2013 March 30

2013 March 30 

 Easter Saturday. We have a band of cloud linking us with the Pilbarra, the result of monsoonal rains and a Cyclone. Day has been ok, however steadily cooling down to 19C. Feels really cold.. brrr!

Every 10 years the Doodlebug Association meets to show off their restored motors. They are a wealthy group of people, and this year they loaded their machines on a freighter and brought them to Australia. And here they are, actually outnumbered by members of Victoria's own working Derms which share the same lineage. (How does that sound :D )

(Don't forget all pictures are half size and simply click on them to see larger image)

The RM's arrive and await the Station Staff who are departing the midday Pass to Wanganella
Here we see 3 versions of Victorian Railways liveries neatly divided by Boston and Maine #3.

The wider shot shows two other visitors as well as the two fully restored RM trailers.

Picture repeated, this time from the other end of the yard.

Head shots  :)

Motor End side on.

Again a comparison shot that shows off the heritage shared by these two little RM's.

The other end, the US version does not have a driving cab and this probably accounts for the differences?

Side views showing both ends.

The red version was rebuilt at the McBees Preston Workshops about 25 years ago
The Blue version was rebuilt by the TrainBuilder shops in 2012 as were both trailers.

Both trailers different ends. These things had MU cables. I wonder if they ever wanted to have a set of controls down this end?

Well that's our photo story for today :)  I better do something useful I guess?

I did get a little work done today :)

I have two VR epoxy bridges and one extension kit in stock. Along the North East it is quiet a feature that the BG uses timber lined ballast troughs to support the track over most bridges. THe SG track however uses the unballasted track bolted to the girders as my other bridges are.  In this picture I am trying to adjust the length of both brdges to be the same. I was successful.
The VR bridge uses the 4 longer trays from the two kits and one short section.
To the open deck prairie bridge I added an extra span from a smaller single span bridge. As well I have extenbed pier kits which will lift the bridge to within a half inch of the BG  bridge. I will carve a wooden footing to sit them on to share the same deck height.

Just to show the gap the bridges need to cross!

Not only am I mixing up the bits from the two kits, I have decided to construct the bridges differently as well.
First thing is after truing up the edges,  I will glue a piece of track on top to hold everything in correct alignment.
Then glue the girders underneath after painting them silver. The tubs have been filed smooth and will represent modern concrete tubs, and will be painted to match before the track is attached.  Paint the abutments, piers and wing walls.
Then I will glue locking pieces beside the track on top to ensure the tubs do not separate. Then ballast the track inside the tubs to hide and tidy it all up. Fix the tubs to the top of the piers and then adjust the banks and build the creek bed in place.

Ok assembly starts tomorrow, although I am temted to wander down to Wombat Gully Park at Leneva. They run an Annual visitors day down there and get an old engine out in steam on Easter Sunday each year :)
Cheers
Rod