The information contained on
this form would tell the Driver that he would depart Possum Point with
Locomotive No 12 hauling I1, C3, FF16, B1, E2, K14, C5 and van with a clear
road to Underpool, where he would have to detach I1 (the beer truck!),
C3 (general goods) and FF16 (empty) to the appropriate sidings, attach
F5 (loaded with firewood), run round and clear the Main line for the arrival
of the Up Passenger hauled by Loco No 2. Once No 2 had reversed and
departed the train could depart with a clear road to Devlins, marshalled
F5, C5, K14, E2, B1 and van. On arrival at Devlins the loco would
run round and shunt B1 (general goods) & E2 (general goods) to the
Goods siding and K14 (empty), C5 (coke) and F5 (firewood) to the Smelter
branch. Once that was all done the Driver would have to wait for
further orders before he could do anything else! Running to Train
Orders definitely adds purpose to running trains.
I managed to make a minor addition
to siding capacity at Possum Point prior to this running session by extending
No 1 siding by 2 yards, which has made a vital increase in capacity at
the hub of the RVR. When I get some more rail joiners I'll be adding
another road to the engine siding.
The four side tipping wagons
stand on the extension to No 1 siding at Possum Point. The train
on the Main Line is the Down Passenger, which today includes the extremely
important Beer truck! The train in the Loop is the Down empty
Ore train, which was to follow the Down Passenger. Running to Train
Orders adds considerably to the railway atmosphere as the ore train's driver,
Mike Bickford, found out. He very authentically spent more than half
his shift siting in sidings waiting for a path!
8th February 2004
THE RVR GOES VISITING
RVR No2 stand opposite the rather
imposing new station building at Sandstone on Greg Hunter's S&T Rwy
Today the management of the RVR paid a visit
to Greg Hunter's Sandstone
and Termite Railway and Mark Hobbs' Turrella
Tramway as part of the welcoming committee for Kiwi Glen Anthony.
Glen is currently "between layouts", but some examples of his very fine
NZR modelling in 1:24 scale can be seen on his website.
Unfortunately Glen wasn't able to bring any
of his rolling stock except for this rather nice scratchbuilt Fettler's
trike (called a Motor Jigger in NZ)
We started at Greg's where I took the opportunity
to have a run on Greg's new extension, which has more than doubled the
length of run available. The line is now so long that a round trip
with No 2, including crosses and photostops, took over an hour!
The Sandstone and Termite's
sandstone viaduct is definitely far grander than anything No 2 would normally
expect to encounter!
No 2 passes the engine shed
at Ti-tree on the S&T
3ft 6ins gauge No 2 crosses
two standard gauge 19 class at Ti-tree!
A highlight of the visit was the first sighting
of Mark's new 19 class, 1917, based, like Greg's, on a severely modified
Bachmann 4-6-0 chassis.
The S&T's 19 class leads
the TT's 19 class on a coal train
Greg's 19, S&T No 5, passes
over Mark's 1917 at Melaleuca
1917 banks the big Hunter-Garratt
up the hill from Ti-tree
After a couple of hours at Greg's we headed
off to the nearby Turrella Tramway, which I have visited previously, but
this is the first time I have seen it in action. While the Turrella
Tramway is quite small, compared to the RVR, let alone the S&T, it
has a very interesting collection of rollingstock and buildings, including
a number of Tasmanian prototypes.
The RVR's CC119 is shunted by
the TT's X17 at Girlieville. The station building is a model of the
building which once stood at Powranna on the TGR's Hobart - Launceston
main line.
Opportunity was taken to assess the suitability
of a couple of the smaller LGB locos types that the TT possesses for the
possible future acquisition of similar locos by the RVR.
The RVR's management has always had a soft
spot for the LGB French
0-6-0T and while its size is perfect for the RVR it is just a little bit
too
French in appearance to fit in.....
The Austrian 0-6-2T is another candidate,
and Germanic locos fit in quite well to the Tasmanian scene, especially
on the 2ft lines. Due to their smoothness and power the RVR's management
is definitely on the look out for a chassis from one of these to put under
No 2!
While a Spreewald 2-6-0T is unlikely to be
accepted on the RVR, the passenger cars behind could make a "near enough"
version of the Mt Lyell's O class cars. An offer has been made to
the TT's management to repaint one in Mt Lyell Brown so both of us can
see what they look like.......
The TT also has an LGB 0-4-0 diesel that has
the potential to make a quite nice "near enough" version of the TGR U class
shunter........ prototype photos have been despatched to the TT's
management........
The RVR's D1 doubleheads with
the TT's potential TGR U class shunter
TGR U class at Ulverstone in
1960.
From a photo by Barry Ruffels
that appeared in Tasmanian Railways 125 Years
published by CG Publishing Company,
Devonport, Tasmania, in 1996
The Turrella Tramway has quite an eclectic
collection, as can be seen by the examples in this photo of TGR X17 passing
this rather nice model of the NSWGR's Tumulla signal box.
The management of the RVR is definitely looking
forward to our next visit to the S&T and the TT!
7th February 2004
D1 AND HA 1 COMPLETED AT LAST!
These two projects were started in 2001, if
I remember correctly, and have been sitting around half completed for ages.
They will both be useful members of the fleet, particularly D1, as the
RVR is always short of brake vans! In my opinion, based on many years
of operating, the ideal ratio of locos to brakevans is 1 to 1, with a spare
van or two, just in case! The RVR has now reached 1 to 1, if one
counts the track cleaning car, so the shortage won't be so acute next operating
session. I am even considering converting the BA passenger car to
have a central Guard's compartment, a la the conversion the NMLR carried
out on one of their cars, shown below.
One of the three passenger cars constructed
for the North Mt Lyell Railway by the Metropolitan Railway Carriage and
Wagon Co of Birmingham which entered service in 1900. Sometime between
delivery and 1903 this one was converted from a passenger car to include
a Guard's compartment in the center of the vehicle. After the failure
of the venture and taking over of the line by the Mt Lyell Railway &
Mining Co (the Abt railway) the three cars remained on the line till around
1922 when the two full passenger cars were sold to the Tasmanian Government
Railway, becoming BA 49 and BA 50. The fate of the car in the photo
is unknown, though it was probably scrapped when the Nth Mt Lyell line
was closed in 1928. The original of the scan above appeared in Railroading
in Tasmania 1830 1962 by
Thomas C T Cooley, published in the early 1960s by the Government Printer
and reputedly the first book ever published on the Railways of Tasmania.
Another shot of HA 1. I am particularly
proud of the subtle indications on the frame that the leavings of the previous
inhabitants have been washed out! In Tasmania cattle wagons were
also used to convey bagged superphosphate, so HA 1 is a doubly useful addition
the RVR fleet.
1st February 2004
MUCH ROLLINGSTOCK PROGRESS!
(This can't last... ;-)
The new diesel has had the frames painted
black and a bit of light weathering added. I have purposely kept
it fairly clean as the full sized Mt Lyell Vulcan Drewrys were very well
looked when they were new. I'm rather partial to black locos so it
will probably be some time before I get around to painting it dark green.
It appears that this is the time to finish
projects that have been neglected for years..... My bogie cattle
wagon that has been in the process of being converted from a Bachmann stock
wagon for about the last 3 years has finally been completed to the painting
stage. It received its first coat of primer this morning. The
modifications to "Australianise" it are quite simple. The top couple
of planks in the sides and ends were removed and some iron florist's wire
melted into the back of the uprights, the door had the top section removed
and a new styrene plank and florist wire bar added, the peaked roof converted
to arc shape with a suitably sized piece of styrene glued over the existing
roof, American roof access grab irons removed and the holes filled, RVR
standard buffers and hooks added and a scratchbuilt handbrake mechanism
added to the underframe. It is to be numbered HA1 as the RVR, due
to its size and location, is unlikely to have more than one!
Brake van D1 has also progressed to painting
stage, having received a coat of RVR (and Mt Lyell) standard Brown.
It hasn't progressed any further as I am still waiting for the paint (Humbrol
Gloss No 9 Tan) to dry! I'm not sure why it is taking so long to
dry, as I have never had this problem before. I suspect the paint
didn't like the thinner I used. I am hoping it will dry eventually,
as I don't want to strip it off and start again. Also shown is the
chassis of a TGR (ex TMLR) E+ van that I am scratchbuilding on a modified
Lehmann chassis. The E+ vans were a rather nice design that featured
outside framing, and I am hoping this one won't take years to finish!
To
the 1st Edition of the Rurr Valley Reporter: Jan 04
