Life Long Friends

I think that many of the people in this hobby of ours are the most friendly people you will ever meet.  This week we had a real get together of the Tuesday Nighters.  Twelve (12) of us turned up at Arthur’s and saw firsthand the latest modelling projects he has been working on.  Just brilliant.  We also had a couple of wives there having their very own meeting upstairs.  I wish I could spend as much time as Arthur does on creating new pieces of rollingstock.  We had a great time talking to everyone ‘in person’ instead of online for a change.

PK picked up a packet of styrene for me on Wednesday and dropped it into me on Thursday at work.    On Friday after work this week, I went over to Aurora Trains.  While there I saw Anatol and Paul from the NMRA.  The reason for the visit to George’s shop was to purchased two packets of SDS 25’ refrigerated containers and some corrugated card.  Lucky I went there when I did, as Peter and his lovely wife from our Tuesday Nighter’s group came about 30 minutes after me and purchased the last two packets of the same containers.  We should stop talking about things at Tuesday Nighter’s as I’m sure it inspires those attending our get-togethers and drives the local hobby shop economy.  I was also planning on going to the Modeller’s Warehouse scenery shop on Friday afternoon, but when I got there he had already shut up and gone home early.  I can’t really blame him, as that is what I do every Friday myself.  There is always next week.  One of my future plans is to scratch build maybe 4 QR container wagons in 12mm in the coming months for these SDS containers to sit on.

So when I got my styrene from PK, that night I finished off the last 26 styrene pallet build.  I needed to add just a couple lengths of 0.030” x 0.040” before I added the outer pieces of styrene 0.010” x 0.060” and then all the other pieces of 0.010” x 0.040”.   On Friday afternoon, I cut off 10 pallets from this string of 26 and I painted up 20 in Chep blue, 12 in light brown, 12 in mid brown and 12 in mission brown.  Later that night I cut up some corrugated card to be used as the walls and roof of three pine block 10’ x 10’ fettler sheds.  I painted the corrugated card this afternoon and while watching the Bronco’s women win the NRLW, I was adding the corrugated card to the blocks to complete the sheds.

Yesterday, I went with about 35 other guys to Darren’s place.  We were attending the monthly NMRA Div 1 meeting.  At the meeting, we had a car load of people attend from the Club in Warwick which included the proprietor of AR Kits, and two guys from Lismore, in the neighbouring NMRA Division.  One was my mate Brad from the NMRA-X meetings and he is always online talking to us during our Tuesday Nighter’s online meetings and QR Wednesdays with the Wuiskes meetings.  Darren had Geoff, Brendan and myself there to help run his layout while the NMRA members were looking over the layout.  That allowed Darren to talk to all his guests.  Because our little modelling group had run Darren’s layout so many times and know how it works and what everything was and how the items have been built we could answer any questions that members needed to ask.  I understand that Brad live-streamed a few minutes out to the Internet of the layout tour.  We are currently limited to 40 in attendances at the moment in Queensland, so we were just under that limit.  We had a couple of great presentations by Brad and Duncan on Static grass and hot wire cutting for polystyrene.  We also had some good show and tells.  I must admit I was blown away by one member’s process of making his own corrugated iron.  I must try it some time.  Then the rain came bucketing down.  I also sold a few items from my detail collection, including some clotheslines, pallets, tarps, reo-sheets and an incinerator that works from track power.  It seems that I have been confirmed by Brad for one of the presenters for the next NMRA-X presentations on the 21/22 of November.

Today I had (Chris) a brother of one of the Tuesday Nighter’s (David) come over with his son (Adam) and grandson.  I normally catch up with these guys at the Brisbane AMRA Exhibition each year.  They lived near me (about 1/2 mile down the road) where we all grew up, and their father (Vince) and their neighbour (Kevin) all had layouts.  I played cricket with Chris and David for 10 years after I finished school.  I was in the same grade as their sister.  Another of their brothers (Denis) was my best man – he also played cricket with us as well.  We had a great time back then, almost 30 years ago.  The young 3½ year old was the most polite and best behaved young child I have ever had in my shed.  He is a credit to his parents.  So while we were in the shed, I gave them a tour of the layout and pointed out some of its interesting features.  I ran a couple of sound equipped steam locos (a Garratt and a 35 class) from Grafton to Rappville, as well as the Brisbane XPT and sound equipped Jumbo on a Brisbane Limited set.  I also ran a very small QR Coal train on the 12mm.

Another thing that I will do later tonight when the NRL football grand final is on, is to attempt to put together two of my workmate Greg’s 3D printed staff machines.  He dropped off two of these at work on Wednesday morning, when he was walking from the train past my building to his current building.  He used to work in my building on a different floor, which made it easy to catch up.

Next week on Sunday, RMCQ will be having its Buy and Sell at the Club in Brendale, the first for the year, as the previous was cancelled.  The sellers are distributed around the Club lease under various gazebos, so we can separate the people in a social distancing way.  We just hope the weather is fine.  It will be good to catch up with people in the hobby that we have not seen for quite some time.

Level Crossing Work and Clothes Lines

This weekend I didn’t do much model railway related activity.  However, on Saturday I went to a Buy and Sell event at the AMRA clubrooms on the northside of Brisbane at Zillmere.  I parked at PK’s and then we walked around the corner.  We queued up at the entrance to the site and recorded our details to be Covid safe.  There were quite a few sellers and lots of items but there was nothing there that floated my boat, but I saw quite a few people purchasing items, particularly some of our Club members.  I caught up with quite a few people to say G’day to.  But I ended up spending no money at all.  That had to be a first.

When I got home, I did some modelling during the afternoon.  I sat at the kitchen table and watched some Bathurst activity and started building a string of another 26 pallets.  I ran out of 0.030” x 0.040” styrene strip.  Actually I needed about 7 lengths of 13.5mm 0.030” x 0.040” styrene to complete the 26 pallets.  I thought I had more of that in my collection.  Damn.  I should have checked that out before I came home from the other side of the city, and I should have popped into the hobby shops on the way home and picked up another packet of it.  If I had, I could have made another 50 pallets today.  That is what stopped me.

Later in the afternoon on Saturday, I did some work on installing the various fencing I had made for the Lismore level crossing.  I am quite happy with the outcome.

The level crossing outside Lismore

Close up of one corner

Close up of the second corner

Close up of the third corner

Close up of the last corner

Today struggling to get any modelling motivation due to the Brisbane Lions losing last night in the AFL and also watching Bathurst today along with the Bledisloe Cup on split screen on my TV, I decided to just make 10 clothes lines to do something.  When at the Buy and Sell yesterday, I saw someone selling one of my clothes lines in HO scale for $10.  It had one of the bracings missing on one of the clothes line arms.  I sell complete ones for less than that.

So the plan is to paint the 10 clothes lines next weekend so I can sell some at the RMCQ Buy and Sell on the Sunday  1^st of November.  I will have a lot of detail items available for sale.

The Risk Signal Box with gas bottles out the back.  It still needs some shrubbery added.

More Fettlers

The barrier above the tunnel from North Street below.  This is in Cassino Yard.

The worksite now has witch's hats protecting the work area and the two cars now have P and L plates attached.  One car also has a CB aerial.

Border Loop Signal Box (unpainted) with two signalman and a baby bird in the nest

Border Loop Signal Box close up.

A mate of mine, Greg, has 3D printed a NSW Staff machine.  I can't wait to get a few to paint  up and put them inside my signal boxes.  They will look so much better when Greg 3D prints the staffs and then has the section name stencilled on the staff body!  Hehehe

3D printed staff machine - by Greg

More Detail Work

Well Monday was quite productive.  It was a public Holiday in Queensland.  I started off attaching some aerials to two cars on the layout.  Big whippy ones that the locals would have used for CB radios back in that time.  I could not resist the great modelling done by the Auscision team and added some P plates and some L plates to two cars on the layout.  I painted up 24 more barrels and have 24 more ready to go.  I have been wanting to complete the scene around The Risk crossing loop.  There have been a few photos surfacing lately on some of the Facebook sites.  So the first task was to make some gas bottles.  I made four out of styrene rod and tube and painted then up a nice silver colour.  Hey Greg – something you could 3D print! 

I then had to do some work on my signal box and station building at The Risk.  While it had been built many years ago, that was it.  First task was to paint the items a white colour.  I did that with a testor’s tin and then hit it with Frosted Glass to take the shine off the paint work.  I then picked out the window frames a nice brown colour.  I realised that the roof of the signal box did not have any guttering.  I got out a strip of 0.060” channel and cut four sides and glued then together with mitre joints.  This was painted with a spray can of Mission Brown from the 4 cans for $10 range of supercheap auto spray cans.  I then glued the guttering to the roof and fixed the roof to the signal box and placed the box on the layout.  I had sprayed the concrete water tank a white colour and the paint cracked.  Damn!  I have since weathered this water tank with some black and brown paint.

I then affixed the sign for ‘The Risk Signal Box’ to the front of the signal box and it looks quite good.  Well it has nothing inside the signal box and no internal lighting.  There is also no signalman, but when I run my timetable there is supposed to be no signalman rostered, as it is a Sunday on the North Coast and the train crews work themselves through the loops.  That will be a tasks for another day.  Hey Greg – how about you make some 3D prints of staff machines.  You will sell quite a few of these I bet!

During the week I added a downpipe to the signal box, but I did not get around to doing any planting of a few detail trees and shrubs around the crossing loop.  Geoff came over on Friday afternoon to pick up some 3D printed water tanks that Greg had done.  These look fantastic.

On Saturday I went to the Club.  I visited two hobby Shops on the way, Austral Modelcraft at Mt Gravatt and then the RC Model Aircraft shop at Brendale.  I was quite impressed with the paint and styrene available at that shop.  Quite a few people from the Club go down there.  So I will try and have a visit there before some of my trips to the Club.  It was pretty busy in there when I was there.

So when I got home, I decided to do some work on painting some wooden blocks a base colour.  I used these blocks to make sheds for the layout.  Four have been painted black on the front face as I will add styrene strip to look like a slatted wooden door.  I also painted two other wooden block sheds a maroon colour on three sides, leaving the front unpainted at this time, as I do not know what I will do with them yet.

Today I painted up some orange witches hats.  These have been placed around the piles of sand and aggregate outside the house in Canterbury Street – opposite the Cassino Station.  I’m sure the local council will not be too happy for these piles to be placed on a local street without some sort of protection.  I have also started assembling the 3D print of a cement mixer for this scene.  I have already lost a wheel off of it.  It went ping into the unknown during the week while trying to ensure it is a nice round shape.  Maybe I will do some more work this week on the cement mixer.

I have been trying to add some more detail to the level crossing just outside Lismore.  I have made some small lengths of road armco barrier.  I have also made up some fencing to go next to the road/rail crossing, and also some cattle grids to stop the local beasts from trying to walk onto the line.  I have also cut up some corrugated iron lengths to be used at a road overbridge between Lismore and Murwillumbah.  This bridge will be similar to one located at St Helena.

PK obtained some bee keepers and hives for me and these have been placed around the layout.  These complement my existing home made bee hives that I have in about 3 other places around the layout.

So lots of work on detailing scenes this week.  Probably more next week as well.

Inspiration Through Photos

Well for the first time in a number of weeks, I did get around and start and complete at least one of the tasks I had planned to do this weekend.  I added the road makings to the road around Lismore.  This is just outside the Lismore Shell oil Siding.  I also drilled a hole for gates on the entry to the oil facility to be installed.  The road markings are made from 0.010” x 0.030” and 0.010” x 0.040” styrene strip to the road around Lismore. 

On Saturday morning I purchased a packet of 8 sugar boxes to be used as load on my scratch built QR wagons.  I split this haul with one of the Tuesday Nighters – Barnacle Bob, so 4 boxes will be added to one wagon.  I assembled and painted my four sugar boxes today.  I also got around to painting 4 Wuiske cement containers that I assembled last weekend. 

On Saturday arvo I had a visit from Greg from NMRA Div 1 as he was asking some questions about his control panel that he is constructing.  It looks very nice indeed.  I also attended an online zoom forum which was very informative.

Today I was also completing some sheds that I need to deploy around the layout.  I was adding some corrugated aluminium to some blocks of wood to complete the sheds.  The four that I have completed will most probably be painted tomorrow.

So I happened to move a few items on my work bench in the shed and low and behold, there was a packet of styrene 0.010” x 0.040”.  The things you find in my shed. I didn't know I had that there.  I might have to have a closer look tomorrow to see what else I can find.

I must admit that I was totally blown away by the 20 odd photos posted on the Auscision website on Saturday morning.  Truly fantastic modelling.  They must be the best shots I have seen of a layout for quite some time.  It is certainly possible to learn lots of things from studying those photos and to be inspired by them. 

Some things that stand out:-

- I immediately want to add some TW’s to one or both of my road over rail bridges on the layout

- Also a red P plate on some of my layout vehicles

- I also want an orange XD falcon

- The lack of paint on the gatekeepers house next to the railway line is fantastic, as my grandfather's house looked just like that about 40 years ago when I was growing up

- The level crossing detail is fantastic

- The fettler’s scene is magic

- The fuel siding looks great with the weathering

Well these fantastic photos have forced me to look at adding even more detail in a couple of places on my layout.  I will do some of that tomorrow.

Starting tonight I plan to put together the next 48 of my 44 gallon drums and maybe make another 26 pallets.  I might get around to painting some of these tomorrow.  My set of FAMs will hopefully be arriving on Tuesday so I will probably spend next Friday adjusting the bogies on them to run on my heavily graded layout, with all my changes of gradient.  Now I need to remember what I did to my previous Auscision RUB and sleeper wagons.