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

Back in service





The narrow gauge mining railway is up and running again. As mentioned in an earlier post, the original siding at the Big Nugget Mine wasn't long enough for three wagons.



By moving the points into the siding closer to the entry points the siding can take three wagons. Now it is possible to shunt two loaded wagons and a brake van for two empties and the same brake van.

NQR wagons ready for service





The four open NQR wagons have been finished. The colour is very close to the colour used at the Victorian Railways' narrow gauge railways. The numbers are 21 – 24, with the 10's reserved for covered wagons (only the powder wagon is planned at the moment). The one digit numbers will be used for carriages and brake vans.

The wagons are rather light and prone to derailments. I have cut some steel to add as weight. This makes the wagons far more stable but unfortunately too heavy for the locomotives to pull. I will reduce the steel and load the wagons with firewood and other mining necessities.

New wagons



Two more wagons have arrived at the narrow gauge railway. They stand out with their European look. But they were cheap! $8.50 for the two of them!

Only a joint in the middle of  the floor reveals they are shortened versions of a general Liliput open wagon. From a side-on view the shortening is not visible. The wagons will be put into service as they are, but at a later stage they will be rebuilt.

Big Box of Bogies





Four sets of bogies arrived from Hattons today. The size of  the box is quite impressive! The bogies will be used under the powder (explosives) wagon and the two brake vans with one set as spare.

Wildlife

I have been asked for a few photos of the wildlife around the railway. Here they are!


Spot the wombat!


Koalas near the creek.

PS: Sorry for the shadows!

Going underground


With the Bellcord finished and positioned next to the fire station my attention has turned to the tunnel entrances for the mining railway. The entrance near the bridge/creek could be done at any time, but the position of the entrance near the fire station was more 'precarious', depending on the placement of the fire station. Because of the rather short railway tracks around the mine every millimetre counts. The further 'back' the entrance could be set, the better.

What is a steam roller doing in a gold mine?


The chief engineer has again been spending money. This time an unusual purchase for a gold mine – an old steam roller. He is certainly not going to start flatting the surface around the mine. Instead the roller will be taken apart. Only the boiler will be used at the mine. It will be installed in the power house powering the poppet head and the rock crusher (battery).

The engineer's main headache: How to get the roller to the mine site!

The layout of the Big Nugget Mine


A common problem (for me at least) is lack of space. The Big Nugget Mine will be limited to the area bordered by the slopes seen in this photo.


It will work out with the interior tramway handling the firewood for the steam boiler, the tailings from the stamper and the explosives for the underground mine.

Grassy slopes


The Big Nugget Mine is yet to been built, but the grass has grown on the slopes surrounding the place. Even with a proper crossing of the railway, the road access to the mining site is still pretty bad.

Mock-up poppet head


I have a drawing of a poppet head from the Victorian goldfields. I can't read the scale, but I have made a mock-up in a suitable size to get an idea how it will fit the space available. The base is a bit wide, but the height is right. I don't want to change the proportions, so I will try to arrange the other features of the mine around it.

I'm learning lots of mining terms I'd never heard of Claus, great stuff  



Ed