Magnifying tweezers
Have you ever tried picking up some of the tiny detail pieces that we deal with? It can be frustrating … especially if your eyesight isn’t what it once was.

So we’ve added tweezers that come with their own magnifying glass and you can find them here in the toolshop.

Tweezers with a light
If it’s hard for some of us to get a grip on fine detail parts then it gets even harder if the lighting is less than ideal. So here’s a pair of tweezers that come with their own light.

The light is powered by a small battery that sits in the end of the tweezers and it can be switched on or off courtesy of a switch that’s easy to reach and use. You also get spare batteries in pack. See it here in the toolshop

Sure I can scratchbuild rolling stock … I can develop an operating system that will give me something close to prototypical operation … I can even do any wiring that might be necessary … but the one thing I am not very good at is building benchwork and baseboards.

Some years ago I did build the necessary benchwork for a layout that almost filled a single-car garage but it was a bit rough and ready. These days things are different … I don’t have that much space … the layout is going to need to fit inside the house and look something like a piece of furniture … and I’m still not very good at building benchwork or baseboards.

Hence the despondency … and lots of false starts with nothing but a rather large load of junk to take to the tip.

And then one Saturday a couple of weeks ago my partner and I went to Bunnings to buy some shelving for our son. On the way in we saw a number of kits for work benches and on the way out my partner pointed to one and told the checkout operator … “We’ll have one of those” … and without even asking me she bought the benchwork for my new layout!

If you’re a bit challenged when it comes to carpentry … lack some space … and are prepared to build a small layout instead of an empire then head down to Bunnings and have a look for one of these.

What you get with this kit is a baseboard that’s 1100mm long by 530mm wide … with a board for the backdrop already in place … and that’s enough room for a reasonable narrow gauge station in HO scale or something even better in N scale. You also get two drawers (not an integral part of the framework so you can leave them off if you choose), a handy storage shelf above the layout … err … workbench … and a sturdy storage area below.

The framework is all but complete in this photo

Well that’s what you get after you put the kit together and that took me a whole 3 hours … mostly because I didn’t want to rush things and with a dodgy back I needed to take a few breaks.

This is a workbench that is designed to go together with a minimum of effort and you can do it with a screwdriver and a rubber mallet (although you can get by with a hammer if you don’t have the mallet) and a few minutes help from a second person.

The instructions are very easy to follow … until you get to the drawer assembly … and everything fits together with no hassles. The next two photos show how the major parts of the frame fit together and screws (supplied) are used for other parts.

Once the benchwork is together all you have to do is lay the track and do the wiring.

My layout will be a back-country Hon30 terminus with track at the front and a small town behind … although it’s not too hard to change your mind if you start the way I did and then decide you would rather see the train through the township and simply pop the baseboard out of the frame and rotate it through 180 degrees.

The benchwork is complete and I'm ready to lay some track

My control panel … or what will pass for a control panel … will be in the right-hand drawer and I’ll use the left-hand drawer to store the rolling stock.

And now it’s several weeks after I took the photos. I had the track down within a few days of completing the framework and was all set up to do the wiring when work raised its ugly head and I haven’t had a chance to go back to it.

In the past it would have been the wiring that delayed me … because wiring is not my among my favorite things … but for some reason I’m really eager to get the wiring and it’s frustrating me no end that I haven’t had a chance to do any of it yet.

So if you have limited space and struggle to with benchwork this little project may be just what you need to get moving on finally building a layout. Three hours from having nothing but a box of bits to having a baseboard just waiting for the track crew sure does take the hassle out of building benchwork.

You may also be wondering if it’s possible to join two of these together and, while I haven’t tried it … yet, I can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be possible.

Quite a few years ago now I was around at one of my mate’s places helping him with something on his layout when I noticed some very finely detailed HO scale military models sitting on a desk in the corner of the room. It turned that my mate’s son was a very keen military modeler … so keen in fact that the models I was looking at were all scratchbuilt … and the detail that he incorporated into his models was exquisite.

There were scratchbuilt map cases … sweat rags … finely raised detail on the dashboard of a model of an Australian Army Land Rover … and much more. Some of the detail was much finer than anything I had been able to achieve and of course I had to quiz this 16 year old kid on the materials and techniques that he was using.

When we got to the really fine detail that he was building into his models I asked him where he had been able to find such thin styrene … no one in the country town where we lived sold it and not every hobby shop down in Sydney sold styrene that thin either.

David rummaged in a drawer in the desk for a few moments and then produced the lid of a margarine container. Yep … that’s what he had been using … the lid of a margarine container. And that’s what I’ve been using for fine detail ever since.

Maybe the lid of a margarine container doesn’t sound very professional but it works … and it  really is free styrene … it costs nothing.

All you have to do is give it a good wash in hot soapy water … cut around the inner edge of the raised lip … establish two straight edges that intersect at 90 degrees … and you’ve got a small sheet of very thin styrene that you can use for just about any fine detail.

You can glue it with any adhesive that works with plastic and it will take paint with no problem at all. I used it extensively when I was scratchbuilding in N scale and my paint of choice then was Tamiya water-based paints that I applied with an ordinary brush.

Try it and you’ll probably never let another margarine container lid disappear into the garbage bin.

Maybe that’s why I’ve begun to sell a few here on the website … when I need a tool fix I just go and look on the stock shelves. But I’m not the only one who sells modeller’s tools online and there are some very interesting tools out there if you know where to look.

And here is one very interesting modeller’s tool that I came across just last week … the Detail Buddy from Spirit Design.

If you’re working with N Scale locos or rolling stock … or even small HO Scale locos and rolling stock … the Detail Buddy is a modeller’s tool you’ll get a lot of use out of.

Check out the images below and you’ll see that the Detail Buddy can be set up to present whatever you’re working on at just about any angle.

The other good thing about this modeller’s tool is the price … it’s just $12.00. Follow this link to see more.

I could waffle on about Coffee for the Climax but this video does a much better job of explaining how you can support the restoration … andyou’ll also see some rare footage of the Climax hard at work in the timber industry.

If you want to become part of the project then here is the link you need to follow.

But looks can be deceiving. 1746D may have still been dressed in it’s original paint scheme and it may have looked rather ratty but it was actually alive and well. While a large number of 1720 class locos seem to have been sold this month it looks as though 1746D remains in service with Queensland National.

Something similar applies to the other parts of this website. Those parts have been around for years and while web design has moved forward in leaps and bounds the old parts of the site stayed locked in yesteryear because, even though I’m a professional web designer, I made no effort to bring them up-to-date simply because I had no time to anything with them.

Sure I made a couple of false starts in the last year or so but time got the better of me. However earlier this month I bit the bullet – spent time going through all the outgoing links on the site and weeded out the dead ones – and now we have soemthing that looks a little more appealing and is a lot more useful.

All the outgoing links should work … there have been a few more added … and the online model tool shop has been updated and new stock is on the way. I’ve even freed up some time and that means that I can actually get round to building a layout and I can keep this site up-to-date so that it can become a useful resource for Australian modellers.

1. Never accept that any corner on a sheet of styrene … even a brand-new sheet straight out of the package … is an exact 90 degrees. Always check to ensure that the corners are square before you start measuring and cutting. Use a machinists square to check one corner and use the square to mark a line along the true 90 degree axis.

2. Always measure cumulatively … so if you have to mark out the front and back of a building that’s say 60mm long measure 120mm from one edge of the styrene sheet and then go back and mark the 60mm point. Never measure 60mm, mark the point and then bring the ruler up and mark another 60mm from the first point. Errors in length will always creep in if you do.

3. Always use a very sharp pencil to mark measurement points … the thicker the tip of the pencil the greater the chance of errors creeping in and errors that occur when you’re measuring lengths, widths or height always seem to have a habit of compounding.

4. Don’t use a pencil to mark a cutting line … not only will the line be thick and that can lead to problems when tolerances are tight but a pencil line can easily be smudged. Instead use a metal scribing tool similar to the one you can see on the left hand side of the photo … then lick your finger and rub it over the line the line that was left by the scriber. When you do this you’ll see a very faint line turn into a clearly marked line that won’t smudge.

5. Never try to cut right through the styrene with one pass of the knife and don’t apply a lot of pressure to the knife at any stage in the cutting process. Instead you should make anywhere between 4 and six gentle passes with the knife … depending on the thickness of the styrene that you’re working … with and none of them should go right through the styrene. You want to score, not cut with those passes with the knife and then snap the styrene along those cut lines.

One of those is Paul Tranter whose favorite prototype is the Commonwealth Railways narrow gauge system. Last week he posted some photos of some of his models on the Ausnarrowgauge list and he’s kindly supplied Model Trains n Things with some construction notes.

Construction of NSU and NJ Class Locomotives in S Scale
by Paul Tranter

Drawings.
Before commencing construction, obtain copies of the respective locomotive General Arrangement [GA] or Outline drawings. [See referenced list of publications for drawings.] Enlarge the drawings to S-scale [1/64] and make two copies of each drawing. Keep one copy as the master/clean copy and use the second copy as a working copy to make notes on etc.

Photographs.
Photographs go hand in hand with the drawings. The internet as well as books and magazines are a great source of photographs. Compare the photographs with the drawings. Look for changes, modifications and details that may not be shown on the drawings.

Donor Mechanisms.
Athearn SD9 locomotive mechanisms were used for the NSUs and Athearn PA1 mechanisms were used for the NJs. Both mechanisms are within 1mm of required dimensions. The design of SD9 bogie side frames is very similar to those on the NSU. However PA1 locomotive side frames do not comply with the NJ prototype. These frames can be pulled off and replaced with scratch built frames. This modification has not been completed on the NJs in the article.

Body Shells.
The body shells were constructed from styrene materials in six distinct parts:
• Two Side panels.
• Nose/bonnet.
• Internal Roof.
• Roof.
• Rear End Panel.

Each side was fabricated from 2-off, 1mm thick styrene sheets. The outer sheet had all the details, windows, doorways, doors, etc. The inner sheet generally followed the profile of the outer sheet except that larger openings were made to accommodate widow glazing etc.

In the case of the NSU, the front and top nose panels were made separately and then glued together as one assembly. Owing to the compound curves, the nose section can be difficult to get the correct look and several trial pieces were made before making the parts for the models.

An internal roof was fabricated from styrene sheet and strips. This fabrication joins the two sides together and forms the base for the roof.

The NSU roof was constructed from two rolled 0.5mm sheets laminated together and bordered with two “quad” styrene sections. The front windscreen panel was made and trial fitted to the body shell and roof. Again owing to the compound curves this can be difficult. Leave a gap between the roof and windscreen panel and fill the gap with Tamiya Putty and sand to the required profile.

The NJ roof is essentially flat and was constructed from 1.0 & 0.5mm sheet.

In both cases the cooling fan rings were covered with fine brass mesh. Note. Cooling fan mesh typically has 2” [50mm] square pitch. 50mm in S-scale is 0.78mm.

The rear end panels were made to fit under the roof and between the sides.

Body/Mechanism Adaptor Plates.
The body/mechanism adaptor plates join the body shells to the mechanisms. The body/mechanism adaptor plates are 1mm thick sheet stiffened with 4-off, 3 x 2 styrene strips. The stiffeners are glued to the top and bottom surface of the plate and positioned so that they fit around the mechanism frame and between the body sides. The plate has an open centre to accommodate motor, flywheels and drive train.

Useful References:
Australian Railway Enthusiast, Vol 33, No 4, Dec’95.
Locomotives of Australian National, Robert Sampson & Ronald E Fluck. A Mile End Railway Publication, 1982. [Outline drawings.]

South Australian Diesel Pictorial, Douglas A Colquhoun. A Mile Railway Publication. 1981.

Locomotives and Railcars of the Commonwealth Railways. Port Dock Station Railway Museum. 1996. [Outline drawings.]

Then you’re left trying to source a suitable mechanism and that can be almost as difficult as building the thing yourself so it’s always good to come across a source for small, reliable mechanisms and just this morning I stumbled across L G Thek Brasswork.

If you’re scratchbuilding in N … or even Z … then you’ll want to take a look at the mechanisms he builds and just to wet your appetite here is a short video of a working Z Scale Shay that he has built.

He details the construction here

The abandoned line that runs northwest from Townsville to the town of Greenvale is definitely an exception. The line wasn’t built last century … it was built in the early 1970s and opened for traffic in 1974. Although it did have a passenger service that had no hope of returning a profit, the it’s main purpose was to transport nickel from a mine at Greenvale to a smelter near Townsville.

And as soon as the mine ran out of ore in 1993 the line was closed.

Before the track was lifted there was an attempt to have the section through the Hervey Ranges … just out of Townsville … kept open as a tourist line but that fell through and the rail along the full length of the line was lifted and ultimately used on the line out to Mount Isa.

These days the old formation is still in place and appears not to have been sold off to neighboring farmers and there is some chance that trains will run on this line again for surveys have shown that there are mineral deposits along that line that are worth mining.

As recently as 2008 there were plans to reopen at least part of the line to serve a proposed iron ore mine and the mining company had even gone so far as to purchase four of the 1100 class locos that had once seen service on the Emu Bay Railway to work the line. Unfortunately the global financial crisis put an end to that plan.

When the line was operating there were two and possibly three ore trains a day running on the line however by 1989 the number of ore trains operating each day would have been down to just two. It was usual for one of those trains to be made up of 92 ore wagons hauled by four locos while the others were made up of 69 wagons and hauled by three locos.

Cattle trains also used the line and there was also rail motor that ran a fortnightly service from Greenvale to Townsville and return. The rail motor would run empty to Greenvale on the day prior to it’s Townsville trip … do it’s return trip to Townsville providing a same-day service for shoppers … and then on return empty to Townsville on the third day.

This less-than-economic passenger service remained in place until the line was closed.

The ruling grade on the Greenvale line was 1 in 40 and the longest grade ran for 15km and faced empty trains. There were also a number of tunnels bored to take the line through some of the ridges in the Hervey Ranges.

I stumbled on the Greenvale line and two of the tunnels during this last week quite by accident. I was up in Townsville for the press release of the new Toyota Hilux and part of the drive programme took us out to the Hervey Ranges Tea Rooms where we were split into two groups and sent in different directions.

Our group went down to the old track formation, along it for a short stretch and then through quite a lengthy tunnel (unfortunately I’m not sure which tunnel it was but it did have a slight bend in it). We were then halted at the next tunnel and turned back because of a rock fall at the far end. We were also told that the cutting at the far end of that tunnel was unstable and it was not safe to even walk through the tunnel.

Even though I was driving I managed to grab a few photos around the tunnels and at the turn-back I jumped out and took one looking through to the rock fall. Another photo in this set was taken by Noel McKeegan, editor of Gizmag, and shows us coming out of the tunnel at what I think was the Greenvale end.

Once we got back from the tunnels we were sent out to a look out and that’s where I was able to grab the scenic shot you see above.

You can see the state of the old track formation from the photographs … it was a bit rough in places but it was fine in the tunnel that we drove through.

My apologies for being a little vague about some of the details of where the photos were taken but on these press day drives the mind tends to be focused on how the vehicle is handling, how it’s handling the conditions and whether or not I’m going to be able to return the vehicle in one piece and not so much on where you’re driving.

My thanks to Arthur Shale, Peter Murray, Neil Farmer and the other members of the QRIG group who took the time to answer my questions and get involved in an interesting discussion about the Greenvale line.

If you’re interested in reading about the new Toyota Hilux then follow the link to  AussieMotoring’s intro to the new Toyota Hilux.