A day at the Modelling the Railways of NSW Convention

I had an enjoyable day at the convention yesterday as always. Having been involved in running the convention for the first 22 years I can appreciate the work that goes into the day to make it successful so I congratulate the small group responsible. The fact that they are all friends adds to the feeling of camaraderie. I had been looking forward to the day, met many other modellers and had enjoyable conversations.

The talks were of a good standard with a lot of useful information, I particularly enjoyed Dale Richards presentation on Shunting Signals, as well as Garry Glazebrook's talk about his new Newcastle to Fassifern layout. His layout is a huge undertaking with Newcastle Station, Port Waratah, the BHP steelworks, Broadmeadow, Kotara, Fassifern and Newdell Mine all in a 9 metre by 7.3 metre shed at his new home in the Southern Highlands (yes, it apparently is well insulated). Unfortunately I managed to miss the talk on the old Liverpool Station as I was too busy socialising but then catching up with people is one of the real enjoyments of the day.

The commercials were well represented with Casula Hobbies, Pallas Hobbies, Shrike Models, Bergs Hobbies, AMRM, Hobbyland from Hornsby ( IDR Castings), Eureka Models and SDS Models. I came away with a SDS Models Bitumen Tank Wagon pack and will definitely be ordering a Shrike Models C30T (un-numbered drumhead smokebox with six wheel tender) after seeing the two engineering samples on display. Keiran and Tim Ryan had a clinic showing the construction of their range of wheat silos. I apologise if I missed out anyone.

The display layout was Waterfall by the Illawarra Model Railway Club, a lovely piece of work. I managed to take a few time exposure photos in between the parade of typical Illawarra trains of the 1950s to 1960s period.

Here are the photos and those who know the layout will notice that the colour has been de-saturated. I believe that the layout colours are too strong, particularly the yellow of the station and railway buildings on the hill. I used to chase trains down the Illawarra in the late 1960's with my brother so I remember the building colour (I hope). Anyway a bit of 'artistic' licence I suppose and I like them this way. I have also used the existing foreground and backscene sky to remove the front edge of the layout in places and to extend the sky.

Now just imagine that it is 1959, you have just got off the railmotor from Sutherland, have climbed the stairs and are walking northwards along the old Princes Highway just outside of the railway fence to photograph that D57 before it leaves, enjoy.

After the convention Phil Badger visited my Bylong layout for a quick look as he hadn't seen it 'in the flesh' so to speak. I enjoyed Phil's visit and we had good conversation on modelling aspects such as 3D printing, layout design, scenery, etc.

Overall, a great day.