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.
The fictional gold mining town of Wombat Creek is named after my favourite animal, the wombat, and a place for gold panning, the creek. On our way home from holidays my wife and I passed the real Wombat Creek. Nothing like the grand model town. Just a small creek and a handful of houses along the highway far from the Victorian goldfields.
Before the builders went on their Easter break they fitted the external doors and all the tiles on the front. Back on the job they will focus on the ‘art deco’ features.
Work has started on the intricate front of the Bellcord. My research photos are a good reference for the actual front and its tile cladding. For details on the roof I go to Google Street view and Google Earth. It will not be 100% accurate, but only I will know (and you, since you are reading this!).
I have been asked for a few photos of the wildlife around the railway. Here they are!
PS: Sorry for the shadows!
The setting is not what you would expect, but the photo shows the Bellcord with windows! The doors are in ‘back order’. Next step will be the front entrance, which will be a challenge due to its shape.
From this:
to this:
in exactly one year!
Before I began construction of the Bellcord I searched the internet for an image of an interesting building, which would fit the corner opposite the bank and Fraser & Duncan. I came across a few photos of the former United Kingdom Hotel in Clifton Hill.
Next step was a visit to the hotel (now a McDonald’s) to photograph details of the exterior. I was especially interested in smaller details e.g. the yellow and brown bands on the lower walls and the tiles on the front entrance. They could be processed in Photoshop and printed out for the actual model. The trusted Street View from Google will help with other details (I know this from the build of the Bank).
So I felt well prepared and ready to go. Only the front will be more or less a copy of the place. The rest of the building has to be amended to fit the space on the layout. As the construction moves ahead I realise (again), it is impossible to find all the details until you get to them! The brick walls have their own set of tiles at the top; only the top part of the balcony sits on top off the lower part of the building etc. Some details can be incorporated at a later time. For some it is too late.
Anyway, the brick work is done. I am now waiting for the windows to be done by the joiner (me) and the glazier (also me).
Four sets of bogies arrived from Hattons today. The size of the box is quite impressive! The bogies will be used under the powder (explosives) wagon and the two brake vans with one set as spare.
