Wombat Creek Tramways

Most tramways will have scrubber cars and Wombat Creek Tramways is no different. ‘Real’ tramways will convert old trams into scrubber cars but Wombat Creek has no surplus of old cars, so I came up with another solution – a diesel locomotive and a tank wagon. I know it is not a solution, you will find at an Australian tramway, but it will serve the purpose here in Wombat Creek. The tracks will be cleared of dust!

On a holiday in Austria some 40 years ago I bought the Kleinbahn locomotive. It has not had a lot of use being in storage most of the time. The wheels and gears had become stuck but a dose of WD40 made it running again. The number ’56’ comes from a small Victorian shunter, V56, with the same wheel configuration and an almost similar look. It was once used to shunt Metro trains through a washing complex. And yes, the gauge is not right! You may think the colours are the old VR livery, but it is not. They symbolise Wombat Creek with the blue being the ‘creek’ and the yellow being the gold.

The tanker is an old Jouef track cleaner. The decals on both the locomotive and scrubber are home-made and printed on an ink-jet printer. The first attempt didn’t do too good. I chose to print without a background colour (transparent) which made the decals very visible. The second attempt with a blue background is far better but not perfect. The colours could have been a bit brighter, but perhaps they have faded in the Aussie sun! Another ‘issue’ was the white print in ‘Scrubber no. 1’. Of course ‘white’ on a printer is ‘no ink’, so it turned up transparent. Well, that was sorted with white paint before the decals were attached.

It has been a while since I have posted on the progress of Wombat Creek Tramways. Holidays in Taiwan and work have taken up time, but some construction has taken place.

A new bandstand – or rotunda – has been erected next to the Memorial. It is modelled after the local bandstand. It is not exact copy. E.g. the railings are different. In fact they are made from left-overs from the Heljan Brewery kit.

At the moment concrete footpaths, nicely moved lawns and garden beds with mulch (made from used the content of used teabags) make up the parkland around the bandstand. Later I will plant some bushes, shrubs and trees and perhaps place a few benches. Interestingly you will hardly ever find people using a bandstand, so I may consider not populating the area.

After completing the bandstand only one major feature is missing from this part of Wombat Creek (I will eventually draw a detailed track plan) – a water tower next to the tram barn. Why the tram barn in Elwood had a very prominent water tower is a bit of a mystery to me. Perhaps it served a nearby powerhouse. I will enquire at Melbourne Tram Museum.

The kids in the blue house have been playing a bit of ‘backyard’ cricket. It is hard to figure out how they could bounce a ball and run in the long grass, but they did. In fact one of the kids batted for a six. The ball went over the back fence and – by closer inspection – through one of the windows (second from the right) in the tram barn. No wonder they all have done a runner and left the stumps and bat behind.

All trams are out and running and it is time for the an employee at the tram barn to enjoy his lunch. A close up on the newspaper reveals it must be early October 1963. The front page informs the readers, Geelong has won the VFL Grand Final.

Saturday August 24 I went by train to my volunteer work at the Melbourne Tram Museum. At Caulfield Station I spotted a sign advertising the nearby Model Railway Exhibition. Fortunately the museum was not very busy so I decided to leave early and visit the exhibition. I was presented with some very fine layouts in both HO and N scale, but my interest was also caught by the different stalls selling model railway ‘goodies’.

A bag of ‘Clump-foliage’ became the first purchase. Nothing special, but something I need for my gum trees. The bargain was three 90 degree crossing for Atlas for just 60 % of the normal retail price. Pretty good, even I couldn’t find a fourth one. The crossing are needed for a future extension of Wombat Tramways. A stall had different LED streetlights for sale. Not something I had in mind for the time being but the price was okay. So I ended up buying a set of three for $10.

Back home I had to wait a week before finding time to install the lights. They came with resistors attached so I have hooked them up to a 9V battery. I am quite pleased with the result, so I will order some more online.

The angle may be awkward but the photos shows the latest additions to the gardens around the two fibro houses – the garden sheds. The family in the blue house are not gardeners, so the lawn has only been mowed in a short strip (explanation will follow) and the door of the shed has fallen off the top hinge. The garden around the green house is much neater and the garden shed is well maintained.

Perhaps you have noticed the red dot in the grass. A Victorian icon – a footy (an Australian rules football). In fact, it is a grain of rice painted red!

Work around the Fibro houses has continued. A wooden fence has been erected on top of the bluestone wall along the tram barn area. The garden around the green house has been laid out. As seen on the photo the owners of the green house are better gardeners than the neighbours. The lawn is nicely cut and lined by blue-stones. The garden beds are ready for planting. The concrete slab for the garden shed has also been poured. The tree in the corner is a wattle – probably needs a few more flowers to give it the right yellow colour.

At the back of the tram barn Ray Knott, the local joiner, has loaded his Volkswagen full of left over wood from the construction of the barn. A water tower (yes – the real barn in Elwood had a very distinctive water tower) and a shed for tools are next on the ‘to-do-list’.

The tank wagon is a more than 40 years old Jouef track cleaning model. And no – it doesn’t advertise the well-known beer VB – Victorian Bitter. In Wombat Creek the only beer to drink is WB – Wombat Bitter!