Victorian T gauge

Swamp-erific!!

2011-11-03T04:32:00.000-07:00

Gday all!!
Here is the last of our posts for today. This swamp has developed into its own feature deserving of its own post.
This area located on the third module and just off the old highway as it passes under the rail over road bridge. This area has not changed much in the 30 years since 1981.
The swamp was created using 6mm static grass, through a grass applicator that applies static charge to enable the fibres to fall vertically into a water/PVA mix. Adding detail to the swamp is the use of pre-fabricated grass tussocks in the form of small adhesive patches. Ill post more information on these at a later date as they are a great and useful product.

The trees on the hill use the same technique as described in the previous post. Woodland Scenics Confer Green matt was cut up into 7mm squares and teased into fluffy shaped pieces and glued onto the wire tree armature with a small amount of Selleys Quick Grip.

Not bad eh!! Who would have thought the train was supposed to be the feature of this photo!!

Another angle. I cant take my eyes off this area!! It looks soooooo real!!!

To prove it I took a photo of the ACTUAL swamp during my recent trip. The colour of the reeds slighty differ when the season changes.

This finalises this group of three posts. Hope you enjoyed the progress. If you have any questions feel free to contact me on zomer_1@hotmail.com.

Take care and happy modelling.

Adrian and Paul.

Introducing GRANDVIEW.

2011-11-03T03:30:00.000-07:00

Gday All.

No these arent photos from the recent trip to Orbost. These are indeed the CrAzY photos of Pauls progress showing he, like Chuck Norris, doesnt sleep!!

Words nor photos can display the amount of time and effort that has gone into this piece of foam to recreate an era long gone. Paul tells me that there is much more detail to go into this scene such as telegraph poles, bitumen road, power poles, fenceposts, houses and of course the rail over old highway trestle bridge.

Elevated view from the 'new' highway bridge showing T325 rounding the curve (soon to be the large trestle bridge of 157 trestle piers). Again much more work is required to recreate the scene as per Weston Langfords photo on the day Paul is modelling (http://www.westonlangford.com/images/photo/114614/).

Overall photo of the second and third modules. Each tree is handmade or heavily altered wire foliage branches. Many hours have been spent creating the trees alone.

Land perspective view of the hill. Many photos were referenced to ensure the size placement of the trees replicated the original location as at October 1981. Currently the lower half of this hill is extremely dense. Nature is engulfing and rapidly rotting the bridge.

View along the old highway towards the hill.

With the treeline now completed, this takes us one step closer to recreating the sensation of being in a place of great scenery and amazing feats of railway engineering. This also represents a time when the thunder of steams trains still echoed through this valley.

A lot has been completed but a lot remains. We hope you stay tuned.

Take care and happy modelling

Adrian and Paul

A visit to Orbost

2011-11-03T02:47:00.000-07:00

Gday all!!

Sorry its been a while since our last update. To make up for our absence here are a couple of posts to keep your eyes truely appealed.

Last Sunday I made the trip to Orbost to take photos of the location and explore parts of the area I didnt know existed.

The following photo was taken from the old highway crossing looking towards Bairnsdale. This photo shows the longer trestle bridge and the 'new' highway bridge.

This photo shows the remains of the rail over old highway bridge. This will be modelled on the third module as it was in 1981. Originally it consisted of more spans however was later filled leaving ony a few trestles exposed.

View along the old highway. These two large trees have been a local landmark and feature in many photos and videos taken of this area.

View of the short trestle bridge (completed on the layout). The station was located just beyond this bridge. Virtually nothing remains now. :-(

The iconic view from Grandview lookout. Many photos have been taken from this location in the almost 100 years since the opening of this bridge. Not much has changed in this view apart from the lack of rails and differing paddock arrangements.

Hope you enjoyed looking at these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Take care and Happy Modelling

Adrian

MONSTER Progress!!!

2011-08-23T04:27:00.000-07:00

Not much to say with the latest set of photos. We'll let the pictures do the talking. ENJOY!!

The crossing signs and telegraph pole line were constructed from scrap rail and brass shim soldered together. Pretty amazing ey??!!

This is a good shot displaying the fenceposts as they were in 1981. They are 0.4mm thick, 2mm high and spaced 10mm apart. This is about a quarter of the layouts fencing installed so far.

Two of Pauls amazing hobbies meet. Orbost and his CRAZY 1976 LE Monaro (le-monaro.blogspot.com).

Now the 5" L class project has come to an end, there is now even MORE time to power into Orbost!!! Another update with more progress in a couple of weeks.

Take care and Happy Modelling!!

Adrian

Finally TRESTLE BRIDGE TIME!!!!!

2011-07-28T02:51:00.000-07:00

Gday All!!
Work has begun on the star of the layout, well the shorter one at least. Paul has built the bridge surprisingly quick, over just 3 evenings after work!
He used 0.9mm tee tree for the uprights and north-eastern hobby timber, that he then had to cut even thinner again, for the cross sections. The shallow end, near the road crossing, is shortest on the layout at 3mm high.
Progressing to 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5 & 5.5mm at the deepest end. Every trestle bent variation is in order and as per the real bridge, being modelled strictly of photos. The majority of the large bridge is 5.5mm to 7mm deep. There is 38 piers in this bridge and 157 in the large bridge!!!!

Firstly here are two photos of the actual location. These photos assisted in the construction of the piers.

A close up photo showing the huge amount of detail put into such a small structure.

Here is a photo of the bridge prior to attaching it permenantly to the layout.

Paul has also been working on the hill overlooking the Snowy River valley. This is the first of many steps involved in creating this area.

Overview of the progress on the first two modules. AMAZING!!! You can also see Paul has commenced work on the road bridge. This structure will be deserving of its own post so ill explain it in detail then.

At this rate Paul will have the main bridge completed in a matter of weeks!!!

Stay tuned as im sure ill be posting again VERY SOOOON!!!!!

Take care and Happy Modelling!!

Adrian

And now we have COLOUR!!!

2011-07-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

Gday all,
We would first like to welcome and thank our new blog followers. We appreciate all the kind remarks from the Morwell Model Railway exhibition and various forum.
Progress on the layout has been delayed slightly due to Paul working on a VR 5" L class locomotive (pictures of this will soon appear on the 5" blog).
We assure you that Orbost is still underway. The following pictures are evidence of this.

This photo demonstrates the effort Paul has put into this area. The undulation of the land is more defined and the colours and textures of the ground layer are spot on!!

Looking towards the train as it moves along the land fill in between the two bridges. The road still needs surfacing and shrubs and trees added.

This photo shows the third module. GPS and visits to the area were used to model this hill as accurate as possible. The closer hill is almost ready for ground surfacing to match the second module. New information has recently been obtained showing an error in the hill in the background. This hill will be replaced with the correct one.

Overall shot showing the colouring of the two modules. Very fine coloured foam was used in conjuction with half water half PVA glue. to create this layer.

This photo shows the detail put into the plowed field. A comb was used while wet and again while dry. The fence posts are AMAZING!!! Paul has measured fence opst in the area and these are to scale. 2mm high, 0.4mm thick and 10mm apart..........WOW!!!

I hope you enjoyed the introduction of colour to this rapidly developing layout.

Adrian

Soooo much Detail!!!!

2011-06-01T02:19:00.000-07:00

Gday All.

I knew I would be uploading the blog soon. I wasnt thinking this soon!!!
Paul has been making good use of his spare time and putting some serious hours to make some incredible progress.
The following photo shows the sculpting of the hill on the last module to match the existing section. GPS, photos and visits to the location enabled Paul to model this area as accurate as possible.

It never ceases to amaze me how small T gauge is!!!

This photo shows how Paul has cut down the sleepers to closer resemble broadgauge track. This was quite the task as there is over 2 scale kilometres of track on the layout!!

One of the first photos of all three modules together. WOW!!

Paul is now working on applying colour to the layout so the next few posts will be colourful!!

Take care and happy modelling!!

Adrian

MORE ORBOST!!!

2011-05-25T02:38:00.001-07:00

Gday All!!

WOW!! Paul has been living and breathing Orbost these past days. The following photo is proof of this. Just look at the amount of preparation work involved!! Paul traveled to Orbost with a GPS and the Google Maps printout to mark elevations and land detail on the print for as much accuracy as possible.
This hill will continue onto the third module. The railway will continue at the base of the hill for a short while before slowly climbing towards as it approaches the end of the module. These pictures will be posted in the next update.

The first module gets its MDF edging. I just love the land formation from all the angles taken so far. The edges have now been painted matt black and will have a black curtain to the floor drawing attention to the layout. A brown-grey was painted as a base before the sifted dirt and green ground foams are applied.
Note the elevation change in the MDF towards the bottom left of the photo. This displays where the highway passes and forms the edge of the layout. This was done to capture the feel of viewing the railway as if driving along the road encouraging viewers to look across the layout.

This photo shows the view along the long bridge and onto the station from what will be the peak of Grandview Rd. There is now a picnic area at this location so everyone can enjoy this view..... sadly minus rail and trains.

This bridge will look amazing when the trestles are installed. The trestles will vary from 9mm to 5mm high. Lucky Paul has great eyesight!!

That is the end of this update. Im sure it will only be a couple of days till im updating the blog again!!!

Take care and happy modelling.

Orbost progressing VERY fast!!

2011-05-23T00:36:00.000-07:00

Greetings All!!

Its been a while since my last update. Unfortunantly ive been having issues with my intenet at home. In the mean time Paul has been putting a LOT of time into Orbost. This involving two trips to the actual location which is around a SIX hour round trip!!! The reason for these trips as you will see in the following pictures.
This first photo shows the progress made in the station area. The white styrene shows the road formation. During the trips many notes were made and photos taken detailing the geography of the land including water courses and distances.

In this photo Paul is demonstrating the length of the second, larger bridge. This photo also demonstrrated the use of the Google Maps overlay to ensure accurate scaling.

This photo Paul is demonstrating the length of the first smaller bridge just heading out of the station. I tried to capture the amount of work Paul has put into land formation. A lot of work has been put into this area of the layout.

This is the start of the larger bridge where landfill meets trestle. During floods the water rushes under this bridge and erodes the land underneath.

Finally here is Paul proudly showing off the progress of this extremely impressive layout, even at such an early stage. This photo does only show one and a half modules with another one and a half modules to complete to go!!

Now the internet is back ill attempt to update more often.

Take care and happy modelling.

Adrian

ORBOST!

2011-05-07T15:49:00.000-07:00

Intruducing Orbost. This multi-module exhibiton layout is a scale representation of the yard and impressive trestle bridge that used to exist many years ago. Although the bridge still remains, the station and yard area are almost unrecognisable.
Located in on the Snowy river flooldplain in east Gippsland, Victoria, this was the terminus station that serviced a large area. There were plans for the railway to proceed further east and possibly into New South Wales however sadly this did not occur and like many other stations of its kind, slowly deteroirated and closed down. The railway currently stops at Bairnsdale however the formation to Orbost is preserved in the form of a RailTrail (http://www.railtrails.org.au/).
That is why this layout is so exciting. Lots of research has been undertaken to ensure the layout captures the feel and detail of the area. One of the resources used is Weston Langford's website (http://www.westonlangford.com/).

The site that has been most useful in the project so far would be Google Maps. Screen shot were taken and scaled to resemble 1:500. These shots were then pieced together using signwriting software, printed to scale onto signwriting vinyl and attached to foam. This was used as a base for scaling and sizing of the modules. I will post a photo of this at a later date.

This photo shows the amount of customisation required in the point work to get the track closer to each other like the prototype. The track was also masked up and sprayed to resemble rusty track.

This photo attempts to show the size of the station module. There is a smaller trestle immediately out of the station. There are two more modules, one for the long trestle bridge and the other for the long climb out of the floodplain.

This photo shows the DERM about to drive onto the trestle bridge, cough* without trestles.

This photo shows the terminus looking towards the station area.

This photo shows the size of the yard compared to my hand.

Take care and Happy modelling!!

Adrian

VR Flat Top T Class

2010-08-17T14:45:00.001-07:00

Everything except the bogies and couplers on this locomotive are scratchbuilt. The handrailwas are 6-thou brass wire and the steps are hand cut and are glued from 5 thou syrene. The chassis is made from 40 thou (1mm) styrene, the body 10 thou styrene, and the fuel tank hand carved lead . The next group of locos Paul intends to use power pickup bogies and light locos. The Series 3 T is being built now and the VR Y class is next.

The hand-painted VR is located in a 0.7mm circle on each end of the locomotive.
The Series 3 Chassis, Series 1 T and DERM.

Yes it is T gauge!!

Have a closer look!!

Paul hopes to begin modelling as many of the features and bridges on the Orbost line as possible. He hopes to recreate the feel of travelling from Bairnsdale to Orbost in 1980, on a tour special. But thats another post. :-)

Happy modelling!!

Adrian

Victorian T Gauge Video!!!!

2010-08-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

Gday all!!

I have uploaded a video to YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYHDaQV11DU&feature=youtube_gdata

It shows the current rolling stock on Nowa Nowa. Note that this layout is operated by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation).

Enjoy

Adrian

Amazing Detail

2010-08-10T04:56:00.001-07:00

Gday All!!

We had the opportunity over the weekend to catch up and photograph and video Pauls T Class chassis' operating on his layout Nowa Nowa. These are some of the results.

The bridge we know well, however the following photos are taken in actual sunlight so therefore casting more realistic shadows.

The leading T class rounding the curve onto the straight.

Sunlight reflecting on the carriage windows. Just reminding you all that this is T Gauge!!!

Dont believe me :-)

I have a movie in development and will post to YouTube and here when done.

Happy Modelling!!!

Adrian

Pauls AMAZING new project!!

2010-07-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

Gday All!
Apologies for the lack of updates as things have been quiet on the Victorian T Gauge scene. Paul however has been very busy working on not one but TWO Victorian T Gauge locomotives!!! These T Classes are quickly taking shape and are fitted with scale steps and sanding boxes (on the non valanced variation).

These will be non powered units requiring the use of a powered passenger car to gain momentum. Anyway less talk and MORE PICTURES!!!

Click to enlarge for best viewing.

Ill post more pictures as Pauls project progresses.

Happy modelling!!!

Adrian

Briefcase Layout Update

2009-10-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

Gday All

Here are a couple of pictures of my briefcase layout. As you can see I have put in a few things since the last post! The semaphore signal is scratch built with small pieces of styrene. I used the wrong paint therefore the paint actually was applied a bit heavier than I had wished so I might have to redo this at a later date.
The platforms are made from styrene and topped with fine sandpaper to give a bit of decture to the platform surface. I have started putting in fence posts to keep in the newly added paddocks of cows and sheep. I was in a bit of a rush for the exhibitions to get some buildings completed so the buildings you see (with the exception to the house on the hill) were built and painted merely hours before the exhibition opening. These I hope to replace with much higher detailed buildings at a later date.
For the road I have applied fine sand blasting grit to give that bitumen effect. The lines were also added shortly before the expo and need to be redone.

Its a continuing work in progress but I still enjoy tinkering with it.

Myself (left) and Paul at the Sandown Model Railway Exhibition, March 2009.

If you have any questions please dont hesitate to email me or drop me a line at the T - Gauge forums.

Happy Modelling

Adrian

Update at last

2009-10-26T16:50:00.000-07:00

Gday All!! Wow it has been a while since posting here and I do believe its time to get this site up and going again. I have been quite busy during these past 10 months. My house and property in Callignee was destroyed during the Black Saturday bushfires (along with some of my model rail gear and a lot of VR antiques :-( ). We werent in the home at the time and were able to get a small amount of items out.

Directly after the fires, myself and my wife, my 2 children and my parents (who also lost their house) lived in temporary accomodation for 4 months. From there we moved to my parents new purchased home where we lived for 2 months before purchasing a new home of our own. We arent sure whether we will return to Callignee but for the moment we are comfortable and enjoy living in our own space.

Now enough blah blah about sad stuff. MORE ABOUT TRAINS!!!!

I did manage to save all of my N scale models and T Guage with the exception of a small bridge module I was working on. I also saved a lot of my VR memoribilia with the exception of the larger (rarer and expensive!!) items such as the original Leongatha ticket cabinet (complete with tickets and all 81 tubes), VR stretcher (rare red one) crossing signals and of course a moderate variety of signs. I have moved on and have started to collect memeroibilia again.

Along with starting collecting again I have also found time and space to start modelling again. :-) I now have a room in the house dedicated to working on the models and a 12x6metre shed for the larger stuff including a 4x6 metre dedicated layout room!!

I realised I havent posted up any pictures of our completed layouts. Ill start with Pauls.

Completed bridge
Scratchbuilt DERM
Ballast and cutting detail

Whole layout.

If you have any questions please dont hesitate to contact me at:

zomer_1@hotmail.com

Ill post up some pictures of my briefcase layout soon. Cheers.

Adrian

Update on Pauls Layout

2009-03-01T16:21:00.001-08:00

Gday all!!

Sorry for not posting sooner. My house was burnt down as a result of the recent Victorian bushfires and have had difficulty getting online. Well enough about me let talk about TRAINS!!! Pauls layout is progressing at an amazing rate. The bridge is almost done and only requires the bridge deck, steel beams to lift and support central beams and the application of paint. Until then I will leave you with some pictures showing what has been done. Enjoy!!

Happy Modelling

Adrian

Briefcase Layout Update

2009-02-02T21:30:00.001-08:00

Gday all!!
Just a quick update showing changes to my briefcase layout.

Below is a picture from where the good shed will be located showing the disused branchline heading to the left.
Here is a pic showing the trees placed on the hills just out of town. A country cottage will be located on the top right of the picture. The driveway can just be see branching to the right off the main rd.

This pic shows the completed and painted crossing lights. I still have the "Railway" and "Crossing" barriers to complete. The pub and general store will be located on each corner of the road.

Overal view showing the progress. I now have to source materials to start working on the town buildings.

Take care and Happy Modelling

Adrian

Pauls Layout Progress

2009-02-02T20:21:00.001-08:00

Gday everyone!!

Here are some pictures of the progress of Pauls layout. He had captured most of the geographical features that often featured on VR lines:
- Trestle bridge
- Large landfill often followed directly by a steep cutting
- Culverts
- Deep valleys and small creeks
- Dense timbered valleys

He started with a large block of foam and within a week has converted it into a very nicely landscaped valley, based loosely on the Boggy Creek (East Gippsland Vic) trestle bridge.

The layout was shaped and filed to creat the layout shape you see below. The layout consists of 8 separate pieces of foam!!

The layout was then given a light coat of plaster to smooth the foam and culvert pipe added to the landfill at rear.

It was then that colour could be added. Using fine sifted soil followed by Woodland Scenics Fine Turf ('Burnt Grass' and 'Earth'), this was achieved by adding layer at a time then sprayed with a mix of PVA and water. Paul also added broken twigs and sticks to get the effect of fallen trees in the valley. The cuttings are lined with clay gathered from the famous (local) Maffra cutting. The clay was crushed up and added with PVA and water mix.
Trees will soon be added, trestles made for the remainder of the bridge and a small station complex added (back left) to complete the layout.

Now time for drooooooolllling!!!!! View of Pauls layout and a picture of the Boggy Creek trestle bridge.

It is amazing what can be achieved in this tiny scale in the period of just a week. It will be exciting to see what will be achieved by the end of next week!!

Until then.... Happy Modelling

Adrian

My Layout Progress

2009-01-30T13:14:00.000-08:00

Gday everyone!! Here are some shots of the progress of my briefcase layout. I have finished the trestle bridge and have scratchbuilt some level crossing lights. I will make a post later on with the methods used to make each of these. After completing the landscape (made from shaped foam covered with thin layer of plaster) I painted the entire layout in acrylic brown. I added different shades of brown to the sides of the cuttings as these would recieve less foilage later. I the attached the track to the base board and taped up the rails. Spraying fine mist of water and PVA glue to the entire layout I then added the grass. For the grass I used Woodland Scenics Fine Turf ('Burnt Grass' and 'Earth'). I added two fine coats of each of these colours.
So now I am up to the stage of making shrubs and trees. I also have to do the buildings for the little town near the road intersection. These will include an 'Aussie' Pub, General Store, a few houses, Railways station and goods shed.
I will edit this post at a later date to add some pictures of the landscape before it was painted and 'grassed'.
Paul has alspo made huuuuge progress on his layout. He has utilised the same steps as I have done and is up to the same stage. I will make a post of his layout when I get pictures of it while 'grassed'!

Until then........Happy Modelling
Adrian

Been working hard on layouts.

2009-01-28T12:54:00.000-08:00

Gday All

Paul and I have been working very hard on our layouts. My briefcase layout is coming along quite well and Paul has started on a rural valley layout. We are catching up tonight to work on them a little more. It has been 40+ degrees during the day here so that makes it difficult to work. Layout building time has been pushed into the cooler evenings.

I have pictures but ill keep them to myself until after tonight were I can add some more progress shots. Ill make separate posts for each layout.

Until then.

Take care and Happy Modelling

Adrian

Start of my briefcase layout.

2009-01-13T17:28:00.000-08:00

Gday All!! I have started on my T-Gauge briefcase layout. As seen below I have purchased an aluminum case for 'visual appeal' during exhibitions. I was thinking of finding an old case for the layout but I thing I would be portraying the wrong message. I wanted to promote something that is 'new' and 'fresh'. I have (with the assistance of Leo from my local model club :-) ) cut out a piece of plyboard to use as the base. I used temporary pieces of foam (later to be replaced with timber) to elevate the ply. Deciding on an angle I would like the layout to be I traced the track oval onto the board. It is now that I can draw my layout design onto the board and start the landscaping and scenery. I need a few materials before starting the scenery. Particularly since I have to scratchbuild most of the buildings.

I purchased some packets of Hornby 'Wire Foliage Branches' to use as trees. Here is a pic of these.

I will be starting on the landscape in the next few days so stay posted.

I also hope to try and adapt the Eishindo mech and bogies to the scratchbuilt rolling stock that Paul has designed. The progress of this will be posted up here soon too.

Cheers and happy modelling!

Adrian

Im a T-Gauge OWNER!!!

2009-01-08T03:37:00.000-08:00

Hooray!!! I am now the proud owner of some very smaaaalll trains!! I dont think I will ever get used to how small this Gauge actually is. As soon as I got home the trains and track were out of there respective boxes. I might say here how very impressed I am with the packaging. Top job Eishindo!! Everything was well packaged with minimal movement and secures with tape.
The first test run went well with no issues to report. The only thing of note is that one powered car travels faster than the other. That is of no issue as I plan to convert it to a Victorian Railways locomotive/railcar and will most likely be running them independantly.
I have also purchased an aluminum case to build the layout in. I will post pictures as soon as possible. With regards to the layout it will be Victorian prototype. I have written down a list of features that I would like to include on the layout that would suit this prototype. These include a trestle bridge (likely to be on the corner), a cutting and embankment plus a small VR station and Goods Shed.
This is where I leave you for now. As mentioned earlier I will post pictures up as soon as possible. Take care.

Adrian

2008-12-15T19:26:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to say I have started a N scale blog of all my N scale stuff and projects.

www.victorian-nscale.blogspot.com

My new toy!!!

2008-12-07T20:02:00.000-08:00

Taking macro pictures using my old 2 megapixel Canon A40 was ok when dealing with HO and occasionally N scale. However entering a competely new arena with T gauge I had to resort to borrowing my parents 5 mexapixel camera. Not completely satisfied with the results (all previous shots), I deemed it necessary to go out and purchase a new camera, so I did......... ok.....truthfully I begged my wife to get one......... :-)
The new beast is a Canon PowerShot SX100. 8 megapixel with the best 'Macro' mode in the shop before hitting the Digital SLR market. I have only had it for a bit over a day and am already very happy with it.
What better items to test the macro mode on that some T-Gauge rolling stock. Here are the results:

Click on image to expand to full size

A view of the front of the loco. The 'wing' effect was achieved by slightly cutting the vinyl triangle. The circle (which is usally filled with a VR logo) was programmed into the vinyl cutting design.

Using direct sunlight as lighting.

The loco looks like its made to fit perfectly on an Australian 50c coin.

Thats all for now. The next post will hopefully be when the T-Gauge stock arrives. Till then take care and happy modelling.

Adrian

MORE PICS!!!!

2008-12-05T15:09:00.000-08:00

Just to keep you guy interested while we eagerly await the arrival of the T-Gauge stock, here are some more pics! Rolls of vinyl that are used in the layering process. Imagine how much rolling stock can be made with all this!!!!!!

Here is a side of a BCE passenger carriage.

Incomplete steel car showing the method of creation.

12.5cm for the length of a small train!!! Imagine the length of a big train!!!

Hmmmmmm.... closest this to seeing a full train so far!!

Just a quick post. Will keep you updated!!

Adrian

First VR Locomotive

2008-12-02T21:56:00.000-08:00

Wow!!!! I have just arrived home after meeting with Paul to take photos of the progress of his VR Flat-Top T Class locomotive. Upon laying my eyes on this materpiece im sure my mouth was hanging open however no sound was coming other than "wooooow" and "amaaaazing" followed by drool!! Unfortunantly this wont be seeing the track as the design needs adjustment, however it will make a very nice scenic loco to park in a siding or shed. Anyhow Paul is typing up a post for me to upload to the forum outlining the production details but for now I will simply amaze you all with his handywork. Enjoy!

Adrian

Click for larger photo.

Yep, thats 3 cm!

Here is Paul with his handywork. Can't tell he is proud can you............. :-)

Exciting

2008-11-27T16:05:00.000-08:00

The Pointer Sisters once said, "Im so excited. That I just cant hide it.". This describes how I feel at the moment. Waiting for the T gauge stock to arrive. Itching to start a layout...to play with the tiny trains myself..... oh my heart races!!

I started a trestle bridge earlier this week. Measuring and figuring how theyre made....easy. It was going good until I decided to attempt to make one span out of brass wire. The choice of material was only as this was all that I had at home that would fit to scale. Trying to solder something that small requires a much more precis soldering iron than my 'lumpy' old one.

So to cut a long story short, I have decided to try the same design using styrene rod and glue. I dont have any styrene rod so after I post this im going shopping :-) !!

Below is an image of some trees that I purchased at our N scale club. The palm trees are made from a metal of some sort. If I was to guess I would say they are an etch. My camera doesnt take the best clost up shot (hmmm Christmas present for self) but the detail of the palms are amazing. The other trees I also think are an etch of some sort. I connot remember how much I paid for these or where they are available from. I will find out and post details on here as I think they are of great design and detail and would suit a T gauge layout quite well.

Take care and no doubt ill make a post when the T gauge stock arrives....."im so excited..."

Adrian

Thinking??

2008-11-12T03:39:00.000-08:00

Just a post to state I have added the picture behind the main heading. This photo is of Pauls AE wagon and an Australian $2 coin taken by Darren Hodges (B67).

I have been thinking of possibilities of scratchbuilding railmotors utilising the method Paul uses to make his wagons. The Victorian Railways DERM (Diesel Electric Rail Motor) seems like the most obvious choice as it is very similar to the AE car and would require minimal modification to the design.

Still at the thinking stage at the moment. I guess ill have to work out the measurements of the mech and see if it will fit keeping to the scale measurements of the DERM.

For further reading and pictures regarding the DERM see this excellent resource:

http://www.victorianrailways.net/motive%20power/derm.html

First Post

2008-11-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

I have noticed that many "T-Gaugers" have blogs and I have found these to be a valuable resource. We thought we might start our own dedicated to this amazing scale, and maybe sneak a bit of N scale in as well! I have yet to purchase my T gauge set yet however have the funds set aside eagerly awaiting availability.
My name is Adrian Zomer and I live in country Victoria, Australia. I have started this blog as a join venture between myself and fellow Victorian Railways (VR) T/N modeller Paul Blake, a very talented modeller who's scratchbuilt VR AE Wagon has already appeared on the 'Talking T Gauge' Forums (http://talkingtgauge.s2.bizhat.com/talkingtgauge-ftopic79.html)
I mostly model in Victorian N scale. I was designing an N scale layout however might put this design to a T gauge layout first.
I will keep you updated on the progress of the design of this layout and any further updates with Pauls scratchbuilding projects.

Adrian