MURRUMBIDGEE MAIL

Issue 4 CONSIST
* GOVERNORS CAR * TREES * CAR CARDS & WAY BILLS * MUSINGS FROM THE ROOMS * MEET THE MEMBERS * HISTORY * HOME SIGNAL SUBMISSIONS:
To the Editor Ian McIntyre ianmac57@[Link] Preferably in word format and pictures in JPEG format separately. A flash or thumb drive may be used or CD. These will be returned.

Models and Model Making have been a large part of many peoples lives for a long time. And not just the plastic, wood, metal and epoxy representations of planes, trains and automobiles that we are all familiar with today. Before the days of CAD and even blue prints, a model might be the only way that a prospective contractor could demonstrate what he had in mind as far as design was concerned. Can you imagine that King Henry 8th had any idea how to read a plan? Or for that matter that many of that time could draw one? Of course brilliant minds like Leonardo drew many plans, but most were seen as some sort of lunatic scribble. Now a model of a proposed machine would show the concept in three dimensions so that almost anyone could see the idea. Whether they understood the workings or not, did not really matter because they actually could see it working, being demonstrated. Today, we still see many architectural models and without them, most of the general public would still have little understanding of what was included in a set of plans. Models are even built of proposed new cars to gauge acceptance of the new design. Many models today spend their life as a decorator item, either singly or in large displays. Young children are encouraged to build toys and other useful items at early school levels. This is to encourage their imagination and to develop basic skills. In effect, helping them learn to turn something two dimensional into reality, to follow a plan. This teaching aid seems to stay with most of us for ever. Many of us never stop being creative in one form or another and that is a good thing. Some grow up to be builders where their manual skills take a front foot. Some become the architects of our world where imagination comes to the fore. The rest of us build another world in the spare room or the back shed. Not necessarily model trains, but radio control planes boats and cars, slot cars or restoration of old machinery and vehicles. We are all in one way or other, striving to do something creative and be able to say, Hey, I did that! and sometimes even, Hey, mine is better than yours!. I guess we never get over the school yard bragging either. Most hobbies have a strong social networking. Artists have shows, car restorers have Show and Shine and radio control boat enthusiasts have regattas. Of course, this is where we get to discuss the finer points of the hobby and share our research or experiences. Above all, we get to share our hobbies and that is the best part of all. This document is provided free to share without modification or addition. The document remains the property of the Wagga Wagga Model Railroaders Inc. Where possible, photos and articles used are with the owners permission. Reproduction in part without the permission of the owners may contravene copyright laws.

Wagga Wagga Model Railroaders PO Box 6340 Wagga Wagga Business Centre Wagga Wagga NSW 2650
1

The GOVERNORS CAR

(Presidents Page)
WAGGA WAGGA MODEL RAILROADERS INC. PRESIDENT GRAEME HEARN VICE PRESIDENT LES WEST SECRETARY STEVEN RAVENSCROFT TREASURER FLEUR WEST

Nobody really likes to be judged but that is what occurs at an election. Your performance as an office bearer in the past year is on the table for all to see at an Annual General Meeting. I enjoyed the challenges which were met through 2008 by the committee and members. I think most were met well and we can call last year a good one. Personally, I want to thank all of the members and friends for the hard work carried out by them over the last year. A club is run for the members and by the members so any praise and thanks are rightfully theirs. A major project for last year was the complete rewiring of the hall making it safer and ready for what ever use we may put it to. Construction has continued on the railway in the hall and I see that most members are involved in that in a number of different ways. Several maintenance projects have been identified by members and these will be tackled in due course. I thank the members for their vote of confidence in returning me as President of the Wagga Wagga Model Railroaders for a second year and congratulate the whole Committee as all have been returned at our recent AGM. I look forward to the challenges that 2009 may bring. Graeme
LOCATION NAMES:-) One of the things about our group is that we like to remind ourselves of one another. For this reason we have the Andrew Browne Memorial Trophy and the Barry Weatherall Encouragement Award each year. It seems though that one of our new lady members has managed to be the first to have a location named for her on our permanent hall layout. The long bend on the down end of the yet to be named South Main station, leading to the return road, has been fortunate or unfortunate depending on your view, to be named Fleurs Swerve. It should actually be a pretty good photo location. But dont block the tea ladies passage! The naming occurred after modification to the sharp corner of the baseboard following track laying at the location and the members claim that a certain part of her anatomy had been at risk. The claim was that the baseboard may have bruised it.

PO Box 6340 Wagga Wagga Business Centre NSW 2650

The Club meets socially, most Monday evenings from around 7.00P.M. at the BEST RESERVE HALL for running on the permanent HO layout under construction. Members are encouraged to participate in the construction. Guests are most welcome.

COMING EVENTS
Film night, TITFIELD THUNDERBOLT TBA Plastics modelling workshop. TBA
2

Trees For TUMUT

Materials and tools:Two pairs of pliers. one with curved ends is helpful Carpenter or glaziers putty. Wire Cable. The type used for winches is what I used. I think it lifts up to 1000kg. Your choice of colour of clump foliage. A stiff bristle paint brush. Paint. 1 Cuts some lengths of cable, depending on the height of the tree you wish to make. Im not sure but I think when talking about wire, there are threads and strands. Strands of wire make up threads, and around 5 or 6 threads make up the cable. 2 Unwind two threads for about half of the length of wire, or to suit and bend outwards. This forms a fork in the trunk. Its a good idea to re-twist tightly at the "trunk" before venturing out to make smaller branches. 3 Repeat this step to form a second and subsequent branches. Unwind a few strands from each thread/ branch and twist them onto the other thread/branch. This helps hold things firmly as you build the rest of the tree. 4 Working on one "branch" at a time, unwind and divide the thread into smaller branches at several locations ending with branches of a single strand. From here you will see the tree taking shape. Once you have twisted the wire to form a tree, its time to add the putty. 5 Take a small amount of putty, work it with your fingers to form a thin sheet large enough to cover your trunk. Wrap it around the trunk. press it into the trunk and work up the tree. if you have too much putty, you can use it to do the larger branches. If you wish, add more putty to bulk up the trunk and the branches. Make sure to keep the outer limbs thin. 6 Dip the paint brush into some water. Use it to create bark texture on the putty. Leave to dry. 7 Pick a suitable colour and paint the branches. Highlight with a little dry brushing. leave to dry. 8 Again, working on one limb at a time, glue the clumping foam to the sticks at the very end of the branches. You can add highlights to the foam leaves with more dry-brushing. 9 To fit the tree to your layout, make a small hole large enough for the trunk to sit in. Glue the trunk in the hole and glue some sand around the base. You could make exposed roots from trimmings of the wire or shape them from putty. For a more realistic and interesting appearance.. You could add to your tree a rope and tyre swing, some birds or a koala.... or try a cubby house! Andrew Lawson 3

Railway modellers usually attempt to run their trains with some semblance of faithfulness to the prototype. To some this means the right passenger car behind the right loco. To others it means running trains through realistic scenery. Freight operations excite many. Modern freight operations are generally block trains and move from one major city to another, or from mine to mill and we simply model the train and have it pass through our scenery. Now, if freight operations were more complex and to a point random, then the operation of the model railway might well become much more interesting. Shunting would also add to the experience and test the driver skills as well as the machinery. The almost standard Kadee brand of magnetic couplers and a form of wagon management is what we need. There have been many methods devised to create switch lists or to manage wagon movements over the years. In the real world, the movement of wagons is dictated by customer demand. It would be silly for example, to provide 3 cattle cars at the local cannery when they need 4 container flats and 2 box type vans. Our customers cannot ring up and tell us what they will need next week, we make those decisions when we design our industries and decide where to locate them. So how can we manage the traffic? Probably the best method that I have seen, is the Car Card and Way Bill system. A Car Card is simply that, a card. On it is recorded all the required information to identify a particular wagon and a place to attach a Way Bill. Suitable cards of various sizes, we would choose one for ease of handling, are sold as File Cards at most stores where stationary is sold. Every car used on the layout needs one. The car type, Flatcar, Tankcar, Refrigerated etc, the car code and number, along with the owners name would all be recorded on the card. Any special requirements are also noted. A pocket formed by taping a piece of card over one half or thereabouts of the card, would accept the Way Bill. The Way Bill is a smaller card which has on it up to 4 destinations printed, so that when it is turned, the next destination becomes visible while fitted into the pocket of the Car Card. The driver of a train would carry with him the car cards, with way bills inserted, which belong to the cars in his 45 class with freight on Stockinbingal train. On arrival at a location or station, he would check the cards, place any car destined for the location in the correct position as specified on the way card and then possibly collect cars from the yard which can or should be forwarded by that train. He would leave behind at the station any cards belonging to the cars he has left behind and take cards with him for the wagons he has collected. A series of boxes at each switching location would be used to manage the cars at that location and when a car or cars were removed from the layout, the cards would also be removed. This is a very simple overview of the system, but the concept is very clear and the system is very simple. This car management system along with a timetable can inject a lot of realism to any model railway with sidings.

A NEAT TOOL!
It pays to keep your eyes open, even within the ranks of modellers using different scales and working on a totally different prototype. Whilst visiting the work shop of a fellow modeller, working in 1/72 scale but building boats, I spied a very simple idea. They say the best ideas are simple, and this one was. My colleague was building the superstructure for a model war-ship from scratch. Each panel was meticulously drawn to size, cut, sawn, sanded, drilled and filed to shape. The panels were erected together on a work mat so as to be glued together. The simple idea was what was holding all the parts together while the glue was applied. A length of approx 50mm angle of 4mm gauge steel had been cut into various lengths from 25mm to 75mm. Each was held in position by its own weight and the outer vertical plane formed a right angle with the work surface. These were placed at various locations holding each corner square and true. So simple. 4

Musings from The Rooms.

The last few Mondays have seen the track laid for our South Main Station and a good start has been made on the electrics. There is now room and scope for scenery at both this location and the City Station. Maikha has asked to be allowed to create a few buildings, amongst them the signal boxes, station rooms and barracks for the South Main station. You can see the approximate locations of some of the buildings needed for this area in the drawing below. For the signal boxes, he proposes to build models based on the boxes at Cootamundra. These are a standard design and can be seen dotted all over NSW with a variety of details.

The design of the yard will allow for some main line trains to enter the loops and be stabled or indeed allowed to run around a train on the main. A branch train can depart from the platform using the centre crossover or either loop and progress onto the branch-line. The goods roads at the rear of the silo may be used to switch or store wagons used on the branch. A branch line goods would be assembled on the middle road in time for scheduled departure and wagons unable to be lifted up the grades could be stored until the following train was readied.

Just for fun, a friend of mine has drawn the diagrams which would be on the wall inside our proposed South Main Signal Boxes. These are incomplete as yet but when you see them, it becomes easy to imagine operations as real. When complete, I will have these printed and mounted. They will be a nice touch in the hall. 5

Here is the completed signalling diagram for South Box. Just as an aside, if someone has a spare couple of thousand, we could actually have a pair of proper frames assembled to drive this yard. From a modelling point of view, it may be some time before we are able to provide the signals alone, but what an aim? Some of the signals can be linked to points for partial prototypic operation. We can also by providing a row of toggle switches and a pull list have all of this operational as simple on off type operations. It would mean that to operate correctly, you would set any signals to stop as required, set your new roads and then clear the signals required to use your new choice of route. You would also need then to set the signals back to stop as the train passes, just like the big boys used to do. Much of this is in the future and we have to choose between lights and semaphore signals, but I would vote for semaphores in at least one location and that would include the branch as well as our junction.

Meet the Members

Peter Parsons, one of our recently awarded Life Members, grew up quite close to the New South Wales Short North. He could pretty much look out over his back fence and check out the trains passing. It is not hard to understand his awe of the Beyer Garrett type locomotives, when you realise that Gosford was home to many of the breed (AD60), as well as for Peter. Peter will probably slap me for this, but you could not classify him as a fabulous modeller by any means. But, credit where credit is due, he will have a go at almost anything sometimes doing quite well and he does not give up easily. He will ask for assistance when needed and shares willingly what he has learnt from this hobby as well as life. He is never scared to try something different, even if it does end in disaster. Coming to Wagga Wagga RAAF Base, Forest Hill, for the second time during the late 80s saw Peter become a regular on our running nights and layout visits again, as well as our trips to Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. His ownership of a large four wheel drive made him the instant and obvious choice as the main prime mover of our rather bulky trailer that Stockinbingal travelled in. We could all have a snooze, but as long as one person stayed awake to keep him company, he would just keep on truckin on. It was suggested once that when Pete grows up, he would like to be a Kenworth. Peter was one of the ring of three who were directly responsible for the decision to build an exhibition layout. He was one of the first of our group to decide that he liked the layout East Mateland. I am not sure if it was the layout he liked or the impressive line-up of AD60 Garretts in the Garrett Sidings. I would hazard a guess and say that his favourite layout was built by and belongs to a local cow cockey, Jack Turner. Must say, it is a favourite of mine as well Travels with the RAAF, (all over Australia and to Malaya and New Guinea) meant that a hobby like model trains would have to be made to fit to his life style. So N scale it was. I remember his excitement at showing off a RUB set which was carved from blocks of balsa wood. Yes it looked the part alright. I also recall him beginning to collect some HO scale RUB kits. Probably after he realised the little ones were hard to see. Its Ok Pete, I got glasses now too. A keen enthusiast, if Pete had his way, he would have one of every retired loco, in running condition, available for fans to ride in, on or behind. That and a model on his desk. Now retired after a stint with Kendalls Airlines in Wagga Wagga and the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Melbourne, Peter is a member of a popular Melbourne Model Railway Club, Hobsons Bay, and is still very active in this hobby as a collector and operator and I know he still tries his hand at building. He visits Wagga every so often and drops in to say GDay and always comes back to work at our show in November, along with his wife Pam. I am sure a bed exists at their home just outside Melbourne, even on short notice, if we silly buggers ever have the need for it.
7

History Lesson: Road Trips were a big part of our hobby in the late eighties and nineties.
Short trips, Junee, Gundagai and longer ones, Sydney or Melbourne were regular. We would plan our year around the Camberwell, Liverpool and Bowral exhibitions. Melbourne and Sydney were both around the 5 hours travelling for us but after the first trip, both destinations became addictions. Canberra was an early addition to our diaries. A trip to Sydney would begin around 2 or 3 in the morning, quietly getting up, showering, making a coffee and maybe a small snack for the road, scratching around looking for that bag of lollies you had hidden in your cupboard for the trip and all the while trying not to waken the sleeping wrath that was the other half, while you ensured that you had not forgotten your cunning kick which was needed to cover the inevitable purchases later that day. We would have already devoured every page of the last 3 or 4 Australian Model Railway Magazines, but would pack the last couple of copies anyway for reading while travelling. Once we picked up everyone and woken that one who had missed the alarm, we would be rolling, sometimes 3 carloads. In the days before Highway Maccas, we knew everywhere that we could get a good hamburger for breakfast as well as where to avoid the crook ones. And we found out quickly when a favourite changed hands and the tucker fell off. CB radio kept us in contact along the way and decisions about the next stop were decided on air. Once in the big smoke, Bergs, Casula and Yennora Hobbies were all visited along with Punchbowl and we became well known as a group. Remember, this was before we actually had a formal club. Often, we would be waiting on the foot path for our first retailer to open the doors. Sometimes, we would even be offered a coffee while we browsed. Our modelling reflected what these outlets had on the shelves. Roundhouse, Athearn, Hornby, Mainline and Bachman were the predominant rolling stock brands that we chased and those already buying Aussie seemed to get very excited about little things. Bergs had a few wagon kits and Joe had some at Casula but we Yankee modellers were secure in the knowledge that our dollar was going further as we could get a diesel loco for around $30 and a wagon for about $5. Once our whirlwind shopping tour was complete, we would arrive at the venue, the Whitlam Centre, pay our entry and storm inside. We usually hit the retailers first, as Saturday was the day that we modellers got to see the new releases. This was before the internet and most manufacturers would announce, or display the latest and greatest here. Once we had completed our shopping, or ran out of money, we possibly grabbed a pie and would then start looking at the layouts. By mid afternoon, we were in the cars again and heading back down the Hume. We would top up the fuel tank, grab another snack and head to Bowral The Berrima District Model Railway Club was the host for possibly the friendliest show anywhere in this country. It was held to coincide with the Tulip Festival which just happened to take in the October long weekend. Held in the school, it took a while to ensure you managed to see it all, as you needed to move from room to room and from floor to floor. It was here that we could be found until our tummies reminded us of tea time. I can remember one year the announcement that the show was about to close for the day and all visitors were requested to make their way to the doors. The Wagga group could have another 15 minutes. Yes, we had become well known, and we were fortunate enough later to be able to attend this gem of a show several times as exhibitors. To be continued...
8

HOME SIGNAL
Max Burke has kindly offered to host a supper at his home and allow us to operate his wonderful Narrow Gauge Railway which is based on various Australian prototypes including the short lived but very busy line from Goondah to Burrinjuck. This was a narrow gauge line built to transport materials into the dam site for construction. Little is preserved of the line which used 4 Krause locomotives for motive power fuelled by local timber. As the dam wall grew, the line began to carry tourists as well who were keen to witness this major civil work. Max is a wealth of information on this pet subject of his and has previously presented a well attended slide night and lecture which was to run for an hour and was stretched to almost 3 hours simply because we were all very interested on this long gone, out of the way, little known line. A central feature of his model is a scratch built version of the wooden Maroochy River Lift Bridge. This bridge is well known amongst cane rail enthusiasts. Max models in 7mm scale and runs his trains on track of 16.5mm gauge, the same as our HO counterparts. Models of various 4 wheel locos clunk and clank their way around quite realistically. A photo coverage is coming.

Annual General Meeting

The 2008 Annual General Meeting of the Wagga Wagga Model Railroaders was held at the Wagga Wagga RSL Club after a good roll-up for a meal in the Club Bistro on Tuesday Evening January 27th 2009. After the usual reports were tabled, Graeme vacated the Chair and Bev Price (Barries Wife) called for nominations for the position of President. Graeme Hearn was returned unopposed along with the balance of the incumbent officers. I would personally like to congratulate them for their hard work and wish them luck for 2009, especially after the difficulties that were a feature of their first year in office.

New Products
AUSTRAINS have stock now available of their NSWR flat car packs, including the MLE, TME and CME.

Aaron Denning of the Epping Model Railway Club has proposed an online Tank Car building project based on a unique example of the breed. He proposes to run the project through the Diesel Era Modeller News-group on Yahoo as a cooperative effort and will produce what castings may be needed for participants. Numbers are currently being sought to gauge interest. One would need to join the news group if not already a member and register your interest. Aaron is a modeller of some note and of late, he has specialised a little in fuel tankers. He already has one tank car kit released through his side line, INFRONT Models along with various assorted detail parts. This would be a great opportunity to not only learn from a respected modeller, but to be a part of the development of a great model. Even going along for the ride and assembling the model would be a great experience.