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 mechanics at the workshop have been busy this week. The former Hobart tram has been transformed from this:
to this:
WCT no. 17 at the Victoria Street tram stop
The photo shows the tram, now renumbered as WCT no. 17, at the tram stop in Victoria street. The rebuilt is almost finished. Still to come are two side steps and the seats of the saloon. To gain a more smooth run additional weight will be placed under the longitudinal seats.
Except the four seat in the corners the seats of the top floor of the double-decker tram have reversible backs. The joiners at the workshop have been busy today. 10 pieces of cardboard, 10 pieces of thin plastic sheets, 40 small staples, some paint and a lot of patience (plus a pinch of quiet swearing) give you 10 seats.
On the last day of the year the employees at the tram shed were busy testing the ‘new’ tram despite the temperature of 39 C. All buildings in Wombat Creek are removable – except one. The petrol station is glued in place. Every consideration was taken placing it years ago, but could a double-decker tram pass? As the photo shows – just!
Close fit at the petrol station
After a few ‘wobbly’ test runs (how the driver managed to do that without a cab and controllers is a mystery) the tram went back to the workshops. The roof was cut of, and the windows replaced with steel poles made out of ‘extra log quilting pins’. Just before the workers went home for New Year celebrations they put the first coat of brown paint to the upper level.
A while ago Wombat Creek Tramways acquired a double-decker tram from Hobart (read: from the internet). The aim is to put it into service after re-gauging and repainting. Later two tramsand a trailer arrived from the same source. They seem to be of Austrian origin. The manufacturer is unknown and the work quality is rather dubious, but the motors are fine. One of them has a wheelbase which is only 1 or 2 mm to long for the double-decker, so it is doomed as spare parts. Anyway it fell apart trying to get the chassis out! Next step is to cut away the lower floor of the double-decker. The work is still in progress. The result so far is shown of the photo. The floor is still intact but the two ends have come off!
From the workshop
The top floor will need a make-over, too. The Hobart trams were totally open except for a roof. So the side windows and the doors at both ends have to go. The model came without seats, so they have to be manufactured in the workshop. And no, the passengers didn’t loose their legs in an explosion. They were already gone at their arrival.
More than 150 cities and towns around Australia have ‘a big thing’. Coffs Harbour has the big banana; West Ballina the big prawn; Tully the big gumboot; the big pineapple on the Sunshine Coast and the big koala in Cowes to name a few.
Of course Wombat Creek has to join in with the ‘Big Spoon’!
The Big Spoon
It is temporarily placed in front of the Bank.
Ok, this may not make any sense at the moment, but some time next year it will all fall in place!
Work on the RSL building is progressing. The walls have been rendered and painted, even the finishing isn’t too good. It seems a major part has fallen down! After parking his trusted VW van in front of the Mechanics Institute carpenter Ray Knott has gone inside the building to discuss the issue of window frames with the president of the RSL. The latter is pushing to get the job done, but the approaching holiday period may cause a delay until after New Year.
The next addition to Wombat Creek will be the RSL building (RSL – Returned and Services League of Australia). The building is inspired by the RSL building in Clunes, Victoria. The photo also shows the return of the Mechanics Institute, which has been in storage for a few weeks. The Institute didn’t seem quite right by itself, but the RSL has enhanced the look.