[upnick]

Superb to see more on your layout Charles the three way turnout will be good off to the ethanol plant ..... i think at time we all have the odd car that wobbles a bit over certain sections

Look forward to seeing more progress when you have time

 

[Chinahand]

That's a pretty awesome amount of space you have there Charles but you seem to have managed to fill it with some sturdy looking benchwork. I'm looking forward to seeing some video clips once you get the track laying finished.

Considering the amount of time you have available I think you have made remarkable progress. Well done !!!

 

[Ozzie21]

Expat, yes the bench work was originally built to support a double deck layout. As the shed it's in is just a colourbond garage, without the doors or windows, the interior walls are incapable of supporting the bench work so the whole layout is free standing. The main supports are 6x2's and the bulk of the L girders are 4x1's capped with 3x1's. The original road bed was made from 1inch marine ply which was fairly cheap at the time but has shot up in price to something horrendous so I use 15mm ply now. The interior dimensions are 10.2M x 6M. I would have like it a bit longer and a bit wider which would have given me more aisle width but you take what you can get. I have to cut some more 3mm MDF for the backscene tomorrow so I can start on a bit of scenery on a part of the layout that is complete track wise. This will get me off the boring wiring work that still needs doing.

Charles Emerson
New South Wales
Australia

QUOTE (Expat @ 25 Sep 2010, 20:49) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>That's a pretty awesome amount of space you have there Charles but you seem to have managed to fill it with some sturdy looking benchwork. I'm looking forward to seeing some video clips once you get the track laying finished.

Considering the amount of time you have available I think you have made remarkable progress. Well done !!!

 

[6991]

Charles, please!

Just a colourbond steel garage?!!

For those in Northern Lands, COLORBOND®steel is a prepainted steel product from BlueScope Steel, the Australian steel company, which although just sneaks into the top 60 steel companies worldwide in terms of size, is much admired by the industry for it's expertise in metal coating (ZINCALUME®steel and the durability of it's pre-painted products. So much so that one of the biggest companies, Nippon Steel, have recently entered into a technical exchange agreement with BlueScope Steel Research to learn about the way BlueScope Steel does things.

The durability of the pre-painted products is very important, because these materials, produced by the coil coating process, are not just employed on sheds, factories and supermarkets (as in the N Hemisphere) but are much valued for domestic roofing where they provide aesthetic appeal and of necessity (extreme heat and UV) are the the most durable product of it's kind in the world. Find out more at COLORBOND®steel. The paints are remarkable as the flat steel sheet is pre-painted at speeds up to 180m/min, then recoiled and shipped to building products manufacturers where it is cut to length, then formed into the various profiles available, before installation on a roof where it has to last up to 25 years without flaking/peeling, yet retaining visible attributes (in terms of colour) outlined in the product data sheets. A proudly Australian product, developed by Australian scientists (even though I'm a Pommie), for the Australian marketplace.

The current generation product incorporates infrared reflecting pigments (THERMATECH&#153; technology) to reduce the outside temperature of the paints so that the inside temperature is reduced enough to make a difference to heating/cooling costs for the interior (as well as preserving the aesthetics for longer).

Just a COLORBOND®steel garage ?

6991
(aka Technology Leader - Polymer Science,
BlueScope Steel Research, Port Kembla, NSW)

PS Love your garage Charles, especially what's in it, let's see more of those German locos

 

[Ozzie21]

6991, you work for Bluescope steel ! I worked for BHP in Newcastle from 1979 till closure in 1999 . I t's a small world and it's just a colourbond garage

Charles Emerson
New South Wales
Australia

QUOTE (6991 @ 26 Sep 2010, 08:18) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Charles, please!

Just a colourbond steel garage?!!

For those in Northern Lands, COLORBOND®steel is a prepainted steel product from BlueScope Steel, the Australian steel company, which although just sneaks into the top 60 steel companies worldwide in terms of size, is much admired by the industry for it's expertise in metal coating (ZINCALUME®steel and the durability of it's pre-painted products. So much so that one of the biggest companies, Nippon Steel, have recently entered into a technical exchange agreement with BlueScope Steel Research to learn about the way BlueScope Steel does things.

The durability of the pre-painted products is very important, because these materials, produced by the coil coating process, are not just employed on sheds, factories and supermarkets (as in the N Hemisphere) but are much valued for domestic roofing where they provide aesthetic appeal and of necessity (extreme heat and UV) are the the most durable product of it's kind in the world. Find out more at COLORBOND®steel. The paints are remarkable as the flat steel sheet is pre-painted at speeds up to 180m/min, then recoiled and shipped to building products manufacturers where it is cut to length, then formed into the various profiles available, before installation on a roof where it has to last up to 25 years without flaking/peeling, yet retaining visible attributes (in terms of colour) outlined in the product data sheets. A proudly Australian product, developed by Australian scientists (even though I'm a Pommie), for the Australian marketplace.

The current generation product incorporates infrared reflecting pigments (THERMATECH&#153; technology) to reduce the outside temperature of the paints so that the inside temperature is reduced enough to make a difference to heating/cooling costs for the interior (as well as preserving the aesthetics for longer).

Just a COLORBOND®steel garage ?

6991
(aka Technology Leader - Polymer Science,
BlueScope Steel Research, Port Kembla, NSW)

PS Love your garage Charles, especially what's in it, let's see more of those German locos

 

[6991]

hi Charles,
I'm presuming you are doing something on the Bowen Basin coal mines now, and your layout is at your house somwhere on the coast, where you get to every couple of weeks??
There are still a lot of ex-Newcastle people around who have transferred to Port Kembla over the years. People you may remember are John Mathieson, Harold Rogers, Paul Zulli (these three are the brains of the ironmaking reearch group), Cheryl Aldrich, Mark Davies and more.
We did it tough during the GFC - although not as tough as when the american CEO (Paul Anderson) took over BHP in late 1998 - but we are turning things around now. I think that during the GFC the revenue generated from domestic sales of COLORBOND®steel and ZINCALUME®steel are what kept the company afloat. Moreover the Australian Government's novel approach with the economic stimulus also was very good, and may even have saved the future of manufacturing industry in Australia - nobody will ever give them the credit they deserve for this.
6991

 

[MarcusF]

Hey Charles, can you put the words "Making grown men cry since 19??" in your sig please? Cheers

That's one amazing layout. Its going to be very interesting watching this one develop.

 

[Ozzie21]

6991, I was in the Bloom mill first off, then with the layoffs in 82, I went to the blast furnaces. Was there for 6yrs then went to the power dept for the rest of my tenure. After the works closed I did various non useful jobs then I got some contact work at a power station in Queensland and 9yrs later I'm still there. I commute, if you can call it that, 850klms every 8 weeks from where I work to my home in Cessnock. I spend 5 days here then go back. It's fun driving that far as I come down at night and go back during the day. It usually takes about 8 hours although I'm a bit quicker at night as there are no cops about. This is why progress is a bit slow on the layout.

Charles Emerson
Queensland
Australia

QUOTE (6991 @ 28 Sep 2010, 06:32) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>hi Charles,
I'm presuming you are doing something on the Bowen Basin coal mines now, and your layout is at your house somwhere on the coast, where you get to every couple of weeks??
There are still a lot of ex-Newcastle people around who have transferred to Port Kembla over the years. People you may remember are John Mathieson, Harold Rogers, Paul Zulli (these three are the brains of the ironmaking reearch group), Cheryl Aldrich, Mark Davies and more.
We did it tough during the GFC - although not as tough as when the american CEO (Paul Anderson) took over BHP in late 1998 - but we are turning things around now. I think that during the GFC the revenue generated from domestic sales of COLORBOND®steel and ZINCALUME®steel are what kept the company afloat. Moreover the Australian Government's novel approach with the economic stimulus also was very good, and may even have saved the future of manufacturing industry in Australia - nobody will ever give them the credit they deserve for this.
6991

 

[Ozzie21]

Thanks Marcus it's slow but I'll get there. I'm working on backscene boards at the moment and it's getting to be a pain cutting the MDF out side as it's just hit 32degrees C here at midday. I'll get this lat bit cut and stuck up and then it's back to painting.

Charles Emerson
Queensland
Australia

QUOTE (MarcusF @ 28 Sep 2010, 09:28) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hey Charles, can you put the words "Making grown men cry since 19??" in your sig please? Cheers

That's one amazing layout. Its going to be very interesting watching this one develop.

 

[RussR]

Is everyone from the Hunter Valley? aha i'm from singleton and used to work in the mining industry in Newcastle.. moved to brisbane 10 years ago and got into IT sales.

i'm jealous of your layout space! which power station are you at?

 

[Ozzie21]

Russ, I'm out at Millmerran, about an hour past Toowoomba. I head back there tomorrow. I'll be in Brisbane on the 9th of October at Austral Modelcraft if you want to say hello.

Charles Emerson
NSW
Australia

QUOTE (RussR @ 28 Sep 2010, 14:59) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Is everyone from the Hunter Valley? aha i'm from singleton and used to work in the mining industry in Newcastle.. moved to brisbane 10 years ago and got into IT sales.

i'm jealous of your layout space! which power station are you at?

 

[Ozzie21]

I have gotten a little bit more work done but alas it's mainly preparation work. I did a few more backscene boards and started to paint a bit of sky. I also did a bit of prep work for some scenery and also did a bit of demolition work in prep for a trestle. Got the usual extra wiring done and did some thinking on how I'm going to accomplish some track work. The next few months should be fun.

A long blue walkway. Amazing what a difference some paint makes though I didn't have time to get another coat on. Next time.

More blue paint. This bit will be scenic-ed first. The track will have to be ballasted, tunnel liners fitted, a mountain built with a cut for a concrete highway overpass. Should be fun.

Prep work for the first bridge, a concrete topped trestle. Some more woodwork has to removed and the joists refitted from underneath to give a clear area. There's another bridge goes to the front and the tall trestle fits in between it all as well.

The storage loops at least work. The turnouts are nearly all built for the other end. Then I have build the reverse loops or it'll all go nowhere.

Well that's it for another couple of months. By then I should have some thoughts on a signalling system.

Charles Emerson
NSW
Australia

 

[upnick]

Excellent Progress Charles it is amazing how a splash of colour brings together the layout not sure bout the signalling something i need to looks at when i have the track all down

.

Look forward to seeing more scenics when you get the time

 

[neil_s_wood]

Wow, that is going to be a hell of a layout when you have it done.

Looking very good.

Cheers

Neil

 

[Ozzie21]

Well it's been quite a while since I added to these postings. My illness kind of deprived me of the drive to get things done and I should be a lot further along than I am. I have recently completed some work, some of it was remedial as I stuffed up in a few places which required some head scratching to get things sorted. A lot of the work is under the bench work mainly retrofitting Cobalt switch machines and DCC Concepts accessory decoders in place of the odd failed Tortoise and DCC Specialties accessory decoders. As I use an NCE Power Pro for DCC I added an NCE Mini Panel for route selection. this would allow single push button selection for the entry or exit of the required staging track. This I found was not compatible with the DCC Specialties Wabbit accessory decoder. When commands are sent to the accessory decoders for the selected route I found that only the first and last accessory decoder was receiving the command, the ones in the middle missed it. It appears to be a timing thing with the Wabbit decoder, commands are sent to fast? So I tried the DCC Concepts accessory decoders and have had none of the problems and they are easier to program.
Here are a few pictures of the work done so far.

Original short staging tracks.

Modified short staging tracks.

Other end of altered short staging tracks.

Temporary panel for staging.

Theis should have been a tall steel trestle bridge. But it's now a cut out along a mountain ridge. Imagine scenery.

This is where the ethanol plant will be. Doubles as steam loco storage at the moment.

Main staging with the original short staging and bypass track in place.

Charles Emerson
Queensland
Australia

 

[ebaykal]

Hi Charles, nice to see you back....Since the trains are now running there sure seems to be a lot of work yet to be done on the scenery part.
Keep us posted on the developments.

Erkut

 

[Ozzie21]

Thanks Erkut. For awhile there I didn't think I was going to be back. I think I'll think about scenery when I get the top deck in. I just have to plan that bit

Charles Emerson
Queensland
Australia

 

[upnick]

Hi Charles,

Good to see you back & hope you have recovered, the new staging area has more interest & looks better with the curves it will break the eye with long trains, the scenic changes you've created will be better as well.

 

[Ozzie21]

Nick, yes the curves do add interest but the thing is they will for the most part disappear and become hidden staging when the top goes in. To get from the top deck I was just going to have a spiral hidden inside a mountain that would connect with a switch located in the top left rear off the long staging tracks. I decided to change this to an elongated spiral in a figure 8 pattern. This will lengthen the run and lower the grade and will allow the bulk of it to be visible. At least that's the plan. Then all i have to do is fill in the rest and that's the bit I haven't thought about

Charles Emerson
Queensland
Australia

 

[Norman Byrne]

Hello Charles,

Not come across your layouts thread before. That is certainly one very large railway room, & I just mean the garage LOL !!!! And as for the shed, I think they are called light industrial units over here & you have plans for its expansion - just so much space in the Southern Hemisphere eh !!!!!

Really like the look of the layout, including its significant height in places. You also seem to have some wonderful locos & plenty of rolling stock. Very nice indeed. Look forward to watching things progress & the best of luck with the build, Cheers,

Norm