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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.

Bus on a bridge

Text & photos from Wombat Creek Tramways Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Sun, October 30, 2022 12:06:49
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In 1938 the board of the tramways in Melbourne decided to replace the cable trams in Bourke Street with double deck buses. Leyland was successful in winning tender for 45 bus chassis and one double deck body. The remaining 44 bodies were built by firms in Melbourne and Adelaide.
The double deck buses were numbered from 201 to 245 in the M&MTB fleet. They were painted in the standard tramway green livery, with numbering and lettering in gold leaf. The buses entered service in October 1940.
By August 1943 it was clear that the conversion of the Bourke Street routes to bus operation had been a failure, for a few reasons:
The Leyland buses required the same two-man crew (driver and conductor) as trams, but could not carry as many people.
Melbourne commuters were unwilling to travel on the top decks of the double deck buses, due to the difficulty of ascending and descending the stairway, particularly as most passenger journeys were relatively short. As a result, the lower deck was overcrowded.
The top decks of the double deck buses frequently collided with shop verandas and electric light poles.
Worn out before they were ultimately replaced by trams, the Leyland double deck buses were all withdrawn by January 1954. The buses were all sold off. Their new owners mostly used the buses as sheds or extra accommodation at holiday homes, but one bus had a unique fate.
It was bought by Wombat Creek Tramways. After a major overhaul including re-painting the bus was put into service at route 9 between Wombat Creek and Gumnut Gully.
Well, most of the above is true. The text is an extract from an article at Melbourne Tram Museum’s website. Only the fate of one bus is not quite true. The bus is a purchase from a well-known website. The price and colours were right for Wombat Creek Tramways. Only the side logo, destination box and number plates have to be altered.



Tram on a bridge

Text & photos from Wombat Creek Tramways Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Wed, October 26, 2022 17:51:47
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The second bridge over the Wombat Creek has caused me a lot of thoughts. Firstly getting the right hight above the railway line. It is possible to clear the top of the steam locomotives by just 2 mm, but I think it is too tight. With a slightly higher bridge there are inclines on both sides leading up to the bridge. Not a problem for the trams to climb.

Secondly the plate girders are from a Peco kit. I have used the middle parts for the first bridge over the Creek. The remaining parts are glue together to form two girders. They are just too short for the span without relaying the railway track. If the bridge is narrower the girders are fine, but that will result in another issue.

How to get two tram tracks across. A gauntlet with fully ‘intertwined’ tracks would be an interesting feature, but with the inclines and a curved tracks I have opted out of this solution. Instead the tracks will just clear the girders and be very close to each other. Two trams may not be able to pass the bridge at the same time. A fact, which gives me a reason to install working traffic lights. I’ll keep you posted!



Narrow gauge turntable – part 4

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Fri, October 14, 2022 17:51:50

The turntable is now ready for use – I thought!

To paint the sides of the well and add sand to the bottom I had to take the drive and the bridge apart. The green railings at the bridge look a bit ‘flimsy’ with the handles just stuck to the top. Have a look at this video from the West Coast Wilderness Railway and the turntable in Dubbil Barril and you will see, I am not far off!

Assemble it all again should have been easy, but it wasn’t to be. The cogwheel in the drive just slid around the axle without turning the bridge. The friction between the pick-ups and the curved rail was too much. Since I probably wouldn’t need to turn a locomotive, I hard wired the bridge. It sort of solved the problem, but now the tracks don’t line up! Everything has to be taken apart again.

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Narrow gauge turntable – part 3

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Fri, September 23, 2022 22:24:00

When life serves you lemons, you make lemonade. When life serves you polypropylene plastic, you … don’t make a turntable!

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Nothing seems to stick to this sort of plastic (except the label), so I had to start from scratch with the turntable. His time I used styrene plastic and the outcome is far better. The turntable still has to be painted and railings fitted along the top.

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The turntable is turned with a worm drive. The axle is a knitting pin kindly donated by my wife. The turntable can be turn fully 360 degrees, but this will rarely happens. Because of a steep (and invisible) incline near the Little Nugget Mine all locomotives will run chimney first towards the mines to avoid the top of the firebox being exposed.

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The tracks are down and powered. Unfortunately my first attempt got a couple of wires mixed up. As a result a steam locomotive ended up in the creek twice! All is now sorted. The locomotive shed houses the two large steam engines. The smaller one will require a second shed at the track to the left of the bigger shed. This track will also be used for a coal stand and a water tank.



Narrow gauge turntable – part 2

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Mon, September 19, 2022 20:24:35

Construction of the turntable got under way today. I planned to take a few photos of the process, but I got carried away with the work itself, so I have only a few photos to show. The project is progressing as expected but not as fast as I had hoped for.

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The first image is of the container lid,, which will form the pit for the turntable. The ‘bridge’ is cut from the bottom of the container. A slim 50 mm bolt has been put through the centre of the ‘bridge’.

The second image shows the pit in place.

Quite a few stages were done before the third image. A section of standard gauge track was cut into two and forms the guide rail at the bottom of the pit. Probably slightly over-size, but I expected it would be too difficult to keep a smaller rail in place. Two length of narrow gauge rails have been super glued to the ‘bridge’. Wires have been soldered to the rails on the bridge and in the pit. The ‘pit rails’ will be powered. The ‘bridge wires’ will somehow glide on top of lower rails and thereby supply power to the ‘bridge’. A slim sheet of plastic has been slit in place along the wall of the pit to conceal the threads of the lid. The third image shows the turntable and the tracks leading towards it installed. Also the track into the shed is in place.

The final image is similar to the third, but with the shed in place.

Tomorrow’s work will include laying the remaining track and power the tracks and the turntable. Finally the turntable has to be detailed .



Narrow gauge turntable – part 1

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Sun, September 18, 2022 12:20:05
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An empty vitamin D container, a top from a milk carton, a worm drive and a 50 mm bolt with nuts. Could this – with a few more bits and pieces – become the long needed turntable for the mining railway? I hope the next few days will show.



Finding the right order – part 5

Text & photos from Wombat Creek Tramways Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Wed, September 14, 2022 18:48:35
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The bridge for the tramways over Wombat Creek has been completed. The retaining wall has been capped and the left bank of the creek is in place. The building to the left belongs to the narrow gauge railway and will serve as a locomotive shed and repair shop.



Finding the right order – part 4

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Sun, September 11, 2022 12:07:41

The bluestone retaining wall along the creek has been erected. Only the capping stones at the top are missing. The photo shows the purpose of a relative long wall. It sits along and hides the control panels.

Next step would be the second wall/pier supporting the bridge, but..

To get easy access to the dirt road along the creek, it better wait, but…

The dirt road will cross the railway on the other side, but…

The tracks will have to be put down before the road, but…

The tracks will cross the creek, so a small bridge has do be built first!

Complicated? Not really if you get the order right.

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The access road to the Big Nugget Mine is almost completed with sand from Phillip Island, cloured ‘teddy bear fur’ and potting mix from – well a bag. The potholes are topped with clear PVA. As seen on the photo the road is in a poor condition. On his way back from the mine Mr. Howard had a minor accident with his ute slipping into the creek. The railway to and from the mine is definitely needed when the mine is fully operational.



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