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.
After more than 6 years of the work, today was the day to finally lay the last piece of track and the tramways would be fully operationally. The last track was bought Friday and today was the day! The section will be a tram stop and needs to be isolated with two plastic joiners. Here comes the catch! I was left with only one isolated joiner!
I will be off to the nearest model railway shop very soon!
At the moment, the focus is on the final track work at the railways. I had the ‘liquid nails’ out and decided to ‘nail’ a few rocks along the tracks at the Big Nugget Mine. A few terraced houses will appear on top of the rocks.
The extension of the Regal Theatre has been finished with only a few minor tasks still to do. The capping of the walls will be done once the neighbouring building has been constructed. The fire escape will run down the wall to the left.
A fellow modeller sent me a challenge: Why don’t I model the Rivoli Cinema?
One Saturday morning I went to have a look before going to the Melbourne Tram Museum housed in the former Hawthorne Tram Depot. Mentioning the Rivoli Cinema being in Hawthorne East I thought it was worth travelling a few more tram stops and have a look. I like the building and the challenging lines and curves.
The build will take some time and effort, so I want to put it somewhere in Wombat Creek with the facade to be admired. At the moment such a space is not vacant, but the ‘Regal’ could be moved from its prominent position at the end of Main Street.
Therefore the Regal Theatre has been relocated from the end of the Main Street to a position opposite the Bank. The theatre is a Metcalfe low-relief kit and has been extended with new walls at the back. There is a slightly colour difference in the bricks. I hope it will not be too obvious with a downpipe running along the joint in the wall. The roof is a bit of a challenge. The original roof has two different pitches (the front is steeper than the sides). At the moment the plan for the roof is partly tiles and partly zinc cladding. I will keep you updated.
The Wombat Creek Tramways has added a new tram to the fleet. The tram has a distinctive European look, but with altering the windows it could resemble the second tram of the ill-fated Doncaster to Box Hill line.
The photo show the progress on the rebuild. A visit to and photos from Melbourne Tram Museum will help me with the details of the roof.
After I have spend quite a while in the Big Nugget Gold Mine, it is time to do something different and get back to the Tramways.
The photo is from just outside the tram shed. In the foreground a Bachmann Brill tram, like the one at the back, has been cut through the middle and one door from each side has been removed. All in an attempt to turn the body into a tram resembling a Melbourne class Y tram like the one below.
With the roof up and the chimney in the engine house can be put into service.
