AMRA JOURNAL NO. 295 – JAN/FEB 2007 PAGE 1 J OURNAL

AMRA JOURNAL NO. 295 – JAN/FEB 2007 PAGE 1

J OURNAL

AUSTRALIAN MODEL RAILWAY ASSOCIATION AUSTRALIAN MODEL RAILWAY ASSOCIATION AUSTRALIAN MODEL RAILWAY ASSOCIATION INCORPORATEDINCORPORATEDINCORPORATED

Vol. 56 No. 295Vol. 56 No. 295Vol. 56 No. 295

ISSN 0045ISSN 0045ISSN 0045---071507150715

Print Post ApprovedPrint Post ApprovedPrint Post Approved

Jan Jan Jan --- FebFebFeb 200720072007


Information and Directory of Office Holders - AMRA Federal Committee

President Graham Larmour 42 McMillan Street Yagoona NSW 2199 02 9790 5074 email: [email protected] Vice President Denice Tyson 22 Tobruk Avenue Carlingford NSW 2118 02 9872 3512 Secretary John Mann 121/5-7 Beresford Road, Strathfield NSW 2351 02 9764 4004

email: [email protected]

Registrar Stephen Chapman PO Box 429 Moorebank NSW 1875 02 9824 1295 email: [email protected] Treasurer Brian Tyson 22 Tobruk Avenue Carlingford NSW 2118 02 9872 3512 email: [email protected] Website: http://www.amra.asn.au email: [email protected]

New South Wales Committee

President Barry Wilcockson 11 Richmond Close St Johns Park NSW 2176 02 9610 7356 Secretary Geoff Lanham 18 Calvados St Glenfield NSW 2167 02 9829 3362 Treasurer Marilyn Wilcockson 11 Richmond Close St Johns Park NSW 2176 02 9610 7356 Clubroom address and phone: 48 Barry Avenue (P.O. Box 277) Mortdale NSW 2223 02 9153 5901

Victorian Committee

President Stuart Pattison 3-5 Brunning Street Upwey Vic 3158 03 9754 6858 Secretary John Harry 68 Lahona Avenue Bentleigh East Vic 3165 03 9570 4406 Treasurer Stuart Westerman 10 Gardenia Crescent Cheltenham Vic 3192 03 9583 8655 Clubrooms address and phone: 92 Wills Street Glen Iris Vic 3146 03 9885 7034

Queensland Committee

President Dennis McLean PO Box 24 Nundah, Qld, 4012, 07 3266 8515 Secretary Peter Dusha 18 Ginahgulla Street Mt Gravatt East Qld 4122 07 3349 0351 Treasurer Michael Clark PO Box 2120 Brookside Centre 4053 07 3355 9951 Clubrooms address and phone: 20 Murphy Road (P.O. Box 352) Zillmere Qld 4034 07 3862 9633

Western Australian Committee

Journal Advertising Rates Type Size (W x H) Casual Rate Regular Rate

Inside Pages Hobby Shop Directory 85 x 40 n/a $55.00 six issues Quarter page 85 x 130 $17.60 $14.30 per issue Half page 188 x 130 $33.00 $22.00 per issue Full Page 188 x 273 $55.00 $44.00 per issue

Inside/Outside Back Cover Half page 188 x 130 $44.00 $38.50 per issue Full Page 188 x 273 $77.00 $66.00 per issue

All rates quoted include GST Casual Rates apply for one off advertisers Regular rates apply when ads are ordered to appear in six or more issues

AMRA JOURNAL is the official journal of the Australian Model Railway Association Incorporated and is published six times per year.

Circulation is 1000 copies (Australia Wide). Our ABN is 93 381 859 617.

Advertising Deadlines: All advertising copy/artwork should be sent to the Advertising Manager by the 14th of the even month (February, April, June, August, December). All payments for advertising must be made in advance by the same date. Regular advertisers may pay in two equal installments with the se-cond payment being due by the 14th of the even month preceding the advertisement’s fourth appear-


M y first task as the new JOURNAL editor, is to wish all members a Very Happy New Year. I trust you had an enjoyable Christmas and received plenty of modelling

goodies. Secondly, I would like to thank Neil Riches for his efforts over the past 11 years, in bringing this publication into political correct-ness and getting it to you on a bi-monthly basis. Having said this, nothing will change with regards the deadlines and standards and I hope to con-tinue with the same quality or better in the coming issues. The deadlines for 2007 can be found elsewhere in this issue and they will be strictly adhered to if JOURNAL is to be printed on time and mailed to you by the last week of each odd month. Please keep the arti-cles coming in, as your input is required to ensure we have a continuing amount of content for publication. We have the regular contributors but, don’t let them have to do all the work. If you have something you consider suitable send it to me for publication. Also, keep the photographs coming. Currently, I do not have many Australian profile pictures which are suita-ble for cover photographs. If you have any model (or prototype) pictures of good quality which feature the rolling stock as the main focus of the shot send them in. Please ensure the picture (if digital) is not too large as a file. Usually 640 x 480 pixels is large enough. You can use an electronic photo manipulation program to resize the picture to a decent size before sending i.e. Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro etc. Standard print photographs are also acceptable and can be posted to the address on the left. If you wish them returned please write your name and address on the back for easy identification. Finally, I would like to say, I look forward to the combined challenge of editing and publishing JOURNAL and hope you will support me in this endeavour by sending in photos, letters and articles. In the meantime as my predecessor says…….. GOOD MODELLING Stuart Pattison

EDITORIAL

Editorial 1

Federal Presidents Report 3

Popvalve 6

The Cooran Line 9

Local Rail News 13

My Time at Moldex 16

Branch News 21

Inside this issue:

JOURNAL BOX ...

Credits Editor/Publisher Stuart Pattison 3-5 Brunning St Upwey Victoria 3158 Tel:(03)97546858 Fax:(03)97544730 email: [email protected] Editor Emeritus Rex Little PO Box 46, Nunawading 3131 Advertising Manager Dale Kay 3-5 Brunning St. Upwey VIC 3158 Tel: (03)97546858 Fax: (03)9754 4730 email: [email protected] Typing Dale Kay Sub Editors: Queensland Deb Malone PO Box 312 Zillmere 4034 email: [email protected] Victoria Dale Kay 3-5 Brunning St Upwey VIC 3158 Tel 0397546858 Fax 0397544730 email: [email protected]

New South Wales Chris Winston PO Box 277 Mortdale NSW 2223

Tel 0408 445 495 email:[email protected]

Western Australia Editor ,The Branchline Ted Thoday email: [email protected]

Cartoonist Printing VicPrint AMRA Victorian Branch Printer Lawrie Bugeja Printing Manager Stuart Westerman Popvalve Photo Tony Hough courtesy The Dorrigo Steam Museum

COVER PHOTO

The AMRA Golden Jubilee Ex-press approaches Hurstville NSW station

Photo by:

Chris Winston


NEIL RICHES HLM – EDITOR 1995-2006

I magine your surprise if you were to find out in JOURNAL No.226 May-June-July1995 that you

were to be the New Editor (he was “railroaded”-says the then Managing Editor-Roger Lloyd). To me, it is a pity we could not

have more members with Neil’s ability and enthusi-asm “railroaded” into some of our administrative or committee positions. Reviewing Neil’s editorship over the past elev-en years, I can say, we should be thankful he ac-cepted and conscientiously filled that position. Neil’s introduction to the hobby was the present for his birthday in 1927 of an American Flyer spring driven tinplate train set. From his first editorial in Journal No. 227, Aug.-Sept.-Oct. 1995, he expounded the virtues of the model railway hobby and the complexity of the many varied scales and gauges. To assist members with their quest for more information on the model railway hobby he informed them of the variety of modelling information then available on the Internet. Neil always promoted the Association’s princi-ples of pooling and sharing resources in the railway modelling fraternity by using the pages of JOURNAL as an open forum to spread these ideas and the sharing of your varied interests in railway modelling. In the Editorial, Journal No.241 Jan.- Feb.1998, you were warned of Neil’s desire to improve the clar-ity and readability of JOURNAL and to that effect his intention to write an article “Writing for JOURNAL”. His Editorial in the 250th issue of Journal gave an insight into the amount of time and effort required of the “only volunteer” members to produce each issue.

Neil, like many other AMRA volunteer mem-bers, was not immune to the many other commit-ments most of us have such as family and work, grandchildren’s birthdays, school activities, medical and dental appointments. Any or all of these, can make the job of Editor or any other volunteers tasks more difficult and for which some members do not make these allowances. In Journal No.258 Nov – Dec 2000, Neil writing of himself as “yet barely computer literate” marvelled at the degree of reliance now being placed on all fields of IT such as computers, scanners, printers and software programs. He was not convinced, like many others, of their infallibility but ultimately this is the reason for now incorporating his Editor position into that of the Publisher/Layout Officer. In conclusion I must say Neil’s Editorship has been informative, enlightening, always supportive of both JOURNAL and the hobby in general, at times controversial, with his elementary English grammar lessons producing some detractors but many more supportive members. His main objective was to keep up the literary and readability standards of JOURNAL. For that we should all thank him for his devotion to this cause. Neil’s term as Editor commenced with correct-ing using a red pencil on hand written or typed sub-missions and progressed to the latest in computer techniques, so, Neil, on behalf of the Federal C.o.M., myself and, I am sure, all of our members, we wish you a long happy and healthy retirement with some time for your favourite railway modelling pastime. Graham Larmour, Federal President AMRA Inc.

CLOSING DATES & REQUIREMENTS Set out above are the CLOSING DATES for JOURNAL, in the various categories of material, for 2006/7. KEEP THIS TABLE HANDY ( YOU MAY PHOTOCOPY IT OR, EVEN CUT IT OUT!) BUT, MAKE SURE YOU DON’T LOSE IT.—Editor. All material not in electronic form should be sent to the Editor or the Advertising Officer as appropriate, with hard copy to the editor. All material in electronic form should be directed to the Editor or the Advertising Officer. Deadlines will be strictly observed; that means material MUST be in the hands of either the Editor or Advertising Officer by the dates set out above. If you do write an article and you use a computer please send an email or disk copy to the Editor. It saves a lot of time as articles don’t have to be scanned and corrected. All deadlines will be STRICTLY enforced.

JOURNAL NO COVER MONTHS

MAILING DATES Last Monday Odd Months

EDITORIAL MATERIAL

Last week days Odd Months

BRANCH NEWS 3rd Friday

Even Months

ADVERTISING MATERIAL

14th Day Even Months

296 MAR/APR 07 26/03/07 31/01/07 16/02/07 14/02/07

297 MAY/JUN 07 28/05/07 30/03/07 20/04/07 14/04/07

298 JUL/AUG 07 30/07/07 31/05/07 15/06/07 14/06/07

JOURNAL DATES


H ere we are, all another year older, with no sign of any new blood volunteering to assist in administering your association, currently

Australia’s largest, with four very active State Branches of which you all should be very proud. This year has been one of mixed fortunes and emotions: Brian Alcock, having found it necessary to give up the Registrar’s position due to his deteriorating health, took over the Secretary’s position with Ste-phen Chapman volunteering to accept the vacated position of Federal Registrar. This was fortunate for us, as Stephen was al-ready heavily involved with Brian, tailoring the “Member Ties” computer programme which has now been used successfully this year for the 2007 mem-bership renewals. Brian’s health continued to deteriorate requiring hospitalization where, on July 17th, he succumbed to the cancer which had plagued him for so long. On a brighter note, we introduced a coloured front cover for the March-April Journal #290. This issue was secretly processed by Stuart Pattison, Journal Layout Officer/Vic. Branch Presi-dent, the Vic Print crew and printed by an outside Printer. What feedback we have had so far has been in favour of the change; our ultimate aim is to be able to have the inside photos also in colour on more suit-able paper and center bound. This will happen, hopefully, during 2007. Ms Dale Kay volunteered take on the Advertising Manager’s duties from January 2006. My wife June had been “temporally” looking after this position for the past four (4) years and is now “temporally” assisting me with the Federal Secretary work. The PayPal system, introduced on our am-ra.asn.au web site, by our Federal Registrar has already been used by a number of new membership applicants. This may be extended in the future to membership renewals. As protection, against illegal use by any other persons or organizations, we have registered the Copyright of the AMRA Wheel on Rail logo and State variants, as presented to AMRA by the design-er the late C.E.[Cliff] Richardson on the 4th June, 1951. Last but not least, I have to congratulate NSW President, Barry Wilcockson, the CoM and those members who assisted with the wonderful and most enjoyable celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of the formation of our NSW Branch.

MEMBERSHIP.

Currently we have 1129 members, as per the Registrar’s Report of 24th November, 2006 showing one (1) more member than this time last year.

It is disappointing to note, once again, we have 151 members who have either failed or decided not to renew their membership.

MERITORIOUS AWARDS.

Our worthy recipients this year are: Stuart Patti-son, the hard working Vic. Branch President and Journal Publisher/Layout Officer and Robert Merrick, the dedicated quite achiever of the NSW Branch.

HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS. Ron Thomas, Laurie Bugeja, Robert [Bob] Dall, Robert (Bob) Marsden and Neil Riches on his retire-ment as JOURNAL Editor after editing the November/ December 2006 issue of JOURNAL. These are members of VicPrint to who we are in-debted for having voluntarily given up many hours of their own, railway modeling and operating time to edit, print, label, place in the envelopes, deliver to the Post Office and other associated tasks.

THIRTY YEAR MEMBERS. I am pleased to say, this year we have five (5) more of our members who have qualified for their Thirty (30) year membership badges, they are; Graham Stockfeld (Vic); Arno De Smalen (W)]; John Reid (NSW)]; John Colliver (VIC) and Peter Scarfe (WA). We appreciate your long continued membership with AM-RA Inc. and hope the time spent has been both fruitful and enjoyable. I am sure all committee members, both State and Federal, are pleased we have so many members who have chosen to retain their membership for so many

years.

50 YEAR MEMBER AWARD. No members qualified for the Award this year Sadly, I must report the passing away this year of Harold Warren, Member No.142 and John Knight, Member No.208. To their families and friends go our Deepest Sympathy. NORMAN READ B.E.M.PERPETUAL “O” GAUGE

AWARD. This year the awards were presented to “Ardival” layout (Victoria); Roger Solly (WA) “The Box Tunnel” and again this year “Stringybark Creek” (NSW) built by the Aus7 group members. To these winners go our congratulation for the support and promotion of “O” gauge model railways. I am disappointed that, as of now, there has not been any recipient in Queensland. Please note, the original intention of this award is, if you do not have an “O” gauge layout, any “O” scale 7mm/foot scratch or kit built loco, rolling stock or line side structure may qualify. The rules have

ANNUAL REPORT: FEDERAL PRESIDENT 2006. Australian Model Railway Association Incorporated.


been printed in JOURNAL a number of times. Should there be no qualifying model at your State Branch exhibition your models may be includ-ed in your Branches modelling Competition.

BALANCE SHEET. The annual Balance Sheet, presented by our Treasurer Brian Tyson, shows an operating profit of $5352.75. This is slightly higher than last year and is due to the continuing new membership trend.

JOURNAL. For a job well done, must congratulate, Stuart Pattison, our JOURNAL Publisher/Layout Officer and Stuart Westerman, Vic Branch Treasurer for the in-troduction of the coloured front cover of Journal. As previously stated, we hope to introduce col-oured inside pages which will enable us to print members favourite model railway photos which could then be incorporated into the Author Award competition. On behalf of the Federal C.o.M. and myself, I would like to thank our retiring JOURNAL Editor, Neil Riches and the VicPrint team for their continuing hard work and dedication in the printing and dis-patch of JOURNAL. With Neil Riches retirement, Stuart Pattison will incorporate the editing of JOURNAL into his Publisher/Layout Officer position.

Please note ALL material for JOURNAL should be forwarded to Stuart. (see credits for details—Editor)

FEDERAL COMMITTEE. The C.o.M. have continued with their efforts to serve the members and the Association which has been made more time consuming with the passing of our Federal Secretary, Brian Alcock. Assisted by my wife, June, I have taken on the Federal Secretary’s tasks until we are fortunate enough to find a member who would be willing to volunteer for the position. I wish to pass on my personal thanks to Denice Tyson, Vice President; Brian Tyson, Treasurer; Ste-phen Chapman, Registrar and Webmaster and June, Temporary Assistant Secretary; for their assis-tance and efforts in the administration of your Asso-ciation. In conclusion, I would like to wish all our mem-bers and their families a safe, happy, healthy and prosperous New Year and hope that your Christmas was a happy and enjoyable occasion celebrated with all your family and friends, with at least some time spent with your model railways. Graham Larmour. 24th November, 2006

I am presenting a combined report because the work I have done on the web site this year has been closely connected to the job of Registrar. The one new option implemented on the web site is for new members to join the Association via Paypal. The other changes to the web site have been mostly cos-metic with minor changes to the appearance of the pages. As Federal Registrar I have also implemented a number of changes over the past year which have made the job slightly easier to do and which should help to make it more manageable for the future. 1. New members can now join completely online by

filling out an online version of the membership application form and making the payment via Paypal. A number of new members have already taken the opportunity to join this way.

2. For the first time this year existing members have been given the opportunity to renew for three years instead of only one. Over 100 mem-bers took advantage of this offer and I therefore will not have to process renewals for those mem-bers again until 2009. I would like to say a spe-cial thank you to those members for reducing the work I need to do over the next two years.

3. Another change this year is the way in which

membership information is reported to the branch committees. Now, instead of sending out monthly reports re new memberships, changes of address and annual membership reports, all information is available online to selected mem-bers of each committee via our web site. These members can obtain this information whenever required, rather than waiting for a new report to be sent.

4. During the renewal period, use was made of a new facility written earlier in the year to process the renewals on the computer via a web page. This updated all information for the renewal of a whole family in one or two mouse clicks rather than having to enter values on two or three dif-ferent pages in the membership software. A whole day's worth of renewals could then be im-ported into the membership software in a half dozen more mouse clicks. This reduced the time taken to perform each renewal from about 3 minutes each down to about 2½ minutes for sen-ior and student members and to about 1½ minutes for each family member - a significant time saving when renewing well over 1000 mem-bers. This also means information on who has or has not renewed is available immediately to the Branch Committees.

The percentage of people who renewed on-time this year was just over 56%. This is an improvement

REGISTRAR & WEBMASTER’S REPORT - 2006 By Stephen Chapman


NOTICE This publication accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or reliability of articles or advertising published herein, state-ments made or opinions expressed in papers or discus-sions, nor do we necessarily subscribe to the views ex-pressed or implied by contributors. Neither is any guarantee implied or expressed as to the good conduct or practice of advertisers herein. This publica-tion reserves, at all times, the right to refuse acceptance of any matter considered unsuitable for publication.

on the just over 51% who renewed on-time last year. The number of members who had renewed during the extended grace period after the due date was also up with over 87% renewed this year compared to just over 78% last year. This gives us a total membership at the end of October of 1102 members compared to 966 last year. Not all renewals were as straightforward as I would have liked and there were a number I re-ceived which used as much as ½ of my time to han-dle each of them. These can be divided up into three groups. 1. Renewals received which were not accompanied

by the correct renewal form. As we use the mail centre and membership number from the top line of the renewal notice to process the renewals through the system, those which did not have this information took significantly longer to pro-cess as the corresponding information had to be retrieved for the member before being able to process the renewal. As it turns out a large per-centage of "renewals" not accompanied by the correct form came from people who did not re-ceive the correct form as they were not members of the Association in 2005/6 so were not entitled to renew. Due to the extended period, over which we accept renewals, there are also a num-ber of people who have forgotten they have al-ready renewed and tried to renew again.

2. Another problem area is where a number of membership renewals are received accompa-nied by a single cheque or money order. Often there were issues with one of the renewals in the batch which caused problems as the money did not match with the renewals processed and the subsequent receipt of the additional funds or cor-rections to membership information meant there were further complications in reconciling pay-ments to renewals. In future any batch of renew-als which has any issues at all will be returned to the sender to correct and resend.

3. The third issue relates to membership renewals paid by cash (which mostly applies to NSW branch although there are also a few members who still insist on sending cash through the mail.) This is the biggest problem where the money re-ceived is incorrect (which it often is) or where there is nothing to identify who the payment is for. To resolve this problem, no cash payment of membership fees will be processed by me in fu-ture unless it is handed over personally and ac-companied by the correct renewal form so I can check there and then the money is correct. Branches are welcome to continue to accept cash from members and forward it to me by cheque but, they too should ensure that the cash is accompanied by the correct renewal form so they can the correct money has been received and forward the renewal forms to me with the cheque.

These new restrictions on processing should not cause any members any difficulty as there are a

number of further changes which will be implement-ed before renewal time next year to provide a reso-lution. The big change for our web site during the coming year will be the introduction of a new "Member's Area" which will be accessible to all members of the Association who have provided me with their email address. This area will provide cur-rent members only with online access to the Consti-tution, Standards and Beginners Guide as well as any future documentation we decide to put online. Suggestions from members for material to be placed in the Member's Area is welcome but at this stage no guarantees can be made as to how long it will take to put them there as I still have quite a list of things to implement there which relate to member-ship. The new "Member's Area" will provide a means for members to check their current membership de-tails so they can advise of any required changes. There will also be an option here for those members who haven't yet renewed to print a replacement re-newal form already filled out with the necessary de-tails needed to process them. For those without in-ternet access, selected members of the Branch Committees will be able to print their renewal notice for them. I also hope to have an option in the Member's Area that will allow members the option to renew online via Paypal rather than sending in their form with a cheque or money order. I have until the end of May to get this processing written and approved by our Treasurer in order for it to be ready in time for the start of the renewal period in July next year. The key requirement is that it identifies which member a given payment belongs to regardless of whose Pay-pal account is used to make the actual payment. The changes implemented this past year have al-lowed me to reduce the amount of time required to process all renewals down to about 50 hours (not counting the time to process changes of address, new memberships, etc).. The changes I hope to be able to make over the next few years will hopefully bring further significant time savings which will make the job far more manageable for one person to per-form even with the significant growth that we cur-rently have in our membership from one year to the next.


A THANK YOU. The Editor JOURNAL Dear Stuart I would like to take this opportunity to thank the NSW Branch Committee for the wonderful weekend organized for our 50th Birthday Celebrations. They had a few hiccups leading up to it, but when the weekend arrived, it was great and so nice to have everything run smoothly. Our only problem, which was no fault of the Committee, was the COLD weather we all encoun-tered on Saturday night at our Dinner held on Syd-ney’s Mortuary Station platform, we even had some of our Ladies wrap up in towels and tablecloths try-ing to keep warm. Our train trip to Berry behind the 3112 hauled steam train ran close to time all day and to make sure we all stayed awake to enjoy it we were given chocolates and sweets to nibble on. I am sure everyone who attended all or part of the weekend activities enjoyed them, and I would like to thank you, the Committee, sincerely for the many hours and effort you all put in to ensure it was successful. June Larmour. AMRA Member No.1219

MORE ON STANDARDS The Editor JOURNAL Dear Stuart I refer to my previous comments on the lousy stand-ards for model railway axles in JOURNALS, March/April 2003, Pages 48/49 and March/April 2004, Page 38. Two years, eight months later, what have we got in the way of axle standards -NOTHING. Then I read in the November/December JOURNAL, Page 163, Rod Tonkin’s article entitled "Coned Journals and cone pointed axles". Now we have a bewildering mix of terminology for axles, namely: cone pointed; needle pointed; pin-pointed; tapered. The following definitions are rele-vant: y AXLE - the rod or bar which connects two op-

posite wheels, and on, or with which the wheels rotate;

y NEEDLE POINT - the sharp point of a needle or an instrument sharpened to a similar fine point;

y CONE - a solid body with a circular base ta-pering to a point or apex;

y PINPOINT - the point of a pin. (Refer Steam Era's price list).

y TAPER - to narrow. contract, diminish gradu-ally to a point in one direction.

In an effort to clarify model railway terminology, I made up a sample list of 160 items for considera-tion by Federal Committee, no reply at date of writ-

ing. To further assist, I have obtained copies of the NATO Group/Class codification of full sized railway terminology, which has been adopted by ALL the NATO countries. After checking my three dictionar-ies, I recommend AMRA adopts the name "TAPER' for the three axle lengths used in Australia, namely 23.8, 25 and 26mm axle lengths. NMRA Standards fulfilled a need when they were first produced, but still suffer from the typical USA attitude towards mass production and have failed dismally to improve vital standards. It should be noted that their standards originally were for American consumption, but have since flooded the world, whether appropriate or not. On the other hand, thanks to the work of Dr Stephen Suggit, Peter Betts and Franz Mueller, AMRA Standards are prac-tically universal. I note NMRA recommend a minimum side play of 3/1000 of an inch. Most of my 4 wheel rolling stock have a side play of no more than 1/1000 of an inch and run beautifully, even when loaded with pot-tery clay loads to 70 grams. Tim Dunlop AMRA Member No.1

THANKS The Editor JOURNAL Dear Stuart I would like to take this opportunity to pass on my thanks to Neil Riches for his efforts as editor over the past few years. Neil has enabled a forum where members can express their opinions and, although we all differ with these, he enabled an unbiased presentation. I pray that Neil will find some relief for his pain, once again thanks Neil for your efforts. Ron Welsh AMRA Member No.4857

RADIO CONTROL ISSUES

The Editor JOURNAL Dear Stuart Referring to Bob Comerford’s query 8inthe Pop Valve, Journal 294. There are four frequency slots for radio control in the low power range allocated in Australia and they are as follows: 27MHz this frequency is in the AM band and is allo-cated for toys and is typically found on toys bought off the shelf. They are in the same spectrum as CB radio and as such are subject to interference. 29MHz this frequency can be in either AM or FM and is primarily used for surface vehicles. 36MHz this frequency is allocated for remote control models in the FM range and is primarily used for model aircraft. See Note 1. 40MHz only some frequencies are approved, gener-ally in the FM range and are undesirable due to poten-


tial interference from two-way radios and paging sys-tems. R/C control trains from the UK are generally fitted with these. Local distributors do not provide support for 40MHz systems. I had a recent problem with installing R/c to a live steamer using 29MHz AM. I found that there was a lack of control due to glitching. Research on the internet revealed that FM and higher frequency was more desir-able. I therefore purchased a Futaba 36MHz FM sys-tem and the glitching problems were completely elimi-nated. The one drawback with 36MHz systems is that they can only be purchased with a minimum of four channels. Remote Control Systems (RCS) although low powered and in the lower frequency use PCM and are not sub-ject to the glitching. You still need to purchase servo’s for the RCS system. There are also other systems available but are primarily used for aircraft and are in the rather expensive range. Note: 1. There appears to be a commonly misunder-standing that 36MHz is restricted to model aircraft (fostered by the model aircraft fraternity). This is not so and it can be used for land vehicles (including model trains) and watercraft. In fact the aircraft fraternity also use 27 and 29 MHz. To achieve their end it also ru-moured that sponsors decline their sponsorship on land vehicle competition if any other frequency but 27 or 29 MHz is used. Don’t bow to the big boys. For further information and allocation of frequencies refer to: http://www.re-airplane-world.com/re-frequencies-australia.html Ron Welsh AMRA Member No.4857

CONED JOURNALS AND CONE-POINTED AXLES The Editor JOURNAL Dear Stuart Rod Tonkin raises an interesting question in his article concerning NMRA Standards and the change made to those HO axle standards in 1983. I would suggest two reasons why NMRA changed the standard to increase the difference be-tween the angle of the axle point and the journal an-gle in the axle box (the socket into which the axle cone is fitted and which acts as the bearing). First, with a difference of only one degree, there will be binding of the axle in the journal if there is a misalignment of the axle of half a degree from right angles to the side frame or W iron. In models it is not easy to maintain precision that would ensure align-ment within such close tolerances. So it makes sense to allow greater latitude in the construction or assembly of models. Noting that there is an amount of sideplay allowed for in the axle/bearing assembly, you will naturally have a small misalignment be-tween the axle and the journal whenever the axle moves fully into one journal and slightly out of the opposite journal. Again the greater difference in the revised standard will avoid binding when this side-play occurs. Equipment which is fitted with compen-sating bogies relies on some misalignment between axle and journal whenever the bogie is on sections of track which are not perfectly square – for example

when one wheel drops at the frog of a point or dia-mond crossing – because when that occurs, the bo-gie itself twists slightly out of square. The second reason might simply be that in the mass production of model parts, it would be all too easy to find that there was no clearance at all be-tween the axle cone and the journal. After all, if the axles are made to a measurement of 55 degrees plus or minus 0.5 degrees, and the journal to a measurement of 56 degrees plus or minus 0.5 de-grees, you will occasionally get pairs of axle and journal which are a perfect match, something you do not want as it allows absolutely no misalignment for any reason. While one manufacturer might achieve the required precision, when you undertake axle ex-change and expect axles of one manufacture to fit the bogies of another, it is obvious that a greater difference is desirable. In summary, the change in NMRA standards was probably made to accommodate variations in manufacture and to allow for sideplay and out-of-square bogies and axle arrangements. On the matter of Rod’s main point – the lack of appropriate AMRA standards on this aspect of HO modelling – I agree totally with his point. The sub-ject is now on the table! Robert Merrick AMRA Member No.5293

Scissors for all applications including trapunto, quilting and pergamano papercraft, jewellery tools, diagonal cutters, round nose pliers and crimping pliers, clamps ideal for turning/stuffing teddy bears and dolls, papercraft tools, micro precision cutters, scoring tool, reverse and angled tweezers for all those delicate crafting and hobby needs


Argyle gauge 1 Puffing Billy type loco (Victorian Na class ) belonging to an AMRA member called Des. The photo is taken on the AMRA garden railway at Zillmere, Bris-bane. The model loco is live steam with a gas fire.

RAILSCENE By Ian Renshaw (QLD)


In 1988 I was asked by fellow modeller, Neil MacKenzie, if I wanted to improve my welding skills and help build a large 5” gauge track on Queens-land’s Sunshine Coast. Not knowing what I was in for, I accepted and went to visit the location.

It turned out to be at Buderim, on the flats north of Buderim Mountain. A 10 acre property bounded by Sugar Cane Farms and a rain forest. It was owned by Joyce and Clarrie Hough, who had moved up from New South Wales some time before. Clarrie had a career on the footplates of NSW locomotives and had been involved with 5” gauge live steam and diesel clubs and HO clubs in the west of Sydney.

He has a large collection of both types of NSW models and was keen to set up tracks on his proper-ty. A special jig for welding tracks to various radii and transition curves was loaned from Bob White of Dalby and track fabrication was done in 20’ lengths. Neil had the job of building the points and ended up building more points for this line than all the other 5” tracks in Queensland combined at that time. See track plan Fig 1.

Over the years, the track grew and grew to the extent it filled the 10 acres with spaghetti like for-mations almost 3km long. It could take an hour to travel the line completely. The real reason for the line was to deliver chopped firewood from various locations around the property to the house which used the fuel for cooking and water heating.

Many members of the AMRA Qld Branch visit-ed the line and assisted in the lines construction and improved their welding skills with the track assembly. Once the track was operational, several more AMRA Qld Branch members who were interested, from or-dinary members to Presidents, Secretaries and Exhi-bition Managers visited the line and enjoyed riding and driving the trains.

“Let’s go for a run on the front track”. Leaving the main assembly area near the work-shop, we head off on level track towards the front gate alongside the driveway; this was the first track laid and there were problems with expansion requir-ing the installation of expansion joints. Most of the track on the line is curved, which removes this prob-lem.

We drop down to the front gate, cross the drive-way and a gully and head along level straight track along the front fence. There are two passing sta-tions, Kendale and MacKenzie Junction along the front fence. Leaving MacKenzie Jct, there is a sharp climb to the corner of the property and then down again to wander along the side fence on the centre of three tracks. We turn left into the main station of South Bulli where there are three loops and sidings for picking up firewood.

Safeworking on this single track network is by smoke signals. Upon arrival at each station you must check ahead for trains coming the other way, other-wise the result will be a cornfield meet. The next section is one of the longest of the front tracks and one has to be careful. Leaving the station, there is a climb up, right turn over a gully, climbing more and turning left to drop down to a low bridge over the gully again. A siding is provided for picking up fire-wood and train crossings. The area is known as Da-vid’s Leap after Model Engineer, David Jones, who was operating a QR PB15 and passenger train one day. The loco derailed on the points and ended up-side down in the gully. No harm done.

The line continues to the front gate and along the front fence to cross over and re-enter MacKenzie Jct. Here it wanders along the side fence to end up at Bulli, a balloon loop station, where sleeping ac-commodation and loco watering facilities are availa-ble.

This marks the half way point and a good time to perform loco servicing and ensure enough water is on board for the return trip. The return run climbs up out of the swampy rain forest area of Bulli, and retraces our steps, back through David’s leap and into the main central front yard station of South Bulli. The climb from David’s Leap towards the lake is the steepest in the whole front yard. Here at Sth Bulli there are a choice of routes on the line; turning right at the western end of the station takes the train to the Zig Zag line, a complex route under pine trees, which takes us back to the workshop area through the back door so to speak, alongside the lake.

The Zig Zag line is built within the other front yard tracks and wanders around the shady pine trees (watch out for horse poo and pine cones on the track), up and down until the Zig Zag track formation itself is reached. Some may think it is all a bit silly, to have a Zig Zag on a mostly flat property but, it is there for operation interest and a place to pass or cross trains. Leaving the Zig Zag station we climb again and wander around the property until our final climb to the lake area, dropping down into the back-door of the Workshop, loco depot and Barn area where there is always a cup of tea or cold drink on hand, the trip on the front track taking 40 minutes.

The Cooran Line was a popular place to visit for many years. One visitor, a teenager with a normally terminal illness, took the option of purchasing a 5” gauge 0-4-0 steam loco instead of the usual trip to Disneyland. He ran the model loco every weekend available for years on various tracks around S.E. Queensland. A favourite activity was night running and spotlighting the Cane Toads, returning with a train load of dead and bleeding Cane Toads piled high on several NSW S trucks. This young man survived his condition and is looking forward to a bright future.

THE COORAN LINE - Australia’s Biggest Front Yard Model Railway By Steve Malone (QLD)


Map 1

shows the General Track Plan on the 10

acre property.


The late Rodney James (AR Kit Co) with a happy group from NSW passes the front gate.

A Scene from the Barn looking towards Bulli. A QR A10 4-4-0 leads a good train on its way to Sth Bulli. The Bulli station provided sleeping accommodation for 4 persons.

Owen Coster heads past the lake on the way to Da-vids Leap. Some firewood has been loaded on the wagons to be delivered to the house for cooking and hot water heating.

Jason and Paul Jones on a long goods train at Mac-Kenzie Junction. This loco is a model of a loco used at the Melbourne gas works.

A long good trains passes through Davids Leap. 4 AMRA members operate this train, 3 drivers and the Guard. The second driver is Tony Weber, then Pres-ident of AMRA Qld Branch, the third driver is Michael Bertucci.

The Cooran line was popular with young enthusiasts like Aaron here with a Hunslet 0-4-0 saddle Tank.



By the time you read these notes the Victorian state elections (25/11) will have taken place, (Bracks was returned—Ed) and what ever party wins, the fu-ture for rail freight in this state will continue to remain in the doldrums. In the election lead up both parties have said they will buy back the country track lease from Pacific National. Even if this happens will the ‘new’ government be prepared to spend the money necessary to rehabilitate the tracks, estimated by the rail industry to be around $200 million, or will they just say it’s too difficult. In the Herald Sun of October 27 was the heading ‘Bracks holds secret talks to stay on rails’. The wording indicated the Government was heading off a possible closure of some lines by Pacific National. As the article said any closure of rail lines would be an extreme embarrassment to the Govern-ment during the election campaign. In The Age of No-vember 2 was an article saying that both parties had pledged to buy back the country rail lines, and that Mr Bracks had negotiated an in-principle deal with Pacific National to take over the network. The Opposition transport spokesman said Labour had mismanaged the rail freight network, threatening rural communities. He said a prosperous rail freight network was vital to the ports of Melbourne, Geelong, Portland and Has-tings. He went on to say “ensuring more of Victoria’s long distance freight travels by rail will be a key objec-tive of a Liberal government”. In an article in The Busi-ness Age on the same day mention was made of $200 million needed to return the track to its standard before it was privatised in 1999. The repair bill in-cludes the $73 million earmarked earlier this year to upgrade the main line to Mildura. The Premier said the Government would undertake a comprehensive re-view and safety assessment of the rail network over the next year. “The new arrangements will allow for better maintenance of the tracks by the Government and facilitate better access to the network for major projects”, he said. The article finished off by saying about 80 per cent of rail freight revenue in Victoria is generated by grain. In another publication there was a suggestion that the Geelong-Mildura line may be given a short term upgrade using wooden sleepers, not con-crete gauge convertible. Pacific National is still taking the view that rail access charges have made opera-tions on the Victorian system marginal, particularly with the continuing dry spell. PN have already warned the grain industry to look at a different pricing model than currently exists. If an alternative is not agreed to PN will move away from grain transport in this state. Something the grain producers and rural councils don’t want to hear, nor does the government. Rail freight is no different to any other business. It needs to make a reasonable profit.

Noted in Tottenham Yard on 3/11/06 were a number of ex Victorian Railways SKX, VFKX flat wag-ons, now painted blue and coded CQRX. Interestingly they were in a Pacific National broad gauge container train. Could it be Chicago Freight is moving to lease

wagons on the Victorian broad gauge system? Also noted recently (November) most Freight Australia lo-cos have been progressively re-badged as Pacific National. The majority of locos are still painted FA green.

A while back I remarked on the whereabouts of the ATN Access XGAY grain wagons. It appears they have been stored for some time at Goulburn. Pacific National has since moved them to western Victoria to move this season’s grain to Adelaide, Geelong and possibly Portland. Also Pacific National have repaired ex ATN Access L270 (fire damaged) and returned it to traffic in PN colours. In the meantime L 271 (ex North-ern Rivers Railroad) has been returned to the west for an overhaul and will join the QRN fleet in that state. Will L265, the other NRR painted loco do the same, or will it continue to be used on the Melbourne-Brisbane service with other QRN CLF/CLP/3100 class.

Locomotives T404 (ex AN) and T414 (ex BHP DE02) arrived in Melbourne for repairs and re-paint. Both units are now owned by SCT and will be used as shunters at their Parkes terminal. In an interesting arti-cle in the November’s Railway Digest Geoff Smith of SCT mentions, that in his view many participants in the transport industry had shown a lack of judgement in forward planning and failed to invest in infrastructure and solutions. He said SCT was one of the very few, larger Australian transport companies that had re-mained focused in what has become an uncertain and unstable industry. He said many in government, and the logistics industry has underestimated the role played by SCT in providing rail freight competition.

Two issues ago I mentioned two PQWY well wagons sighted at North Dynon. These have since been noted in QRN Melbourne-Brisbane intermodal trains (page 28 October MotivePower). Until I can con-firm, my guess is they belong to Colin Rees Transport (CRT). QRN have recently announced they will spend around $20 million upgrading the CRT terminal at Alto-na (Vic). The expansion will double rail capacity to accommodate two six hundred metre length trains and triple warehouse capacity.

Toll’s managing director, Paul Little, said an ‘incredible’ 45 tenders from institutions and global transport groups had been received for the purchase of 50 per cent of PN. He said he expected the sale process to be completed by December. He said the future for PN was bright given that increased fuel costs would hit road transport harder.

Long live Australia National. As an example ALF 25, now owned by QRN was repaired and fitted with the ZTR wheel slip control system at Pt Augusta in July was then released to traffic, still wearing the AN green.

Chicago Freight Car Leasing’s new RL class lo-comotives are starting to appear in traffic. The first, RL

LOCAL RAIL NEWS By Geoff Brown (Vic)


301 was pictured in the November Railway Digest in a QRN train on its way to Sydney for trials after painting at Rail Technical Services depot in Melbourne.

The Australian Rail Track Authority has an-nounced it will spend $8.27 million installing timber sleepers on the NSW western line between Kinalung and Broken Hill. The rail industry is a little bemused; previously the ARTC had decided to use concrete sleepers on all other mainline renewals. The ARTC claims it is normal maintenance practice. Others are not so sure. Could it have something to do with a letter from the former Federal Transport Minister to the ARTC Chairperson saying that while the sleeper choice was commercial, the ARTC should be mindful of the impact of its decisions on the wider community–including the timber industry? Now really darling!

It now looks as if the Inland Railway may actually become a reality! In the November Railway Digest is a report released by the Federal Transport Minister that found an inland railway linking Melbourne and Bris-bane would need to be operational by 2019 to meet the forecast doubling of Australia’s freight by 2025. In the interim the existing Sydney-Brisbane line will re-quire substantial upgrading sooner than planned. The results indicated that rail’s share on the Melbourne-Brisbane route would double once the current ARTC upgrade is completed by 2009.

In the November Railway Digest is a very de-tailed article on why Victoria’s Rail Gauge Standardi-sation has not proceeded from its announcement in 2000. The major impediment was getting Freight Aus-tralia, the track lessee, to formally agree to the project. FA was opposed to the conversion from broad to standard gauge as this would have meant there was a far greater chance that competitors (standard gauge ready) could seek access on Victoria’s country net-work. Another problem was getting detailed costing for the project, which at that time involved 2000 kilometres of BG track. The project was to cover the North-Eastern corridor, Northern corridor, North-Western corridor and the Western corridor. Before the 1999 election the current government undertook to ‘convert all broad gauge lines freight lines to standard gauge over time’. In 2000 the policy was changed to ‘rail lines wil1 be converted to standard gauge where cost-effective and practical, within the constraints of pas-senger operations’. In 2000 the cost was estimated at $139.3 million, $44 million was to come from the ‘private sector’, leaving the government to provide $95.3 million. By 2005 the cost was $359 million with no ‘private sector’ involvement. In the meantime the Australian Rail Track Corporation, frustrated by inac-tion from the Victorian government has decided to pro-ceed with its own construction agenda with long cross-ing loops on the North Eastern corridor. (The ARTC controls by lease the interstate track through Victoria). As I said at the beginning of this article, rail freight in Victoria will remain the poor cousin, isolated by gauge from the rest of Australia and hampered by one traffic commodity that varies each harvest.

From November Newsrail Noted in Bendigo yard on October 6 was refurbished S 300 in new Chicago

Freight colours, S 301 in Freight Australia green, S 302 in VLPC colours (owned by El Zorro) and S 313 in Steam Rail (PN hire). S 300 will no doubt end up in NSW on works trains. On standard gauge C 501 and GM 36 are being used on short term hire. Pacific Na-tional use C 501 as a banker on the Melbourne Ade-laide route and GM 36 as extra power on the Coot-amundra goods. C501 is painted Victorian Railways blue and gold and GM 36 is painted Commonwealth Railways red and silver. Both locos belong to the Sey-mour Rail Heritage Group. El Zorro has recently brought S 302 from V/Line Passenger Corporation and Pacific National has hired it on a number of occasions. El Zorro is a small Mexican outfit and is headed up by a dude named Sol Trujillo. They mostly do suburban track maintenance work, or hook and pull for PN, and besides S 302 have two T class, two Y class, and a W class diesel hydraulic.

Three days before the notes deadline (24/11) I received a newsletter from Auscision Models. Their T class project is going well with half already sold and they expect the balance to be gone before Christmas. The model is not due until April 2007. Both batch one and two of the painted NHFF 100 tonne coal hoppers have gone. All that are left are the unpainted version and they expect them to be gone by Christmas. The NQIW/RQIW wagons, the NGPF and GJF/VHGF hop-pers will arrive between April and June. Have you or-dered yours? Their EL class loco is now due late 2007. In the latest AMRM received today (23/11) Austrains announce the CL/CLF/CLP will arrive mid December, they will also have another batch of liveries and num-bers for the Victorian X class to arrive in January. And yes, they are going to do the American end platform cars, in various liveries and styles. All will be Mansard roofed. Any serious NSWR modeller will need some of these.

Incidentally the French SNCF has recently cele-brated 25 years of TGV trains. At the same time they announced the speed on most lines would be lifted from 320 kph to 360 kph. That means from Paris to Marseille is now around 3 hours. That’s about the same distance as Melbourne to Sydney. We can just dream.



RECOLLECTIONS OF MY TIME AT MOLDEX LTD, DAREBIN ROAD, FAIRFIELD. VICTORIA. (Tri-ang Factory in Australia)

By S. (Tim) Dunlop. (Vic)

This company was a member of the Cyclops & Lines Bros. Group (C&LB) of companies which was, in turn, a member of the Lines Bros. Group in Eng-land. Cyclops originally made prams and toys until its operations were expanded after the Lines Bros. takeover, with headquarters in Sydney, (the Manag-ing Director was Mr. Ron Dunk) and Moldex became the Australian manufacturer of some models of Tri-ang Trains. My first contact with Moldex was in the early days of AMRA when, as Federal Secretary and Chairman of the Standards Committee, I ap-proached the company about the possibility of ad-hering to the proposed AMRA Standards. I had a meeting with the then General Manager, Mr. Reg Wallen and the Factory Manager, Mr. Lloyd Dayies, and showed them a couple of Tri-ang wagons (R111 Hopper and R117 Oil Tanker) which I had fitted with dummy knuckle couplers and new bogies. I still have these two wagons. They were both interested in the idea of standards but, formal adoption would have to come from the parent company in England. About ten years later, I applied for and won the position of Purchasing Officer with Moldex, which was only about fifteen minutes walk from home. In this case I could take my lunch with me but, if I drove to work, I could go home for lunch, which was much better. I commenced work in the position on the 4th May 1964. Initially, I had my desk in the fac-tory off'ice, together with Lloyd Davies, the Factory Manager. The new General Manager was Mr. Mau-rice Saunders and it was his custom to have a meet-ing in the factory office at 10.00 AM each day, when all aspects of production were discussed over morn-ing tea. He supplied the Chocolate Royals, because of his liking for them. Lloyd showed me around the factory, which was divided approximately in half for most of the depth from Darebin Road. The western side was devoted to the production of dolls and pull-along toys and the eastern side was the Train Room. The tool room and bulk store were at the rear of the building and the finished goods was further over on the eastern side of the building. He was most helpful assisting me with help to settle into the job. Initially, I was faced with a number of complaints from sales representatives, in that, their firms received very little business after going to the trouble of providing quo-tations. I spoke to Lloyd about this and he told me my predecessor had been lining his pockets, to some order, in conjunction with a couple of unscru-pulous suppliers. I quickly corrected that state of affairs. The general rule at Moldex in regard to the pro-duction of Tri-ang trains was, if the parts could he procured more cheaply from local suppliers, they received the order. If not, the parts had to be or-dered from Lines Bros. in England. As with most organisations producing goods for sale, production was based on the sales forecast, but I quickly found

out there was little evidence to support the system of purchasing employed by my predecessor. Apparent-ly he just repeated the last order, and hoped for the best. When I asked for the Bills of Materials for ALL items made by the factory, I was told there were NONE. Perforce, I had to start making up Bills of Materials for all the dolls, toys and trains made at Fairfield and this became a lengthy, time consuming job. I found out that in the toy industry, production commences after Christmas, in readiness for the next Christmas and stocks of toys are built up in successive months to allow for a hoped for surge of sales from about October. The Sales Manager, Mr. Harold Bradley, was very helpful and kept me advised of any alterations to his sales estimates. I designed a form to record this information for every item on the Bills of Materi-als and this eventually proved a winner as we never ran out of parts for any of our products of dolls, toys and trains. As a sample of the magnitude of this task, the number of parts in the X04 motor totaled some nineteen items. After a year or so, I was able to prepare detailed specifications for all the locally produced bits and pieces, via the assistance of Lloyd Davies, Factory Manager, Bob Kent, Tool-room Foreman and Don Diacono, Dolls & Toys Room Foreman. This was a significant factor in re-ducing costs. As I was in the factory office, which was in the middle of the factory, one of the problems

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was sales representatives had to come down the aisle through the centre of the factory to see me. Naturally, they had a good look-see at what was go-ing on, Packaging and printed matter were the main areas of comment. I spoke to Lloyd about this and he took the matter up with the General Manager, with the result I was moved to an office at the front of the building so there was no need for sales repre-sentatives to enter the factory. Packaging was al-ways a problem but, eventually, I arranged with Alan Houston, a former Federal President of AMRA, to provide us with sample polystyrene foam packaging and this was a winner; the savings in labour costs were significant. On the train side most of the local production consisted of plastic mouldings for the following items:- y R10 4 wheel open truck. y R11 4 wheel van (various colours). y R26 blue& yellow coach. y R50 4-6-2 black loco & R30 6-wheel tender. y R53 & R53s. 4-6-2 Black & Green loco & R31

6-wheel tender y R54 4-6-2 Loco & R32 6-wheel tender. y R55 Single cab Diesel loco. y R57 Non-powered Diesel 'A' unit. y R58 Non-powered 'B' unit. y R159 Double cab Diesel loco. y R250 Double cab Diesel loco, non-powered. y R450 Sydney Suburban power car. y R451. Sydney Suburban trailer car. y R452 Sydney Suburban power car (dummy)

X04. 3-slot motor & X3122 Power bogie. y Super 4 track, straights and curves. The rail was imported from England, in 16' lengths and cut to required sizes in the Train Room. .The loco R159 die and some wagon dies occasion-ally were sent over to the New Zealand factory for its use, it was cheaper that way. R159 was mainly pro-duced in blue, (although I have a black one, I can't recall how that happened) and lettered in a variety of styles, Tri-ang Railways, Victorian Railways or Trans Australia, all with yellow striping and lettering. The lining on locos and coaches was done by hand with a small bow-pen by a lady in the Train Room and the lettering was usually by hot stamping. All the early models had clear plastic buttons for the four windows in each side, but these were replaced later by eyelets. Working headlights were also fitted, showing through the plastic buttons as just men-tioned, until they too were replaced by eyelets. The drive wheels for the Diesel locos were made from sintered iron and came from England. I spoke to Fyfe Thorpe, another former Federal Presi-dent of AMRA, about quoting for the supply of steel drive wheels. He won the job; his wheels can be dis-tinguished by their smooth tread and I bought some for myself, but to AMRA Standards. The plastic bod-ies for a variety of 4-wheel goods wagons were made at Moldex. One of the problems with plastic moulding was getting the correct amount of plastic to be injected into the mould. Until this was correct, there were, a number of rejects. I suggested the bet-ter ones of these rejects be re-sold as scrap plastic, rather than recycled or sent to the tip. A lot of scrap

plastic was sold to AMRA Victorian Branch mem-bers. The under-frames for the 4-wheelers were die-cast by a firm out in Footscray, as were the power bogie frames for the R55 and R159 locos, and chemically blackened prior to assembly. Much of the production in the Train Room was centred on the manufacture of the X04 and X3122 3-slot motors for the steam and diesel outline locos. The only steam locos that I remember were the R258 Princess Elizabeth and R54s Hiawatha. The shafts, magnets, commutators and other parts for the motors were imported from England, but the rest of the items were made at Fairfield or purchased from local suppliers. The 3-slot armature stampings were the start of the motor assembly, these were just one on top of the other. I did suggest to Lloyd that we should try skewing the armature stampings. We made one, in 1965, but the equipment was not suitable for quantity production and the big boss in Sydney would not agree. A number of power controllers were made at Fairfield; the 2-amp transformers were supplied by a firm in Box Hill. The bases and covers were also supplied by a local manufacturer, as were most of the other bits and pieces. I should mention that prior to joining Moldex, Lloyd Davies visited my layout, the Happy Valley No 3, to look at a transistorised controller put together by Ray Evans, so, when I suggested we transistorise the P5, he was happy to agree and, being a bit more conversant with electri-cal circuits than I am now, I was given the job of pre-paring both the circuit and the Bill of Materials. I sug-gested the production figure be 2000, but this was cut down to 500. When they finally hit the market, Harold Bradley was surprised at how quickly they sold, so the next run was 2000. It was a very suc-cessful and reliable controller. Later, Lines Bros. decided no more would be produced, as they were developing a super-duper wire wound controller and we were not allowed to produce any more P5Ts. Everyone at Moldex knew I was a model rail-way enthusiast and went out of their way to keep me informed. I really enjoyed going to work. Then, one day, I received a letter from a pen-friend in England advising that, following the death of Mr. Lines, the twelve million pounds sterling capital of Lines Bros. had reduced to three quarters of a million, and I should get out while I could; so I did and finished up at Moldex on the 14th March 1969. Another AMRA member, associated with Mold-ex, was Peter Gallagher who completed his electri-cal apprenticeship in 1965 and won the position of works electrician, which he held for eighteen months. Others I worked with were Mrs. Nancy Mur-phy who was forelady in the Train Room, Val, the lady in charge of the Train Room store, Michael Kent, who handled the train repairs, Ernie Paolini, the bulk store-man and my very capable and effi-cient secretary, Mrs. Maureen Jenkinson.


In this current technological climate the trend with model railways is to mimic the prototype. To enable us to realistically control our trains the new method of DCC (Digital Command Control) is fast becoming popular and more and more modellers are introducing it on their layouts. Over the next few is-sues I will attempt to explain the basics of DCC to enable you to have a better understanding and allay your fears of what might seem (to some) be a daunt-ing task. My thanks go to Tony of the American Hob-by Co for allowing me to use some of his articles to bring you this series.

DCC Introduction

y Conventional DC Operations y Multiple Train Control Using Conventional

Blocking With conventional blocking, train operation depends on track wiring which can be extremely complex. Each block is powered and wired separately to allow more than one train to move around the layout. Trains move one block at a time by using insulated blocks and toggle switches to control power routing. This requires a lot of time and expense to wire and debug before you are up and running. Once you have it wired, you have to learn to “play the piano” and remember the rules to keep the trains moving.

What Is DCC? Digital Command Control allows you to operate mul-tiple locomotives independent of each other at the same time with varying speeds and directions on the same electrically controlled section of track.

DCC Origin The origins of DCC can be traced back to 1940s when Lionel Trains introduced a commercial two channel system using frequency control. An oscilla-tor generated different frequencies, depending on which button an operator might press. Then a tuned circuit and relay in each engine controlled the direc-tion of the train. GE, in the early sixties, introduced a five-channel commercial carrier control system called ASTRAC (Automatic Simultaneous Train Control), which could control more than one train per block. Systems such as Dynatrol’s CTC-16 from late 1970s were popular but suffered from lack of compatibility among com-peting systems. This is partly why National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) introduced standards for Digital Command Control based on proposal by Lenz. All manufacturers have to abide by this stand-ard in order to receive NMRA conformance approv-al. As a result of NMRA conformance standards, a digi-tal signal from a command station can be received by any number of commercially available decoders.

How Is DCC Different from DC? Multiple Train Control Using Digital Command Con-trol With DCC, train operation depends on the decoder installed in the locomotive. The track is powered by a command station and/or booster connected to a transformer. Each locomotive operates independent-ly over the track. Several locomotives can be moving at different speeds and in either direction at any time on the same electrical section of track. Blocking is not required for train control. It’s easy to move en-gines around in the yards and park them close to one another without worrying about where the insu-lated sections are. It’s easier to operate trains in the wide open spaces, too! DCC lets you run your trains instead of running your track. Digital Command Control will revolutionize the way you run your railroad and it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Whether you have an existing rail-road or are starting a new one, DCC can work for you and let you run your trains the way you’ve al-ways wanted!

Why DCC Is Better? • Simpler wiring. • Control 9999 engines with only 2 wires. • DCC voltage always present on the track to feed lights, functions, accessories. • Turnouts/signals can be controlled with the track.

NMRA Standard The NMRA Digital Command Control Standard de-fines the basic communications structure at the track level for digital control signals via the rails. The standards specify a communication protocol between transmitter and decoder without specifying transmitter and decoder hardware. The data needed to operate each decoder is transmitted in packet format on the rails in the form of a balanced square wave. This baseline packet format allows for interop-erability among equipment made by different compa-nies that support the standard. Interoperability is the most important advantage of the standard. Interoperability means that if you have a DCC compatible decoder, you can run it with any DCC compatible command station. This is very im-portant since the major part of your investment in any DCC system is in the decoders. We have all heard the horror stories: “I have a for-tune invested in this equipment and now I can’t even get spare parts any more much less expand my sys-tem!!!” Any system that is available from more than one source is not as likely to disappear and leave its users stranded. Also, having equipment available from multiple suppliers creates competition in price and features to the benefit of the end user. The standard does not cover the actual command stations or control equipment used to operate the decoders or the features they offer. You can buy a full-featured DCC command station or a basic DCC

A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO DCC - Pt 1 Edited by Stuart Pattison with permission of American Hobby F


command station. You can spend more money or less money. There is a place in the market for both low end and high-end equipment. You decide what makes sense for you and your railroad. Because of the DCC standard we have already seen the cost of Digital Command Control systems drop dramatically. In the early days, a “starter” system ran about $1000 and decoders were $95 each. Today a system that does much more than those early systems costs about $325 and decoders can be purchased for less than $30.00. Today’s NMRA DCC Standard provides a framework for interoperability without precluding manufacturer innovation. Some innovations we have seen that are not required or covered by the stand-ard include: automatic reversing boosters and devic-es, 128 speed step control, analog locomotive oper-ation, various cab bus systems, a network for layout operation, cost effective decoder harnesses, block detection systems, sound decoders, system up-gradeability, new “painless” ways of installing decod-ers and much more to come. The standard is just the starting point! Recommended Practices (RP’s) are adopted from time to time to give manufacturers additional guidelines for interoperability. Several RP’s have already been adopted to cover the NMRA recommended locomotive plugs, the extended packet format that allows for decoders to receive and process more information, the programming RP and the “fail-safe” RP. The NMRA DCC working group is continuing to work on additional RP’s and refinements to the stand-ard. Once new RP’s are adopted manufacturers will begin to incorpo-rate the ones that make sense in the marketplace. Hopefully, these new RP’s and changes to the standard can be in-corporated in a way that will be back-wardly compatible with existing equipment.

What does the “DCC symbol” mean? How is it different from an NMRA “Conformance Seal”?

Manufacturers that build interoperable DCC equipment compatible with the NMRA’s DCC Stand-ard use the DCC logo to let customers know that they support the NMRA’s standards effort by produc-ing compatible equipment. Various groups who sup-port the DCC effort, including the DCC working group and the DCC SIG also use the logo. This sym-bol is not a conformance seal. The NMRA conform-ance & inspection program covers all aspects of model railroading interchange, not just DCC. Many people who have heard a lot about the NMRA DCC standard are surprised to learn that the NMRA actu-ally has standards covering couplers, track gauge, wheels and much more. The NMRA conformance and inspection pro-gram was relatively inactive until 3 or 4 years ago. Now, the NMRA is working to revive this program.

To that end, the NMRA has established a conform-ance testing program for DCC equipment and for other model railroad products as well. The NMRA is now issuing conformance seals based on the tests they are performing. Let’s briefly review the conform-ance seals that have been issued for equipment manufactured by DCC companies and “non-DCC” companies. (Since locomotives must conform to more non-DCC than DCC standards & RP’s we have not counted the ones that follow the NMRA plug RP as DCC products.) In 1996 (the first year of the C&I revitalization), 9 seals were issued (8 for products made by DCC manufacturers and 1 for oth-er products). In 1997, 13 conformance seals were issued (2 for DCC and 11 for others). Through June of 1998, 51 conformance seals have been issued (none for DCC specific products although some pre-vious seals were updated). As you can see, the C&I program has grown beyond just DCC. According to the NMRA, an NMRA Conformance Seal is not an endorsement or guarantee by the NMRA. It is merely a statement

that a particular product passes a particular test to determine whether, in the opinion of NMRA volunteers, it conforms to a particular NMRA Standard. It is important to remem-ber that the NMRA conformance tests are administered and defined by dedicated NMRA volunteers who are working very hard to turn the C&I program into a useful tool for NMRA members.

DCC Advantages

Operation is far more exciting with each train running independent-ly. You can create more lashups (consists, MUs) and match the speeds of locomotives from different manufacturers. You can program realistic acceleration and decelera-tion rates, or limit the top speed of a

locomotive. DCC has advantages for everyone from the beginner to the advanced modeler and for every layout from the smallest to the largest. For beginning and intermediate modelers (most modelers classify themselves at this skill level) the advantages of rea-sonably priced simple command stations and simple layout wiring are very important. Start with a relative-ly low cost command station and add components as your interest grows. If you decide you want more advanced features and functions from your com-mand station or if you want to add a computer, it’s an easy transition from basic to full-featured com-mand stations. The equipment you already own moves on with you as you add more features to your system. Your largest investment in time and money is in the decoders you install in the locos. These are upwardly compatible as you expand and add to your system. By simply adding components you can grow into a more advanced system at your own pace and as your budget allows. Most home layouts are small or medium sized. They typically have a limited amount track available


for block control. DCC has a real advantage in these situations. Since blocking is not required you can operate more locos in a smaller area. For the large home or club layout DCC offers truly prototypical operation and minimum wiring hassle. Modular lay-outs running with DCC can operate more than 2 or 3 trains at a time. Let’s face it, the outside loop run-ning clockwise and the inside loop running counter-clockwise all day isn’t very exciting. The ease of wir-ing makes modular hook up simple and lets you get operating sessions up and running more quickly.

DCC Limitations The only big limitation is the one-way communi-cation from system to decoder. Lenz (Railcom) and Digitrax (Transponding) have developed solutions fro two-way communications that are inexpensive and compatible with existing products.

Future of DCC • Two way communication • One decoder in every engine and car • Car/engine “finder” - where is the car on the layout? • Automatic train routing and advanced signal system • Smaller and smoother decoders • Car detection accessories for yard database

Basic Principles - How Does It Work?

SHORT SUMMARY With Digital Command Control (DCC) you use a handheld throttle to send information to a command station telling it what you want train X to do. The command station then takes this information, trans-forms it into a stream of digital packets and sends it to the booster. The booster will add power to the packets, and broadcast the combined signal to the rails. • DCC system sends commands • Loco decoders receive and act

PACKET BROADCAST The decoder-equipped locomotives on the rail-road constantly listen to the ’packet’ broadcast. Each information packet has an address component to it which should match the address of one of the de-coders. The decoder which is not the intended recip-ient of the packet simply ignores the data and its locomotive keeps on doing whatever it is doing - run-ning forward, backward, lights on etc. The decoder, to which the data packet IS addressed, will translate the packet into command for the locomotive such as ‘slow down’, ‘stop’, ‘reverse direction’, and the loco-motive will behave accordingly.

BASIC PRINCIPLES • The power on the tracks is alternating current (AC),

and not DC or direct current. • Full power is running through the tracks at all times while the system is turned on. Voltage is sent by pulses to a decoder in a locomotive which controls the locomotive’s speed. • The polarity of electricity on the rail does not con-trol locomotive direction. The decoder in each loco-motive converts AC current to DC and controls the voltage and polarity that travel through the electric motor. When the decoder receives the digital signal sent from the command station, the decoder applies the appropriate amount of voltage and polarity to the motor based on the speed and direction in which you want the locomotive to travel. The text in this section has been adapted from the following sources: “Digital Command Control - the comprehensive guide to DCC”, by Stan Ames, Rutger Friberg, Ed Loizeaux. “Digital Command Control: The Wave of the Future”, by Zana and A.J. Ireland. “DCC for Novices”, by Stefano Curtarolo. “DCC Made Easy”, by Lionel Strang, with permission of Kalmbach Publishing Co. “The Digitrax Big Book of DCC” We would like to extend our gratitude to the model railroading enthusiasts and authors for their contributions or permissions to use their text. Part 2 - Next Issue - DCC Systems Components


BOOK REVIEW

Trainspotting Days by Will Adams. published by Silver Link. £16.99. 128pgs nearly 200pics. With a forward by Brian Blessed this soft back is full of nostalgia in the black and white colours from the 1930s into the late ‘60s and the end of steam. There are occasional references to the diesels which do not seem out of place in the steam world of the time. Whereas so many pictures in other books only feature the engine this one also includes the genuine trainspotter with note book, thermos, rain-coat and satchel out in all weathers and at all types of location. Other emotive pictures also include beautiful semaphore signals, extensive track work, line side structures and all the other things we of a certain age remember. Oh to spend a few days back in the ‘50s! Next best thing is surely this book which has a short sum-mary for each picture setting the scene. My copy cost $47.90 including postage from Amazon UK. Barry Keens

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS New members who have joined recently are –

J Busby Kalgoorlie Ms C Hall Kalgoorlie G Logue Guildford HO/OO

We bid you welcome and are sure you will en-joy use of our club rooms and the friendly chat with fellow Branch members. John Maker Branch Registrar

MODELLING GRASS Grass is one of those things that it is very diffi-cult to model realistically. One modeller has achieved a considerable amount of success using a very simple technique using quite basic materials. In Model Railway Journal issue No. 169, start-ing on page 232, Kevin Wilson describes his meth-ods in some detail, using the tried technique of a picture is worth many words. Kevin uses a se-quence of pictures to show how he does it. The is also a fair amount of amplifying text – one could hardly go wrong. The result certainly looks realistic.

3801 Members may have seen/heard recent stories regarding the feuding over the future of 3801. Being curious I asked our NSW correspondent [Chris Gor-ring] for an update, this is what he wrote back – If railway nuts had guns we would be in the midst of a civil war! 3801 is owned by the NSW Rail Transport Museum [i.e. the government] and was


leased to 3801 Limited for 20 years. That lease ex-pired earlier this year and the museum declined to renew it. 3801 Ltd somehow thought that, as they had operated the loco for 20 years, it belonged to them and mounted a court case and lost. So now 3801 is firmly in the hands of the muse-um but it needs a major boiler overhaul which is to be undertaken by apprentices near Newcastle. Once it is back in working order the museum will op-erate it along with their other rail heritage tours and, if they promote it properly, should do well. So 3801 will still be around for a long time yet.

PHOTOGRAPHS OF SOME OF THE AUSTRALIAN PROFILE RAILWAY MODELLING COMPETITION

ENTRIES

KXY PXOPLX Xvxn though my typxwritxr is an old modxl, it works quitx wxll xxcxpt for onx of thx kxys. It is trux that thxrx arx forty-six kxys that function wxll xnough, but just onx kxy not working makxs all thx diffxrxncx. Somxtimxs it sxxms that thx club is like my typxwritxr - not all thx mxmbxrs arx working propxrly. But, you say to yoursxlf, ‘I am only one pxrson, it won’t make any diffxrxncx’. But, you sxx, thx club, to bx xffxctivx, nxxds thx par-ticipation of xvxry mxmbxr. So thx nxxt timx that you think that you arx thx only pxr-son and your xffort is not nxxdxd, rxmxmbxr my typxwritxr and say to yoursxlf - ‘I am a kxy mxmbxr and nxxdxd vxry much’ S scale kit–built WAGR CXA sheep wagon

by Kelvin Davis

S scale kit–built WAGR JWA tank wagon by Ken Shenton

S scale kit–built WAGR PM class locomotive by Neil Blinco

S scale kit–built WAGR AYF coach by Neil Blinco

S scale kit–built WAGR ACL coach by Neil Blinco

4mm scale scratch–built country sta-tion

by Owen Davis


BRANCH PRESIDENTS REPORT

The new Branch Committee members have met several times and have been fortunate in that 2 mem-bers from last years committee are on the 2006 / 07 committee. This helps in establishing continuity in branch management. The Christmas party held on Saturday 25th No-vember was a success based on numbers [50 + 5 children] and feed back received from various mem-bers. At the Christmas party, Bill Blannin, a member of many years standing, received the Presidents Annual Trophy. The ladies are planning several events which we will be held on Saturday running days. This will allow members to use the club facilities during the after-noon, and finish up with a social evening. News of these events will be sent by email & displayed on the Club Notice Board. If you have not provided your email address, and would like brief monthly updates, please email me at: - [email protected] and I will add your address to the list. Steady progress is being made by Daylighters on the layout and many favourable comments were made by members at the Christmas party. Planning for the 2007 May Model Train Show is well advanced. We have made several significant changes, the main change being no fencing supplied by AMRA (Q) The fencing is heavy, (we have an ag-ing membership) and in need of repairs. Six months notice has been given to exhibitors to allow them to adjust to these changes. It has a been a rewarding start to the new club year as there has been so much support from all committee members. Bill Dunn Branch President

MEMBERSHIP NEWS News has come to hand that noted Garden Rail-way Modeller and Model Engineer Don Hinchliffe has moved to Melbourne. Don will be missed for his neat modelling and enthusiastic assistance with building and operating the large Scale facility at AMRA Zillmere. His back yard line was featured in media presentations advertising our successful 2006 exhibi-tion last May.

He flew the flag well for track-powered Garden Railways and was instrumental in attracting and sup-porting new members. His NSW modelling of some passenger cars and associated train was well execut-ed and his talents will be missed.

Don’s NSW Passenger train with scratchbuilt cars.

Don’s NSW 44, a neat conversion and repaint of a US diesel.

BRANCH TIMETABLE

Branch Clubroom running days continue on Sat-urday afternoons 12 - 4pm and the 1st, 3rd and 5th Tuesdays 10am to 3pm. Work times on the lay-out are on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays and Tuesdays.


The main operating times for the outdoor large scale track are on the Third Saturdays of the month 10am to 3pm, with Sausage and Salad lunch on even months and Pizza lunch on odd months. All members welcome. Other running times are the 1st Tuesday night 6 - 9pm (Previously these were on a Wednesday night) and the Third Tuesday daytime 10.30-1.30, this Tuesday lunch event is normally run by Don Cottrell. The clubroom facilities are available for mem-bers use on the 1st Tuesday evening 6-9pm when the Outdoor track modelers meet, and on the 3rd Tuesday evening 7-10pm when the Narrow Gauge modelers meet. The next S Scale modelers gathering is Sunday 11th February 12-4pm. Other S scale meetings in-clude 15th April, 10th June, 12th August, Check the web Site, pick up a timetable sheet from the clubrooms or call the clubroom phone dur-ing opening times for details.

MAJOR EVENTS FOR 2007 y Annual AMRA Brisbane Model Train Show

RNA grounds Saturday 5th May 9-5, Sunday 6th May 9-5 and Monday 7th May 9-4 2007

y Proposed AMRA Qld Open Day and Buy and

Sell Saturday 21st July 2007

LIBRARY NEWS

Sometime around September/October 2006 two items from the recent Mags library shelves were not returned. These were the “South Brisbane-Woolloongabba Area” DVD donated by Water Street Productions and the October issue of “Garden Railways”. Please check your collections and assist with their returns. The Librarians Right Opening of Carbine Logging Co Railroad. The opening of any new railway is a special occasion. Wayne and Carol Spence’s Carbine Logging Co rail-road was no exception with around 50 guests wit-nessing the event recently. In this shot by Anita McDicken shows Wayne driving the Bachman 2-8-0 through the opening banner, the force loosened the loco headlight from the mounting. AMRA members looking on include, Paul Blake, John and William Rogers and Quentin Noscvich.

AMRA Queensland Branch Inc.

2007

BRISBANE MODEL

TRAIN SHOW

5th,6th,7th May 2007 9am-5pm each day

Expressions of Interest are invited from Trade and Layout Exhibitors

Please contact The Show Manager by

7/02/07 at showmanager@

brisbaneminiaturetrainshow.com.au

or PO Box 352 Zillmere Qld 4034


PRESIDENT’S REPORT The 50th anniversary celebrations, held on 27th to 29th October, were a resounding success. See the report elsewhere in Journal for more details.

November began with the Branch AGM. There was a full house to hear the Branch reports and to elect the 2007 Management Committee. Bruce Harris resigned as Vice President David Bennett was elected to this position, just ahead of Mic Wade. The Management Committee for 2007 is:

President Barry Wilcockson Vice President David Bennett Secretary Geoff Lanham Treasurer Marilyn Wilcockson Exhibition Manager Glenn Percival Publicity Officer Philip Lee Junior Development Officer Chris Winston At the suggestion of Denis Gilmore, a 24 hour

run was held on the HO layout on Nov 11, from 10am Saturday to 10am Sunday. There were six categories of trains; European, British, American, sound fitted locos, Australian steam and Australian diesel. Each category ran for two hours and then the process was repeated. By 10am Sunday there were some very weary people, but we looking forward to the next 24 hour event.

We again hosted Macarthur District Model Railway Club to a day at the clubrooms. Their mem-bers enjoyed a day of running trains and catching up with us and some even stayed for the regular Satur-day night pizza extravaganza.

Alan Tonks was kept very busy with our No-vember auction. He had an enormous number of lots to auction, and most items were sold to the satisfac-tion of both seller and buyer.

During the proceedings of the AGM a merito-rious award was presented to Robert Merrick. Robert is a member who goes about his work quietly and modestly. He is always doing something to advance the branch and his thoughtful approach to all matters is greatly respected. Congratulations Robert.

The Christmas / exhibition workers function was held at Loftus Tramway Museum again this year. The weather turned cold, windy and rainy, but this did not prevent us enjoying the activities at the museum. There were plenty of different trams to ride to Suther-land and National Park. After dinner the Branch Ap-preciation Awards were presented to the following members:

Kim Russell: for her friendly attitude towards visi-tors and newcomers, and for her willing as-sistance in the kitchen.

Neil Sorensen: for the effort that he has put into scenicing the O scale layout. His efforts are starting to bring this layout to life.

Graeme Shade: for his tireless work in the build-ing stage at Mortdale, and for the huge amount of fundraising chocolates that he sells to work colleagues at the RTA.

Congratulations to these three members who have made life at the clubrooms that much better through their efforts.

Finally I would like to mention the work done by Chris Winston in producing our monthly Branch News in Mortdale Matters. The December issue was in full colour and is quite an achievement. I look for-ward to seeing Chris’s future editions. Barry Wilcockson

MORTDALE BUILDING REPORT

The brick wall in the disabled toilet has been covered with battens and Gyprock, this has been painted and a row of tiles along the floor has been glued on and the area painted, this greatly improves the appearance of the area, Keith Bowles has done a great job on this project. All Smoke Alarms have been installed and the fire extinguishers have been in-spected by Wormald. The emergency lights were tested recently and all passed the time test. The laun-dry tub installation is now a high priority as we only need to purchase a flexible connector to join the tap to the pipes, the rest is already to go. David Bennett Mortdale Building Supervisor

N SCALE LAYOUT REPORT Neil Watson has virtually done all of the plaster-ing, only the area at the right hand end of the bridge needing some rock texturing work to be done on it, this area was painted brown previously to cover the white snowfield effect. Ash Garard has continued with the greening of the layout and is currently working near the Quarry, this is having a great effect on the appearance of the layout. Chris Gorring is still apply-ing some ballast to the Quarry to enhance the ap-pearance of that area. The factory to sit near the wharf at Lanham is almost finished and will be in-stalled soon. Maintenance continues with an acces-sory switch in Bownen being replaced this week, two points in the Watsons Flat area have been repaired and three controllers have had minor problems recti-fied. David Bennett


N Layout Supervisor “PIZZA DISCUSSIONS”

HO FIXED LAYOUT – STONEY CREEK Greetings, to all you good people and especially

the people who make writing “PIZZA DISCUSSIONS” very easy.

I hope you all had a good and safe Christmas and saw the New Year in with an eye on the future.

Time for Stoney Creek to look back on last year and see what a band of dedicated workers have done to their pride and joy, ME (the Stoney Creek layout).

First to the workers, thank you for showing up and working on me. There have been some great leaps forward; new yard control panels have come on line making yard operation a great pleasure. My main line block wiring is approx 90% complete. The talk of signals being installed will make me look great. Most of the work has been under me and with the power distribution (low voltage) almost complete, that nasty 240 volt is not around me now. On my 240 volt side all is well with the world many extension leads have become spare. My track is still being laid on the ex-tremes of the my network. My tracks are kept in good operating order with a group or eager operators.

The Saturday running times have become a social time as well, with many people staying to have pizza at night, great to see so many stay (highest is 22).

A 24 hour running time was arranged, many thanks to the people who came along and ran there trains and did other jobs without a whimper.

There are many people to thank so if I’ve missed you let me know and you will be on the list for next year. In no order of preference, I’d like to thank for their efforts Barry, Glenn, Chris, Phillip, Terry, Ian, Stan, Alex, Robert, Phill, Bill, Ben, Jeff, Shorn, Steph-an, John, Kevin and of course their long suffering partners and the interest that other gauges show.

We have had a few visits from other clubs and the complements we, yes WE get are great. There is still much more work to do so the (now) new year looks more exciting with many projects reaching com-pletion, working toward operator control. Its been a great year and I look forward to the next. Denis Gilmore HO Layout Supervisor

THE NSW BRANCH 50TH ANNIVERSARY After a day of playing trains watching DVDs and slide shows on our new home theatre system, mem-bers and guests boarded two coaches to depart for the 50th Anniversary Dinner at the Mortuary Station. The weather was not kind as there was a very cool breeze blowing through the platform. So much so that Marilyn had to call the club to organise to have mask-ing tape brought along. Covering the tables with ta-blecloths became a fun activity for the guests before dinner was served. I apologise, on behalf of the committee, for the PA system not working. I will try to recap what was said, and include the documents that were presented.

The 50th Anniversary edition of Mortdale Matters will soon be available on our website. Full details can be seen there. If you wish to have a printed copy of this edition, please contact our publicity officer, Philip Lee. The evening commenced with a welcome to members and guests and apologies. Our guests in-cluded George Bray and Robert and Rosemary Gor-rell from Queensland. Robert Gorrell was at the first meeting of AMRA NSW in October 1956. Our other guests were Stuart and Susan Sharp Stuart was our after dinner speaker. We received an apology from Tim Dunlop, who is AMRA member number one. Tim was unfortunately unable to attend due to ill health. Graham Larmour, Federal President, presented the NSW Branch with a plaque commemorating our 50th anniversary and Brian Tyson, Federal Secretary, presented us with a cheque to help towards the costs of the celebrations. A fine dinner of roast chicken or beef and vege-tables was served. A time to talk amongst ourselves and enjoy the view. I next addressed the group with a short history of the Branch. This is also attached. The committee de-cided to follow the lead of the 25th Anniversary and have a 50th Anniversary medallion struck, to be given to those who participated in the anniversary events. We sought sponsorship from the hobby shops to help defray the cost, and I am happy to say that Joe Cal-lipari of Casula Hobbies, and Hobbyco came on board. Thank you to both of you. This was followed by desert consisting of choco-late mud cake or apple strudel, and then tea and cof-fee. Our after dinner speaker, Stuart Sharp was then introduced. Stuart then leapt into uncharted waters and gave us his insight on why we men “play trains.” It was a lively, unusual and very entertaining talk. After the festivities were over, we packed up the tables and chairs, boarded the coaches and headed for home to rise early for the Golden Jubilee Express next morning. Sunday morning arrived much too early, thanks to daylight saving, but this did not deter the hardy band of travellers who turned up at Central to travel on the Golden Jubilee Express to Berry. The train consisted of a water gin, three cars and locomotive 3112, which sported a very handsome “Golden Jubi-lee Express” headboard. Thanks to Chris Winston for manufacturing the headboard ready for the signwriter to apply the final touches. The train departed Central at 9:06am and stopped for pick ups at Hurstville and Sutherland. There was a stop at Kiama, where the train departed into a siding to allow for normal operation of the nor-mal Bomaderry to Kiama service. This allowed a number of passengers to stay at Kiama for a leisurely lunch. The train returned to the platform and picked up the remaining passengers to carry on to Berry. All but a hardy few, who went on to Bomaderry with the train, alighted at Berry and enjoyed wandering around the town and finding somewhere to eat lunch. Back to the station by 3:00pm to wait for the train as it returned from Bomaderry. The usual crew, with their video and still cameras, were waiting at the end


of the platform for the return of the train. All aboard, except for two who were late, and we were homeward bound. When the special souvenir tickets were pro-duced by the committee, we managed to put the wrong date on the tickets. The tickets were remade and Marilyn and I handed out the correct ones along with the anniversary medallions for those who had not attended the dinner. Special thanks to Marilyn for organising the seating arrangements. Despite the fact that the seating plan that was supplied was wrong, I feel sure that all the problems were ironed out in a jovial way and I also noticed that most peo-ple spent a lot of time out of their seats visiting the buffet or other people on the train, or standing near a door with head out all day. The train arrived at Central ahead of timetable

and unloaded the weary travellers. The trip was a great climax for our anniversary celebrations. I am sure that there is plenty of video and photographic evidence of it. It will also be featured in a soon to be released DVD by Peter Cartwright. Thank you to the Management Committee members for all the hard work that they put in to make the weekend a success. And thank you to the members and guests who attended each function which made all the organising worthwhile. The anniversary has come and gone, and so starts the next page in our history. There is still much to do and much fun to have. (Maybe we should look at putting having fun into the constitution) HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY AMRA NSW Barry Wilcockson

Fig1. – NSW Branch President Barry Wilcockson introduces Guest Speaker Stuart Sharpe at the 50th Anniver-sary dinner held at Mortuary (Regent St) Station. Photo: Chris Winston


Fig1. – The Christmas / Exhibition workers BBQ was held at the Sydney Tramway Museum at Loftus. Those members that braved the weather are seen here with Tram 29. Photo: Barry Wilcockson

Fig2. – Neil Sorensen and Kim Russell after being presented with their Branch Appreciation awards. Photo: Barry Wilcockson


AMRA NSW Branch Inc. PROGRAMME – February 2007 to April 2007

FEBRUARY Fri 2nd Wingecarribee Work Night 7pm until 10pm no Facility Fee Sat 3rd Layout Operation (see Notes) 10am until late Sun 4th Stoney Creek Work Day 10am until 4pm no Facility Fee Wed 7th “Daylighters” Work & Run 10am until 4pm Fri 9th Feature Night – T.B.A. 7pm until 10pm Sat 10th Layout Operation (see Notes) 10am until late Ladies Needles & Natter 2pm Wed 14th “Daylighters” Work & Run 10am until 4pm Fri 16th Wingecarribee Work Night 7pm until 10pm no Facility Fee Sat 17th General Activities & Monthly Forum (see Notes) 10am until late Wed 21st “Daylighters” Work & Run 10am until 4pm Fri 23rd Visit to Hills Model Railway Society, Baulkham Hills 7pm until 10pm, light BBQ at 8pm

Unit 8, Balcombe Hts Community Centre, Seven Hills Rd. Own transport. Sat 24th General Activities (see Notes) & Wingecarribee 10am until late Wed 28th “Daylighters” Work & Run 10am until 4pm MARCH Fri 2nd Wingecarribee Work Night 7pm until 10pm no Facility Fee Sat 3rd Layout Operation (see Notes) 10am until late Sun 4th Stoney Creek Work Day 10am until 4pm no Facility Fee Wed 7th “Daylighters” Work & Run 10am until 4pm Fri 9th Feature Night – H.O. Signal Construction. 7pm until 10pm Sat 10th General Activities (see Notes) 10am until late Ladies Needles & Natter 2pm Wed 14th “Daylighters” Work & Run 10am until 4pm Fri 16th Wingecarribee Work Night 7pm until 10pm no Facility Fee Sat 17th General Activities & Monthly Forum (see Notes) 10am until late Wed 21st “Daylighters” Work & Run 10am until 4pm Fri 23rd Layout Operation (see Notes) 7pm until 10pm Sat 24th Visit to Canberra Model Railway Club, Lyneham, A.C.T. 12noon until 5pm, light BBQ at 1pm

The “Ukraine Catholic Centre” Hall, Archibald Street. Own transport. General Activities (see Notes) 10am until late Wed 28th “Daylighters” Work & Run 10am until 4pm Sat 31st Members Auction Lodgements until midday Viewing strictly 12-1pm Hammer 1pm. APRIL Sun 1st Stoney Creek Work Day 10am until 4pm no Facility Fee Wed 4th “Daylighters” Work & Run 10am until 4pm Fri 6th - CLOSED - Good Friday. Sat 7th Layout Operation (see Notes) 10am until late Wed 11th “Daylighters” Work & Run 10am until 4pm Fri 13th Feature Night – Play Back (Members Owned). 7pm until 10pm Sat 14th General Activities & Monthly Forum (see Notes) 10am until late Ladies Needles & Natter 2pm Wed 18th “Daylighters” Work & Run 10am until 4pm Fri 20th Pre-Open Day – Working Bee 7pm until 10pm no Facility Fee Sat 21st Pre-Open Day – Working Bee 10am until late no Facility Fee Wed 25th “Daylighters” Work & Run 10am until 4pm Fri 27th Layout Operation (see Notes) 7pm until 10pm Sat 28th * * OPEN WEEKEND * * 10am until 4pm, visitor entry by gold coin donation Sun 29th * * OPEN WEEKEND * * 10am until 4pm, visitor entry by gold coin donation NOTES WORK NIGHTS: Mondays & Fridays unless otherwise indicated, 7pm until 10pm. No Facility Fee. LAYOUT OPERATION: O and N Gauges operational, HO (fixed) as permitted during construction. GENERAL ACTIVITIES: the facilities may be used as permitted e.g. layout construction, some running, model-

ling, library, etc. Members Facility Fee unless otherwise indicated: Adults $5, Juniors/Seniors (70+) $3. Guests are welcome unless otherwise indicated. This programme may be subject to change without notice where necessary. Updated programmes available

from the Clubrooms, by e-mail to [email protected] or from www.amransw.asn.au. Address: 48 Barry Avenue (PO Box 277), Mortdale NSW 2223. Phone (02)9153-5901, Fax (02)9153-5905.


PRESIDENT’S PIECE Happy New Year to all members. I presume by now, most of you would have heard via one way or another that our 2007 Exhibition is not being held. Unfortunately due to financial impositions put on us by Aqualink Box Hill it became cost prohibitive. They demanded we once again cover the entire stadium with the carpet tiles. The previous time we used this method we covered two of the three basketball courts, 2000 sq metres, at a cost of some $6000 plus. The cost of hiring these tiles has since doubled and we now also have three basketball courts to cover at a cost of $18000. As you can see the COM cannot justify this expense as it would mean we would be virtually paying to hold the exhibition. We are currently researching alternate venues at a cost we can afford and members will be informed as soon as we agree on said venue. Hopefully it will not take too long as we need to prepare for 2008 and seeing as we will be in a new home it will take a lot more planning. Stuart Pattison President

WAYBILL OPERATIONS – A PROGRESS REPORT.

Since the last report in the Journal on Waybill Operations there has been another waybill session on Saturday the 25th of November. There will be no sessions in December and January both of which are long weekends For the November session six members attended leading to only Stonnington station being manned and the drivers being required to assemble and break up their trains at the other termini. The timetable used in the previous session was utilized again with 140+ cars on the layout. The timetable used had the same train movements as the previous session but there was a change in driver assignment. The branch line is now assigned to cab 1 and cab 5 is now a mainline cab. This change allows all the mainline operators to use a radio throttle which results in far less walking being needed as there is no need to return to the drivers stand to move a train from one station to the next. For this session a clipboard was provided for each driver to hold the timetable, train order and the waybill/car cards. This makes it easier to handle all

the paperwork and the throttle leading to less juggling. The learning process of course is continuing. Setup is proceeding faster as we all have a better idea of what needs to be done and members are no longer writing car cards as the setup proceeds. Further changes to some infrastructure may be required. For example, Stonnington yard requires not an IN, HOLD, OUT box but an IN, UP, DOWN box. This is because the yard is a staging yard and as such there are no industries. Similarly, Gorfield as the terminus for the branch line will probably benefit from a five pocket car card/waybill holder for IN, HOLD, UP, DOWN, BRANCH Some discussion was held on shrinking the size of the car card/waybill holder. Currently it is two business cards in width. Bob Dall at the November session proposed that a slot be cut into the holder about a third of the way up and to shrink the size of the waybill. This will mean that the size of the paperwork will be halved and will be closer to the size of the ‘traditional’ car card/waybill. Of course this means all the waybills will need re-printing and 150 slots cut. The former is a simple program change and the latter time consuming. There will be no need to change the car cards that have been produced to date by members. The task for each member who wishes to run stock on the layout for these sessions is to put together car/wagon cards for each car/wagon to be run. To ensure uniformity a free MS Access computer program has been identified as being usable in the short term to help members produce the cards. If you would like a copy of this modified program please contact me on 9820 9013(ah), [email protected]. Note that this program requires that you have Microsoft Access 2000 or better. If you don’t I can provide a scan of the car card format so that you may generate your own in the current preferred format. The sessions have now been added to the agenda for January to July 2007 and will be the last Saturday of the month. Denis Kahl Convenor Waybill Sessions

ARTICLE SHORTAGE Unfortunately, once again we have very little to incorporate into our branch notes. If you feel like you


have something worthwhile to add to our branch please send your articles in for inclusion in JOURNAL. We cannot print anything if we do not have anything

Dale Kay Sub Editor NEW MEMBERS – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006

We welcome to the Victorian branch the following new members and hope that they enjoy the benefits of membership.

Member No Joined Name Scale Modelled. 6959(OM) 23.11.06 ANDREW SWAN OO & HO 6967(OM) 23.12.06 GEOFFREY MAWLEY HO

OPEN HOUSE 2006

Below and right: Photographs of some of the members who volunteered their time to help make the day a success.

The photo on the right shows our garden railway gang running trains on the outdoor layout.

Below right are the outside catering crew who provided the sausage sizzle.

Below are the members who helped run the food kiosk


Work nights on the club layouts are held each Tuesday at 1930 hours.

Daylighters are retired people and anyone else interested in maintaining the clubrooms and operating the layouts. They meet each Monday or the Tuesday following a public holiday commencing at 1000 hours and finishing at 1530 hours.

AGENDA FEBRUARY

4 SUN 1330-1730 Timetable Operation Australian prototype (General)

8 THU* 1930-2230 Social Meeting – Guest Speaker Model – Goods Rolling Stock

Train Surfing - Greg Attrill Photo – Ballast Wagon

10 SAT 1330-1730 Timetable Operation General – B.Y.O. Train

11 SUN 1000-1700 Large Scale Train Running Outdoor Layout (General)

11 SUN 1100-1630 Twentyfivers Get Together TBA

16 FRI 1930-2330 Timetable Operation N.S.W. prototype (General)

17 SAT 1000-1500 Junior Running Day B.Y.O. Train

23 FRI 1930-2330 Timetable Operation German prototype Era 3/4/5 (1945 to present)

24 SAT 1330-1730 Waybill Session General – B.Y.O. Train

25 SUN 1330-1730 DCC Operation General – B.Y.O. .DCC Train

MARCH

4 SUN 1330-1730 Timetable Operation USA prototype (General)

8 THU 1930-2230 TBA

16 FRI 1930-2330 Timetable Operation U.S.A. prototype (1970 to 1980)

17 SAT 1000-1500 DCC Operation General – B.Y.O. .DCC Train

25 SUN 1330-1730 Waybill Session General – B.Y.O. Train

30 FRI 1930-2330 Timetable Operation Swiss prototype Era 4/5 (1968 to present)


AMRA JOURNAL NO. 295 – JAN/FEB 2007 PAGE 1 J OURNAL

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