and rods respectively. The project Here we are modelling the KCC container cement wagons with 11' 6” wheelbase. Unfortunately, there is not much information or photographs available on these wagons, so for a few of the fittings on the wagons for the containers, I have had to…

If you have ever been tempted to model a South Australian triple gauge location, Peterborough station yard in the 1970 to 1987 era could be for you. There have been very few places in the world with triple gauge yards, but South Australia was blessed with three; these were Port Pirie (1937 to 1970), Gladstone and Peterborough. History All this complexity of gauges was brought on by the late 1960s standardisation project. This project replaced the then narrow gauge mainline from Broken Hill (via Silverton) to Port Pirie, and effectively isolated the narrow gauge lines out of Gladstone and Peterborough. As part of the standardisation project, in 1970 Peterborough station and associated yards were extensively rebuilt by the South Australian Railways (SAR). A neweast west standard gauge yard and north-south…

With the completion of the December issue of AMRM, an association of over 60 years came to an end for me. Back in 1962, I began my first job as a factory hand at a typesetting company in St. Peters, Sydney. The company provided typesetting services to printers all over the city and suburbs. My duties included sweeping the floor, melting waste material and casting lead ingots for use on the typesetting machines, as well as getting the morning tea and lunches. Early in 1963, I had progressed to doing some typesetting on the Ludlow typecasting machine. One of the printing companies that used our services was Publicity Press. One day I was given some headlines to typeset on the Ludlow, for a new magazine Publicity Press was going to…