MURRUMBIDGEE MAIL

ISSUE 1
September 2008

*WELCOME

*TUMUT

*HOME
SIGNAL

*GALLERY

*NEWS

SUBMIS-
SIONS: 3506, one of the Caves Express Locomotives, a renumbered
To the Editor
and rebuilt NN class looking very much English, reminding us
Ian McIntyre
ianmac57@bigpond.net.au
of the parentage of most of our NSW steam locos. History and
Preferably in word format
and pictures in JPEG
bright are two adjectives that can be used currently for the
format separately. A flash
or thumb drive may be
Wagga Wagga Model Railroaders Inc.
used or CD. These will be
returned.
The Club has an illustrious history spanning almost 20 years
and the future looks bright due to the steerage of a strong
committee. November will see the 9th Annual Model Railway
The Club meets
Monday evenings and Hobby Exhibition. This in itself proves the resilience of
from around the group.
7.00P.M. for run-
ning on the perma-
nent HO layout un- Club Rooms at Best Reserve Wagga Wagga provide a place
der construction. for the social gatherings which make this hobby what it is. It
Members are en-
couraged to partici- is encouraging to see the current large gatherings of happy
faces.

Wagga Wagga Model Railroaders

PO Box 6340 Wagga Wagga Business Centre
Wagga Wagga NSW 2650

1
WELCOME to the first Murrumbidgee Mail. It has been some time since the WWMR
had a journal of any type. It seems a long time since the decision was made to build an exhibition
layout and eventually to form an Incorporated Body to protect our group legally. There sure has been
much 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 in
Wagga Wagga. Two founding members have passed away.

I guess our members at the time could be justifiably proud of the club’s achievements. Current mem-
bers can be proud to be a part of this history and would be encouraged to strive to at least rival
thoseearly successes. This history is something I would hope to impart through this publication to all
of it’s 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 items
of interest to us all. These would best be submitted as electronic media, emailed to myself or handed
to 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 copies
will be made available at the hall for reading or for personal use.

Level Crossing at the Cootamundra end of Stockinbingal.

A scene from the Layout “Stockinbingal”, a black and white photo taken by Stephen Ottaway for use in the
Australian Journal of Railway Modelling. The Porter’s residence was scratch built to Archive plans, the
ganger’s shed was built to dimensions taken on site. The venerable 48 class is a Powerline product and the cars
are from the Weico range. The motor cycle policeman is a plastic figure. Fences and the back drop are the
work of Gary Walden. The back drop was painted using actual photos of the township as a guide. There is one
very funny anecdote involving the GT Falcon isn’t there Rodney?

2
 TUMUT GROUP
The latest addition to the Wagga Club has
been the Tumut Group. A small circle of
railway enthusiasts, these fellows originally
approached our club for advice regarding
Insurance. They eventually swelled our
ranks and for a while were close to half our
regular 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 major
project based on the Tumut Batlow
branches.

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 offering
the display as a subject for an article in the Australian Model Railway Magazine. The Editor has assured me
that this will happen. The boys tell me that the display will be bigger this year for our show and will include
Gilmore. I can’t 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 to
see how it works. I like to get behind and under a layout to see what drives the illusion. This one has several
sidings which ultimately run onto a turn table. This means that a loco may be turned without using the old 5
finger shunt. The sidings may be used as terminating stubs or run round tracks as the situation dictates. A short
consist may be stabled and the loco driven to the rear of the arriving train, in readiness to depart again on its’
merry 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 a
couple 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 stud
of mostly NSW Rolling stock and loves steam locos. Several times he has been able to join us on the exhibition
circuit 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 the
display. He probably does not realise
yet that he will probably be the busi-
est at many shows just keeping it all
going. One of Peter’s skills, is the art
of the diorama. His son is into war
games and I am sure that the scenery
skills are pretty well shared or at
least complimentary. He is not
scared 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 but
still needed some “guesstimation” to complete the model. Judge for yourself. I think it is well conceived and
looks 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, much
to his surprise. He got to take home a 44, are you jealous yet?
3
 HOME SIGNAL
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 the
first bulk wheat wagon used in NSW.

ARIAH PARK
“S”
Here is an interest-
ing example of the
NSW “S” truck. As
the sign suggests,
here is the begin-
ning of bulk wheat
transport in this
country. Initially
filled with bags of
grain, this truck
was modified to
enable the stowage
of grain which was
placed in the truck
with a shovel. From
here grew the net-
work of bulk hop-
pers and silos that
we have today.

New Products
INFRONT Models are releas-
ing a new NTAF fuel tanker kit
at Hurstville. Tankers really are
the missing link in Aussie Roll-
ing Stock.
ONTRACK Models, a new
player have released a range of
NSW vans. LLV, GLV, HLV
and TLV in various guises, in 3
and 4 letter code are available
for $135 per 4 pack. Check the
website for more
www.ontrackmodels.com.au
COMING EVENTS
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 a
discounted price and learn about the wagon and how to
assemble a good looking correctly loaded wagon. You
can never have too many 4 wheelers, especially on a
branch line.
Christmas Party. December, date to be advised.
It will be nice to have a get together and a bit of a running
session in the hall. We own a BBQ now so burning a few
snags will be easy. We will most likely have more than
enough leftovers from the show.