Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Australian Model Railway Magazine

Starting from a blank canvas, the space we have available for a model railway will provide us with some limitations. This might be a doorway, the size of the lift in your building, or the size of your vehicle to transport the layout. Whatever you assemble in the space available must be able to come out again without having to start unplanned renovations to your home. In my circumstances, I have a spare bedroom available, which joins a hallway at the apex of a corner. Turning a 1.5m-long module to fit through a standard 800mm-wide door limited the width in any direction to around 600mm. In order to squeeze the last millimetre of space out of this clearance, I settled on 610mm for the total depth of the module, to…

Trainz Railroad Simulator is a program I have enjoyed on and off over the years, but recently I have returned to it more consistently since rediscovering model railways in 2020. I wanted to explore trains I couldn’t otherwise access because my living arrangements limit my ability to model everything I would like to. This program offers an alternative to traditional model railways, not governed by space constraints or financial limitations, and can also be used as a tool to experiment with ideas. It is a powerful and versatile platform for visualising plans, making it an invaluable resource for those who, like me, need to see their ideas in action before committing to them. If something works on paper, does that mean it would work in reality? Trainz Railroad Simulator bridges…

SDS Models PTC of NSW NPRY/NPRF cement hopper wagons review in HO scale Address: PO Box 804 Winston Hills NSW 2153 Phone: 0431 423 878 Email: sales@sdsmodels.com.au Web Site: www.sdsmodels.com.au Price: $300 AUD per pack of four wagons The Prototype As part of its modernisation program, the Public Transport Commission of New South Wales (PTC of NSW) introduced the PRX cement hopper wagon from 1978. The wagons were later coded NPRY upon introduction of the Railways of Australia coding system in 1980. The wagons were built in three batches: 100 wagons, numbered 12061-12160 from 1978-1980; 25 wagons, numbered 18201-18225 from 1981, and 30 wagons, introduced with the NPRF code and numbered 82030-82059. A comprehensive history of these wagons appears in Brett Kavanagh’s review of the first run of SDS Models…

The name Mark Arscott may not be familiar to a lot of modelers, but there would be few in the hobby who have not used some of his products at some point. As the man behind Markits from the United Kingdom (UK) being manufacturers of Romford wheels, axles, bearings, handrail knobs, etc., his contribution to the hobby over many years has been huge. Mark started work as a farmer, came to Australia in 1967 then joined the merchant navy, returning to the UK in 1972. While at sea he used the on-board machinery to produce miniature railway parts, thus igniting his modelling interest. He created Markits in 1993 and obtained the patterns for Romford diecast wheels, a line which he greatly expanded and refined. He also began casting small detail…

The first article on building my Renmark ‘forever’ layout appeared in the December 2015 issue of AMRM. This was followed 12 months later by another article explaining why the forever layout had been dismantled and a new one was taking shape in its place. Unfortunately, that new one only lasted two years before age and failing health forced a move from the Barossa Valley to the suburbia of Gawler. September 2019 saw the commencement of version three of Renmark, so let’s hope that the third time really is lucky. Some of you may remember the suggested plan for a Renmark layout shown on page 47 of the August 2020 issue of this magazine. That was, (I hoped), my starting point for the new layout. Unfortunately, my proposed 9m by 6m…

The Caloundra and District Model Railway Association Inc. was initially established in Caloundra, Queensland in the mid-1980s as the Caloundra Model Railway Club, when a few model train enthusiasts came together with the idea of starting a club. Harry Rowbotham was the inaugural president, and within a few years, there were 10 to 15 regular attendees. Since then, our presidents, all committed and hard-working people, have included Murray Easton, George Hadley, Bob Deakin, Graham Young, Peter Boyd, Steve Blackbourn and the current president Terry Hicks. In 2024, the Caloundra and District Model Railway Association Inc. has 30 active members. The Association’s activities in the past included a monthly meeting and a twice-yearly open day. This changed in 2022 when, for the first time, three open days were scheduled during the…

In November 2024 the Victorian Model Railway Society (VRMS) staged their Prototype Modellers Forum (PMF), the first one since the 2019 event, before the pandemic. A book of notes was issued for 2020-21 in lieu of a face-to-face event. The forum for 2024 was held at Ringwood Training, an adjunct to Ringwood Secondary College in Ringwood, Victoria. There were six topics, each served by a presentation by the author in a small room format. Past Forums offered nine topics and attendees were able to select the six that they would prefer to sit in on. All topics were covered in the notes for the day and are now presented in book form. A key feature of the PMF is the display of models; attendees are invited to bring examples of…

Welcome again to KVHR! Long term readers of the AMRM will recall that KVHR was featured in the February 2012 issue of the AMRM. The railway has grown to now be permanently housed in a 12m x 8m room. The original concept has been retained throughout the layout’s 25-year history. The layout has been imagineered to represent what might have been on sections of the south coast of New South Wales, Australia in 1955 if the Illawarra line had been extended to Melbourne via a coastal route. KVHR operates to a timetable that requires a large crew of seventeen persons to function. There is still lots to do if we are ever to complete the railway, but it is this Increasingly Fat Controller’s fervent wish that it will take more…

In part one of this series, I started to discuss my journey into computer assisted control of my model railway. I posed a hypothetical scenario of wanting to run an operations session on a miniature transportation system, but not having operators to assist. I discussed how with a few clicks of some buttons on a personal computer (PC), pre-staged trains could be sent anywhere on a model rail network. At this point, I introduced Train Controller (TC) a German based software whose mantra is ‘Software for a perfectly controlled model railway’. I then walked through a brief synopsis about TrainController and how it works. In part two, I am going to take this concept a few steps further. I believe this is the cutting edge of enjoying model railways utilising…

Auscision Models - N scale Have received pilot models of their New South Wales Public Transport Commission (NSW PTC) CHS series of coal hopper wagons, including a Southern Shorthaul Railroad BGVF grain hopper wagon. NHHF coal hopper wagons, NGHF grain hopper wagons, and KLY - NLKY louvre vans. Auscision Models - HO scale Scheduled for production is a NSWGR 421 class locomotive re-run, road numbers and liveries include: 42101, 42102 (With ‘From East to West’ signage), and 42104 in Indian red with red lining 42106 and 42107 in Indian red with red lining and duck egg logo 42108 and 42110 in Indian red with red lining (no pin stripes) and duck egg logo 42101 in Indian red (no red lining) with white L7 logo 42103 and 42108 in Indian red,…