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 guys working at Wombat Creek steam Trams have a great time. Their second steam tram, an ex-Bendigo steam motor, was fired up for the first time and had a test run along the tram line near the steam shed. Everything seems to work just fine and work will progress as planned. Next step will be enclosing the boiler with side windows and a roof.
Wombat Creek steam Trams have their first unit restored. The tram (locomotive) is loosely based on a similar Baldwin tram from the Sorrento Tramways. The model is a 3D print. Even without additional weight it is a good (and very fast) runner. With an ‘overhanging’ cab the performance is better running ‘cab first’. The only other rolling stock at the steam trams is the trailer seen in the photo. Originally built for transporting ballast the steam trams use the trailer for transporting coal.
Three passenger trailers are under their way in the post. After assembling and painting they will form the backbone of the Wombat Creek steam Trams public activities. Also in workshop (read ‘on the work desk’) is a former Bendigo steam motor.
Finally, the Comedy Theatre will open its doors after 19 months of planning and construction.
On stage is the comedy ‘Goodnight Mrs. Puffin’. I don’t know much about the play, but it was staged at the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne in 1963. Perhaps the ensemble are doing a few nights is Wombat Creek, too.
After a recent visit to IKEA I now have a dedicated desk for my works on Wombat Creek. Can’t wait to get started. The Comedy Theatre needs to be finished.
Wombat Creek Tramways have resumed traffic. All trams except the freight tram are in service. Unfortunately the freight tram suffers from a short in the motor, which may need a replacement.
As some of you may know, moving between houses is time consuming. Occasionally you get a day off and I relax with a bit of modelling. The Comedy Theatre is coming along nicely.
Moving from one place to another often involves living in two places at once. Well, it is the case for Wombat Creek. The layout is sitting comfortably in its new home but with no spare time, no modelling is going on. However, with few days back at our old home I have some time to work on the Comedy Theatre. I brought the building to the layout for a ‘fitting’. Here is the result:
The layout has been set up in the new ‘tram room’. Most of the buildings are still in boxes and a few wires need to bee reconnected. Best of all, there is room for an extension of the narrow gauge railway! Before long trains could be running down to Gumnut Gully!
