NZMRJ Issue 391 September 2015 by tramsareus

September 2015

$12.30

Peter Ross Peter Ross

Robin Knight’s 1:64-scale models of an NZR Eb-class locomotive (top) and the NZ Co-operative Dairy Co’s Goodman shunter (bottom – see the December 2011 Journal for drawings and details) are both scratchbuilt from brass They run on Tenshodo spuds and have couplings by Kelvin Barry. Rivets are embossed with an NWSL press or one of a batch of Beeson-style punches Robin and Jim Harwood made many years ago. Robin now uses car paint for the finish.

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

Contents

Volume 69 | Issue 391 September 2015

2 | JEWELS Robin Knight’s1:64-scale battery-electric locomotives photographed by Peter Ross. 4 | SIX-MILE BUSH A little-known railway in a little-known part of the country in a little-known scale described by Keith Rimmer. 12 | THE TALE OF THE HAMILTON RAILWAY BRIDGE

19 | GLASNEVIN BALLAST PIT

32 | FINER DETAILS: STATION NAMEBOARDS

Peter Ross imagineers his version of how this pit at Amberley might have been and shares some great stone modelling ideas.

NZR drawings from Chris Bradley’s collection and Archives NZ photographs of an essential detail for any local layout.

22 | AUTHENTIC COLOURS AND WEATHERING

37 | NEWS, VIEWS AND REVIEWS

Les Downey shows how we can avoid guesswork when painting models.

Neil Ward uses modern technology to model a classic structure.

24 | HUNSLET/DAVIDSON 0-6-0STs Drawings of three pioneering Kiwi locomotives by Ray Lantz.

15 | SCENES YOU COULD MODEL: SOUTH BEACH BALLAST PIT

26 | THE DAVIDSON 0-6-0STs

Colin Barry describes the Greymouth version of an essential piece of railway infrastructure and its eminently modellable motive power.

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

Photographs and details of these locomotives compiled by Kevin Crosado to accompany Ray Lantz’s drawings.

ON THE COVER 1:64-scale T.106 was assembled in nineteenth-century condition by Lexi Browne and painted by David Fletcher. It’s seen on the hill above Brunner station in John Agnew’s photograph.

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

The Longford and Pomona (or whatever happened to that Fleming’s Creamoata Mill model – an exercise where nostalgia and model-making mix) Adrian Howard

n December 2012 I was delighted to have an article published in the Journal on my construction of a 1:64-scale model of the former Fleming’s Creamoata mill in Gore. For several years I have been scratchbuilding both railway and non-railway

buildings and dioramas in 1:64 scale with a view to eventually constructing a portable layout to accommodate this ever-expanding real estate. When the Fleming’s building was completed the vision was for that to anchor the layout (set in the late 1950s/early 1960s) and for the completed layout to be a greatly reduced and modified version of the Gore station setup I knew as a kid.

Many of the scenes on the layout started off as small dioramas, so, when they were ‘planted’ on the layout, the overall scenic development was well-advanced. I find building dioramas and then linking them into a larger entity to be both satisfying and a way of completing the scenic side of a railway quickly when full construction starts. Building dioramas enables the fine detail to be included easily, as they are a story/scene in themselves. An example is the single men’s camp, where everything was constructed on a card base, right down to the grass, gravel, washing lines and tools leaning against the shed. The whole scene was then ‘planted’ and the edges of the mounting board landscaped with scatter material to disguise the edge of the card base. Interchangeable dioramas enable changes to era and period by simply swapping scenes into pre-determined spaces in the terrain. Top: Longford Station and goods yard. Ab.643 is in the dock, with Rm.109 heading into the station and A.161 on the branch train to Pomona. Left: Another view of Longford Station. Opposite: The Creamoata factory and the main entrance to the goods yard at Longford.

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

All photographs by Brian Carson

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

On the model the main station and town are called Longford, which is the former name for what we now know as Gore, so there is a tenuous connection to the actual locality. After all, where else could that Creamoata Mill reside? The main layout was constructed on two 1900 mm × 600 mm boards, with 50 mm × 150 mm framing, strengthened every 300 mm and topped with 6 mm plywood. Everything was glued and screwed. The Fleming’s mill would straddle the join of the two boards. The station was a more rudimentary affair than the former real life version (which, sadly, has now been replaced by a basic shelter shed since the demise of the Southerner passenger service) and essentially consists of a mainline with passing loop, a goods siding and north and south backshunts. The station also has a dock for branch services, similar to the dock for Waimea branch trains at the old Gore station. A single line connects a sawmill and 6

another services the single-road engine shed which houses the branch loco. This arrangement sits comfortably on the two boards. In the foreground is the goods yard, with goods shed and loading bank, and the depot of a local carrying company. Across the road there is a compound of huts and sheds for single-men’s accommodation, including water tanks, clothes lines and a garden for growing spuds. A major road reconstruction site is in the immediate foreground. All non-railway buildings, with the exception of the sawmill and the transport depot, are low relief – mainly to save space, but also as I don’t require large areas of real estate to meet my needs. All buildings, with one exception, are scratchbuilt. Extra commercial buildings include a woolstore and shop for one of the main stock and station agents in the area, Wright Stephenson and Co Ltd. Included in the low relief buildings are a couple of houses based on those previously owned by family. The commercial premises include

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

the ubiquitous 4-Square store, garage, tea rooms, butcher shop, milk bar (very 50s), office block/bank/post office, and Railway Hotel. Also, there is a war memorial hall with artillery piece and flag pole outside, alongside the church. A memorial park, and war memorial monument sit opposite the hall and church and adjacent to the railway line. Some of the buildings (the shops) have interior detail and there are plans to include lighting at some stage. All the commercial buildings, with the exception of the Creamoata Mill, are loosely based on types of buildings which may be seen in many country towns in New Zealand. They are not scale models of actual buildings, but are close approximations of a type that could be. However, the railway buildings are based on the excellent plans in the NZMR Guild Planbooks, especially number 4, and the larger A3 planbook. These plans are superb and as they are drawn in 1:64 scale, so no further adjustment is required. I commend these plans to scratchbuilders, as they are an excellent resource. On the layout, scale railway buildings/structures include: NZR Class B station, water tower, 30 ft goods shed, engine shed, oil store, tool shed, yard gates Platelayer’s hut near the road overbridge at the entrance to Pomona yard. Another model from the Guild planbook.

Top: Carrier’s shed and loading bank in Longford good’s yard. Centre: Hokonui Tea Rooms and Butcher Shop. Bottom: Longford Main Street, with hotel, fire station and war memorial hall.

(all from Planbook 4) and all constructed in card and plasticard. The sheepyard and trestle bridge are based on the A3 Planbook and similarly constructed. There is a branch line which is rudimentary in its railway infrastructure, but is deliberately scenic and is reflective of locations I was familiar with as a kid. The branch station is Pomona (named after the street I was raised in when living in Gore) and this station boasts a passing loop/goods siding, backshunt, stockyard, dogbox station, and a corrugated-iron gents. At one end is another small garage for a local transport operator and a purpose-built shed for a heritage tractor collection. To access the yard the line bypasses a coastal scene, based on the Nuggets, on the South Otago coast. We used to camp here in the summer and our tent and my grandmother’s bach (crib), built on Marine Department land, are modelled. Also modelled are the former fishing camp, where about five small fishing boats would be winched up on the beach and we could buy fresh and very cheap fish and rock lobster/crayfish directly from the boats. Sadly, this fishing camp is long gone, but still lingers affectionately in my memory. Interestingly, the railway never ventured http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

Top: Nuggets fishing camp – the original is now sadly removed. Centre: Brickworks and quarry with cliffs and backscene. Bottom: Nuggets campsite with bach, tents and bush and sea in the foreground.

this close to the coast in this location, so isn’t modeller’s licence a marvellous thing? The closest railway was the former Owaka branch which ran further inland and did not come this close to the coast. After passing the coastal scene the line passes under a road overbridge, crosses a wooden NZR trestle bridge and stream, descends a gently sloping incline and enters the Pomona yard. Most traffic is lime, logs, sawn timber, coal, general freight, livestock and the raw materials and finished products to and from the Fleming’s mill. Highsiders for coal and bagged grain, and box wagons and railsiders for the Creamoata. Pomona is the main lime unloading location, hence the scratchbuilt pelican loader in the yard. Passenger traffic is handled by an 88-seater railcar and a mixture of steel-panelled mainline stock and wooden open-vestibule cars and carvan. (mainly South Dock models). The 88-seat railcar (twinset to some people) was how I travelled in the 50s and 60s, while the steel-panelled South Island First Class coaches with coupe compartment have a special memory: Dad used to book the compartment for the family to travel on holiday to Oamaru. Ah, those were the days. Motive power for the mainline consists of an Ab, a Hillside coal-fired Ja, and an 8

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

A (obviously recently outshopped, as it is cleaner than the other two). The shunting is handled by an F-class 0-6-0 saddle tank and two Hornby locos–a much modified ‘Smokey Joe’, which at a distance could be an NZR C class, and the 0-4-0 Bagnall diesel shunter from the Railroad range, which passes for a Tr shunting tractor. These smaller locos also handle the branch traffic, where a tender loco would be overkill with the space they have to operate in. The whole Pomona branch is about 4.5 metres long and very scenic, with some 50-plus handmade trees and numerous proprietary versions included. The handmade trees are largely actual prunings from fuchsia bushes and plum trees, where the pruned piece has branches opening out like a wine goblet. Woodlands Scenics clump foliage or Scenic Textures expanded foam are added to these. They’re held on with PVA (and pinned with a clothes peg), then, when dry, different scatter materials are added using strong, unscented hairspray to hold them in place. The intention is to create something akin to NZ beech trees and the final result is quite convincing. In my view nothing represents nature better than nature itself. Backscenes on the branch are pictures from calendars collected over the years, which feature NZ houses, farm scenes or bush. This background suggests a bush http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

setting where intensive logging was carried out (especially in the 50s and 60s). They provide some justification for the road and rail log traffic and a rationale for the sawmill at Longford. For the main layout the backscenes are Gaugemaster 12-inch selections, which are close approximations to the rolling, intensively farmed, countryside of Eastern Southland. The layout is DC; track and points are Peco Code 100 or Setrack and there are droppers from the toe of every set of points down to the bus. All points are handoperated because for me the ‘Hand of God’ approach works, as everything is easily accessible. Where there are electrofrog points, the polarity switches are thrown by using a wire connection through the wooden frame of the baseboard. Once I am happy that the electrics are stable, the main layout will be ballasted and point and signal rodding will be added. This remains the last large task to undertake. For me the main interest was the creation of what is essentially a series of scenic dioramas, focusing on the detail. The actual running of stock is a secondary interest, but having accurate or passable locos and stock is important to complete the diorama. The layout is well-populated with interesting little cameos like shoppers chatting, workers lounging, gardening – even a guy on a ladder painting the water tank in the hut

Left: End of the line at Pomona yard. A Way and Works wagon is parkedup while crew work in the yard. Right: Sheep yard at Pomona looking towards the station. Old NZ calendar pictures are integrated to form the backscene.

compound and another suspended over the side of the trestle bridge, painting. There are numerous vehicles of the 50s and 60s, including a modified Bedford bus painted and signwritten for New Zealand Railways Road Services (reflective of the extensive bus fleet once owned by NZR,servicing school runs and tourist services at that time). There is also a Vanguards Bedford 7-tonner painted grey and detailed to resemble an NZR Road Services freight vehicle, similar to the one my father drove at that time and in which I used to accompany him during school holidays. This layout is a bit of a nostalgia trip for me, but it encapsulates snippets of my life and experiences as a kid, with locations and images with which I was comfortable and still think of affectionately. I hope you enjoy your trip through my memories. My special thanks to my friend Brian Carson for taking the photos and for his advice on the story.

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

DCC and Trams Grant Fletcher

ith a number of Napier trams complete and intending to convert to DCC, I needed to take the plunge. I could certainly see a number of advantages: the ability to move a reasonably large number of trams on the small modules that I plan, such as a depot, without complicated block

switches; independently switched lights; and, potentially, sound. While DCC seems to pose all sorts of problems for novices, my experience to date has been that it is logical and if you take it one step at a time, it is easy and offers far more control than the traditional analogue or DC control. Building a tram layout to operate on DCC posed a number of challenges and questions. Should I make the overhead live, with return via the track as per the proto-

type? This is problematic, as DCC requires a much cleaner, constant power supply for the commands to reach the trams. Model trolley poles bounce as much as the real-life ones do, leading to issues with continuity in supply and stalling. Despite some successful experimentation by Charles Huckabee of Trolleyville, most of the on-line forums suggest that traditional two-rail is best. I also have three four-wheel trams which will mean paying special attention to the trackwork and wiring to avoid any dead sections that might lead to a stall, but which an eight-wheel vehicle would avoid because of its longer wheelbase. So, on to to the vehicles. Rather than leap straight into wiring chips onto the Tenshodo SPUDs and Black Beetles that power my fleet, I thought experimenting first with some commercial models would be the way to go. I have three US streetcars; one reflecting the city I lived near (a Baltimore Peter DeWitt by Bachman), and two where I studied (a Washington PCC air car by Con-Cor and a San Francisco F Line Top: Top view of Digitrax DH163 decoder installed in Napier No.9. Left: Digitrax DZ123 decoder controlling a Tenshodo SPUD in one of Grantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Napier four-wheelers.

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

Top: Underview of Napier No.9 showing the wiring arrangement. Centre: Isolating the motor from the track pick-ups in a Tenshodo SPUD. Bottom: SPUD with chip.

ex Philadelphia PCC by Bowser). All three are great models, but my favourite from an engineering perspective is Baltimore 6119 which comes fitted with DCC and has yellow tinted lighting rather than the bluer LEDs in the other two. The other two have NMRA 8-pin decoder sockets. After some research I chose a Digitrax Zephyr Xtra DC51 all-in-one starter booster and command module and two sets of chips, again Digitrax DZ123 for the Napier cars which I would solder on, and Digitrax DH123P for the two commercial models. The chips for the Napier cars are 1 amp, 2-function chips suitable for Z scale. The small size fits in the underframes. They only have two functions but even with lights fitted, that would be enough. I ordered all the equipment from Micromark in the US, who ship to New Zealand, have been really efficient and have an effective, easy-to-use website. It also turns out that the Digitrax Zephyr Xtra while advertised as as ‘starter’ controller, has full functionality. It’s the number of vehicles it can control at one time that mark it as a starter version. Fitting the decoders to Washington 1124 and San Francisco 2050 took a bit of fiddly work. I carefully followed the manufacturers’ instructions for removing the bodies http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

and then had to work quite inventively to get the wiring looms and chips inside the body space. I tested each model before putting the body back on. Then it was on to the test track for trial runs and altering the CVs to assign each car its number. The Digitrax manual makes this a very simple process to follow. I chose two-digit addressing as I only have a small fleet. It was quite remarkable to be able to move the trams independently on the same track. Turning to the Napier single-truck cars, I first removed the Tenshodo SPUD trucks from each car. Railroad Forum <www. Railroad-forum.com> has a very good explanation of how to open up the trucks, isolate the motor from the track pick-ups and solder the red and black (track pick-up) and orange and grey (motor drive) leads in place. My SPUDs had a slightly different arrangement of tabs than that shown on the website, with the tabs folded up on the inside. I bent these out, soldered on the wires and then folded the tabs up the outside of the SPUD. (The centre photo on page 11 shows the opened out truck). I made sure to solder the leads on the right way–orange goes on the right hand side of the motor in the forward direction of travel. Failure to do have done so would have lead to the unit going backwards when I selected forward. The only way to address this if it occurs is to pre-programme the relevant CV, CV29. While I had the truck body open, I also applied a tiny amount of Rocol MX22 grease which helped overcome any tendency of the trucks to grab. I reassembled each truck, then tested each one before placing them one at a time on the programming track to assign the car number. I then ran each truck in using a rolling road – 30 minutes in one direction and 30 in the other. The truck was then refitted to the body and the chip and loom carefully threaded under the lifeguard and secured in place with double-sided tape. I secured the lighting leads (blue, white and yellow) as I did not intend to install operating lighting on these trams. Testing with the single trucks revealed some limitations of these four-wheeled trams. The trams ran rather haphazardly at first, although the weight of the bodies (135 g) helped a lot. I also found that some of the wires were rubbing on the wheels. Repositioning the wires fixed that problem. And finally, with only four contact points on the rails, the wheels and track needed to be scrupulously clean. I next turned to Napier number 9, which was then under construction. With this model I decided that I wanted to take advantage of the DCC not only to operate the tram, but to have working lights. This is a great part of the hobby, working out 12

how to do something for the first time and perfecting it. I chose a Digitrax DH163 chip with six functions, so that I could control the interior lights separately from the head and tail lights. The first task I tackled was to make the head and tail-light assemblies. This was my first foray into using LEDs, and surfacemount LCDs at that. I approached this with some trepidation given their small size, but in the end found that with the right tools, use of flux and looking at some how-to videos on the Internet, it all went quite well. The godsend was finding a USB soldering iron (Duratech USB 4-6W 5V at JayCar). I used Duratech SMD 40 MCD Gullwing surface mount LCDs (red and yellow). The assemblies were made by soldering the LCDs onto small pieces of perforated experimenter’s board with a common positive feed (blue) and separate head and taillights with the yellow and white leads. Note that the yellow lead went to a headlight at one end and the tail-light at the other. This ensures that the head and tail-lights swap over as you change direction. The boards and the bases of the LCDs were painted black to stop light spillage and then mounted into the predrilled 2 mm holes on the tram’s aprons. (The photo shows the unpainted assembly with one circuit strip cut, to which the yellow and white leads go – I was not using the correct colour at this point.)The wires are fed down a small hole in the floor. The leads for the tail-lights have an additional 0.5 W 2 kilo-ohm resister wired into the circuit beyond those for each light required to prevent the LCDs from burning out when the power is applied. The extra resistor dims the tail-light. I then turned my attention to the bogies. I had used bespoke Black Beetle trucks, which were easy to unsolder, create the gap between pickup and motor required

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

Chip installed in the end of one of Grant’s Napier trams.

for DCC, and then wire the red and black pick-up leads in place. The next part of the story was really one of frustration as I attempted to fit the chip into the clerestory roof, wire two LED strips for saloon lighting and manage the wiring up through two 2 mm × 2 mm brass tubes. Somewhere in the circuit boards that I had made a short circuit entered, which blew the protections in the DCC chip and, in an annoying and rather costly manner, I couldn’t isolate. After the loss of a couple of chips, I remembered that the hobby is supposed to be fun. I compromised and decided to go back to the DZ123 chips which are much easier to fit into the clerestory and wire only the head and tail lights. I was able to take the wiring down from the roof, directly wire the orange and grey to the motor red and black leads, connect the black and white pick-up leads from the bogies to the chip via a small piece of perforated experimenter’s board and the white-yellow leads via the resistors to the head and tail lights. They all worked. After that it was a matter of carefully pulling the leads tight into the roof and gluing the perforated boards to the chassis, leaving enough flex for the bogies to rotate. The air tank which shows very prominently under the model holds everything in place. So there you have it – an easy foray into DCC. I proved I could wire up DCC and program it. I will be incorporating it into my next Napier tram – with lights. Bibilography

Railroad Line Forums (2009), ‘Converting the Tenshodo SPUD to DCC’, accessed at <www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic. asp?TOPIC_ID=25199> on 10 February 2013.

Better ways of cleaning your track and wheels Graham Dredge

n a recent Friday night I took a small Way & Works Branch Land Rover I had recently built along to run on one of my fellow Westies’ layout. I put it on the track and it ran very badly, needing lots of finger assistance to get it moving; and when it did run, it went about half a metre and stopped again. OK, so the track looked clean and it seemed strange as it had only been running a week or so before on my own layout. Being a fairly light model at 60 grams, I suspected the North Yard brass and bronze wheel tyres and gave them a good clean without any improvement. I ran a finger along a section of rail, which came up very dirty. Requesting some Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) or contact cleaner, I got a blunt, “I’ve cleaned the track and I won’t use Isopropyl alcohol until after the ballasting is done” and got thrown a track rubber instead. Wiping the rails with the rubber only barely improved the situation and at full throttle the Land Rover ran about a metre and stopped. Frustrated by this, I gave up running for the night. The reason my friend was unwilling to use IPA is that the track is fixed down http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

with wide double sided tape and the IPA would have lifted the track. Fair enough. The following day I ran the Land Rover on my own layout and it stalled in only a few spots when running very slowly around the main – and I hadn’t cleaned most of my main and branch line track for a couple of years; even longer in loops and sidings, more than three or four years in some areas. So why the difference? After the aborted attempt at my fellow Westie’s I had run my fingers along the same rails I had cleaned with the track rubber and another couple of spots as well. I noticed that the dirt showing on my fingers had quite a gritty feel to it and wasn’t a smooth line on my fingers. The rails also felt sticky whilst rubbing my fingers along them – the result, I’m reasonably sure, of using a track rubber. Doing the same on my own layout I got a smooth, almost oily, line – most likely left over residue from axle and bearing lubrication. Room air quality can play a big part in how often you need to clean your track, while dust or dampness can wreak havoc on the track and rolling stock wheels. I decided to clean all my track. Track cleaning with successful results

Until a few years ago I used a rag dampened with IPA, but always caught line side

artefacts such as signals and left bits of cotton in the turnouts. So, I decided that there must be a better way. Now, I make up a couple of disposable track cleaning blocks using Pinex offcuts, cut into 25 mm-wide strips about 50 mm long. The unpainted edges are chamfered. To clean the track I spray some contact cleaner or IPA onto the unpainted side of a Pinex block until it is damp and then rub the rail tops with the block. Recharging the block with contact cleaner every few minutes keeps it damp enough to be effective. The Pinex absorbs the cleaner and stays moist for quite a long time. I also keep an eye out for any bits of Pinex that might get ripped off around turnouts and on sharp track gaps. When I finish cleaning my entire track I do a full vacuum of my layout, picking up loose ballast, a very few bits of Pinex and a lot of spider webs; I even found a spider in my loco shed once. When I’d finished cleaning, the Land Rover went around my layout at the slowest Top: Left to Right: CRC Precision CO contact cleaner (hardware store), Isopropyl Alcohol (Jaycar # NA-1067), CRC2.26 contact cleaner (electrical wholesalers), CRC5.56 (hardware store).

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

speed setting, taking over four minutes to complete a run around my 22-metre main line. I left the Land Rover creeping around for about 30 minutes in each direction and it didn’t stall once. On the following Friday I took the Land Rover and track cleaning gear to another Westie’s layout. It ran better than the first outing, but still stalled a few times. Running the fingers along the track, they came up fairly clean. A clean with IPA, with a new Pinex block this time, showed some dirt afterwards. This fixed any problems and the Land Rover trundled around quite happily. However, the layout owner did complain that he had trouble running a loco later – I suspect that using the soft Pinex block with IPA on low-profile track dissolved the paint lower down around the rail tops, which his hard track rubber had not done. Another clean with the Pinex block would have fixed it, but generally you won’t disturb painted rail edges, wet the ballast or lift taped-down track if you spray the rails directly and then wipe off with a rag. By the way: I couldn’t find my track rubber for a photo – it’s been so long since I used it. Other examples

In the last millennium, well before DCC, the Hamilton Model Railroaders took their NZR layout to an exhibition held in Rotorua’s sulphur district. Trains would only run for about an hour after setting the layout up before the track required cleaning, due to oxidisation caused by sulphur dioxide particles in the air. After a few frustrating hours Trevor James remembered my extolling the virtues of using CRC2.26 contact cleaner and rushed off to the corner garage to buy a can. After cleaning the track with it, the layout ran faultlessly for the rest of the two-day exhibition. CRC2.26 contact cleaner leaves a protective film on the rails and this was an advantage in Rotorua’s sulphur-laden air. A couple of years ago, while adding signalling to a friend’s NZR layout, I introduced this track cleaning method, this time using Precision CO Contact Cleaner, and he is so impressed with the results that he’s been using it ever since. His layout is run nearly every day and the room is very dusty, the track getting quite dirty in the process, so cleaning every few months is required – much less than the almost weekly ritual before. Journal Editor Kevin Crosado informs me that on the old NZR Publicity layout last century, they had serious problems keeping the rails clean. They tried track cleaning with emery, rubbers, methylated and white spirits and IPA without success and only after cleaning with CRC2.26 contact cleaner was the problem resolved. 14

Other products

In magazines and on internet groups you will read someone praising the virtues of XYZ track cleaning products – some even praise the Clipper Oil used for lubricating hair-clipper blades. Why bother? Besides being expensive, adding oil to a track clean is only going to attract more dust and dirt, which will stick like glue to the rail tops. Personally I have never bothered trying any of these. I have seen some suggesting using Acetone or paint thinners; these products will melt plastic ties and are quite toxic, so should be avoided. Track cleaning cars

ballasting a few years ago I did a test by wiping a metre of track top with CRC5.56 and a metre without. After the ballast was dry, I cleaned the track. The CRC-treated track was wiped down with IPA and readyto-go in a few seconds. The metre without the CRC took half an hour of scraping and cleaning to remove the glue on the rail tops and required more cleaning later. The PVA (White Glue) or Multishield had crept up to the rail tops with the water and detergent spray and I suspect creeps for a few months afterwards. I used this method again recently while doing more ballasting.

An ‘00’ friend of mine does use a track cleaning car, sold under the Dapol, Bachmann and other brands. This car has a vacuum, abrasive pads, polishing pads, track brushes and wet-or-dry cleaning options. CMX and other brands use a tank that holds the cleaning fluid, which drips onto a sliding, replaceable pad; I have seen one in use and it works quite well. However, they can be expensive at over usd150, but if you have a large layout the investment in one of these cars would be worthwhile. Decant some contact cleaner into the tank to save the cost of buying brand name expensive track cleaning fluid and avoid using the abrasive options. Another option is to build your own track cleaning car.

Wet and dry

DC vs DCC

Wheels

Back in the days of DC, track cleaning was undertaken more often, the reason being that the low DC voltages are not very good at passing through oily films and accumulated dirt on model railway track and wheels. As a result, track needed cleaning nearly every running session. In the 1980s Relco, a UK company, introduced a HF (High Frequency) generator, which could be wired between the DC controller output and the track. If a model rail locomotive stopped drawing current due to dirty rails, the Relco unit would inject a high frequency (approximately 20 kHz) high voltage (more than 100 V) AC signal onto the rails, which would ionise (break down) any oily film or dirt. It was at a very low current, so couldn’t kill you. The Relco did work, but could upset some electronic controllers. I built and tested my own unit using the same principles and used it reasonably successfully on the Sn2 layout I had at the time. DCC, on the other hand, is more tolerant of the effects of dirty rail and wheels, because the DCC control stations and boosters output a 12–14 V 16 kHz AC square-wave signal and this signal on its own will often break down oily films, dirt and oxidisation.

I spray a little Precision CO contact cleaner onto a cotton bud to clean wheel treads. If I am doing a lot of wheels I will spray some into a small container and dip the cotton buds into the container.

Before ballasting

In the photo is a can of CRC5.56: this is a fine penetrating lubricant most of us would have in their workshop. Whilst doing some

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

More often than not you will see a modeller clean the track with 600-grit (or, worse, 200-grit) wet and dry sandpaper. This is as bad as, or even worse than, using a track rubber. Wet and dry scratches the rail tops and leaves behind hard carbide grit, both of which cause arcing, which results in a carbon and dirt build up. It might even cause pitting on wheel plating. If you have to use wet and dry after track or turnout building, use 600 or, better still, 1200-grit wetted with IPA or contact cleaner. Afterwards you can use one of the contact cleaners to remove any grit, or wash off with warm water and detergent before installing on the layout.

Isopropyl alcohol or contact cleaner? I always used IPA in the past, because I

always have a couple of cans on my electronics work bench, but using contact cleaner seems to give better and faster results, especially when cleaning wheel treads. Both are around $13 and a can of either is a good investment that should last you a few years. CRC2.26 works well and leaves a protective film on the rails. Sources and more information

<www.crc.co.nz> <www.jaycar.co.nz> A Pinex track block after cleaning about 40 metres of track.

timed my first visit to the UK in 2006 to coincide with Railex and was so taken with it that I did the same on my second and third trips. It’s held at the end of May each year. That’s on the cusp of early summer over there, so the days are getting warmer. On the other hand, it’s not yet high season, so the roads are not so mad as later on and accommodation is easier to find. Good friends had assured me this was also one of the top shows in terms of modelling quality. Model railway exhibitions are a major part of the hobby in the UK, where space for a home layout is often limited. Other than over summer there can be several shows on any given weekend in different parts of the country. Layouts generally appear by invitation, which allows different shows to create their own particular character. Railex is considered to be at the finescale end, but to manager David Lane realism is at least as important. He seeks out what he considers to be among the best layouts available, regardless of whether they aspire to be finescale. As an NZR modeller, the thing I like about British finescale is that you can’t really

means of achieving realism, or does a superrealistic backscene show up the shortcomings of the models and compete for attention that should be focused on them? There were several photographic backdrops there, and later in my tour I saw another particularly ambitious one. I suspect the verdict is going to be that photographic backscenes are sometimes appropriate but only sometimes. I talked this over with Gordon Gravett (of Pempoul fame) and he had the same reservations. He showed me photos of Pempoul and where the simple low-key painted backscene was discernable at all, it was very much in the background, serving more to block the view beyond than actually contribute to the scene. Two layouts that seemed to benefit were Black Country Blues and Llanberis (a layout I was privileged to visit later in Anglesey). The Black Country Blues crew rate their backscene as its ‘most striking feature’. Whether that is true is for the viewer to decide, but that backscene does work really well. Even more so to the eye than the camera, which seems to have lost some of the intensity. That said, their distant valley was always intended to be a little

what to expect – namely that by the end I would still not have seen everything – so this time I planned to attend both days. It didn’t work: I still didn’t see anything like all that was there. Despite countless laps of the hall, something always seemed divert my attention away from some layouts or traders. A crowd might have gathered – come back when they have dispersed. Those pliers look good, but what about the ones over there? My gracious host and guide this time was Barry Norman, of Model Railway Journal and Wild Swan books fame. Though not joined at the hip, we did do a lot of the show together and being so well known, Barry was always coming across friends and acquaintances. Many of these were of course a thrill to meet. It pays to have friends in high places. Lunchtimes were always ’interesting’. The stadium is actually the UK centre for disability sport and has many other facilities besides the basketball courts where the train show was being held. The not-overly-large cafeteria was accordingly kept both busy and full, and those serving food almost run off their feet. The old Peter Sellers line, “Honey’s off dear”, was often not far from the truth. Next question was where to sit.

The Best of British: Some top layouts from the other side of the world Earlier this year Peter Ross paid his third visit to the annual Railex Model Railway Exhibition in the Stoke Mandeville Stadium, Aylesbury, some 40 miles north-west of London. In his eyes there are similarities and differences between railway modelling here and there. buy it to any extent off the shelf, so, like us, they have to make most of what they need. There are some pretty good kits, but you still have to build them – or part with some tidy sums to have them built for you. And, in any case, there’s more to a top layout than the trains. There’s also the track, the buildings and the scenery, not to mention the wealth of little details that bring the best layouts to life. As everywhere the drift from steam power to diesel is much in evidence, but there is not quite the same reluctance to move away from painstakingly hand-laid chaired track in favour of the more modern flat bottom stuff. Photographic backscenes

One thing I was aiming to assess at Railex was photographic backscenes. Has digital technology handed us a wonderful new http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

muted to convey the atmospheric haze so often seen in Britain, especially in the Black Country – named, after all, for its smoky chimneys in the days before industry took its trade-mark pollution with it to other parts of the world. The show itself

The stadium accommodates the layouts and 50-odd traders with enough ease to allow the predominantly middle-aged male (but not exclusively so) punters room to move around easily and get good views of the layouts. One of the differences from my local Big Model Train Show is that this latter attracts young families, whereas mums and dads with small kids in tow were a rare sight at Railex. This is serious modelling where a fair smattering of younger geeks complement the older generation. By this, my third visit, I more or less knew

Luckily, it seemed those eating were mostly modellers, so any two spare chairs would do – and give us someone new to talk to. Lasting impressions

There were 16 layouts, all of which justified David Lane’s judgment as being among the best available. For various reasons the five featured here stood out most for me. The photo captions give some of my reasons and all had a few significant things in common. • They were all impeccably well presented • They had their own lighting and (with the exception of Whatlington) . . . • An effectively framed view • They also operated smoothly, with purpose and the trains looked realistic • If they were off-the-shelf, as many no doubt were, they had been customised, detailed and weathered to enhance their realism.

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

Was it worth travelling 12,000 miles for? On its own, probably not quite. But as the pipe opener to a memorable British holiday; absolutely! Captions (Peter Ross photos) 4013: No caption 4024: Frecclesham scores on so many levels. First for its framing of the view and built-in lighting. Along with gently curved backscene corners these contrive to make a 4.3 m-long 1:43-scale layout appear much larger than it really is. The scenicking is undeniably realistic, and on top of that everything is either kit or scratchbuilt – the trains to unashamedly finescale standards dictated by track laid to the 31.5 mm ‘O-SF’ gauge to accommodate prototypically narrow flangeways. The scene accurately re-creates a small outer-London branchline that now lies beneath the M25. 4046: Warren Lane was right up there with the best layouts. And guess what? It’s all bog standard 16.5 mm-gauge 1:76-scale (OO), except for the Heljan gantry cranes, which are 1:87 (HO scale). Outstanding weathering and good scenicking backed up by smooth and realistic operation made this layout a real crowd-pleaser. The track plan is a complete oval with a six-track fiddle yard backstage. The viewable scene is about 3.6 m long, nicely framed and with its own lighting. The cranes (there are two) were the stars. They really work and were being expertly manoeuvred to lift and place containers to and from wagons or lorries, which of course worked too. One small downside is that the containers tend to jiggle unrealistically. 4041: Loch Tat rates very highly in my estimation. The water effects representing a fictitious lake in the Scottish highlands are on the one hand quite outstanding and when you read how they were done (Google for ‘Loch Tat’) also relatively simple to do. But beyond that the other scenicking is also exceptional, including the very good merging of the real scenery with the painted backscene. The layout is 1:148 (British N scale) and the nicely weathered trains are by Graham Farish and Dapol. The working semaphore signals, though, are from etched kits. About six metres of the oval track plan is visible inside a neat frame, while hidden from view around the back there’s a very commodious fiddle yard. 4051: Black Country Blues was the one layout I had already read about and was keen to see. It did not disappoint. In the builder’s words, “The layout’s most striking feature is the backscene which is made up of 15 digital photos stitched together then printed onto a roll of vinyl”. Whether that is the most striking feature is debatable, but it is certainly effective. The hazy effect is intentional. It helps avoid having the backscene compete with the trains for the viewer’s attention, and UK middle-distance views frequently appear that way. The proposal for this layout won a competition run by British Railway Modelling magazine, and it was

completed by a small team from the Staffordshire Finescale Group in under two years. The trains are 1:76 scale on 18.2 mm-gauge track (AKA EM gauge). 4034: Whatlington follows 3 mm finescale standards (in round figures, 1:100) derived from British TT, a scale offered in some Tri-ang train sets for about ten years from 1957. That track was gauged incorrectly to 12 mm, whereas 3 mm Finescale uses the correct 14.2 mm gauge. Wheels are also close to exact scale. Lacking any ready-torun products, Peter Bossom has populated his railway by adapting old Tri-ang models using ‘scratch-aids’ along with some etched and injection moulded wagon kits. Other useful bits and pieces are also available from the Three Millimetre Society. The buildings and scenery are all Peter’s own skilled handiwork. Traversing fiddle yards at each end of the 1.8 m-long viewable scene provide a variety of trains. The layout has its own lighting but no wings or backscene. 4030: My generous host and companion, Barry Norman, lines up a picture of Whatlington. 4443: John Stockton-Wood’s Llanberis housed in a lorry trailer on a farm near Beaumaris, Anglesey, Wales, is another layout to make striking use of a photographic backscene. The real Llanberis is the access point for the Snowden Mountain Railway, which mountain and the surrounding ones dwarf both the town and the railway. Distant hills were not going to cut it for this backscene, which, like the one for Black Country Blues, was stitched together from photos and printed on a long roll. It’s 1:43 scale.

Other points of interest Layout lighting 4010/4015: The layouts I liked most all had their own lighting. These two pictures show some typical arrangements. A pelmet to conceal the lighting also helps frame the scene. Even better if there are also wings.

Novel layout room 4450/4442: It’s not uncommon in Britain to lack room in the house or shed for a layout, so here’s some lateral thinking. For a relatively modest cost John StocktonWood of Anglesey, Wales, bought this refrigerated lorry trailer and set it up on a friend’s farm. Selling off the refrigerating unit returned half the cost and, being fully lined, it required relatively little fitting out. Steps and a platform at the end provide easy access and a place for a petrol generator to supply power.

Another backscene approach 4077: 1:48-scale Melton Mowbray (North) has taken another, quite different, approach to its backscene, with stylised skyline buildings blocked

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

in with plain pastel colours. The effect from a lower eye level is quite realistic.

The Bucks Hill backscene

To my comments about photographic backscenes, I must add a mention of the painted backscene on Kevin Wilson’s Bucks Hill layout. I was first privileged to see what has now become a masterpiece back in 2012, when Paul Bambrick had only just started on it. I suppose I should first introduce the Bucks Hill layout itself. Kevin recalls how what was to become a 14 m × 6 m layout in 1:43 scale all began back in the late 1990s: “Well, there we were at Telford alongside a lot of others all equipped with fixed grins watching the trains go by on Holiday Haunts. Trains were of appropriate length, expresses were expresses, fitted freights fast, unfitted slow . . . and the die was cast”. A layout along these lines was ordained right then; it was just a question of what to base it on. Eventually, Pontrilas, near Abergavenny on the Welsh/English border was chosen. It offered interesting countryside and the right combination of GWR/ LMS main and branch line working. The idea was to model as faithfully as possible all the buildings and general character of the area as it was in the 1930s. Bucks Hill – the name changed to dodge any criticism, a decision Kevin later regretted – was conceived reasonably quickly, but such a big undertaking was always going to take time to become a reality. While work got under way on a large new building that would become known modestly as the ‘Potting Shed’, several baseboards were erected in the attic. As soon as operations could transfer to the new shed, various helpers became involved. Now, as completed as any layout ever is, Bucks Hill, which is fully transportable for train shows, is set up permanently and a team of operators comes by each Friday to run trains. And what magnificent trains they are. As well as being a skilled modeller himself, Kevin has gathered a fine collection of models from some of Britain’s best, and he is pedantic about the make-up of trains and their prototypical operation. Almost all locomotives are equipped with DCC sound, and the points and signals are computer controlled. There is also a system that plays appropriate ambient sounds at various points. From the beginning, Kevin was convinced to adopt 7mm Finescale with its 31 mm track gauge and realistically narrow flangeways. With that track painstakingly laid, every other detail from grassy fields to faithfully modelled buildings and trees was then added. A backscene was never part of the plan,

but it was soon realised that one was needed. It was at Railex in 2011 that Kevin’s friend Chris Gates got talking to Paul Bambrick, who was already doing commissioned backscenes. A month or so later Paul was in the Potting Shed receiving a run-down on every tiny Bucks Hill detail. Thus began an enormous undertaking to retrofit a backscene to the scenicked half of the large oval layout, the other half of which comprises hidden fiddle yards. As Paul was to write later: “A purely generic landscape was not going to do the job, and neither was a 2D representation with a rear panel just flattened against the baseboards”. Ruling out 2D was major, because the success of the subsequent backdrop owes so much to having depth as well as height and width. It fell to Paul to make the welded steel support work to which he would inconspicuously rivet 1000 mm-high 0.8 mm aluminium panels – the height being dictated by the tallest trees. Preliminary design work involved a study of maps of the area and then old photographs as a guide to what it all was like in the 1930s. Available depth was always a constraint, especially in places where the lighting supports intruded, yet it still proved possible to leave a 30 mm gap for some diffused lighting of the lower backscene. Reducing size with distance is not a new idea; it’s been much used by landscape painters to convey the look of a threedimensional world on a two-dimensional canvas. Paul employed the same principle to create the illusion of greater depth and in doing so at times had to abandon any thoughts of working to scale. As a guide to the appropriate size for objects at varying distances from the existing modelling, where he could he strung a grid of cotton threads back towards imaginary vanishing points behind the layout. It goes without saying that the background colours and textures must accord with the foreground. Not usually a problem when both are done at the same time. But later it can be. Paul did however manage somehow to match new road surfaces, foliage and ground cover with the existing ones. For his half-relief landforms, Paul used fibreglass over card formers. Those, and the half-relief buildings and trees, etc, he placed forward of the painted back panels. And half relief didn’t stop there; even some distant trees and hedgerows painted on the back panels have real foliage. When it came to that painted background, Paul was careful to reduce the strength of his colours so they seemed to recede into the distance, and to avoid brush marks he airbrushed the clouds. I think the pictures speak for themselves. http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

Captions (Peter Ross photos) 4164: No caption 4168: A smartly turned out Newportbound express in LMS livery easing down for a brief pause at the Bucks Hill platform. Every detail in this scene has been carefully crafted to be typical of the 1930s period and faithful to Pontrilas and the surrounding hills of this part of the English border with Wales. Paul Bambrick’s choice of colour for the fields on the distant hills matches those in the foreground, but the tone is muted to create the impression of distance. 4156: Everything in this scene cries Welsh border, except perhaps the slightly hazy, fluffy white-clouded sky, which is typical of anywhere in Britain on one of the finer days. In other regions, hedgerows and wire fences are so often replaced or supplemented by miles of dry-stone walling. Most noticeable is how well the modelled foreground blends with the half-relief church and trees further back and they, in turn, with the painted background. The church, of course, has been modelled in a much smaller scale to look more distant. 4159: “We were definitely getting somewhere now, and Chris proposed an idea to help blend the scene in by adding a hedgerow from the right‑hand side, extending the forced perspective method out onto the layout baseboard itself”, wrote Paul Bambrick later. “As there was so little depth to play with at this point, this was ideal, and a wobbly old field gate to break the hedge line was all it needed to give another visual layer; the backscene and layout were starting to blend together as a single overall view”. Again, the buildings are to a much smaller scale to place them in the middle distance.

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

Brian McKenzie

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

Percy Godber photograph, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand, Reference No.APG-0329-½-G

Eb-class battery-electric locomotives Kevin Crosado

n 26 November 1926 NZR’s Chief Mechanical Engineer Gilbert Lynde signed off on draft specifications for storage battery locomotives and charging equipment approved by the Department’s Electrical Advisory Committee. They were required for shunting the Locomotive Branch’s restructured workshops, as the previously-used F class locomotives were considered too costly to operate. Tenderers were to supply quotations both for complete locomotives and for the supply of designs and components to allow the mechanical equipment to be constructed and erected by NZR. Interestingly, considering the discussions going on elsewhere within NZR at the time, the locomotive headstocks were to be sufficiently deep to permit fitting of MCB-type automatic couplers. Lynde formally presented a proposal to purchase four locomotives to the Railway Board on 22 April, citing estimated savings of £4390 [$411,400 at present-day values] per annum. Other benefits included lower maintenance, staffing and infrastructure 26

costs, elimination of fire risk, and better utilisation. The Board asked the Chief Engineer to review the Chief Mechanical Engineer’s case, noting their concern given the problems with E.1 at Otira. He pointed out that the proposed locomotives would use nickel-iron, rather than the lead batteries used in E.1, but came up with slightly different cost estimates. After further discussion, Lynde forwarded a slightly amended estimate on 22 August. Traffic Branch management, who always had palpitations at any idea of spending money, now got in on the act. They pointed out that the cost for F locomotives used in the estimates was the accountant’s charge, not the true cost, which was almost half the amount shown. They were also concerned about their own costs at Christchurch. The workshop’s engines also ran the Addington workers’ trains and they would now have to provide an additional steam service for these jobs. The shops locos had also been used one night a week to shunt the Addington sale yards. Eventually agreement was reached and the Railway Board forwarded a proposal to acquire four locomotives, possibly to be built by NZR, to the Minister for

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

Railways on 1 December 1927. He approved it two days later and the Comptroller of Stores was instructed to call for tenders on 14 December. On 20 June 1928, shortly before NZR had decided which tender to accept, Ambrose Harris of Christchurch’s AR Harris Company advised Workshops Superintendent Edgar Spidy that his principals, the Goodman Manufacturing Company, had written stating: “We are hoping that the N.Z.R. will see fit to build their own locomotives on this basis. Equipped with complete drawings for each part and being furnished with the most complicated parts of the locomotive, they should have no trouble in building the remainder of the pieces and assembling the locomotives . . .” On 15 August 1928 the Chief Mechanical Engineer wrote to the Comptroller of Stores Top: Eb.26 at Hutt Workshops not long after it was built. The Dorman Long rolling marks on the solebar channels are clearly visible. Graeme McClare tells us that A.419 in the background was overhauled at Hutt Workshops in September 1930, which precisely dates the photograph. A.419 had previously been overhauled at Petone Workshops in May 1928 and went to the Mainland about September 1933.

Two photographs: WW Stewart Collection, scans courtesy of Graeme McClare

Two views of Eb.26 shunting an Rb wagon at Hutt Workshops during the 1930s. It’s painted a very dark colour, probably black.

asking him to accept Harris’s quotation for “Material manufactured by the Goodman Manufacturing Coy., for building 4 Battery Shunting Locomotives, including Batteries and £400 royalty charges” along with charging equipment manufactured by Allis Chalmers. Two sets of material were to be shipped to Wellington and two to Port Chalmers. For more on Ambrose Harris and his company, see the June 2006 Journal. On 20 September Spidy advised his Works Managers of the acceptance of the tenders and that parts for the four locomotives would probably be prepared at Hutt for assembly at Hutt and Hillside. Subsequently, Spidy changed his mind and on 30 November advised that two locomotives would be built complete at Hutt and two at Hillside. On the same date he sent the Petone Works Manager a list of castings for local manufacture. Interestingly, these included the axlebox covers with their distinctive “Goodman” branding. For some reason, the two South Island locomotives were built using Americanprofile (probably Canadian) steel for the solebars, while the North Island locomotives used British steel. US standard channel was 10 in × 3 in [254 × 76 mm], whereas the British equivalent was 10 in × 3½ in [254 × 89 mm]. Brian McKenzie notes that the US channel section had a thick web, with more steeplyangled legs ending quite thinly, whereas the British section had a thin web with thick legs, showing more meat at the outer http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

edge. The headstocks on the North Island locomotives appear to have been cut to Goodman’s drawings intended for use with US steel before anyone realised the difference, with the result that the edges of the channel legs extended ½ in [13 mm] past the headstock sides on these two locomotives. Another spotting difference was that the framework for the cab’s end sliding windows was external to the cab walls on Eb.25 and Eb.26, but inside on the other locomotives. The side windows, which slid downwards and were overlapped by the sliding cab doors, were on the inside on all the locomotives. The pattern of the fuse boxes, at the outer ends of the battery compartments, also varied between locomotives.

Eb.27 and Eb.28 were written into the asset registers as new stock built at Hillside during the accounting period ending 1 February 1930, while Eb.25 and 26, “new stock (partly built at Hutt Shops)” were written in during the period ending 31 March 1930. The exact date they entered service is unclear, but a Hillside employee had reportedly been appointed to drive Eb.27 by 29 November 1929. The General Manager approved trialling Labourer LS Knight (who had been reduced from Fireman 18 months previously due to ill-health) on Eb.28 at Addington and Cranedriver H Skellern on Eb.25 at Otahuhu on 29 January. Knight was confirmed as an Electric Battery Locomotive Operator from 14 April, while Skellern was

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

EJ McClare photograph, scan courtesy of Graeme McClare Brian McKenzie

Eb.25 at Otahuhu Workshops on 1 February 1944.The body is a light colour, possibly grey or yellow. The underframe is darker then the body, but lighter than the dirt, so probably not black.

confirmed from 4 August 1930. As noted below, Harold Jury was transferred to Hutt to drive Eb.26 some time after 3 October 1929, although the locomotive was said then to be still a couple of month’s away from completion. The Frankton Junction locomotive

NZR’s Architectural Branch started building a factory alongside Rifle Range Road at Frankton Junction to produce pre-cut houses in 1921. The Stores Branch built a large 28

band sawmill behind it to service both the house factory and other NZR requirements. Both were in full operation by late 1923. The factory and sawmill yards were initially shunted by steam locomotives from Frankton yard (generally train engines and crews standing over between services, rather than shunting engines), but, although locos shunting these yards were supposed to burn hard, rather than Waikato, coal, there was always a fire risk. The yards contained around £138,500 [$12,994,500 at current

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

values] of timber and logs and buildings valued at £120,000 [$11,258,800 today], none of which were insured. Near neighbour the NZ Co-operative Dairy Company had purchased a Goodman battery-electric locomotive via Christchurch’s AR Harris Company in 1922 [see December 2011 Journal ] and Stores Branch staff looked closely at its operations and costs. The Comptroller of Stores initially suggested purchasing a similar locomotive in April 1924. Naturally, other NZR managers sucked their teeth at the cost. A Fordson tractor was trialled in September, but proved too slow and not powerful enough. On 11 December NZR’s General Manager wrote to the Minister for Railways seeking approval to purchase a battery locomotive. This was approved by Cabinet the following day. On 18 December 1924 the Comptroller of Stores wrote to the AR Harris Company accepting their offer to supply “one Edison Storage Battery Locomotive complete with 120 type A-12 Edison Cells” erected on rails at Frankton Junction for £3,500-0-0 sterling [$334,260 today]. The charging plant for the locomotive and the Lakewood battery trucks used around the mill and factory was ordered separately through AD Riley & Coy.

Three photographs: EJ McClare Collection, scans courtesy of Graeme McClare

Top: Eb.27 with its cut-down cab at Sawyers Bay on 29 March 1940. Centre and bottom: Eb.28 and 29 shunting in Addington yard.

The locomotive was shipped from the factory at the end of May 1925 and at the end of September the Comptroller of Stores reported that it was being assembled at Frankton Junction. The batteries were going to be charged and tested at the NZCDC’s Waitoa plant. Acting Chief Mechanical Engineer R Percy Sims inspected the locomotive on 22 October and reported that it had been constructed strictly in accordance with the specification. It hauled four fully-loaded Ub wagons, with a total gross weight of approximately 115 tons [117 tonnes] up a 1-in180 grade with a 4¾ chain [95.6 metres] curve to the mill’s unloading platform – better than specified. The locomotive didn’t start work until 7 April 1926, though, due to delays in delivery of the charging plant. Harold Jury, its driver, wasn’t certified to operate in Frankton yard until June. The mill and factory closed down in late 1928. Presumably the locomotive was used in the initial cleanup of timber stocks until around October 1929, when Jury was transferred to Hutt Workshops ready to drive Eb.26 when it was put into commission. By March 1930 the Comptroller of Stores had no further use for the Frankton Junction locomotive and he attempted to palm it off on the Locomotive Branch. A period of haggling over whether there was any need for a second battery locomotive at the http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

North Island workshops or at Addington and the transfer price followed. A decision on its fate was also held up by the General Manager’s consideration of options for working the Greytown Branch. In June Mamaku mill manager J Martin (who had previously managed the Frankton Junction mill) reported: “On going into the matter with Mr. Werry, Signal and Electrical Inspector at Frankton Jcn, we agreed that the best way to transfer the locomotive to Addington would be to disconnect the driving gear to enable it to be towed to the wharf in Auckland and lifted on board in one piece. It could then be put on the rails at Lyttelton and would arrive at Addington in running condition, except for charging. The accumulators would travel much better that way than if taken out and packed in cases. I made enquiries at the New Zealand Dairy Co., who had to send their locomotive (same make) to Newmarket Shops some time ago. They told me they disconnected the driving gear and the Loco was towed behind a goods train and it went and came back quite safely”. Edgar Spidy, now the co-CME, finally accepted the locomotive in November 1930. It was prepared for transport by Signal and Electrical Branch staff and left for Auckland at 7.35am on 28 November, towed by an Ab locomotive as special train K-2. It was taken over by an Auckland crew at Te Kauwhata and was due at its destination at 2.40 pm. Speed was not to exceed 15 mph [24 km/h]. On arrival it was loaded on SS Waipiata, which left for Lyttelton on 2 December. Spidy reported on 12 January 1931 that it was ready to enter service and that he wished to start using it as soon as possible. There was some debate as to the staff member to be appointed as driver, but on 6 February Spidy was informed that Cranedriver William Collingwood could be used pending a final decision. Collingwood’s appointment as an Electric Battery Locomotive Operator was confirmed on 16 February. The locomotive was taken into Locomotive Branch stock during the accounting period ended 25 April 1931 and it was numbered Eb.29. The 29 ft 6 in × 17 ft 6 in charging shed at Frankton Junction remained on site until August 1945, when approval was given to transfer it to Cambridge for use as a goods office. Eb.29 differed slightly from the NZR-built locomotives. It had only one cab step on each side and these were mounted on a smaller size of pipe. The Hillside-built locomotives had two steps on each side and the Hutt machines three. The cowcatchers were a different design, its cab handrails were mounted lower and it lacked the bolts fitted to the angles retaining the battery box compartment corners on the Hillside-built locomotives. The three point suspension’s transverse bar, evidenced by bolt heads on the solebar, was 30

at the opposite end to the other locos and it had agent’s plates on the solebar. Proposed rebuild

By 1937 the original batteries were beginning to give trouble and on 1 June the Comptroller of Stores sought and received approval to purchase 25 type A-12 Edison cells for Hutt Shops from the AR Harris Company. On 13 September he sought approval to buy another 120 type A-12 cells for Addington and 60 type A-4 cells for Otahuhu. This was initially approved, but then General Manager Garnett Mackley had second thoughts. Someone had suggested converting the Ebs from storage battery to diesel-electric drive. Mackley raised the idea with Workshops Superintendent Spidy – the former Locomotive Branch was split between a workshops section headed by Spidy and a locomotive running/depôt section headed by PR Angus at this time. Spidy agreed it was a good idea and estimated the cost at about £1000 [$102,000 today] per locomotive. Tenders were called in December 1938 for two diesel-driven DC generators and control gear, but before the tenders closed on 14 March 1938, Spidy reported that the cells on the Addington locomotives had deteriorated to the point that it was only possible to make up one good set and even then it probably wouldn’t last until the generator sets could arrive. Approval was given on 21 February to place an urgent order for 120 Edison A-12H cells. When the tenders came in, the only really satisfactory one worked out to around £2,000 once freight and installation costs were included. NZR could buy a completely new locomotive of the same power for the same money and the idea was quietly shelved. Three more loco sets of 120 cells each were ordered in November 1938. A PWD Planet was on hire to cover for one of the Ebs at Addington in September 1941.Possibly there had been further battery problems. Escape

Eb.25 seems to have spent its life wellhidden within Otahuhu Workshops. Hutt fairly soon reverted to a steam locomotive from Petone as its main shunter, with Eb.26 banished to the opposite side of the shops, mostly working around the wagon shop and reclaim area. At Addington, the Ebs had to regularly venture into the station yard to lift and return wagons. This lead to a number of complaints from Christchurch enginedrivers, who claimed that it was dangerous to allow a locomotive manned by a single non-Locomotive Branch operator to work under the control of fixed signals on roads

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

where other engines were working. NZR management always pointed out that the drivers had passed the Signals examinations and that there was nothing to distract them, unlike on a steam locomotive. Besides, Rm.6 and the Christchurch–Lyttelton electrics ran single-manned on the main line working passenger services, so exception could hardly be taken to one man operating the shops locomotive. No change was made. Similar complaints were made by Dunedin enginedrivers in 1935, who claimed that Eb.27 was being used on the mainline to discharge material in connection with the installation of automatic signals between Dunedin and Mosgiel. On 31 December the Locomotive Engineer at Christchurch reported: “My enquiries into this matter show that on 2 occasions the Hillside Battery shunting locomotive has taken a truck of material from the Workshops to the Bridge at Kensington station, in each case under the direction of a leading carpenter of the Maintenance Branch and with the permission of the District Traffic Manager. The work was urgently required to be completed and the unit and wagon attached were kept within the protection of the semaphore signal at Kensington. Neither Works Manager nor District Traffic Manager know of this unit being used for conveying material for the signalling installation between Dunedin and Mosgiel”. Eb.27 escaped again in 1939. The Dunedin District Engineer was using Tr.21 and Tr.22 on the Sawyers Bay deviation (they had been purchased for this job on the understanding that they would be handed over to the Traffic Branch once it was completed), but couldn’t use them in the tunnel. He approached the Hillside Works Manager seeking to temporarily exchange one for the Eb. Spidy approved the exchange in May 1939. The respective operators were also to be exchanged along with the locomotives and the charging plant was to be loaned along with the Eb. The swap was expected to take place in a couple of months time and last about six months. However, it was obviously delayed as in November the District Engineer contacted the Works Manager advising that the 9 ft 9 in high locomotive didn’t quite fit under the 8 ft 9 in high transoms supporting the shuttering in the new tunnel. He sought to have the height of the cab reduced by 1 ft 5 in. This was approved by Spidy on 6 January 1939, provided the Maintenance Branch agreed to meet the costs of the modification and of restoring the original height once the locomotive returned to Hillside. The cab was cut down, but Eb.27 was still at Sawyers Bay in March 1940 and given the war conditions it is unknown whether the cab was ever returned to its original height. – To be continued.

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

C hristchurch NZR Modellers’ Group all photographs by Peter Ross

NZR modellers in all scales getting together to share their common interest in our own railways; phone Colin Barry on 0-3-358 3681 for details. – Peter Ross

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

Convention 2016 is a ’comin’

I’m passionate about the NZAMRC’s national conventions. I went to my first in 1976, when I was just starting out in NZR modelling and have only missed one since. Thoughts of that convention came flooding back when I turned an old 2012 Journal page and Ross Hughes’ typically broad grin beamed out over the sad news of his death. Ross was one of the many new acquaintances I made at the 1976 convention – not necessarily in the most enjoyable of circumstances. As is the custom at conventions, if you don’t have a car you can usually find a seat with someone else to go on layout tours. Ross’s big American car would have been fine, but for one thing. For nearly a week before he left Auckland, the Hughes family cat had been locked inside . . . with inevitable consequences. Ross confided that he had driven all the way to Wellington with the windows open and, even though the evening was cool and damp, we were happy to do the same! That was also the year we lost Bob Stevens, killed going home when the tailgate fell off a truck into the path of his car. Bob was a very good draftsman and kept up a steady supply of plans, principally in The Stoker and its successor, Model Railways. Thankfully, the human side of conventions is usually much brighter; in fact I can’t think of another negative experience. Typically there’s lots of good-natured banter between friends, putting names to faces, and the odd late night bull session in someone’s motel room or caravan. There’s always some suspense leading up to the competition results, followed by surprises and thrills for some and inevitable disappointment for others. The programmes are always very full with little spare time to even get between sessions and the pressure can get to you if you let it. I long ago found the only way round this was to let go of the odd thing and just give myself a break. It’s no surprise to find others doing the same and getting together for an unhurried chat over a leisurely cuppa. It’s never easy to skip a session, of course. There are always more clinics I wouldn’t want to miss than I can possibly go to. Layout tours, trade stands and the banquet are some of the other major attractions. For many years now we’ve also had an overseas guest, among them Linn Westcott and Tony Koester (Model Railroader), Jack Burgess (Yosemite Valley Railroad), AJ & Dana Ireland (Digitrax), Barry Norman (Wild Swan/Model Railway Journal ), Iain Rice (Kalmbach Books, Haynes, etc, etc), and Lance Mindheim (Model Railroader, blog, etc). To tour people’s layouts is a privilege and I have never been to one without learning something. Occasionally this can be how not to do something . . . profiting from others’ mistakes is a lot less painful than from our own! The trade stands invariably offer special deals and we’ve seen many new products launched over the years. Then there are the NZMR Guild and the NZAMRC AGMs where those who have a mind to can find out where the hobby is going and have their say. Everything climaxes with the relaxing and convivial banquet, where tributes are also paid to the trophy winners. I could go on, but space (and no doubt your patience also) is running out. All I really need to say is there’s another national convention coming up next Easter (25–28 March 2016). Details are still scarce as I write, but it will be in Trentham, Wellington, within easy reach of suburban rail services. Plan to be there if you possibly can; you have my word you will not regret it. For details, keep a watch on <nzamrc.org>. – Peter Ross

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

Train advice Administration Manager Ken Lankshear Production Editor Kevin Crosado Features Editor Peter Ross We welcome contributions of articles, photographs and other material. Please e-mail these to <kcrosado@actrix.gen. nz> or post to Kevin Crosado, 3 Kiriwai Rd, Paremata, Porirua 5024. To discuss possible contributions, e-mail Peter Ross <peterr@inet.net.nz>. Advertising Manager Terry Bradley Please send all bookings and digital ad files to <journalads@vodafone.co.nz> or by mail to the publisher’s post box. Publisher New Zealand Model Railway Guild Inc PO Box 180 116, Royal Heights, Auckland 0656. Email: <secretary@nzmrg.org.nz> NZ Model Railway Guild Inc President Terry Bradley Vice President Colin Zeff Secretary-Treasurer Alan Curtis Committee Trevor Cheer, Neville Connew, Phil Rzoska, Ian Tonks Area Representatives Northland Paul Woods 0-9-432 3060 Auckland Neville Connew 0-9-836 3751 Hamilton Trevor James 0-7-856 6866 Bay of Plenty Russell Jones 0-21-045 1931 Taranaki Ian Tonks 0-6-765 5879 Wairarapa Rex Fowler 0-6-377 1135 Wellington Don Clement 0-4-564 4247 Nelson/Marlborough Trevor Borlase 0-3-544 7778 West Coast Situation vacant Canterbury Robin Knight 0-3-376 6436 Otago Don Weston 0-3-467 2630 Southland Trevor McMurdo 0-3-215 7240 Australia – Queensland Les Downey +61-7-3386 0564 United Kingdom Ian Hammond +44(0)1284 761215

Coming events for NZ modellers 29–30 August 2015 OMES Little Train Show, 1 John Wilson Drive, Dunedin 3–4 October 2015

24–25 October 2015 Great Little Train Show, Surrey Park, Invercargill 24–26 October 2015 Hamilton Model Railroaders’ Exhibition, Hamilton Gardens, Cobham Drive, SH1, Hamilton 12–15 November 2015 Pokaka Cultural Convention, Taylor Memorial Lodge, State Highway 4, Pokaka (Milepost 333) – email <nzrmodeling@yahoo.co.nz> for information and bookings 16 – 17 January 2016 St Albans exhibition, The Alban Arena, Civic Centre, St Albans, AL1 3LD , including Ian Hammond and Mike Boutle’s Amber modular NZR layout featuring the Amberley limeworks 19–20 March 2016 Nelson Model Railway Show, Stoke Memorial Hall, Stoke, Nelson 25–28 March 2016 NZAMRC Convention 2016, Trentham Racecourse, Upper Hutt, Wellington. Email <NZAMRC - Convention 2016> or <NZAMRC-Wellington 2016> or telephone Brent Hopley on 0-4-563 6768 (evenings only) 9–10 May 2016

Dunedin Model Train Show, Forbury Park Raceway, Victoria Road, Dunedin. See <www.trainweb.org/dmts/ index.html> for details

9–10 July 2016

Trains on the Plains, Tinwald Memorial Hall, Graham Street, Tinwald <www.trainsontheplains.co.nz>

2–5 June 2017

AMRA 2017, Lodge Place, Porirua. Email <ksherson@actrix. gen.nz> for details

If you’re organising an exhibition, meeting or other gathering open to NZ modellers write to PO Box 180 116, Royal Heights, Auckland 0656 or email <secretary@nzmrg.org. nz> to have it included here. There is no charge for this service. Details must be with the publishers at least three months before the date of the event.

The NZ Model Railway Guild exists to provide a link between model railway enthusiasts to encourage the modelling of New Zealand prototypes.

Christchurch Model Train Show, Pioneer Stadium, Lyttelton Street – email <info@trainshow.co.nz> for details

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

http://nzmrg.org.nz/ www.facebook.com/groups/nzmrg/

NZ Model Railway Journal September 2015

John Agnew

top of the tender, the running boards &c. The planished-iron boiler jacket was represented with Testors Gunmetal Metalizer (a buffable metallic paint, without metal fleck), with a clear sealer coat. David prepared artwork for Baldwin’s Style 51 red/ gold/white lining and had ALPS decals printed in the USA.

John Agnew

John Agnew’s 1:64-scale model of T.106 in 1880s/early 1890s condition was assembled from a Railmaster Exports kit by Lexi Browne and painted by David Fletcher. David used Tamiya AS-24 Luftwaffe Dark Green paint to match Baldwin’s Olive Green and Tamiya Linoleum Brown for the mineral brown on the