New

I like the concept of 'new', particularly when it relates to periods of time.  On the face of it January 1st is probably no different to December 31st, more of the same/ same old same old, etc, etc.  Any difference between the two days must depend on one's attitude.  So, I'm putting behind me the difficulties of last year and looking forward very much to seeing how this New year works out!

The year started with me returning home, always an exciting prospect, and particularly so this time as we've had good rain since I left.  The grass, which I haven't mown since May, has gone crazy!  It's as long as I've ever seen it, though fortunately not thick, so still relatively easy to mow.  Our rainfall in recent years has only been about two-thirds of the long-term average, about 20 inches annually.  We got about half that in December alone, and half of that was in one afternoon!  Whistlestop looks great with all the new, green, growth, but it's in desperate need of a good mow and tidy-up.  I'm sure it'll be like painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge, as soon as I've finished mowing I'll have to start over again.  You can almost see the grass growing.

The plans for the Trainbarn are all set for submission to Council, just some details on the inevitably complex forms to be completed, hopefully within a few days.  All being well, that puts us on track for pouring the foundations and slab in March, which is a very exciting prospect!

Continuing the 'new' theme, some great toy-train items have recently arrived here, destined for display in the Trainbarn.  Both are reproductions of items made by the early American manufacturers Lionel and Ives in the 1910s.  If originals were available- which occasionally they are- they'd be at least five times the price, and probably in fairly distressed condition.  Since I plan to run these a lot, it makes much more sense to purchase accurate reproductions.  The first is a Lionel No. 200 Trolley- the original was a No. 100.  This was made for Lionel in the 90's, and is in like-new condition, though lacking it's trailer car.  The second is a reproduction of  the Ives 'Glass-Dome' station canopy, which is a superb item reproduced by Pride Lines- sadly no longer in business.

It's been great weather lately, so I took the opportunity of placing them on a table outside for a photo.  To give a sense of size or scale, the station canopy is 18" long and the gauge of the Trolley's track is 2 1/8"- Lionel's 'Standard Gauge'.

I can't wait to set up the layout for these items in the Trainbarn- I call this planned layout 'Early Period', displaying items made prior to the mid 1920s.

Both of these items, like nearly every American item that I've purchased, were found on ebay.  I think that if it wasn't for ebay and other similar auction sites I wouldn't have been able to achieve what I have, that is collecting American Toy Trains which were never available here in Australia.  Another difficulty has been getting them shipped (posted) to Australia, as many ebay sellers, for whatever reason, will only ship to their 48 continental states.  This problem has been largely solved by a new innovation, ebay's 'Global Shipping Program', whereby American Sellers just post (ship) the item to an American hub, and it is then re-addressed and sent- presumably in some sort of bulk container- to the purchaser.  For me, this has made items that I could previously only view but not purchase, available, and these two are classic examples of items sent via the new Global Shipping Program.

So far, it's been a very good year!