O , NOW I UNDERSTAND !

          WITH THE IMPENDING RELEASE  OF THE AUSCISION MODEL 442 LOCO'S
              I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE A VERSION NOT BEING DONE BY THEM.
    ON THE 9-6-83 WE HAVE 44234 AT CENTRAL DISPLAYING THE GREEN  EMBLEM        WHERE THE COAT OF ARMS USUALLY IS.NOT SURE WHAT IT MEANS BUT I HAVE 44230
                AT BROADMEADOWS ON THE 9-10-83 WITH THE SAME BRANDING.

There seems to be a lot of modelers who have moved into O scale lately .Using the reasoning of declining eyesight which makes focusing on the subject in hand (to speak ) become almost impossible .Or perhaps there old arthritic hands holding them back from  manipulating smaller items which once was not a problem ,but now becomes impossible for them to satisfy there ambitions.Or perhaps they are more satisfied to see  smaller objects which they have become familiar with, in a larger size or dimension.
I by accident have found a you tube clip which has helped explain the move to O scale much better than any
one has been able to explain to me yet.
You may find this of some interest.And possible help make O scale modelling a more attractive proposition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS-bFTzymuA

For you O scalers you may need to watch this in full screen to appreciate the content.

FRASERS CREEK

                           WITH THE IMPENDING RELEASE OF THE PAY BUS ,
                             WE HAVE FP9 AT WEST TAMWORTH ON 7-9-83
                              IN WHAT SEEMS LIKE A VERY DARK PAINT



I have not been doing much scenery work to the layout extensions for some time.
I suppose I did do a fare bit of scenery on SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS to get it ready for display, which hasn't come out of the trailer since returning from the Epping exhibition.
So I decided to stop mucking about with carriages and stuff and get some scenery done.
One of the spots that has not seen any progress is the rocky canyon area that leads to Fraser's creek .Which is the entrance to ASHFORD station.
I originally did some work on this back in January 2012.Which I wasn't happy with,as the rock walls ended up looking like granite which I didn't want as I already have plenty of granite.

I did make a couple of rock molds myself which didn't really produce a decent rock strata . So I purchased some rock molds from the US with the right looking rocks I was after .They are pretty big in size .One of them would be 600mmm x 450mm.So I removed the rocks I had already done and came up with a system for using the large molds.Which is a much improved method from the sticks and props I used originally.
The best way is to use sand bags to hold the molds in place .This allows the mold to conform to the foam shapes and hold while the plaster sets usually about 45 minutes for the cornice cement I'm using.
The plaster needs to be left alone while setting ,with no sneak peaking or the plaster pulls away from the mold. 

I wanted to have that orange rusty colour for the finished rocks .Which I over did the first time.so I had to try to remove some of the colour which I managed to do.And to blend some more colours into the rock work.
Some more trees and grass will also help tone the colour down ( I hope ).
The more you look around when driving the more you realize there are a lot of very orange looking rocks and soil out there.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

               XP 2009 LAYS OVER AT GLEN INNES ON A LAZY SUNDAY ,THE 30-9-84
              AT THE RAIL MOTOR SERVICING ROAD  USUALLY OCCUPIED BY THE NOW
              REPLACED 900 DEB SET.          
              


Back on the 24-8-81 the first power car and passenger car of the revolutionary XPT fleet was handed over to Nifty Nev at the Granville plant of Comeng.
A revolution was about to unfold for the railways of NSW and its customers. With the new train sets bringing a wave of excitement to country towns across NSW .Crowds gathering at stations to catch a glimpse of the new trains which promised a vast improvement in train services.
Even if at the expense of many old rail motors and mail trains.
Its been a long time since all this excitement .And the the 13th Sept marks 36 years since the XPT first ran through to Tenterfield ,before returning South on the 14th past BOLIVIA with stops at main stations along the Great Northern Line on the buy a vote tour.
How things have changed,we had so much and so many services.You would assume with progress things would continue to get better,but now we have been convinced and trained up to expect nothing .

Auscision released there XPT set which is a great model and a an easy add a passenger train to your layout fix.
Being a modeller of that early 1980,s period I of course purchased a 5 car set in original colour scheme.You may have noticed the lack of XPT,s on SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS .This is due to the XPT not being right for my time period.
A problem which I have finally fixed.
The XPT as supplied has the following wrong for the early period that I have attempted to rectify
Strobe lights
External horns
Radio antenas
Cow catcher
Named and numbered power units
Under-frame equipment colour to light.

So with the help of some pictures I will walk you through the process.
This is only a 3 hour project ,now I've done all the hard stuff for you.

             WITH A CRAFT KNIFE REMOVE THE PAD PRINTED CITY NAME THESE WILL      COME OFF RELATIVELY EASY AND A QUICK TOUCH UP WITH SOME SUITABLE RED

                  REMOVE THE CLEAR STROBE LIGHT  MOLDINGS ,THESE ARE PUSH FIT

                 REMOVE THE AIR HORNS AND RADIO ANTENNAS FROM THE FRONT
                 AND DON'T FORGET THE ANTENNA AT THE REAR OF THE POWER CAR

                                              ALL OFFENDING EXTRAS REMOVED

FILE OFF ROOF MOLDINGS ,AND DRILL OUT STROBE HOLES TO SUIT EVERGREEN
STYRENE TUBE TO BE GLUED IN TO FILL THESE HOLES .USE BODY PUTTY FOR REMAINING IMPERFECTIONS AND SAND SMOOTH.

                                 PAINT OVER WORK AREA WITH SUITABLE PAINT

                                                REWORKED ROOF WITH ORIGINAL 

                              REAR OF POWER CAR REWORKED WITH ORIGINAL

 

 PAINT THE INSIDE OF THE FRONT WINDSCREEN TO REPRESENT THE SUN BLIND

                                            REMOVE THE FRONT PILOT MOLDING

                        FILE AWAY THE PILOT AND COUNTERSINK THE SCREW HOLES
                                           TOUCH UP PAINT WITH SUITABLE RED

      DRILL 2 HOLES IN LINE WITH THE PILOT ATTACHMENT SCREWS AND HARD UP
      AGAINST THE PILOT CASTING FOR THE NEW RAIL CLEARANCE BARS (PILOT)
      WHICH ARE THE ORIGINAL STYLE FITTED.
     THESE ARE MADE FROM BRASS TUBING APPROX 2 MM DIA GLUED INTO THE HOLES
     WHICH HAVE BEEN DRILLED TO SUIT THE TUBING.THEN USING PLIERS CRIMP OR             SQUASH THE TUBING TO FORM IT INTO A BAR SHAPE.WHICH IS TRIMMED TO SUIT
     BOTH THE LENGTH WITH A CLEARANCE ABOVE THE RAIL HEAD  AND A
     TAPPER ON THE REAR OF THE BAR.
     

     REATTACH THE PILOT TO THE POWER CAR WITH THE 2 SCREWS ,THESE CAN HAVE
      THE HEADS FILED DOWN SO AS NOT TO SHOW UP WHEN SCREWED IN.
    THE SIDE FRAMES AND FUEL TANK WERE REPAINTED WITH A DARKER GREY
    RATHER THAN THE PRE COLOURED MOLDED PLASTIC WHICH APPEARS TO LIGHT IN
     COLOUR.I ALSO PAINTED THE SIDES OF THE BOGIE MECHANISM THE SAME GREY.

 

                    THE MODIFIED XPT ALONG WITH THE AS SUPPLIED VERSION
               ANYONE WHO IS PLANNING ON USING THE AUSCISION MHN XPT
               TEST CARRIAGE WILL HAVE TO MODIFY THERE POWER CAR TO THIS
                AS BUILT STYLE TO SUITE THE PROTO TYPE AT THIS EARLY STAGE.

       AFTER SEVERAL ACCIDENTS AND NEAR MISSES EARLY ON , AN ATTEMPT TO
       UPGRADE THE PILOT OF THE POWER CARS WAS UNDERTAKEN ON UNITS 2006
       AND 2009 IN LATE 1982
       2 LARGE STEEL PIPES .APPROX 6 " WHERE FABRICATED TO FORM A FRONT PILOT
       THE ORIGINAL PILOT BARS WHERE LEFT IN PLACE.
        THESE WHERE THE ONLY CARS TO BE FITTED AND 2010 TO 2014 WHERE BUILT
       WITH THE PILOT AS USED ON THE AUSCISON MODEL.THIS STYLE WAS LATTER
       RETROFITTED TO ALL PREVIOUS POWER CARS.
       SO TO MODEL THIS STYLE COMPLETE ALL PREVIOUS STEPS
       THEN DRILL 2 HOLES IN THE PLASTIC PILOT AT THE FRONT UNDERSIDE ,FOR
       2 BRASS RODS WHICH WILL SUPPORT THE TUBING ONCE FABRICATED
       USING THE SAME TUBING PREVIOUSLY USED FOR THE PILOT BARS.CAREFULLY
       BEND THE RADIUS AND LENGTH REQUIRED  USING PHOTOS AS A GUIDE .
      THE 2 BARS ARE DIFFERENT SIZES TO SUIT THERE PLACEMENT ON AN ANGLE
       AT THE FRONT OF THE POWER CAR.
       ONCE HAPPY SOLDER THESE TO THE 2 SUPPORT BARS WITH THE CLEARANCES
       REQUIRED FROM THE UNDERSIDE OF THE POWER UNIT AND A GAP BETWEEN THE
       BARS AND CLEARANCE FROM THE RAIL HEAD.

                                                       PAINT THE PILOT UNIT GREY

                                                THE 2 VERSIONS OF THE EARLY PILOT

             THE TUBE PILOT CERTAINLY GIVES A TOUGH LOOK TO THE POWER CAR

I do have another power car which I will leave as made by Auscision.But I want to model the front with the
emergency draw bar door opened and a kadee fitted so I can drag the XPT around with a diesel loco.

 

Also I have been working on a dyno car kit that Joe has sent me, to recreate the XPT test train . I'm still 

waiting on vents and correct bogies ,so when this happens I'll show you that.

 

A great source of info on the XPT can be found in the book by Chris Banger

The history of intercapital daylight rail travel between Melbourne and Sydney

THE DAYLIGHT

WARIALDA RAIL

 Well Nicks been at it again.This time at Warialda Rail .With both still and action shots.
 With some stunners of the hard to get at bridge over Warialda Creek .The bridge is about 1 km to the west of the station. Visible are the concrete footings from the original bridge that was washed away.
This station was opened on 25-11-1901,situated 740 ks /460 miles from Sydney on the Moree to Inverell Branch. Elevation is 1,037 ft or 316 mtrs.The station was closed on 3-12-85.
This was obviously an important grain receival station in its hay (grain ) day.

 

The D150 Bulkhead which was added in 1966 for 15,000 tonnes of added storage .

Which is situated on the Western side of the station away from the main yard

 

          The Original S016 was added to in 1960 with 2 extra bins for 6,000 tonnes          

adding to the origonal 1,600 tonnes

 

You may have noticed that this silo has JAYE painted on the roof .Is this a cry for help,Or someone seeking attention.Not really the best place for either under the circumstances.

 

Sample Stand 

 

Weigh Bridge

 

An interesting  Shell Depot is still basically intact ,With a sliding door in the storage shed for

 loading from vans in the siding and a lean to on the western side of the open storage shed.

 

The station masters residence

 

Yard Crane

 

Station if you could call it that

                                                   The 2 versions of the fettlers  sheds

You may think Nicks cleaver flying around with his Drone.But spare a thought for me doing the hard yards,stomping around on the ground for the detail shots .In waist deep grass ,dodging rabbit holes and brown snakes.