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Wombat Creek Tramways

Wombat Creek is a H0 (1:87) scale model of a fictional town situated somewhere in the Victorian Goldfields, Australia.

The time is 1963. Geelong wins the VFL Championship against Hawthorn (109– 60). John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas. ValentinaTeresjkova is the first woman in Space. The men behind The Great Train Robbery get £2.6 million from a Royal Mail train heading from Glasgow to London.

The town consists of several buildings. The “Wombat Creek Bank and Gold Exchange” is a prominent building in the town centre. You will also find several other commercial buildings; among them the daily newspaper“W.C. Chronicle”(colloquial known as the "Toilet Paper") and “Wombat Creek Brewing Company” (Famous for the “Wombat Bitter”). “The Big Nugget Gold Mine” is situated at the Western outskirts of town near the small Chinatown. The War Memorial is in a small park along East Street.

The town’s mayor Alfred Campbell together with his son David Campbell owns several businesses, including the bank, the pub and the newspaper. AC/DC basically run the town and make most decisions on behalf of the rest of Wombat Creek’s residents, who, on the other hand, are too busy with their own businesses.

The mayor’s latest initiative is Wombat Creek Tramways. Wombat Creek doesn’t really need a tram system, but AC reckons tramways will improve the town’s reputation. Partly because of limited funds the tramways' construction and rolling stock depend heavily on second-hand requirements from other Australian and overseas tramways.

Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Sat, April 30, 2022 16:21:30

I have decided to have a separate category for the writings regarding the narrow gauge railway connecting the goldmines, the explosives factory and the sawmill.

Wombat Creek still has two working goldmines. The Big Nugget Mine is near the centre of town. The Little Nugget Mine is situated somewhere to the east of town. The Little Nugget Mine only consists of the tunnels, where the gold ore is found. To get the ore processed it has to be moved to the Big Nugget Mine.

This is done by a narrow gauge railway. In mining terms the railway would probably be called a ‘tramway’, but to avoid confusion the term ‘tramway’ will only be used for the cars running at street level. The railway between the two mines utilises two former mining tunnels under the town. It just loops around the Little Nugget Mine but near the Big Nugget Mine and the nearby sawmill and explosives factory the railway has a more extensive layout with passing loop and sidings. The shed and workshop are also situated in this area.

The rolling stock, so far, consists of two steam locomotives and a rake of tipper wagons. This will be supplemented with a carriage for workers and various 4- and 8- wheeled wagons. The workers can transfer between the railway and the tramways at the sawmill.

So far the track work is still on the drawing board, but a track plan will be uploaded shortly.



The trackbed for the mine loop

Text & photos from Wombat Creek Tramways Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Sat, April 30, 2022 16:10:34
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The loop around the Big Nugget Mine

After a holiday away from Wombat Creek I have worked on the trackbed for the final part of Wombat Creek Tramways – the big loop around the Big Nugget Mine. The sloping trackbed to the left of the loop leads down to the Explosives Factory in the background. I will need to test the trams on the slope to determine, how steep it will be. Because part of the ‘mine line’ (see Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd) will pass under the tramway, track laying will commence after tracks for the before mentioned line are in place.