Arrival and Departures at Wollar

A comment by Ian Phemister on my last post about the Austrains FS and BS coaches and requesting a video of same led me to quickly do this video tonight.

Operationally we see 3390 bringing a Cassilis branch goods into the small Wollar exchange sidings as 5085 shunts the goods siding on the other side of the yard.
Shortly after 4908 on a passenger working pulls out of the Wollar main platform heading towards Gulgong.
On the way out of the yard 4908 passes the last limit of the town at the level crossing and then passes the flour mill before heading towards the 1 in 40 grade.
As you will notice on a relatively narrow two level layout taking a video without seeing the edge of the layout or the top of the backscene is a challenge, this is why I am working to raise the height of the backscenes to 600mm and yes, in my usual manner I have stalled.
It seems lately that the house requires a bit of maintenance so it is going to have to come first, I'm replacing a second downpipe tomorrow.

Austrains FS and BS Arrive

There was an interesting package waiting for me when I got home from work tonight, yes they seem to be here although no announcement has been made as yet. I must be one of the lucky first mailings.
I have taken a few quick photos, not the best but I think they will show the detail, etc.
One thing to note is that if the lights flicker then the power pick up springs on the bogies (see pic below) might be squashed or bent. These springs are made from soft wire so care will be needed to re-shape them. I think they might be able to be replaced with Kadee knucle coupler jaw springs, I will have to check.
I like the actual light colour and lack of intensity, just as I remember. The real carriage lighting could be a challenge to read by.
The colour rendition of the interior walls in the photo is not correct.
It was also difficult to get a good night time shot.
The slight curvature of the carriages in the photos is not the model, just the photo.

Level Crossing and a Backyard

Lately there has been a bit of discussion on the Yahoo Aus Model Rail Newsgroup about interest in laser cut buildings which led to some talk of backyards so I present a backyard I have been working on.

The yard is question is at the back of a shop at a level crossing at the west end of Wollar yard.

I had been pondering on how to treat a 'drawbridge' section of my layout at the door into the garage for some time and had decided that I wanted a level crossing and some buildings. The buildings were to represent the other end of the Wollar township, the eastern end being near the locomotive depot and previously pictured with the dirt street and shops. The main part of the town being in the operating aisle in front of the Wollar yard.

Over my Christmas/January three week holiday I attacked it with some vigour and managed to almost complete six buildings on the 1160mm x 330mm area.
I have been wanting to document this new area on my blog for some time but wanted to surprise the Ramblers which I managed to do a couple of weeks ago.
I am quite happy with it but still have a few things to do like the level crossing gates, fences, signs for the Farmers Co-op and to complete the rural mechanics building, so here are a few pictures of the area.