MURRUMBIDGEE MAIL

Issue 6 CONSIST
* GOVERNORS CAR * BRANCHLINE? * TEMORA MAIL TRAIN * SWINE FLU? *MUSINGS FROM THE ROOMS *TRACK CLEANING *MECHANICAL SIGNALLING PART 2 * MEET THE MEMBERS * HISTORY * HOME SIGNAL

Only a few months to go now. Graeme is ramping up the enthusiasm now for our Tenth Annual Model Railway And Hobby Exhibition. Seems only yesterday a small group of members was searching for advice and ideas as well as a suitable venue to establish this fine event. What a fabulous time that first weekend was. From memory, there was something like $300 in the kitty and we worked on a budget of just $3000 in total costs to be recouped, hopefully, from the door takings with the costs being reduced to an extent by donated goods and services. We were all wondering just how much each we would have to put up for the shortfall. Our hall rental is now almost that much on its own. Fuel costs and consequently the amount we forward to our exhibiting layouts has had to be increased. Our first time out, we relied heavily on friends within the hobby to come and exhibit knowing they may not get any fuel money for their efforts. And most of them are still lining up for return visits. This year we have already said sorry we cannot fit you in to quite a few. We would hope that visitors this year will recognize the huge effort from a small band ably supported by a large circle of like minded visiting groups, in opening this varied hobby to the general public in the form of a family oriented display of some of the best Model Railways from a 500 kilometre radius. We should also remember some of those who helped us with advice way back in the year 2000 prior to our first show, a show which is now firmly on the calendar of many Model Rail enthusiasts from all over NSW, Vic and the ACT.

SUBMISSIONS:
To the Editor Ian McIntyre ianmac57@bigpond.net.au Preferably in word format and pictures in JPEG format separately. A flash or thumb drive may be used or CD. These will be returned.

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

PO Box 6340 Wagga Wagga Business Centre NSW 2650

G'day All, Well, we are quickly approaching the 10th Wagga Wagga Model Railway & Hobby Exhibition. This year in the run up to the Show we are having a fund raiser at Bunnings Wagga Homebase store. This is in the form of a BBQ Sausage Sizzle etc. We are also doing a display at the Market place. We are hoping to sell Raffle Tickets and to use both events to advertise our show. We have placed a 1/4 page add in the 5th edition of Model Railways in Australia. This will be circulating prior to AMRA's Liverpool Exhibition. This magazine is proving very popular as it is obtainable at most Train Shows for free as well as being on sale at various Hobby Shops and at most Newsagents through Gordon & Gotch. We have had a number of people contact the Club from our area that wanted to visit the clubrooms who either subscribe or buy the Magazine through their Newsagents. So it is being read. To aid our presentation as a group, Fleur West has organized T Shirts for Club Members. If you have not ordered yours yet you can by contacting Fleur on 69 203 540. When the Train Show gets closer we have a Poster that we would like to be spread around the district. So if you are going to neighbouring towns in the next couple of months you may be able to place one of our posters on a bulletin board or in a shop window. Most retailers are happy to do this. Please contact the committee if you can place a poster or two. Yours till next issue. Graeme Hearn President.

COMING EVENTS
Building Plastic models Work shop date TBA.
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.

OUR TOWN Model Show, Newcastle, August 29 and 30 The Sydney AMRA Exhibition is back at its more well known location this year, the Whitlam Centre at Liverpool. October long week end. Bunnings BBQ/Club Fundraiser. Let Steve know when you will be available to do a shift cooking snags. Our annual exhibition will be held November 7 and 8.
2

MODELLING IDEAS: Build a Branch Terminus Lately, I have been asking myself a lot of questions, yes, arm chair modelling, about what I would like to do for a major personal project for the next few years. Whilst I have discussed this conundrum with myself, I have decided that building a smaller project may well be the thing to do to keep the hand in so to speak and to try some techniques. I have been discussing this with one of my friends and we have between us decided that a small switching layout would be fun and may even be able to be used elsewhere. We have been throwing track plans at one and other for some time, many of which have been published plans, but of late we have been exploring prototype plans to come up with something which may be more interesting to build, operate and maybe even exhibit. One of the simplest we have come across so far is the plan of Crookwell. This delightful little plan could easily be built by even a moderately skilled enthusiast. 6 sets of points in total would not stretch the budget too far or if hand laying track, would not tax the patience too far. To help limit overall costs, a cassette style fiddle could be used A small yard like this would be perfect as an educational tool once finished as operation, although reasonably simple, is complicated by the two offset loops. The turntable means that all locos can arrive and depart cab leading simplifying the fiddle operation as a cassette can simply be reversed in readiness for the next train. Members of the general public could easily drive this under instruction, making it a wonderful promotional tool. There are very few buildings, further containing costs and the one which will be looked most closely at, is the Station itself. Here we could use the new station building From Casula Hobbies and I understand that Joe is considering a Goods Shed for the range, if you do not wish to scratch build one. You could use a manual turn table or I guess use diesels and lift the table leaving just the track in place, rationalization! As for rolling stock, lets see, 2 maybe 3 locos, maybe a half dozen assorted bogie wagons, MLE, GLV etc, a handful of 4 wheelers, S, K, LV and a few brake vans, maybe a railmotor or at least an FS or a CS for passengers and a parcel/mail van. This is a classis branch terminus, a type very popular with British Modellers due to their space limitations, but full of operational potential. This is a perfect step up from the toy-like 6 by 4 oval.

Temora Mail and Temora Mail After reading Ians interesting article on the 70s Temora Mail in the last issue of MM, I thought a complimentary follow-up comparing the late 50s early 60s Temora Mail might interest some readers. Ians comment about the make up of the train being a motley collection of hand me down passenger and parcel vehicles still holds true, probably even more so, as there were more of them. The Temora Mail of this period was a unique train in its own right, departing Central (Sydney Terminal as it is now known) at 2025 hrs, (8.25pm), sometimes transporting the writer from boarding school in Sydney, to Barmedman in the South West, just north of Temora. The train consist, during 1958, for example was: ACM, CR, LAM, BS, FS, MHO, MHO, KP, and MHO. (Sometimes the MHOs would be replaced with EHOs). The ACM was usually detached at Harden for the Cowra line and the KP and Third MHO, having fulfilled their duties, detached at Cootamundra. The consists would vary slightly depending on load and availability, day of the week etc. The train ran as No. 5 Temora Mail, Sunday to Friday nights inclusive, stopping at most major centres such as Campbelltown, Picton, Mittagong, Bowral, Moss Vale, Goulburn, Yass Junction, Binalong, Harden, Wallenbeen and arriving at Cootamundra at or about dawn the next morning, depending how thick the fog was during winter. Here the motive power, either a C36 or C38, depending on load and availability, was detached from the lead end of the train and a C32 attached to the rear end, (whilst the writer had another of the notorious railway coffees). With the 32 firmly in place the train headed off back towards Sydney, but swinging west through Cootamundra West to Stockinbingal and Temora.
LAM by Dennis Clarke

While the passengers, continuing on, enjoyed a hearty breakfast in the Temora Railway Refreshment Rooms, the fun started on the tracks with the shunters dividing the train into two. The BS, FS and one MHO, forming the consist to Griffith and the CR and other MHO forming the train to continue on northwards to Wyalong Central. The sleeper LAM was usually detached at Temora, but has been known to continue to Wyalong. These two trains would normally be hauled by a C30 Tender loco from the Temora Loco contingent. And if that wasnt enough, it all happened in reverse that afternoon and night. Now from the modelers point of view this raises some interesting challenges. The Locomotives are available as DJH kits or recently the 32 and 36 RTR from Trainorama and Austrains respectively. The FS, BS and MHO have long been available from Powerline RTR, and with a little detailing, i.e. roof vents, and a bit of weathering etc. make a nice train. However the CR, LAM and ACM are where the challenges begin. To my knowledge none of these three are available RTR. The BR from Ian Lyndsay Models could be substituted for the CR as sometimes a BR would run with Second stickers on the windows of the compartments on one end. Or, the CR can be scratch built using L&C sides from AR
ACM by Dennis Clarke

kits. The ACM, is a bit more of a challenge, I built one using some windows from a Lima TAM car and some from L&C sides. The LAM I built using windows from a TAM and a few from the L&C sides. My version of the Temora Mail some will remember also doing a few stints on Stockinbingal at various exhibitions including Wagga some years ago. It was my time with the Wagga club that prompted me to model my Temora Mail, a train in which I had travelled several times. It still runs occasionally on my Barmedman layout. Dennis Clarke Although I had also travelled by Mail Train home from Boarding School in Sydney, my reason to build my Temora Mail revolved around my desire to have an actual set of cars that I could rightly call by their name. Dennis has noted nostalgia as his reason for building his set. It is very interesting speaking with different people to learn why they model what they do. A very common reason is to recreate something from the past. We are slowly loosing our older enthusiasts and nostalgia will soon have to be learnt from a photograph in an old book or grainy film clip. It wont be long and our only contact with a steam loco will be a heritage tour. We already get a little misty thinking about a 40 class or in Victoria a blue and gold bulldog. Take the time to listen to the older enthusiasts. They have much to share. editor
5

SWINE FLU? Horror of Horrors, the bastion of the kit built loco has been infiltrated. Macca has acquired a PLASTIC STEAMER. Although I have seen so many running on home and exhibition layouts, I had also heard and unfortunately listened to all the stories about the ones with issues. So until Saturday at the Epping Model Railway Show, I did not own one. An example of the Austrains Pig (NSWR 36 class) found its way into the boot of the car to come home with me from one of my favourite shows of the year. As I was staying with friends before travelling home, it was unpacked to see what we could see. Yeah well, new toy, had to see it run. After deciding that yes a black loco was the best choice for my future plans, we decided that I would at least have to lightly weather this old girl to take away that plastic sheen. Apart from that, a crew, maybe a Gladstone bag and a spare shovel along with real coal for the tender, I like mine about half to two thirds full, and 3666 will look good pressed into service on a goods or at the head of an N set. Yes, there are a couple of pipes and conduits modelled in half relief to keep the cost down and a number of minor omissions such as the lubricator actuator, but from three feet, the model looks fine and some light dry brushing and weathering will enhance it. Any one familiar with James McInerneys web site can view before and after shots of his Austrains 36 with cab handrails replaced with brass wire and turned brass handrail knobs and the previously mentioned lubricator actuator rod fitted along with the curled air lines from the cylindrical tanks under the footplate. These small changes add a lot of personality to the model. After a couple of laps to allow her to step out any tightness that may be present, (there wasnt, the loco ran flawlessly immediately), it was time to back up to a train and really try her out. The selected set was a 6 car HUB set which was weighted to well past 100gm per car for smoother rolling. (The sound through frogs and at track joints alone is worth the effort). With no wheel slip, 3666 lifted the set from the stand still and with no fuss smoothly accelerated to an acceptable speed. After several laps it was time to try the HILL. The grade is in the order of 125mm in just over maybe 2.5metres with a better than 90 degree curve towards the top section of just under 24 radius. Gee this will test the girl I heard myself say, but no, around again and reduce the throttle setting, and again the grade was conquered with reasonable ease. The loco was not slipping or bucking, just a loss of some of the speed as would be expected. I resisted the urge to see how many cars would be a maximum load on this grade, as the loco was already pulling much more in weight than what most modellers would ever expect to have seen behind a pig in service. Even the Riverina Express RUB was at best a 7 car set and Pigs often assisted the 38s in various locations. Why then would we expect our plastic motive power to be able to haul more? In short, the loco is too shiny for mine, but I can fix that. Having said that, the vast majority of these will probably never be touched, but will run as they are. In fact, I have seen many already running on Exhibition Layouts exactly as they came and pulling cars straight from the box. The paintwork is nice and even and is of the usual satin finish common to most retail offerings, the red lining is sharp and fine closely matching photos of similar locos from the 36 class. Much of the fine added detail, whistle, hand rails etc, appear to be metal. My loco runs smoothly and performs well. I am sure there are many dimensional flaws yet the overall appearance of the model is exceptional. Yes, Macca is happy with his plastic steamer and will run it amongst his kit built stud quite happily.
6

Musings from the Rooms:Thoughts are being directed to the local big annual event for us. Whilst we may all have different directions to travel all year, from about now until November, we all focus on our Wagga Wagga Model Railway and Hobby Exhibition. We try and think of different things to do and different ways to do things so as to ensure that the event goes smoothly and profitably for us. Great pains are taken each year and should be to ensure that we are good hosts to our visitors, trade, display and paying. This year we will again be supporting the NSW Cancer Council by collecting on their behalf. They may even contribute to the weekend by having a presence via their own display at the show. I do hope this is possible for them. Graeme and I have a long list of interested persons and groups already showing interest in being a part of our tenth show. I personally would like to thank in some small way some of the people who have been tremendous supporters/mentors/friends to our club and its members, especially when we were first entering the public side of the hobby. This could be done by way of a small plaque similar to the Life Memberships Plaques so generously presented last year. Obviously the recipients will need to be kept secret until the presentation.

TRACK CLEANING
OK, so the loco was running perfectly when you checked it at home and you know it was serviced properly before placing it on the club layout and now it wont go. Maybe it ran for a few metres and began to run very jerkily and will only move a few inches now before stalling completely. There could be many reasons for this but I will bet vital parts of my anatomy that electrical pick up is the problem. Wheels need to be kept very clean on your loco and your carriages. If you are not in the habit of cleaning the wheels, you will see a build-up of grot and grime on the treads of wheels on all of your rolling stock. This will cause poor rolling and possibly derailments. With your loco, it is likely that you will now notice along with some grot and grime, very fine corrosion on the tread. This is caused by the electricity arcing between the rail and the tread. This is caused by dust or similar causing the wheel to lift away from the rail head. A spark can jump the gap. This leaves a pit or burn mark on the wheel as well as the rail head. This pit, along with a few thousand just like it, although very small, will provide insulation next time around and cause even more sparks and pits. How do we avoid this? Quite easily really. The track must firstly be cleaned. An abrasive rubber like the Peco Track Rubber can be used, but dont forget to go back along the track and clean up the rubber residue with a cloth dampened with possibly some Methylated Spirits. The rubber residue may only act like the dust and corrosion that got us here in the first place. Once this is done, many use some oil to protect the surface. Wahl oil available form a barber or some LaBelle 108 is very good. Do not use a mineral oil like the Singer oil your Mum has. It will attack plastics. Another product is Rail Zip. This is a great item and I can highly recommend it. A couple of drops on the railhead, usually in a fiddle yard neck is dispersed around the layout by the trains themselves. Some people complain about the buildup of residue on the track after oiling or using Rail Zip. That means that the process is working. Firstly, the muck from the carriage wheels is being cleaned and deposited on the rail and in the case of Rail Zip, this muck is now suspended in an electrically conductive mix. By all means clean this off with a clean rag without using any solvents or cleaning fluids. Reapply oil or Rail Zip as needed, but just a couple of drops. Macca

The Home Signal.

A home signal is a controlled signal which directly protects a permanent risk within an interlocking. E.g. Points or a level crossing. An interlocking would typically be a station area or other yard area controlled from a signal box or frame. The home signal can be controlled by the signaller or fixed to display a permanent STOP indication. When more than 1 home is controlled from a signal box they are numbered in order of approach e.g. home, 2nd home, 3rd home, starter

Distinguishing which signal does which line

To correctly refer to signals they are deemed UP or Down. And the way this is done is like this. Imagine that Sydney is on top of a large mountain. All trains going to Sydney need to go UP the hill. Trains going away from Sydney are going DOWN the hill. So Down trains will approach the Down home signal and UP trains will approach the UP Home. The NSW system also used height and size to distinguish which signals related to which line. The higher and larger signal arm signified the Main line, the lower and smaller arm signified a lesser road, e.g. loop or siding. Heres an easy example. A bracket home signal at the approach to a crossing loop will have 2 signal arms, 1 high and the other 4 lower and on the side that the loop is located. The loop signal will also have a smaller arm.

Starting Signal
The Starting or Starter is a fixed signal. It is the last signal the driver will pass when leaving the interlocking. When cleared it authorises the driver to proceed towards the next signal box/station, provided they have the correct authority for the section, e.g. staff or ticket or in some cases just the green light in the signal is authority! (CTC)

Just a side note a section is the area between 2 interlockings, e.g Wagga to Kapooka is a section and Bomen to Wagga is a section. The section is determined by where the authority or token has to be changed, or the method of safe-working changes, e.g Block telegraph to Automatic, electric staff to staff & ticket. Dale Richards

The driver of this train will have little doubt regarding the state of the road ahead as it will be indicated by the position of the signals and all he needs is to know what they mean.

Meet the Members

Fleur & Les West are both enjoying their retirement, well Fleur is as Les still drives a school bus from time to time. They call the Main Street of down town Yerong Creek home, right on the Main South and get to see main line traffic over the back fence. Trains no longer stop regularly at Yerong Creek but that has not stopped the interest and both enjoy the hobby as well as their garden and grandchildren. Fleur was Postmistress at Yerong creek for many years and enjoys a good novel, word puzzles, and likes early American trains. Les was a motor mechanic by trade and has a keen interest in any hands on activity from repairing lawn mowers to renovating the family home. His many interests include wood work and his choice is NSW Trains. They both became members of the club approx 18 months ago and have become integral members of the group. Les was almost immediately thrown in as Vice President, a position he still holds and Fleur was saddled with the unenviable job of Treasurer. Both have taken to these tasks readily and have become tireless workers within the Club. Fleur and Les mostly enjoy the social side of the hobby and the friendships formed within the group. Probably a product of the quiet lifestyle they have adopted in retirement. The back shed which has been a place for hobbies for some time has acquired bench-work and track which will become their little piece of this Model Railway hobby to enjoy and to be entertained by for some time to come..

Old American Train, the JOHN BULL on Tumut. Photo Courtesy Andrew Lawson

10

HISTORY LESSON:) To choose an Australian prototype to model may have seemed silly at the time, after all we were mostly modelling American roads at that time. Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, Pennsylvania, Santa Fe, Milwaukee Road and Rio Grande were all represented, in steam and diesel. The main thing that we brought with us from our American back grounds was operation. Most Australian layouts of that time were basically tail chasers. I dont mean that in a derogatory manner, but it is true to say that what we were seeing at exhibitions were generally dual main layouts, generally with a nicely modelled station and some scenery. Lets face it, that was probably the most common because it is easy to keep trains running and in motion and the general public like to see the trains moving. The enthusiast however, was being attracted to in many cases, lesser known prototypes with simple themes and often labour intensive operation. There were some very nice layouts around, still are, based on various long past English Rail companies and operated as point to point layouts. A train arrived, and needed turning, remarshalling and readying for the return trip to the fiddle yards. We discussed combining both types of operation on what ever we would build. Stockinbingal would be built as close to the prototype as our generous size would allow. Being a branch familiar with all types of train allowed us to operate in a tail chaser mode, many long trains. Being a junction, forced us to cross trains correctly. This staggering of trains forced us to operate. The simplest operation on Stock was waiting at the platform for a down train to clear the single line section. In real life, Stockinbigal saw very little operation other than grain movements. Of course we made sure that we shunted the silo fairly regularly, even to the point of mimicking actual train movements caused by a faulty set of points we were told about by drivers. We also tried to keep train movements close to prototypically correct as discussed with us by various railway staff. No matter what we were capable of doing on the layout, there was always the possibility that one operator may at times need to be able to run the display. We made sure that reverting to a simple tail chaser was possible. With practice, one person could operate a train in either direction, but it took some diligence and full attention to the task in hand. So this did not happen very often. As we work towards a permanent railway in our club rooms, it is interesting to note that we as yet have not included much in the way of large yards. Personally, I do not see this as a deficit. Most of our current members are happy to simply see a train run. To be honest, that is probably the most relaxing task we have and it is good to simply sit back and watch every now and then. Once the two mainlines are operational again, the possibility of basic time table operation will be enough of a challenge for most of us and will not be beyond the ability of most visitors. Operations on Stockinbingal were basic, but based on what actually happens or happened on the real thing. When you watch other exhibition layouts, pay close attention to the things that catch your eye. Watch as a coal train rolls past the loader, or a wagon or two are spotted by a dock or warehouse, a string of oil tankers are collected from the local fuel depot, or a milk pot gets added to the back of a commuter. Except in major locations or industrial areas, we just do not have large freight yards. When we do have yards, they are designed for a purpose. Cootamundra is well suited as a crew change station as there is room to store and service a number of trains off the main. Darling Harbour was all about getting freight to and from the ships. Our South Main station is designed to service the branch. Our City station is simply a through junction. Both were designed to fulfil a role and have only what is necessary.
11

HOME SIGNAL
Paint Pressure Packs Under Pressure: It seems that the humble pressure pack of paint may be in an amount of stress. The word is that it will shortly be a requirement that retailers who sell them will need not only to have a locked cabinet to store them in and will only be able to sell the items to people obviously over 18 or who can prove that they are over 18, but will also need to hold a special license to allow them to carry the items in stock for possible sale. I have heard of one major retailer many of us visit regularly who are not going to continue offering them for sale for this reason. I wonder how many will follow suit. Whether this will extend to cans of propellant for basic air brush setups I do not know. I am just glad I have a decent air brush and compressor.

New Products
At Epping, Austrains had all their new Flat car variants on display and available for sale. They are variants of the MLE Flat Wagon and they look great. Ontrack Models had samples of their NSW CH wagons on display at Epping Model Railway Exhibition. Very Nice. Boxes of three. If you cant use three, split a box with your mates. By next issue I should be able to comment on the Balmain Drawing Board NSW Signal Box kit. This kit is supplied as a set of styrene sheets scribed by computer which need to be cut apart and reassembled to resemble The box at Scarborough. My initial impression is that the model is well thought out and will form the basis of a very sweet looking model. The kit lacks interior detail but a lever kit is also available from Balmain Drawing Board. Some people, general clutter and thought in assembly should result in a very respectable model.

12