A narrow gauge railway between the mines, the sawmill and the explosives factory

Claus Ellef said

Return to sender

The kit from my neighbour is very nice with all major part being diecast metal. Unfortunately the gauge is 12 mm and not 9 mm . I'll hand the kit back!

From “Post #291,482”, 17th February 2025, 6:15 am

That's a shame 


Ed

Up and running again


The narrow gauge railway is up and running again. Only one wire snapped during the move and is now re-soldered. The extension from Wombat Creek to Gumnut Gully is also temporary wired except for the turntable. In the background the sawmill has been turned 180 degrees and an 50+ years overhead crane added.

I feel a bottle of bubbly is deserved Claus.

Petermac said

I feel a bottle of bubbly is deserved Claus.

From “Post #291,525”, 21st February 2025, 12:02 pm

I'll put one in the fridge!

Gumnut Gully Station wired up


With an outside temperature of 30+ yesterday was too hot for gardening. Instead, I spent some time in Gumnut Gully. As seen on the photo a simple control panel has been installed. Three sliding contacts control tracks 1 – 3. A push button provides power to the turntable. Two push buttons to the right are for a future shed used by the upcoming tourist railway providing services between Gumnut Gully and Wombat Creek. The turntable is turned manually by the white disc to the left of the panel.

Looks neat Claus.

Is the white disc linked to the turntable via a drive mechanism - belt or chain or similar - or is it actually a big circlular disc fixed to the turntable itself ?

Petermac said

Looks neat Claus.

Is the white disc linked to the turntable via a drive mechanism - belt or chain or similar - or is it actually a big circlular disc fixed to the turntable itself ?

From “Post #291,622”, 27th February 2025, 11:50 am

It is a very low key solution. The turntable is close to the edge of the layout and the big circular disc is fixed to the turntable itself.

Cheers,
Claus

Claus Ellef said

Petermac said

Looks neat Claus.

Is the white disc linked to the turntable via a drive mechanism - belt or chain or similar - or is it actually a big circlular disc fixed to the turntable itself ?

From “Post #291,622”, 27th February 2025, 11:50 am

It is a very low key solution. The turntable is close to the edge of the layout and the big circular disc is fixed to the turntable itself.

Cheers,
Claus

From “Post #291,632”, 27th February 2025, 9:35 pm

A neat solution Claus ! and not a lot to go wrong     Good to see things coming together again with not to much in the way of damage  

Cheers

Matt

News from Gumnut Gully


Gumnut Gully still appears very quiet and abandoned. Not much of activity is to be seen. However, the still to be named creek has started to form. The creek bed is made from toilet paper (!) which has been painted with green and blue paint. The water is a 2mm thick plastic table cover.

Spot the mistake(s)

Nope    give us a clue

Ed said

Nope    give us a clue

From “Post #291,970”, 5th April 2025, 8:20 am

Wrong cuts at the ends of the braces!  

Claus Ellef said

Ed said

Nope    give us a clue

From “Post #291,970”, 5th April 2025, 8:20 am

Wrong cuts at the ends of the braces!  

From “Post #292,003”, 8th April 2025, 12:41 am

Take your word for it Claus, they look fine to me 

Hi Claus,

Cuts are OK. See the diagram below of a pile trestle bent. Louisville & Nashville Railway. The designer of the Victoria Railway got it wrong - the diagonal braces are supposed to rest on the horizontal braces top and bottom. There should be another horizontal brace at the bottom. If there is not that is when the cut is vertical to slope off rain.



Nigel

BCDR said

Hi Claus,

Cuts are OK. See the diagram below of a pile trestle bent. Louisville & Nashville Railway. The designer of the Victoria Railway got it wrong - the diagonal braces are supposed to rest on the horizontal braces top and bottom. There should be another horizontal brace at the bottom. If there is not that is when the cut is vertical to slope off rain.



Nigel

From “Post #292,016”, 9th April 2025, 8:53 pm

Hi Nigel,

The designer of the Victorian Railways may be wrong, but they certainly stuck to the design and drawings. I am glad I got it sort of right.

Cheers,
Claus

Trestle bridges



Two trestle bridges over Stony Creek (yes, the creek running through Gumnut Gully has been named) have been finished. As a test, a short goods train has passed over each bridge. Not a tiny squeak was to be heard!

Chaos at the Sawmill



Woody has come to pick up some timber from the sawmill. A heavy wind gust must have come through! Better get the timber stacked again.

The phone number (WC 1049) will have to be changed soon. In the early 1960s Australia went from two letters and four digits to six digits. The new number will be 92 1049. I think, Woody will rather buy a newer truck than repaint the old one.

Finally a rainy day

After weeks without rain we got showers today. Good for the garden and spare time for me.

The goldmine in Gumnut Gully doesn't have the capacity to crush the ore. Instead it has to be shipped to the Big Nugget Mine in Wombat Creek. The ore skips are without brakes and a brake van is needed.


The result of a few hours of measuring and cutting resulted in the body of a small brake van. A similar van was used at the Mt. L yell railway in Tasmania. The body is on a temporary chassis which explains the lean.

Getting there



Almost finished. I just need to attach a step beneath the door and some brakes. After all, it is a brake van!

I'm just catching up Claus - regarding the trestle bridge piers,  As Nigel said, yours are spot on and a much stronger design than those in the print.  The print ones rely on the fixing to the main post for security whereas yours are also also resting on the cross member - a far stronger structure so not sure what the Victorian engineers had to drink the night before but it didn't do much for their brain powers ………….

How did the brake van work ?  It's just 4 wheels which however braked, must have struggled to hold a train load of gold nuggets - gold, so I'm told, is heavy stuff.  Can't confirm because the only gold I posess is in paint form ……………..