A bit of History

 (Not the right scale but...)

Last weeks monthly modeling meeting threw up an interesting find. One of the group had purchased a loco from an estate sale and brought it along. 

An interesting ancient scratchbuilt beast with Romford 15 spoke wheels and a Hornby XT60 motor (not even an X04). A closer inspection revealed that this was a spectacularly nice scratchbuild built by a precise hand. However a few ergs revealed that it was not in the best of health, though it did move. It's providence was discused at length until someone remembered that Paul Bernsen had made a small batch of F's in the late 60's. This tallied with the workmanship and apparent age of the model. 

A bit of oil and the spritely 60 year old was happily growling up and down the track.

Shear bloody magic.

Resurrecting the dead

Yesterday afternoon with the help of Mr Hamblyn I extracted paekakarki from its resting place of 10 years. Setup only took about 15 minutes (some spent looking for tools).

Astonishingly the track seems to have survived its sourjourn with only 1 obvious repair needed (though nothing has been run yet) plus what feels like (running fingers along the track) a slight board missalignment on one edge. This afternoons job will be to measure up the area for the railway housing so that I can build a scale model of it to see what will fit.

My imediate impression is that there is more than enough space for a decent collection of houses. Down the other end at Beach rd there's not that much space (far less than I remembered) which does that the bonus that I don't have to build quite so many shops.

They refuse to die

 On the 3 foot 6 website in the RTR section for the last couple of weeks has been a  model of Dx5454. This model (if  I'm correct) has an interesting history.

 

This appears to be one of the etch edZinc Dx's from Dunedin in the early 1990's. Why Zinc? because the guys that had them done worked for the Otago Daily Times and that was the tech that they had access to at the time.

 Spotting notes include;

-A flat roof. Other models tend to have a bulge over the dynamic brake grills behind the cab. I managed to get the rooves on my models bent but it was a huge faf and really not for the faint hearted.

-Ditto the flat top of the nose (which is also quite square with 3 holse in the front and no raised detail).

-The front and rear headlights are flat (should angle back). again it took a lot of work to fix this in the ones I built.

-Deep windows (the zinc was awfully thick).

-It has the signs of being assembled by Kelvin Barry in Chrictchurch. the Dunedin models had the front and rear headstocks as part of the bogie so that the couplers would not pull trains off going round curves. these models also often had a name written inside the long hood so that Kelvin could keep track of who he was building them for.

Takeaway notes for this are that Zinc is a pig to work with, and these old models just keep cropping up.

It's also left me wondering what had become of John Rappards old layouts, both Port Chalmers and the Dunedin and Otago Central.

Treasure or a lemon?

From a comment by Darryl P from the previous post;

"I brought a small box of buildings, which contained what I now believe, may have been a building from one of John Symthe's layout incarnations. A pretty basic card structure, but none the less, with some pedigree (in modelling circles)" 

We've all been there, looking through a box of dross hoping to find the nugget hidden to others eyes. And indeed, one mans trash is another mans treasure. But for the younger modelers out there its hard to know what the treasure is, and how to identify it. How does one tell the difference between a Boul, a Bernsten or a Cabbage? Most modelers have a certain "tell" to their modeling and finishing which makes life a bit easier. So, in my opinion what are the "tells" for some of the well known NZ120 modelers (no offence guys)
John Rappard: John built a lot of his models using a wooden inner (not a big tell as I'll discuss anon) with plastic overlays. The 4 open topped wagons had  wheeled wagons were all on Peco underframe's and the bogie wagons on Atlas bogies. Some resin casting in the harder polyurethanes. Locos are plasticard with some resin casting. The buildings are also solid wood with overlays. weathering was drybrushed
KiwiBonds; Locos mad from a variety of materials including mums old draws (well, he's used everything else). The style is one of those things that I can't quite put my finger on, but more a case of "I know it when I see it".
Trackgang (Russel Smith). The models are assembled with airbrushed weathering to a professional standard. What we should all really aspire to.
Mike Gee (yes Mike you get a mention). Architectural (sorry I can't come up with a better explanation).
And finally, so how do you know that you have a lemon Motorised Dandruff original? Resin castings, a black wash and dry brush weathering.Squareness an added bonus.

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be

Again from the trademe files, more History of the scale. This time its The original Dunedin to Port Chalmers layout which back in 1988 kicked the scale off to a wider audience. It was subsequently rebuilt from its end to end form to the more exhibition friendly roundy roundy format.

"Thin operators only please"

 I did a couple of exhibitions running it and my F and J with their period 6 wheel coaches were at home on the layout. So fast forward 25 years and here it is on Trademe.
One thing I have pondered is what do you do when you have brought a piece of history? Should it be left as is and left to slowly deteriorate, preserving the original builders strokes. Or should it be spruced up to last another 20 years. Or should it suffer the ultimate indignity of being "rebuilt" by the new owner

Then there's the size. For this layout, 6" by 12" with a 5' extension is quite sizable. That's a fair bit of wall space to find for a layout home. Its also an odd shape for an exhibition layout. If it had not sold then I would have just offered to buy the Port Chalmers scene.

Just looking at it, I would think about adding another siding on the right hand quay to provide a bit more interest. But there is the philisopical problem where I'm altering a historic artifact.

Fortunately I didn't have to worry about these dilemmas as someone else won the auction. I hope that they are strong enough to carry it round. John was a very skilled modeler but did build things to last without much thought put into weight.

More History

Amateur Fetler has sent me some photos from a lockup in darkest Timaru.

Dunedin

Port Chalmers

The current iteration of John Rappards Dunedin and Port Chalmers layout which debuted at the 1986 convention. Originally end to end, it was rebuilt in the late 80's /early 90's to a roundy roundy with Port Chalmers on an extension, which is when I first encountered it. The original rolling stock is still in existence with a modeler in Dunedin.
Its nice to see that its survived over 30 years as its an iconic layout for both the scale and NZR modeling in general.

The Blog is 10

Just to show you all I'm not dead yet (thanks modern medicinal chemistry).

So the Blog is 10. I even managed to miss this. I see I've managed to make 2 posts in the last 12 months, with this being the second.in that time ive don very little NZ120 modeling, or even model railway modeling. I have slotted in a fair bit of wargaming trrain making (and gaming) along with the obligatory gardening and indoor renovations. I'm now getting to the end of these....I think.

One thing I do have to report is somewhat of a surprise.
Ocasionally I'll have a look on Trademe to see what is for sale. A few months back I came across a bit of a surprise listsing, and was surpised to purchase the model reasonably cheaply without a bidding war, though I suspect that no one else knew what they were looking at, or wanted it (probably number 2).

The first NZ120 loco I ever built. A Farish J94/08 chassis provided the basis. The plastic top wasn't heavy enough so it was also my first (and so far only) ecursion into brass scratchbuilding. The funnel and air pump were turned with a file (the only one I owned) on a hand drill. The brass was all soldered together which was an exercise in juggling new hot bits of metal into position while keeping the older bits in the right positions. It did work in the end. The way I've built it means that the top will not some off, and I think/know it's impossible to adapt to DCC.
So, its a remined of how far (or short) that my modeling skills have come since 1990, and nice to have it back in the collection

More coal

Following on from the last post, I've been sent some scanned photos from a family holiday to Westport many years ago. In those days health and safety was rather more lax and so we were able to walk up the miners track, taking a detour to Middle Brake (past a "go no further" type sign if memory serves). These photos offer a window back 25 years or so when the remnants of our country's industrial history were just left to decay.

First up, looking up the hill from Conns creak, with the yard crane on the edge of shot to the right. Note the spectacular day which is quite common on the west coast, at least while I've been on holiday there.

Then on to Middle brake, the junction between the lower and upper incline. This photo is of the winding house with the remains of the pistons which were used to control the rate of descent of the loaded wagons. The wire hauling ropes had just been left on site, obviously because they were not worth much. I think that's me in green on the left with Mum on the right. obviously buy the time we had walked up the hill for an hour it was not quite such a sparkling day.

littering the bush along the incline were the remains of runaway wagons that had been left were they fell as it was not worth the effort to recover them.

 

And who is that dashing young man in red?

Old photos

I've been looking at pictures of Timaru harbour, and came across this old plate.

At first look, its just a run of the mill internet picture.
However once you start scanning in, it just gets better and better.
 (if you have a slower connection, just wait and the detail will appear. sort of like Google maps)
The details on the wharf and the dredges are just amazing (I can make out the signs on the wharf).  Will digital photos be this good in 100 years?

Passing Wind: Something for the Wellingtonians

DB finally reveals:

So you have a 12 foot long wall to spare huh?

Way back in 2008, I suggested the Ngauranga gorge might be a good subject for a stand-alone module or "as part of a larger Wellington Harbour layout (more on that later)". Well, "later" is finally here.

About 16 years ago I lived briefly in Sydney and for a short time was domiciled in a small house with a small spare room. It didn't take me long to begin thinking about what I should do with the unused wall of it, and having left NZ from Windy Wellington, that seemed like a logical choice of subject.

In due haste, two main 4x2 foot modules were whacked up from 1x2 pine plus a thin ply top; and a pair of (almost) 2x2 end pieces from less-hardy materials (foam board and balsa if I recall!) to support the return loopy tracks.

The track plan was quite clever if I might quite unhumbly say so, and although I considered several options, I 'think' (memories of 1997 being a little hazy at this point) I ended up with this pile-o-spaghetti mobius strip design. A train headed out from the yard track beside the loco depot and up the left hand rising main up to T1. It then came around and back from Petone and into the yard, then around out the passenger tracks to head out through Kaiwarra, under the bridge and out to the Hutt valley, it then climbed around and returned via tunnels 2 and 1 and back towards the station to emerge in the yard again. Genius.

Vague recollection of the track plan...

Omitted for clarity, so you could follow that journey, were a pair of crossovers (included in the plan  below in red, which gave more flexibility for mixing things up a bit. As would have replacing the diamond crossing with a double slip, but at the time I was worried about having to wire DCC reversing loops, which the clever-ish design here avoided. If the layout was a long termer, the end modules would have been replaced with separate loop/fiddle yards each for Hutt, Porrirua, Welly Station and Welly Yard. The intention was to have a 9vDC powered J'ville unit run up it's isolated track into a tunnel and then reverse back down to hide under the motorway on a timer.

I bought my Digitrax DCC set specifically for this wee layout and remember sending an email to Rhys (not knowing at the time of course that one day he would head the worldwide Motorised Dandruff media empire) to share the thrill of running my recently-decoderised DXR out of the yard and up the hill with a long train, only to have it stall on the sharp return curves while lugging its load up the grade to Tunnel 1. I pulled a couple of locos out of the depot and ran them up to the tail of the train, MU'd them with the DXR and successfully bought the train home via the Hutt 'in' track. At the time, that sort of operation was quite the novelty 'back in the day'!

Every few years I uncover a few blurry prints of the layout and say to myself "I must post that on the walls of Chateau Dandruff one of these days" and upon seeing a few pictures today I'm doing just that to clear my conscience. These are bad pics of crappy, blurry originals but they convey the gist of it I hope.

Overall view of the 'right hand end' as scenicking begins. I don't seem to have taken any pics of the yard end, which was never scenicked except for a removable card and balsawood motorway view block with blue sky board attached.  Catenary poles are sections of brass rod, soldered to a brass base. 

T1 and T2 portals are visible here, as is my feeble depiction of the motorway. That and the houses were necessarily in extra-small forced perspective scale and reduced scope.

A blurry pic of an almost-sharp pic taken at a later stage when the hills had been bushed up, the motorway had fine sandpaper added, there is a bridge over the Hutt rd and a pseudo-fascia was installed in the foreground to tidy things up. Note Ian Athfield's house up on the hill, and a green weatherboard number on the ludicrously steep road to Khandallah. I still have both those houses for some reason and enjoyed making Ian's especially.

While the layout was never finished, and only had a 9 month life, I always thought that with a bit more room (even four 4x2 sections would do in a pinch) that this would make a neat modular home layout that would be a real winner at Welly area exhibitions.

Although my Windy Wellington layout has long since passed, over the years I've not let this concept die, and one day it might rise, Phoenix-like (the mythical creature, not the rusting EE units), from the ashes:

So even if you only have a 12 foot wall, don't let that stop you using NZ120 to put a lot of action into a small space!

On Holiday

Well, I was intending to do a bit more blogging over the break, but Internet has not reached some areas of the south island yet (well, easily hackable wireless connections at least). And while I have not seen much in the way of trains (the correct number attached to the phrase "Oh, you will see a few trains on the way down" is 2), there were other things to do. These involved getting on a borrowed bike and setting off into the countryside on selected parts of the Central Otago rail trail. First day was a short trip up to Chatto creek (also known locally as 'sh*thole creek'). The first section is pretty flat from Clyde to Alex, and was a nice warm up. The main thing things to look at were.....

'Vineyards'

'Trees and dry hills'

Both these pictures are taken looking back towards Clyde just in case anyone gets confused.

Once past Alex the terrain changes and we are up into shist country.

The Trail follows the Manuherikia river valley for the first part of the journey. Its reasonably easy going as the 1 in 50 tiger hill bank is after Chatto creek. there are patches where the valley opens up and we are out into big sky country.

 There are the amazing rock outcrops.

 Probably even more incredible than the landscape, if that is possible, is the mark that the early railway builders have left upon it. This was entirely done with hand tools which defies our modern day imagination.

 So, first day back on a bike for a decent ride since I left Nelson two years ago and a final tally of 55 km.  They lady of the house made it 40 km before her legs gave out and was picked up by the support crew. My legs gave out on the final stretch back to Clyde. When you are passed by a retired couple and can't catch up with them again your day is done. Oh, and at the end of the day I wished my ass was asleep. Fortunately the bike riding and sitting groups of butt muscles are completely different, so the end of the day was not that bad.

 Over the years I have at times kicked around modeling parts of the Otago Central branch. after this day I'm just not sure that it is possible to do it justice unless one is prepared to use a large area and wide baseboards. Even then it is a huge ask.

'How can one model all of this?

Blast from the Past - Otaki to Cass

DB discovers:

An old VHS tape that the Druffmeister thinks a guy called Dennis (a former boss of Mr Fettler) shot on one of the Otaki to Cass setups in maybe 1993/4. Of course I haven't had access to a PAL capable VHS player for 13 years now so it was quite nice to find this.



It turns out that there is a PAL capable player at work, so I managed to import this into my Mac using Elgato video capture. Screwed up the title/vid sizes, but such is life. Note the green fluffosauras at Otaki, commentary from Mr Dandruff himself, the seismic fault module joins, the only RoadRailer to ever visit the Otaki Ballast Pit, an accidental compulsory stop on the Otaki bridge (for electrical block switching reasons it would appear!), and a pair of racing DCs through the Karangahake Gorge in coal-black livery (portending the Bumblebee era by at least 10 years).

The layout seems a little devoid of rolling stock, although it looks like there is a decent sized DXR/DF coal train at Otaki platform and DJ+recabbed DG ballast train as well. The DFT+DF freight looks close to the limit of the Otaki loop but is certainly a nice size on this layout. The 4-wheeler coalie at the Otaki platform is a bit short - some poorly performing vehicles may have been banished to the ballast pit or goods shed sidings.

As Cass has a shortish loop, we needed at least one 'short' train to make a crossing there, so the CB coal train, the ballast train or Rhys's TranzAlpine (notably absent here) were the usual options. Much hurried point throwing (manual via rods) and block switching was required to effect the crossings, which as can be seen could be done without trains stopping at Otaki. The gorge-racing DCs were trying to get into the Cass loop so the lumbering freight could run through without stopping also, although as can be seen in the first sequence, this was not perfect all the time...

The scenic features in this iteration of the layout (counter clockwise) were Cass bank, Cass station, Cass River, Makatoke viaduct, Karangahake Gorge, Otaki, Otaki bridge and then back to Cass. In the middle, the editorial staff of this fine electric organ fended off hecklers, drank fizzy drinks and participated in frenzied switch throwing every 30 seconds.

Other Druffers and lurkers may remember more...

How did that happen.

3 Years and 6 months ago some idiot decided that blogging about his modeling would be a good idea. Today we hit 1000 posts. Someone has indeed blundered.


Lets revisit a few quotes from that first post.

"So whats this all going to be about. Hopefully it will be a blog on modeling in NZ120, running model railways in 1:120 scale on 9mm gauge track, with some incredibly bad typing and spelling tossed in for good measure"

Well, I've certainly exceeded expectations on several of those points, though the locating of the spell checker has curbed some of the worst excesses.

"I'm hoping to bang down some thoughts from the keyboard and try to inspire a few people to have a go at building things. I'll try to do this with some modeling projects, thoughts and ideas. Also possibly a bit of modeling philosophy thrown in. Sounds ambitious I guess, but it all seems rather pointless if you start something without ambition.:v) And I've always wanted to have a crack at this blogging thing. No idea if I'll be any good, but that's not going to worry me that much anyway, as I dont really care if you read this or not."

Well, some things don't change. I'm still not overly worried if anyone reads or not, but its always a surprise to be chatting on overseas websites and get PM's with 'Oh, I read your blog BTW'. Meeting the local modelers has been a bit of a buzz too. Again, having someone walk up to you and say 'Hi, I'm Captain Carbon' is one of the most memorable.

It was suggested that I do a retrospective on our little scale and wheres its come in the last 3 1/2 years. That I think would take too long, and I can't be stuffed. The information is all under the headings on the sidebar even if its going to take a while to sift through. Think of the fun you will have dredging up long forgotten posts from 2009.

One thing that I'm still a bit surprised about is that there's still not a central forum for NZR modelers, whatever the scale. The NZ120.org forum demonstrates it works with very minimal policing. However no-one else has had a crack at exploiting the new media form (maybe with the exception of Grant). It would be interesting to be able to compare notes with other local bloggers.

So, where does the blog go from here. Its sort of evolved from one mans cack-handed odyssey in modeling to a smooth slickly run rag with a tightly knit group of feature writers to a disorganised rabble writing about whatever takes their fancy. Maybe thats why it works. I can have an idea or a thought, and have it written up in 15 minutes and posted. 30 minutes if I need a photo or two. It satisfies my short attention span (though longer than some of the other contributors) in ways that print media just doesn't. I'm still a great fan of magazines for picking up and reading, but its just not my thing to contribute to.

How long am I going to continue? How long is a piece of string? I have wondered at times 'why do I bother', and then just carried on (I don't tend to quit easily, as a few of my wargaming opponents will attest). I might just wake up one day and decide 'thats it, I'm done'. Currently I think that day is a ways off, but who knows. If I could forsee the future I would not be doing what I'm doing.

See you all at Railex on Saturday. I think I'm on the VCC stand (I'm assuming I'm allowed to wear shoes). Drop by and say hello.

History time

From Glenn Antony tonight.

"Here are some photos I took at the Timaru Model train show at the weekend. Its some of John Rappard's "Dunedin and Port Chalmers Railway" modules dating from 1988 (or there abouts), which are now owned by the Timaru group and have been reconfigured into a roundy-roundy circle with a branch line to the wharf."

Passenger train passes through St Leonards. A kato tank loco

South end of Dunedin railway station including a small port scene

Dunedin railway station c1870's. This was taken from a sketch/woodcut (I think, it certainly bears quite a few similarities to the original. Unfortunately I can't seem to find a copy of it)

Port Chalmers. Kato tank engine on the main, and what looks like a Wf on the siding.

Port Chalmers from the other side.

These pictures do convey something of what a groundbreaking layout this was. Running period locos and stock looked really good on it.

out and about

On my way to work each morning I have noticed that I cross an old level crossing. This is part of the old Wellington and Manawatu alignment, and was replaced in the 1960's with a new bridge about 200m further downstream. Today the old mainline is a cow path.

Found again.

I've often wondered what happened to my models from my 1990's era. They went west in 1997 I think. A couple of weeks ago I was pointed at this website which among other things, a collection of my old models.

So, have a look at a blast from the past, and compare with the photos here. Its all about the big picture, and making sure that the scene is greater than the sum of the parts.

This should at least cheer you all up about your own modeling, and show that there's no reason not to show yours on the forum.

West coast update

Following on from my trip down south, I have recieved the following information from a well known Chch modeler.

Saturday was lovely and we spent all day at Rewanui. No problem getting up
there at all.  Although we walked, the road is passable to a standard car
for 99% of the way.  There are one or two sections that have washed out and
been repaired a bit roughly.  I'd get a car up there, but you'd want a bit
of clearance.  Although the entrance is gated, I'm guessing you'd get
permission easily enough as there is no reason not to give it.

There's very little to see railway wise.  Its just a nice walk.  Of course
we wanted to get a scenic flavour for the layout and it was good for that.

For the record the following are left:

* Tunnels 1/2
* The formation with the odd bit of centre rail in the bush if you look
hard.
* bridge 20
* Up to the first pier of Bridge 18 - but largely buried.
* The pattern shop
* Another building on the hill I've never seen.  The roof is obvious, but
there is no clear way to it and I always forget to look as you cannot see it
from up close.
* Some power poles
* Spark and Party bins
* lots of tubs
* Some bin steelwork.
* Stacks of sleeper and rail embedded in gorse.
* The station and yard proper has completely gone.  If you look really hard
you can find some platform edging.

He also has some photos up here which as an added bonus show Barry Fitzgerald in his natural habitat.

The West Coast, then...

As well as the modern trains that still seem to run with astonishing frequency (and there is talk of even more coal being shifted in the next few years), there are also plenty of historical sites to visit on the coast. possibly moreso than any other region in the country.

First up on our way south was the last surviving single Fairlie in the southern hemisphere, R28.


Its now under cover and at least has a fence around it, but its still only a matter of time before it rusts away to nothing. Surprisingly enough, there is a mention on the information board of the ferrymead railways failure to secure it for proper preservation.

Next stop on the list was Brunner. The site has been reclaimed from the bush, and features a large suspension bridge.


Also present is the standard West coast historical railway site marker, a Q wagon. in this case a Q5. This photo was taken by the lady of the house (I am told I have to point this out).


Further south and the next stop was the Greymouth waterfront. Most of this area has been 'improved' with a flood protection wall/walkway but there are still some areas left further towards the river mouth.
This appears to be part of an old loading bank.

2 of the old coaling cranes still in place.


Again a collection of old Q class hopper wagons, in this case a Q4.


A pair of Q 11's.

A rusty La and another pair of Q11's completes the ensemble.


The wharf can be viewed (from a distance) from the other side of the river. its not a great view though.

While I didn't take any pictures, the railway station yard has been replaced by a Subway and several large shed retailers, and all that is left is a single track by the platform.

Further south at Elmer lane all that is really left of the large loco depot is the turntable. The roundhouse is behind the camera to the right, and is only marked by a outline of earth banks.


I didn't stop at Shanty town.

Traveling north a few days later and a stop at Stillwater gave a rake of Yd's. not that much to report but they are over 50 years old.


Moana station I commented on yesterday, but here is a shot sans trains. It is a very pretty location.

Further up the valley to Otira and again while the split level yard is largely intact, the old electric loco depot is no more.


Next stop on the tiki tour is Westport. The find here at the local preservation society was an L5 ex an O class hopper wagon. These were the original wagons used to move coal until replaced by the Q class starting in 1898. The building wasn't open for me to inspect


Last on the list is Deniston. this site has been tidied up quite a bit in the last few years. The top of the brake head has a collection of Q wagons again (incuding a Q1 about to go over the edge just out of shot).


Looking down the incline you can just make out middle brake. This is now off limits but I have walked in to the area 20 years ago.

So, other areas that I attempted to visit.
Rewanui is owned by Solid energy and there are big gates at Dunollie at the foot of the incline.
(UPDATE: wrong, see the comments section)
The old station yard there is used as the main site office. Rapahoe is hidden behind large piles of coal on the side of the road. Ngakawau is again behind locked gates.

The other thing that I noticed is that everthing railwaywise on the coast isn't really that far from each other (ie its much smaller than I thought). Dobson, Brunner and Stillwater are right next to each other, as are Rununga, Rapahoe and Dunollie. Its only 40 odd Km further down to Hokitika and about the same to Ross. Even heading back up to Reefton is only a short jaunt. Westport and Otira are 100Km or so from Greymouth as well.