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M UR R UM BI DGE E M A I L

ISSUE 1

September 2008

*WELCOME

*TUMUT

*HOME

SIGNAL

*GALLERY

*NEWS

SUBMIS-

SIONS:

To the Editor

Ian McIntyre

ianmac57@bigpond.net.au

Preferably in word format

and pictures in JPEG

format separately. A flash

or thumb drive may be

used or CD. These will be

returned.

Wagga Wagga Model RailroadersPO Box 6340 Wagga Wagga Business Centre

Wagga Wagga NSW 2650

3506, one of the Caves Express Locomotives, a renumberedand rebuilt NN class looking very much English, reminding usof the parentage of most of our NSW steam locos. History andbright are two adjectives that can be used currently for theWagga Wagga Model Railroaders Inc.

The Club has an illustrious history spanning almost 20 yearsand the future looks bright due to the steerage of a strongcommittee. November will see the 9th Annual Model Railwayand Hobby Exhibition. This in itself proves the resilience of

the group.

Club Rooms at Best Reserve Wagga Wagga provide a placefor the social gatherings which make this hobby what it is. Itis encouraging to see the current large gatherings of happyfaces.

The Club meetsMonday evenings

f r o m a r o u n d7.00P.M. for run-ning on the perma-nent HO layout un-der construction.Members are en-couraged to partici-

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WELCOME to the first Murrumbidgee Mail. It has been some time since the WWMRhad a journal of any type. It seems a long time since the decision was made to build an exhibitionlayout and eventually to form an Incorporated Body to protect our group legally. There sure has beenmuch water under the bridge since then. Stockinbingal became a very popular display layout be-ing shown in 3 states and taking awards at both AMRA Vic and AMRA NSW exhibitions. The

model railway was also featured in both the Australian Model Railway Magazine and the Austra-lian Journal Railway Modelling. There are very few of the founding members still active and inWagga Wagga. Two founding members have passed away.

I guess our members at the time could be justifiably proud of the clubs achievements. Current mem-bers can be proud to be a part of this history and would be encouraged to strive to at least rivalthoseearly successes. This history is something I would hope to impart through this publication to allof its readers.

Apart from general news and a history lesson, I hope to include a how to or at least a modelling in-formation essay each issue. I also hope that members and other readers may feel free to offer itemsof interest to us all. These would best be submitted as electronic media, emailed to myself or handedto me on a thumb drive or disc. Help can also be provided if you have an item but are unsure or un-able to present it as you think it should be.

Circulation will be free, by email, or by download from the Club News Group. A number of copieswill be made available at the hall for reading or for personal use.

A scene from the Layout Stockinbingal, a black and white photo taken by Stephen Ottaway for use in theAustralian Journal of Railway Modelling. The Porters residence was scratch built to Archive plans, thegangers shed was built to dimensions taken on site. The venerable 48 class is a Powerline product and the carsare from the Weico range. The motor cycle policeman is a plastic figure. Fences and the back drop are thework of Gary Walden. The back drop was painted using actual photos of the township as a guide. There is onevery funny anecdote involving the GT Falcon isnt there Rodney?

Level Crossing at the Cootamundra end of Stockinbingal.

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TUMUT GROUP

The latest addition to the Wagga Club hasbeen the Tumut Group. A small circle ofrailway enthusiasts, these fellows originally

approached our club for advice regardingInsurance. They eventually swelled ourranks and for a while were close to half ourregular membership.

It was agreed that the Tumut Group would join our club, but remain a separate entity.They would be assisted as much as practi-cable but maintain ownership of their majorproject based on the Tumut Batlowbranches.

This display made its exhibition debut at our own show last year and was very well received. Plans are afoot to

obtain an invitation or two to attend other shows in 2009 and beyond. An approach has also been made offeringthe display as a subject for an article in the Australian Model Railway Magazine. The Editor has assured methat this will happen. The boys tell me that the display will be bigger this year for our show and will includeGilmore. I cant wait to see it.

An interesting feature of any display for me is the fiddle yard. Yes, I am one of those guys who cannot wait tosee how it works. I like to get behind and under a layout to see what drives the illusion. This one has severalsidings which ultimately run onto a turn table. This means that a loco may be turned without using the old 5finger shunt. The sidings may be used as terminating stubs or run round tracks as the situation dictates. A shortconsist may be stabled and the loco driven to the rear of the arriving train, in readiness to depart again on itsmerry way towards Tumut.

It is hard to categorise these guys but as they are probably fairly unknown to most of us, I will try to introduce acouple of them.

Ray is probably best described as the Rail Enthusiast and manager of the group. He is not a bad carpenter ei-ther. Ray has been an enthusiast for some time and has a reasonably well established home layout with a studof mostly NSW Rolling stock and loves steam locos. Several times he has been able to join us on the exhibitioncircuit with Stockinbingal which I am sure he enjoyed. He looked like he was enjoying it.

Peter just loves the trains and any-thing to do with them. He is respon-sible for much of the wiring on thedisplay. He probably does not realiseyet that he will probably be the busi-est at many shows just keeping it allgoing. One of Peters skills, is the artof the diorama. His son is into wargames and I am sure that the sceneryskills are pretty well shared or atleast complimentary. He is notscared of a little research or conjec-ture to finish a scene. This foot

warmer oven at left is based on what was at Tumut. Peter was able to identify the size and layout on site butstill needed some guesstimation to complete the model. Judge for yourself. I think it is well conceived andlooks spectacular.

Andrew is the baby of the group and like most young blokes is just finding his feet in the world. How is he

modelling? Check out the buildings on Tumut! Andrew built a large proportion of them. Not bad for a begin-ner. Andrew picked up the 2008 Barry Weatherall encouragement award at our Wagga Model Rail show, muchto his surprise. He got to take home a 44, are you jealous yet?

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H OM E S I GNA L

It certainly did not take long to fill this edition. I certainly hope that you all enjoy and in future contribute to-wards this publication.

In future issues, we can add what ever is needed, even answering some of the model mysteries that you encoun-ter. This is your news letter.

The back page, the Home Signal, will be generally reserved for some inspiration. This issue I have a shot of thefirst bulk wheat wagon used in NSW.

COM I NG E V E NT S

AMRA NSW Model Railway Exhibition OCT 4,5&6,Hurstville

Wagga Wagga Model Railway and Hobby Exhibition,November 1&2, plenty of jobs available leading up to and

during.

Plastic Kit workshop late November, date to be advised.Purchase a couple of S and K trucks from the club at adiscounted price and learn about the wagon and how toassemble a good looking correctly loaded wagon. Youcan never have too many 4 wheelers, especially on abranch line.

Christmas Party. December, date to be advised.

It will be nice to have a get together and a bit of a runningsession in the hall. We own a BBQ now so burning a few

snags will be easy. We will most likely have more thanenough leftovers from the show.

ARIAH PARK

SHere is an interest-ing example of theNSW S truck. Asthe sign suggests,

here is the begin-ning of bulk wheattransport in thiscountry. Initiallyfilled with bags ofgrain, this truckwas modified toenable the stowageof grain which wasplaced in the truckwith a shovel. Fromhere grew the net-work of bulk hop-

pers and silos thatwe have today.

Ne w P r od u c t sINFRONT Models are releas-ing a new NTAF fuel tanker kitat Hurstville. Tankers really arethe missing link in Aussie Roll-

ing Stock.

ONTRACK Models, a newplayer have released a range ofNSW vans. LLV, GLV, HLVand TLV in various guises, in 3and 4 letter code are availablefor $135 per 4 pack. Check thewebsite for morewww.ontrackmodels.com.au