Hale, Hale, the Gang's all here

After the terrible weather last week, I'm pleased to report that today is the best weather imaginable here on the Granite Belt!  Clear skies, 17 degrees and no wind makes for a very pleasant day outdoors.

Yesterday I heard a funny sound along the railway tracks which border Whistlestop, so I went out to the gate to see what was happening.  Lo and behold there were eight or nine Section Cars/ ganger's trolleys/ Fairmonts, whatever their correct title is, travelling to Wallangarra and back.  Obviously part of a club that specialises in this activity, legally and safely.  Looked like fun!  Here's a picture of them at Wallangarra taken by the good folks who run the Wallangarra Railway Cafe, which, by the way,  is thoroughly recommended!

To continue the railway-themed weekend today we had the steam train (C17 971) from the Southern Downs Steam Railway, which we viewed at Wallangarra and then followed in the car to the level crossing near Whistlestop.  What a superb day those passengers would have had!!  The Southern Downs at it's best!!

As yet another month draws to a close I can certainly say that I'm happy with the progress here.  The Trainbarn site is nearly ready for construction and the plans for the Trainbarn are being drawn up.  As soon as the plans are ready we'll get a formal quote from our builder, and then get the plans into Council for approval.  Exciting times!!

The first piece!!

Today was an utterly miserable day outside- cold, windy and wet.  It never got above 9 degrees C.  Very tempting to just stay inside by the wood-fire, but I did manage to get two loads of rubbish from the Trainbarn site taken to the dump.  Not much to go now!  It's all marked out, and usually during construction the building always looks too small until the walls go up, but the Trainbarn looks big!  Wide, particularly, but then it needs to be.

A very pleasant occurrence today was that I was given the first piece of the Trainbarn!!  A friend had a really nice set of fretwork for a double and single doorway that they knew would be useful to me, and now it awaits the building to be built around it!!  There will be a wide doorway between the entry area and the trains area, and this is where the fretwork will go.  There are two pieces, one for each side, and a knobby thing that goes inverted in the middle.  Should look great!

Wood is Good

I had a really good talk with our builders today- Altitude 950, who built our cottage so well- with the aim of deciding whether to build a standard metal shed and then line it, or use normal timber faming, for the Trainbarn.  Ultimate cost is probably the main criteria, but quality and appearance is also very important.  The clear winner in my case is to build the Trainbarn using normal timber framing techniques, which will greatly facilitate the interior lining and finish.  I have a very clear idea about how I want it to look both inside and out.  So the ball is now back in my court to work with the Engineer/Draughtsman to produce the plans, so that an accurate costing can be done and also to obtain council approval.  So, I'm very excited about all that!!  Incidentally, the outside will be clad in Manor Red Colorbond Trimdek steel, which simulates (to some degree) the board and batten siding found on many American railroad stations (depots).

This photo of Jamestown Depot on the Sierra Railroad shows the 'classic' board-and-batten siding used on many US stations, which is what I want to simulate with my Trainbarn.

Meanwhile, there is more clearing to be done on the site, but that is progressing well.  I took a break from clearing to mark out the sides that are clear, mainly to confirm the placement on the site.  I used tapes and a string line and then marked it out with upside-down paint, which is one of those great inventions that should have been invented earlier!!

To make sure that the walls are at proper right-angles to each other I use the simple 'trick' of a 3-4-5 triangle.  Basically if you measure along one side 3 metres (or multiple), the other side 4 metres, then if the hypotenuse is 5 metres then you have a perfect right-angle corner.  At this stage it's only rough, but it's fun to see it all laid out!

A very satisfying and encouraging day!!

Happy Birthday Mr. Hornby

Today, the 15th of May 2013, is the 150th anniversary of Mr Frank Hornby, who invented Meccano construction sets, and of course, Hornby Trains.  As such, he had a HUGE impact on the childhoods of countless boys, and the Hornby name remains one of the leading names in model trains.  Needless to say, my first 'proper' train set was a Hornby Dublo (00 gauge), built on an 8' X 4' table.  It was a very sad day indeed when I learnt that the Meccano empire- the makers of Hornby- had been taken over, and that there would be no more proper Hornby trains produced.  Little did I know that 50 years on from that sad event there are still lots of Hornby trains available courtesy of auction sites such as ebay, and therefore it is still possible to build a very nice Hornby layout or collection.  There is a very active organisation with members all over the world called the Hornby Railway Collectors' Association  (HRCA) which does a very good job of keeping the name alive, and produces an excellent monthly magazine.

Incidentally, it is often joked about that it is very fortunate that Mr Hornby had such an acceptable name, after which his products were named!  I'm sure readers can think of many less suitable names!!  Good on you Mr Hornby, and thanks for the many hours of fun I've had with your trains!!

High Voltage (but it's not Rock 'n Roll)

As an Aussie, whenever I think of High Voltage, I automatically think of the song by our iconic Rock band AC/DC, although I'd have to say that they're not one of my favourites.  Similarly, the latest accessory for the Standard Gauge railway in the Trainbarn- the #94 High Tension Towers.  These are a great accessory, and at 22" high will add a new dimension to the layout, but I really don't like the real thing!!  The sight of high tension towers marring an otherwise attractive natural landscape definitely doesn't impress me, but I do like the accessory!

These date from the 1930's, as does the # 840 Industrial Power Station, which is a mammoth accessory, but one that I'd like to have on my layout.  My Towers are the grey with terra-cotta base variety, which I really like, and they were also produced in silver with a red base.

I'm hard at work finishing the clearing of the Trainbarn site, removing horrible tea-tree regrowth.  Only a few more days work and it will be ready to survey, as it has a gentle slope.  I'm waiting on a rough estimate for the building from our builder, so things are definitely happening for the Trainbarn!!  And like our cottage it will be solar-powered, so definitely no need for High Tension Towers!!