Garden Whistle Dec 2011 - Sandman.org.nz

- G scale news from around New Zealand -
December 2011
Karl Arnesen’s Mikado leads a train out of the Mt Catt tunnel and around the fishpond on his Mt Catt and
Jessie Falls Railroad in Christchurch. This spectacular garden railway is one of the layouts being visited
during the NZ Garden Railway convention in January 2012. Photo: Glen Anthony.

The Garden Whistle - December 2011
Mt Catt & Jessie Falls Railroad
Trains lined up at the township of Jessie Falls.
Text by Glen Anthony (Christchurch)
Photos by John Lammiman & Glen Anthony.
What a stunning day it was for the running
afternoon at Karl Arnesen’s Railroad in Christchurch.
The day was nice and warm without being
too hot. Let’s hope this was an indication of
what summer has waiting for us. There was a
good turnout of people and range of interesting
trains.
The fan driven Fortuna Flyer speeds past.
Karl had his Fortuna Flyer out for a run. As
you probably know its driven by a big fan on the
back, (and no brake to stop it in a hurry!).
While Karl’s railroad might look flat, there are
actually some deceptively steep grades on it.
This required good control to get the required
run up to make it to the summit, and then shut
off power early enough to slow down for a safe
speed descent. It took a couple of laps to get the
hang of it, with some spectacular derailments in
the process, which I guess is half the fun of it.
Chris Greer brought along a track clearing
wagon he had built (photo next page). The basis
of it was a kit he purchased off the internet. It
comes with the rotary brush, motor, mounting
bracket, pulleys and drive belt . Chris mounted it
on the end of a wagon and used a cab and tanks
from an old Bachmann ‘Lyn’ tank loco to create
a track maintenance car. The battery to run the
motor is stored in the tank. Chris added a piece
of brass above the rotating brush to act as a mud
-guard and stop water being splashed up on to
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The Garden Whistle - December 2011
the motor. The brushes
turned at high speed
and were very good at
clearing leaves and obstacles
off the track.
Chris’s other item,
which can also be seen
behind in the photo,
was a video transmission
camera. This was
another internet purchase
for around $30,
and transmits a signal
which can be viewed on
a television set inside
the house. A great way
to watch you trains if
the day is too hot outside.
Chris Greer’s track clearing wagon and video transmitting wagon
Graeme Wood’s
brought along a couple
of loco tenders he made
for his Aristo 0-4-0’s.
He used some trays
from a storage system,
which were a perfect
size for the loco’s. He
just had to add some
wheels and couplings
underneath and coal for
the inside.
We were all thinking
of Brain Alison, as the
area he lives in had
been declared red zone
during the week. All
houses will now be demolished.
Brain reports
that he is having a new
house built in Northwood,
but is unsure
about a garden railway
at this stage.
Karls railroad will be
on the layout tours for
the Garden Railway
convention in January.
More details elsewhere
in this issue.
Graeme Moar’s Mallet on timber hauling duties climbs through the Mountain Pass
Graeme Wood’s train crosses one of the arch viaducts
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The Garden Whistle - December 2011
Tim & Rosemary Auld’s Railway
Text by Tim Auld (Auckland)
Photos by David Graham & Ingrid Booth
(Auckland)
Sunday 13th turned out to be our best G scale
event in Kumeu to date ! Usually held in the wet
winter months the sunny spring day drew members
from far and wide.
The layout has remained basically unchanged
since last year although the plantings have matured
well. Of particular note are 13
dwarf spruce - Picea albertiana conica , which
we will lightly trim to maintain
size. Also the Isotoma
has done well as a ground
covering plant smothered in
tiny blue flowers all spring.
We water the ground covers
regularly to keep them lush
and green, particularly over
the rockery area.
The only other change was a
replacement LGB MTS digital
controller. Even though the
original was protected by a
box this was not enough to
keep out the elements over a
long period of time. The electrics
suffered a meltdown requiring
an urgent import from
the USA. We have learnt our
lesson and now bring everything
inside after each session.
We ran our own and members trains and were
pleasantly surprised how even Ken MacDiarmid
's huge "Red Camel" diesel and 3 Harzer (HSB)
railway coaches each over 400mm long, coped
with our LGB R1 curves. Ken showed us that
even though the coaches looked similar one was
made in China, and subsequently much cheaper,
another in Hungary and the 3rd was LGB. However,
it was mentioned by the "live steamers" in
our group that we would need to broaden our
curves to accommodate their trains - maybe next
year?
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The Garden Whistle - December 2011
NZ Garden Railway Convention Update
28 & 29 January 2012 - Christchurch
Its now less than 8 weeks to the convention,
and with a chunk of that time taken up by
Christmas and New Year celebrations, its going
to come around faster than you think.
Its going to be a great weekend. Here is whats
lined up:
We will be starting out by meeting at Don’s
work at 118 Wordsworth Street, Sydenham just
prior to 9am. The club layout will be there and
we may use it if the weather is not co-operating.
But as it is summer, hopefully it will be a nice
day, and we can get straight onto the best part,
visiting some great garden railways. Clinics will
be intermingled with the layouts tours, weather
permitting.
There are four layouts to visit in Christchurch
in the morning. Then in the afternoon we are off
south to Ashburton were we have a special charter
train waiting for us at the Plains Railway.
After that we will be popping around the corner
to visit Kerry Paterson’s Ashburton Forks Railway.
Kerry advises he will be putting on a selection
of scratch built for us. I know there are
some magnificent locos in his shelves that I’ve
never seen run, so I expect a number of people
will be looking forward to it. We will round the
day out with a meal just over the road at the Tinwald
Tavern, then travel back to Christchurch.
Day two will encompass another four railways,
starting with Karl Arnesen’s Mt Catt and
Jessie Falls. We will be travelling up into the
“red zone” at Brooklands which the earthquake
commission has determined will be totally bulldozed,
for what could be the last running on
Brain Alison’s railway. Then we move further
north to Kaipaoi and on to Neil Wiggins who
has just completed the ‘mountain line’. Again
I’m sure there will be some eager to see this too!
Its going to be a great time! So if you are still
thinking about coming, its time to get you’re A
in G and finalise your plans quickly!
Registrations need to be in by 10 January.
(we will be away on holiday for two weeks after
this and may be unable to respond to email)
For more info see the back page or email:
glen.bren@paradise.net.nz
Design help sought
Andrew Wilson is building a new railway and
has a design problem. He needs to build two
throats. In the middle is a station yard six tracks
wide. At the left hand end are four tracks consisting
of 2 mainlines, 1 track to a storage yard
and one to a engine shed. At the right hand end
is 2 main lines and a track leading to a port. He
asks; What is the most suitable layout of points
for each throat?
Email replies to : ajwilsonnz@hotmail.com
What is the most suitable layout of points for each end of this yard?
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The Garden Whistle November 2011
The Garden Whistle - December 2011
Twilight Running on the Taita Gorge Railway
Text & photo by Gavin Sowry (Wellington)
The usual November Twilight Meet of the
Wellington Area Modellers, and Garden Railway
Group, was held on November 1 at Gavin's
Taita Gorge Railway. This was held a few days
before Rail-Ex and quite a few were unable to
attend, as they were getting their own exhibits
ready. Those that did attend, as usual, had a
good time, running not only the garden railway,
but an array of smaller layouts that were being
readied for Rail-Ex. New to the Taita Gorge
Garden Railway, is the 'Beer Train', owned by
Gavin's wife Tina. Some of the cars have come
from Christchurch layouts (via Trade Me). The
photo, taken the following day, shows this train,
which actually started off as a souvenir of a trip
to America (in particular, Coors Brewery). If
anyone has a spare Coors car or two, there is a
buyer waiting!
FOR SALE
1. Aristocraft Mallet, complete with Vandy 6-axle tender and fitted with Phoenix sound
(amazing!) in Union Pacific marking. About an hours running and in un-marked condition.
$1200
2. USA Trains PA1/PB1 set with very little running. Also fitted with Phoenix sound (PA1
unit) in Union Pacific colours. $950 for the 2 loco set.
Reluctant earthquake relocation sale! Enquiries to Brian Allison (email: kiwin992@hotmail.com)
or phone Christchurch 03-3298403.
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The Garden Whistle November 2011
The Garden Whistle - December 2011
East German Delivery Van
Text & photos by Wayne Haste (Wellington)
Part One
This is built from Indiana Jones toy car I
picked up from Toy World for $30, reduced
from $60. It also came with three oil drums, and
a road barricade. This made it a worth while
project to build a large delivery van. See photo
of the Borgward B1000.
My van is based on this design. First, like
most conversions I removed what is not wanted.
Then I drew up a drawing that looked right. The
body is made up from 1.5 styrene and I will
make up the roof in layers. My driver is one of
the Schleih figures that are about 1/21 or so
scale.
Van as purchased
Parts removed
Picture of the desired result, a Borgward van
Plan for the required extra parts
New plastic body constructed
Progress so far, the new body fitted
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The Garden Whistle November 2011
The Garden Whistle - December 2011
RailEx 2011
The Wellington Garden Railway Group Inc display
Pictures along the front of the layout showed what we do out in the garden
Text by Ian G Galbraith (Masterton)
Photos by John Robinson (Wellington)
The Wellington Garden Railway Group Inc
had a display at RailEx 2011, held at the NZ
Kennel Club premises in Porirua, over the weekend
of 5-6 November 2011. John Robinson and
Wayne Haste transported the display to the venue
and with assistance from Robin Gunston,
Dave Allen and Brian Cashmore soon had trains
running. Chris Drowley obtained pot plants
from Williams Garden Centre to dress up the
display. Brian Cashmore provided all the buildings
for the display and Allan Davidson supplied
models for static disply. To create the “Garden
Atmosphere”, Brian Cashmore set up a sun umbrella,
table and chairs on Saturday morning.
On the Saturday morning,
more trains were set up on the
display. These were provided
by John Robinson, Wayne
Haste, Allan Davidson, Dave
Allen, Brian Cashmore and
Murray Clarke. The track
power was provided by Aristo
Craft Revolution receivers under
radio control. Some of the
locomotives were also radio
controlled using Aristo Craft
Revolution and battery power.
The height was just right for the all important little ones.
Sunday saw a change around
in the display, with trains run­
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The Garden Whistle November 2011
The Garden Whistle - December 2011
ning in a different direction
to Saturday. Members took
turns running the display and
talking with the public. Brian
Cashmore was in his element
talking to the public as
he has a good rapport with
them and finds it very easy to
talk to strangers.
The show closed at 4:00pm
Sunday and the display was
dismantled and loaded for
return to storage around
5:00pm.
Brian Cashmore, who supplied all the buildings, shares a laugh with a member of
the public.
Some other layouts on display:
Right: Chris Drowley set up this
small G scale railway in another
part of the hall, beside the
Mack’s Track trade stand.
Below: Istein a Marklin Gauge
1 (45mm track) modular layout
Below: The Kaikoura layout, with
NZR 9mm scale (32mm track).
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The Garden Whistle November 2011
The Garden Whistle - December 2011
How the Aussie’s do it:
Queensland Railway Museum Model Train Show, October 2011
Text & photos by Derek Lane (Auckland)
Introduction
The Queensland Railway Museum is located
at what was the Ipswich Railway Workshops
about 30km west of Brisbane. This is a relatively
popular destination and a reasonably comprehensive
museum including a range of interactive
displays.
The Ipswich Model Railway Show was laid
out in one of the Museum workshop buildings.
The display consisted of two rows of layouts
and dealer stalls. The dominant scale was probably
N gauge with the balance in HO. A single G
scale setup was on display.
As expected, the display layouts were modular
in one form or another. One of the bigger N
gauge displays consisted mostly of modules
about 500mm long. Modules are owned by different
club members. Concept is to allow rela­
tively low cost modules.
A short circle track was also set up outside for
rides on a double headed live steam powered
train.
The Museum ran excursion trips from Brisbane
to Ipswich behind 4-6-2 BB18-1/4 number
1089. This loco was the last steamer to enter service
with QR. It was on display between 1970
and 1992. After being restored at the Ipswich
workshops, it is now operational for excursions.
We did our best to avoid Bob The Builder
show and its 100 decibel audio.
N Gauge layouts
Many of the N gauge layouts used the T-Trak
system and more info is shown on the
www.allgauge.org.au/T-Trak.html website. T-
Trak is a modular system based on Kato Unitrack
Glintown N scale
The outdoor ride-on
An example is shown below.
DualTrain is a much larger modular layout
using flex track and running very long trains –
one with 4 locos at the head. The photo below
gives some idea of the scope of this layout.
The museum excursion from Brisbane to Ipswich
Dual Train N scale
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The Garden Whistle November 2011
The Garden Whistle - December 2011
G Scale layout
The G scale “layout” was simply a large oval
with a passing loop using Aristocraft track simply
laid on a series of folding tables. Main motive
power was a couple of Amtrak diesels with
sound. At one stage a live steam K27 appeared.
There was no doubt that the G scale display had
little appeal for the visitors even with sound and
the live steamer. A single oval with only occasional
operation is hardly going to attract the
punters. G scale displays are always going to be
difficult to attract punters because smaller scales
tend to fill the available space with more things
that move and flash even without sound.
G scale track laid on some tables
HO layouts
Several layouts in this scale were built to cover
the entire board with “things”. Trains tend to
be run at well above scale speeds. The Morewood
layout is such an example. Lots of flashing
LEDs to attract attention.
AC16
Moorwood HO scale
2) DL1 diesel shunter, designed and built at Ipswich
in 1939.
3) Blue Baby 4-6-4 tank loco built in 1952.
Twelve were built at Ipswich when the Museum
was a Railway workshop. The display one was
restored in 1993 and is used for heritage trips.
The Biniguy layout was rather less cluttered but
did have some rather strange scenic details.
Biniguy HO scale
Other things
The centre of the exhibition space was taken
up with three restored locos.
1) Type AC16 s/n221A is one of 20 Baldwin 2-8
-2 built for Queensland Rail in 1943, is operational
and lives at the Museum. A second machine
218A, is operational with the Zig Zag
Railway in Lithgow.
Blue Baby 4-6-4 tank loco
Some General Observations:
Australian prototype is widely modelled and
there is a surprising quantity of models and kits
available.
European prototype and the European manufacturers
are conspicuous by their absence. No sign
of Marklin or Fleishmann.
N gauge rolling stock appears to have changed
to magnetic knuckle couplers. This may not be
that new – it is just something I missed.
Hornby is still quite common.
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Auckland:
The The Garden Whistle November - May 2011 2011
The Garden Whistle - December 2011
Club Events and Contacts
Saturday 3 December: Alf and Rosie Williams. 64 Derbyshire Lane, Karaka. This is the last meeting
of the year finishing with our traditional shared B-B-Q.
Club Contact: Auckland G Scale Society.
C/- Michael Hilliar, 22 Halver Road, Manurewa, Auckland 2102. Ph 09 266-4745 email: mhilliar@orcon.net.nz
Waikato:
Saturday 3 December: Geoff Hallum, 166 Okoroire Road, Tirau
Club Contact: GROW: Garden Railway Operators of Waikato!
Grant Alexander, PO Box 1172, Cambridge. Ph 07 823-0059. gscale@clear.net.nz
Wairarapa:
Sunday 18 December: Charlie Collinson
Club Contact: Wairarapa Garden Railway Group. C/- Murray Clarke, 4 Taylor Street, Carterton. Ph 06 379 7659.
Wellington:
Sunday 11 December: from noon for Christmas
run at Loco Minature Railway and Gardens http://
www.loco.co.nz/ We will be able to run our own
trains (battery power or live steam), eat their
wood fired pizza (or your own picnic) and the
kids can play in the playground, on the tramp,
climb trees, play ball and generally have a ball.
Phone John for more details. 0274 427 160
Club Contact: Wellington Garden Railway Group Incorporated.
www.culcreuchfold.org.nz/wgrg.htm
C/- John Robinson, PO Box 56039, Tawa, Wellington 5249
Ph 0274 427 160 wgtngardenrail@gmail.com
Christchurch:
18 December: Lunchtime BBQ, Michelle & Kevin
Leigh. Cnr Willard & Somerset Cresent.
28 & 29 Jan 2012 - Garden Railway Convention
All running afternoon’s 1-4pm. If weather looks doubtful,
please phone host to check if meeting is still on.
NZ Garden Railway Convention
Christchurch
28, 29 January 2012
Weekend registration just $50
Registration Forms
Available Now
http://www.trainweb.org/nzgr/2012/
or email:
glen.bren@paradise.net.nz
Club Contact: Christchurch Garden Railway Society P.O. Box 7145, Christchurch 8240
Chairperson: Michelle Leigh. Email: kevinandmichelle.leigh@paradise.net.nz
The Garden Whistle is published monthly by the Christchurch Garden Railway Society and features news
from various G scale clubs in New Zealand.
Each club is a separate identity and the contact details can be found above.
Contributions of articles and/or photos are always welcome. Photos should be sent as separate jpg attachments.
Editor: Glen Anthony. 59 Colombo Street, Christchurch 8022. Email: glen.bren@paradise.net.nz
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