North East Victoria Railway

[Tropic Blunder]

Here are some more photos from Tuesday including some recent and older projects

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VR BV carriage. an unusual car for sure this one is a bit of a trial on how successful longer 3d printed cars are. while I'm happy with it the second one I'm building will certainly be a lot straighter (it seems I even modelled the usual wooden car sag)

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Fyansford #4 pulling into the platform with a mixed rake of ancient timber cars. #4 was roughly put together months ago but I managed to fry the receiver on its first day of running I finally sourced a replacement deltang unit and I'm extremely pleased with how it runs. Ive made a new roof for it and now i can proceed with cab detailing plumbing etc

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The entirety of my fleet (the amount of engines in the house is double this but they arent really NEVR engines as theyre owned by the Minister for land)

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One of the DE's leads a short train of four wheelers up the grade. This train was actually on its way to help disassemble the wye at the mine. the track layout has been fairly simplified greatly reducing derailments and freeing up the extra rail for the new storage area under the house

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The DE shunting four wheel wagons ready for shunting under the house

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Transfer to the goods yard. I wont take photos of under the house because honestly its extremely dirty but the track now extends all the way around the water tank into a yard throat and into a 3 track yard for storing frequently used rollingstock between sessions

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The wharf shed got its length extension and has now had doors added. the dock will be concreted to railhead height hence the floating door to the left. Cladding with crimped Aluminium BBQ trays is next on the list

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The first two tracks have been completed and now store stock the last line will have an R1 curve and thus limit stock that can be shunted into it but thats part of the fun!

[Mitch stack]

Hey Man, Great stuff!! looks great!!!, like the BV car a lot!!! Will be good to run the Baldwin down on the line at some stage!.

Mitch

[Tropic Blunder]

Hi all its been a long time between updates and so a lot has changed not all of which will be covered in this update. The biggest change is due to the impending arrival of Mr Inspectre (yes hes still coming. hes been slowed slightly due to covid and a few detours to other local lines) the NEVR has gained platforms, Seats, Station signs and station buildings! The other change has been that a few of my locos have bowed out of service to be finished or have been scrapped. #4 had a particularly nasty accident and was practically destroyed so I have build a new body for it recycling a few bits out of the old one. The photos are in chronological order so you may note changes

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The first platform I poured was at Port Melbourne. The sun was well and truly down after 5 in the afternoon when I got home from work so pouring platforms was done with concrete mixed in a bucket in the dark with nothing more then a tomato stake and a torch for assistance. Plastic backed MDF was used for the form.

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The finished scene at Myrtleford. Platform gardens, benches and signs are all still needed but the garden now looks very different to when I started

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The MM works a ballast train. Now that the platform has been poured I filled the baseboards with a thin layer of recycled drainage ballast that contains a lot of fine. 4 varieties of moss have been transplanted as well, time will tell if they survive. Pouring of the Dock and workshops is scheduled for the next few weeks but we'll see how the weather plays out

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E1 and the Climax work the port in the early hours of the morning

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The Climax prepares to shunt its ore train into the dock for unloading while #4 propels a pass into the platform ready for the morning newspaper train

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#4 with the QG's and ZF. All of these vehicles are preserved in real life at the Bellarine railway although this consist will never be a thing unfortunately for many reasons.

[Tropic Blunder]

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Waiting for the tip from the guard for departure

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A new arrival, another bachmann 2-6-0 has been acquired for another Colonial mogul but in the meantime I've converted it to RC to fill the roster a little bit while I finish some other projects off

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I've fitted some outdoor pendant lights to the Station (and eventually they'll go around the whole garden) they make a huge difference to the ambience

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Bit of a teaser for a few people. With the X, DH and DE/T all approaching proper completion I've begun work on something I've always wanted to model. I have always been a massive Beyer Peacock fan so its no surprise that the backbone of the NEVR's steam fleet was going to be different variations on BP's classic "colonial mogul" this was version one and is already in the bin for various reasons but hopefully the next few iterations are more successful.

Hope everyones well

[Old Man Aaron]

Ah, I was wondering how the Inspector was doing; Good things usually take time. New ballast looks great, and the platform will only get better with age. Those Beyer Peacocks do have a fine look about them.

[FWLR]

I do like those night shots. Is the Bayer Peacock your own 3d printed model. It looks mighty impressive mate.

[Andrew]

I do like those night shots.

Me too, so atmospheric!

Apologies for the cruel close up, but I couldn't resist zooming in on this detail of one of them:

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The baggage car waiting in the siding, the pump cart, hut and all the small details, plus the lighting - a lovely recreation of the railway at night...

Thanks for the update,

Andrew

[Tropic Blunder]

Thank everyone its been quite nice for life to slow down enough for me to cram some time into G scale again. The inspector coming has been the push I've needed for a long time to actually get the railway to a point where its presentable.

the Beyer Peacock is my own model and still missing a lot of detail, I also discovered that the drawings I've been using are 10% undersize so some redesign is underway to correct that. It uses the same mechanism as #4 which has a few sheets of lead jammed into a cavity above the batteries and can haul a 4 car passenger train up the hill with ease (very unprototypical the prototype was limited to 90t up a 1:37) in contrast to the stock Bachmann 2-6-0 which cant even haul 2 bogie passenger cars up the hill and struggles with 3 4 wheelers and a van.

Thanks Andrew its something that's been nagging me for a while. Operations have always been my favourite part of the hobby so detailing like that has always suffered but it is nice to be able to go down to the garden now and have something resembling a railway in the garden as opposed to some track and random baseboards bolted to the wall.

[Tropic Blunder]

Over twelve months have passed and unfortunately trains have run less then half a dozen times on the NEVR.

I've come to the conclusion that unless I rip out over half of my line and start again the situation is only going to get worse. With Daylight savings back again hopefully progress will pick up and I can share some of my plans to make the line more reliable but for now there are a few pics of the last few runs along with some of the more recent projects

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A shot (hopefully) Soon confined to history. The climax crosses the removable trestle on the down. the elevated track and the lower level running through the rose bush is all slated to be demolished due to the overwhelming maintenance to keep the line operational

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The DH at the port station after running a rail recovery train. The future locomotive workshops are still being used as carriage sidings in the background

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Porter Number 9 shunts behind the small signal box at the port. This structure is also due for replacement. This loco is owned by my father and is a stock offering fitted with Deltang RC and has had the lettering removed by soda blasting.

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Stalwart Malcolm moore runs a test train with the NEVR's new O type hopper. based on a Spanish meter gauge hopper there are 4 different variants and are the same length as the Emu bay C wagon which makes up a tiny prototype in 1:24.

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Later that evening the same loco is seen shunting the wharf with a train of later bogie hoppers

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The DH awaits departure on an evening transfer train in tow.

Ill post a rollingstock update in the next post

[LNR]

Your night shots look good, if La Nina doesn't rear it's head too much this summer hope you are able to do more of it. I'm certainly hoping to be able to put the sawmill out this summer.
Grant.

[Old Man Aaron]

Yup, ease of use must be high (if not top) in the list of priorities. Setup/packup and maintenance are all too often what keeps a line dormant.
Looking forward to seeing what you do with your new points when they arrive.

Also very impressed with the soda blasting job on the saddetank.

[Tropic Blunder]

Thanks guys really appreciate it. Even with the La Nina the port area sits under the eaves of our house so there is still some operational potential if I break out the coat

I roughed out the new alignment using 3 of the points tonight but I'll hold off posting any pics or plans until I've got it finished.
I've got a few pics from some shunting today but I'll share a few of the latest projects. Quite a few of the projects I was working on reached unfixable road blocks or simply weren't at a point I was happy to continue with

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TGR BBL car. 3d printed in 1:24 Melbourne sparks did the Cad work on this one and its come out fantastically. I've made up leather seats and divider walls for inside the carriage and it'll get passengers and lighting in due course as the first authentic Austalian narrow gauge carriage in the fleet. (the BV makes a nice what if though)

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Another shot of the BBL and also some 3d printed tanks that are meant to be for a model of G42. these will be extensively modified to eventually create a model of Fyansford #2

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Ive begun making and fitting handrails to the DE along with a repaint since I last posted. Still requires heaps of detailing and a cab interior to be fitted along with all the radiators on the long end. The container is a work of art and is another model built by Melbourne Sparks

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Mass production of QN container wagons has been ongoing. theres 3 more there requiring further paint, couplers and containers to be fitted

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Another new addition for the line along with Aarons new log bolsters. It has been successfully steam tested but is suffering from severe blowthrough. will require a bit of lathe work to fit new piston rings.

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End of the line. Since the extension around 2018 trains have snaked down a 1:30 all the way down the bottom to the yard with track passing under a large rose bush in the front yard. This worked well originally but after the track settled, the ballast washed away and the bush grew larger this track has now grown inaccessible cutting the line in half effectively. The last train has run through here and the Way and works crew have salvaged all they can.

[LNR]

Extremely jealous of your second last shot,I admire the mechanicals of the Aster shay very much. I do hope the blowthrough is the cylinders and not the valve faces. Integral valve chest and cylinder castings make that a rather larger job to fix.
Grant.

[Tropic Blunder]

I certainly hope so too! That said though the blowthrough issue it has is the only reason I'd ever have the remotest chance of owning a live steam loco let alone an Aster one. So I'm happy to take it on given the opportunity. I was hoping it'd be fixable by GSSU but given how little time I've spent on the railway in the last 12 months it wasnt going to be achievable unfortunately.

[LNR]

Really looking forward to this years GSSU, so shall see you there. Would love to see the shay in the flesh, but realize and understand if that is too difficult.
Grant.

[Tropic Blunder]

More then happy to put some bits back on for some show and tell but I'll definitely only be spectating this year especially given my inexperience with small scale live steam. It'll be my first GSSU so im very excited

[LNR]

Ah!! I'm sure we can help you appreciate the benefits of live steam if we twist your arm a bit. There are other means of propulsion there.
Grant.

[Tropic Blunder]

I've always enjoyed it when it was 12" to the foot or 7 1/4 its just always been out of my price range. a lack of suitable locos in 1:24 definitely narrowed down the options quite a lot too. I didnt realise it was open to anything other then live steam! Thats very interesting, the T class/DE will be in the car at the time and hopefully finished with all handrails glazing and lighting fitted so that might come out for a looksee then.

[GTB]

I didnt realise it was open to anything other then live steam! Thats very interesting..........

The GSSU is a broad church as they say. You never know what will turn up on the day.

I've run the TVT Fowler DM in the past and plan to have the Walkers 10 class this year as a bit of a stir.

Steam locos are in the majority, but at the GSSU in 2018, someone had an SAR Brill railcar, an 800 class d/e and some rolling stock.

Graeme

[Tropic Blunder]

Just a quick update before GSSU. The printers have been in production mode ahead of a steamup coming up ever quicker after GSSU but I'll cover that closer to the date.

In the mean time work on the pilot BBL is coming along nicely. I'm not entirely happy with the colours as they look suspiciously like BR Blood and custard but due to the lack of better options its going to have to do for the time being.

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Work on the deviation is well in hand with the trusty old DH working a W&W train to the site. Some photos of the destruction are included complete with surveyors pegs. I'm still debating cutting the rose bush down completely. Its gotten completely out of hand size wise and is now threatening to collapse over...

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The new alignment showing the generous curve and new passing loop.

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Amended yard layout at Badger creek to allow for potential electric EMU operation in the future. There will need to be extensive enviromental remediation in this area.