Mood Music. . .

On the way: On Track Models Louvre Van. . .


. . .and the Auscision NGTY grain hopper.

I love the internet.

Can you tell? So, now when I'm slaving away making bridge bents for the Namoi River crossing, I can hear what's going on in Narrabri (that's Nair-a-bry, by the way), by listening to 2Max FM 91.3 "The Voice of Narrabri" on streaming audio. What book about Australia did I read that said that radio in the small inland towns is virtually nothing but oldies? Seems to be the case. But a nice mix of music you might not have heard in a while. How about Charlie Rich and "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues?" Doris Day and "Sentimental Journey?" "L.A. International Airport?" This is a better music mix that most so-called "hard country" stations in the DFW area. And the local chatter and adverts are learnin' me some pronounciatin'.

Got to get the bridge finished so I can link Narrabri and Narrabri West. I've got a railroad to run, especially when 12 of these and nine of these are coming in the mail in the near future.

Excuse me, Ross is coming up with "music for the truckies," 4-8pm on Fridays. Right now, it's a Marty Robbins song about the "Siege of the Alamo". . .

INSPIRATIONAL!

Here's what I aspire my layout to someday even come 25% of approaching for quality, http://bylong.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Ray, for the continuing inspiration. Now, i'll get back to struggling along with building a pile trestle (that plastic Walthers kit is looking better by the moment, but, alas, quite North American). . . .

Namoi Bridge, Part II

The 4914, once more, with a train of RU wheat wagons on a very spindly bridge over the Namoi River. . .a mock-up of the 240-some-odd foot crossing between Narrabri and Narrabri West on the North-West NSW layout. . .

I've been putting off working on the west bank of the Namoi River bridge area for a bit now. The first go-round on the east bank (up side) went well, but the ceiling tiles left a God-awful mess sur-forming them to shape. But, apparently I've got that figured out--liberally spray the tiles with soapy water as you carve along, and most of the dust is eliminated.

The other reason for pushing it lower to the list is because I've never built such a bridge before. One of my Aussie Angles came to my rescue with a great set of plans for standard NSWGR pile trestles with 24' pier spacings, so I really no longer have an excuse anymore!


Ceiling tiles stacked up on the west bank of the Namoi River. These have been roughly cut and cemented in place; when the glue is dry, they'll be contoured into riverbanks and the bridge approach.

So I spent a little time this afternoon cutting and gluing stacks of ceiling tiles on the west bank, roughly cutting them to contour. After several hours of letting the glue set up, I got out the rasp and did a little preliminary contour work. I'll hold off the rest until the glue fully cures.

I did start thinking of how I'd build the bridge. I came up with around 226' in length from abutment to abutment, and with 24' pier spacing, that came up to 9 piers. Since the height of the bridge would be below 18', I cna get away with the 3-post piers, seen in this view of a bridge near Wee Waa (if I could recall where I got this photograph, I'd either credit the photographer or thank him personally):


A pair of "candy" 48 Class Alcos on a passenger special in 1991 approaching Wee Waa, atop a three-post pile trestle. These appear to be much closer together than the 24' NSWGR plans I have. . .

There is some question when the actual bridges (there are two--one for the river itself, one for a flood plain) between Narrabri Jct. and Narrabri were rebuilt to the current concrete-and-steel-girder construction. Could it be before 1978? In this case, I'm going for the downtrodden-and-rustic look regardless of what the prototype used at the time. I like wooden pile trestles, and this is my layout's one big bridge. . .

I'd measured out the location of the piers and set some long drywall screws into the scenery, placing my section of Micro-Engineering Code 70 bridge track atop it. And. . .i couldn't resist. . .I once more mocked up a scene. I think this will be a fine looking scene: image it with a real trestle, static-grasses and other weeds, a small but muddy river, and a smattering of tall trees in the back of the scene.

The 49 Class arrives. . .

A different sound in the North-West today: EMD-powered 49 Class branchliner 4914 came downbound from Werris Creek Friday on a short goods train. . .seen here passing Edgeroi bound for Moree. . . .

EMD's were quite the minority in the North-West of New South Wales. The NSWGR was mostly an Alco railroad, especially on the lines out of the Werris Creek loco depot in the 1960s and 70s. The 49 Class--an Clyde-GM six-motor version of the popular EMD G8 export locomotive--were delivered to work between Parkes and Broken Hill, although they did occasionally trickle into Narrabri.

I'd been contemplating a purchase of one of the wonderful Trainorama models for quite some time, and finally gave in, the 4914 with thin-valence arriving last Friday, direct from West Ryde, NSW. After seeing a 49 class "in the flesh" so to speak, I must amend my earlier assessment of this locomotive as being uninformed: they're quite attractive little engines, once you get beyond the standard 3/4 view.



A group shot of my growing loco fleet was in order, so here's a 49 Class, a 47 Class, and a 44 Class--GM, Catepillar/Hitachi, and Alco--standing ready.

And, inspired by the Photoshop talents of Ray Pilgrim, I offer the photo at the top of this posting of the 4914, still in shiny Tuscan paint. Apart from the track, the trees, and the train, everything else in the photo is pasted in from somewhere else. Who needs a layout when you have Photoshop CS2?

Let There be Light!

The shadow-box effect in a darkened room. . .

Just got a package in the mail containing a few T4 "low profile" fluorescent lights I'd ordered on ebay, and I think they'll do quite nicely to light the layout.

I've always wanted a layout with a "shadow box" presentation--ideally a dark room with just the layout fully illuminated like a museum diorama. But, living in Texas, a layout built in any sort of "bonus room" will have a soaring 10-12' high ceiling. (The best space for a layout, I'm thinking, is in a basement with 7' or so ceilings, low enough to hang your lighting from not too far above the layout and lending itself to such a shadow box effect.) With the last two layouts I've built, I'd resorted to hanging cheap "Lights of America" dual T12 fluorescent tubes at the ends of chains dangling from the high ceilings--a lower-cost solution and alternative to building a valance above the layout (essentially constructing a whole other level of benchwork to attach the lighting to)--but one that doesn't look nearly as "finished" as the shadow box design.

With the Narrabri layout, the "finished layout room" ideal is one of my goals--no hanging light fixtures at the end of chains, and hopefully, no unsightly open storage area under the shelved layout sections. Eventually, the whole layout will be "finished" and blend into the room, which will someday also be used as sort of an upstairs home theater as well.


Size comparison: T12 tube on left; T4 tube AND fixture on the right. . . and the T4 puts out just as much light and uses 30% less energy. . .


Another size-comparison. . . .

Back to those T4 tubes. They're not commonly found in your neighborhood Home Depot or Lowes; usually you'd have to go to specialty lighting stores or perhaps an "indoor gardening" store (supplying, well, high intensity lights for those who wish to grow "whatever" inside away from prying eyes). The T4 (and nearly identical T5) lights are very small in size compared to larger T8 and T12 tubes, and provide as much or more light with less wattage. . idea for use as under-deck lighting on a model railroad. Other modelers have tried "rope lights" with very little light output as well as strings of LED lighting which currently is quite expensive by comparison. Some "expert" have used compact fluorescent lights in screw-in fixtures, but wiring all these fixtures didn't sound like something I wanted to get involved in; besides, the pattern of light produced by these CFL's, to me, were less desirable for a narrow, linear layout than fluorescent tubes are.

These T4 fixtures are truly compact, 3/4" across and only 1 1/4" deep, so they're perfect for under my thin-profile layout decks. And they're bright--the 28W 46" long tube provides just as much illumination (2900+ lumens) than the much thicker 40W T12 equivalent and uses 30% less electricity. Five of the fixtures can be daisy-chained together on the same circuit. I figure I'll need a total of 17 fixtures for the railroad, a total of around 750 linear inches. On-line searching has found fixtures than can illuminate the railroad for around $.71 an inch; around $500 for the whole railroad. . .a bit more than using CFL's and screw in bases, but with, I feel, a better quality of light. Lighting--good lighting--isn't cheap. Figure the cost of at least a few locomotives to do it right.


Fixtures attached to L-girder stiffeners along the front of the lighting valance. They can either be daisy-chained using short cords between fixtures, or butted next to each other using a small adapter.

With a half-hour of work, I had the first three "test" fixtures installed above Narrabri, and I was damned impressed by how they look. I've already ordered the rest of what I'll need to finish the layout, and I highly recommend these to others looking for an easy to install and compact lighting system for their shelf-type model railroad.


Good, even lighting--and lots of it. Sorry for lack of depth of field. . this shot hand-held without a tripod.

Motive Power of the North-West. . . .

48 Class 4852, assigned to Werris Creek loco, on the inspection pit at Narrabri West. These were the dominant locomotive in the North-West (Photographer unknown; apologies if the photographer objects). . .

Now that construction is well along on the upper level of the North-West NSW layout, it might be a good time to look at the locomotives and rolling stock that will populate the railway when it is up and operating. First, the locomotives.If you like Alco locomotives, you'd love the New South Wales Railway of the 1970s. Alco was the dominant motive power in NSW, with only a few token orders of EMD-powered locomotives denting the Alco dominance.

For photographs of these and all other classes of Australian locomotives, I truly recommend Brian's Loco Photographs.

48 Class
The prototype: The branchlines of New South Wales were dominated by 165 48 Class Alco-Goodwin DL-531 delivered in four batches between 1959 and 1970. The six-motor locomotives weighed only 170,000 lbs, and were powered by a six-cylinder Alco 251B. These locomotives killed off steam on the North-West branchlines; the locomotives working through Narrabri were largely assigned to Werris Creek. Even today, the surviving 48's, largely from the higher-numbered fourth series, toil on for current owner Pacific National. A handful of other older units survive in service for the smaller operators, many leased from museums. The model: Powerline has had a model of the 48 class available for over 10 years; however, the detail is clunky, the wheel sets equipped with "pizza cutter" flanges, and the drive. . .well, only one truck is powered. At least two third-party replacement underframes with six-axle drive are available, as are a slew of detail parts. However, all this will be rendered obsolete sometime next year when Trainorama delivers their first release of this locomotive. The early samples look very nice! I've got an initial three on order, and will likely order a few more when the Mark III or Mark IV versions are produced.



Detail photos of a test-run of the new Trainorama 48 Class, due 2009. (photo stolen off the Trainorama website)

49 Class
Amid the flood of 48's being delivered in the early 1960s, NSWGR turned to Clyde-GM for an equivalent EMD-powered branchliner, the 49 Class, or G8C model. Powered by an 8-cylinder EMD 567CR, 18 950-horsepower 49's were delivered between 1960 and 1964, largely as a political favor to keep Clyde interested in the New South Wales market. Weighing in at 180,000 lbs., they were largely assigned to operate between Parkes and Broken Hill, though they were occasional visitors to Narrabri. Personally, I don't think they're the most attractive locomotives in the world, but their chunky looks are distinctive. The model: Brass imports and white-metal kits of the 49 Class have been available for while, but Trainorama has delivered a superbly detailed and smooth-operating model early in 2008. I'm adding one to the roster .

47 Class
The wierdest of the trio of "branchliner" diesels in the NSW was the 20 Catepillar-powered locos built by Goninan in 1972-73. The locomotives were troublesome throughout their careers, prone to overheating. They were also occasional visitors to Narrabri, though assigned most of their careers to Bathurst or Broadmeadow (Newcastle). The 16-cylinder prime mover delivered 1130hp, weighing 180,000 lbs. Supposedly, the NSWGR was hard up for more branchline locomotives at the time to complete dieselization; Clyde refused to bid on an order, and Goodwin was unable to deliver additonal 48's in a timely manner. The model: The first of the trio of Trainorama NSWGR branchliner models--stunning. Wish I needed more than one!

44 Class
Operation of the 100 DL500B "world locomotive" Alco-Goodwin cab units was rare into Narrabri; but, i'll exercise a bit of modeler's license here. Essentially a cab unit version of an RSD15 with 1940 horspower output using a 251-series Alco prime mover. These units worked every mainline in New South Wales since their deliver commenced in 1957. Most were retired by the early 1990s, but a handful survive in service today for CFCLA and Independent Railway of Australia as well as heritage operators. The model: Though Lima has offered a rather crude model for years, Trainorama--who else?--offers a superb model. The 4464 was my first Australian model, and led me into this madness. . .

442 Class
Australian railways in the 1970s embraced the double-ended boxcab arrangement for locomotives. . .unfortunately. In New South Wales, the railway followed the national trend by acquiring 40 updated DL500B's, designated the DL500G, in 1971. Powered by the Alco 12-251C, these also produced around 2000 horsepower. The "Jumbos" were built by Goodwin, and, after it went out of business, Commonwealth Engineering (Comeng). They too served across the state on all mainlines before their demise in the 1990s. Several were scrapped, though most survived, either revived by operators such as Silverton, or used as rebuild fodder for CFCLA. The Model: I believe AR Kits/Lloyds Models produced a white metal kit, but the most popular version was produced by Austrains and is still occasionally found on ebay or Oztion. Austrains is planning to upgrade the model and rerelease it in 2009 or 2010. I'll be adding one of these for freight service when I can find a good deal on a used one.

Namoi River bridge, blue skies, and points

Mocked up: 47 Class crosses "Namoi River" roughed in with ceiling tiles. . .

Crossing the Namoi River
Between the stations of Narrabri and Narrabri West on my model railway, the Namoi River must be bridged. On the prototype NSWGR, two lengthy pile trestles (similar to the one between Narrabri and Wee Wa) cross the river and its flood plain between Narrabri Jct. and Narrabri; the river helps define the area, so a model of the bridge--shortened considerably--is a signature element of the railway in Narrabri. Such a river crossing and bridge would be a first for me as a modeler, so building such a crossing on an otherwise nearly-flat upper deck was a bit intimidating to me. The bridge isn't that tall--less than 20' or so--and will be approximately 200 scale feet long.
Ceiling tiles carved to profile. . .

To model the sloping river bed and the approaches of the railway to the bridge, I'm following methods used by U.S. modeler Jim Six and using stacked layers of ceiling tile, shaped and sanded to a correct profile. The construction of the east bank of the river so far has been extremely dusty--when I complete the west side, I'll wet down the ceiling tile beforehand with soapy water from a spray bottle. But so far I'm impressed by how well ceiling tile contours. An alternative would be 2" thick extruded insulation foam. I mocked up the scene, once again, and posed my trusty 47 Class and a few FWH atop a thin board filling in for the not-yet-completed pile trestle.

Paint test--blue sky and Indian Red. . .

A deeper blue sky
The styrene sheet backdrop on the layout is re-cycled from the previous Walla Walla Valley. I never was happy with the shade of blue used on it however; while it looked great to the eye, it photographed nearly white. Since I had to repaint portions of the backdrop anyway following puttying and sanding of the new seams, I decided a slightly darker shade was in order. I photographed my 47 Class locomotive under the flourescent light with paint samples from the local home-improvement store in the background. From the photo, I chose a shade--Behr "Windjammer," from Home Depot-- that looked slightly darker than a near-horizon shade of blue, then blended that darker blue with the lighter blue paint I already had on hand. I'm pleased with the result. At some point, clouds will be added as well as landforms near the horizon.


Final choice: Behr "Windjammer" doesn't blow out in photographs.


Fast Tracks Code 70 #7 points in place. . .

Do-it-yourself Points
If I had my druthers, I'd purchase all my trackage ready-to-run. Thankfully, MicroEngineering offers great-looking Code 70 flex track. But when it comes to turnouts (points), I have to balance availability, esthetics of the product, and price in order to build a railway with nearly 50 turnouts. With the exception of a few crossing loop points that will be #8 frog geometry, nearly all the rest of the points on this layout will be a #5. And since I've settled on Code 70 rail for a more prototypic look than the usual Code 83 profile, my choices of ready-to-run are pretty limited. Actually, quite limited. As in, none. So that leaves me the option of buckling under and using Code 83, changing to a longer frog turnout, such as a #6, or sticking to my guns and going with the Code 70 #5 option--even if it means scratch-building the turnouts. Thankfully, I'll have a little help in the process thanks to the folks at Fast Tracks, who offer a nifty aluminum jig to hold components in gauge while you assemble a turnout using MicroEngineering rail, PC board copper-clad ties, and laser-cut ties to finish the model. They also offer a nifty tool that holds rail in place for filing into precise points and frogs as well. The initial prices is high for a starter kit (which includes the jigs, the filing tools, some rail, solder, contact cement and PC and wooden ties enough to get you going), but I figure by the time I've completed the turnouts I need the cost will be down to around $12-14 per turnout. Since Peco Code 83 #5 turnouts are going for around $25 a piece these days, this makes economic sense. And the turnouts look pretty nice, are very smooth-operating, and feature a much-nicer looking continuous rail from frog to points. My first turnout built using the jig was perfectly acceptable, and took around 2 hours. Now I've completed nearly 10 of them, they're even more nicely assembled, and I'm down to around 1'15" per turnout of construction time.


Two last Mock Up photos. . .
It's heartening to get to this point where I've got some track down, I'm ready to go with wiring, and no too far from putting down ballast, ground cover and dirt. Here's a couple final views at Narrabri:


Nearly ready for ground covering and structures: NSWGR 4716 leads 10 WHX wheat hoppers through Narrabri. . .


Going-away view as Guard Van passes the Keys Pty. Ltd. flour mill. On right distance is carriage shed spur; left distance is the station, and beyond that the goods shed.

Next: Locos and Rolling Stock--prototype and appropriate models. . . .