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.
Like so many of his Greek compatriots Spiro Papadopoulos wants to run a milk bar. With a short supply of vacant shops Spiro decided to purchase and convert an old tram into a state of art milk bar. To save money Spiro wants to do up the tram himself. So far the tram is place opposite the fire station and and Spiro has begun painting the outside. The date for the grand opening is so far unknown.
Current and former employees of Wombat Creek Tramways have formed a group called Wombat Creek steam Trams, WCsT. The purpose is to re-introduce steam trams to Victoria and Wombat Creek. Unlike New South Wales steam trams were rare in Victoria. Only Bendigo and Sorrento operated steam trams. Unfortunate no original steam trams have be preserved. Instead the group will convert foreign trams into Victorian ‘look-alikes’. The board of Wombat Creek Tramways supports the efforts and generously allowed WCsT access to the small shed, which will served as a workshop.
In reality the workshop looks like this:
From left to right is an electric tram (belongs to the Tramways) of unknown brand. The tram will be rebuilt as a Melbourne U class. The yellow chassis belongs to WCsT and will be used for transport of coal. The boiler and green body are from an Atlas model of steam tram from Bern, Switzerland. After a thorough reconstruction the model will re-appear as an example of a steam tram from Bendigo. The 3D printed model to the right is based on a narrow gauge Baldwin 0-4-0 locomotive used by the Sorrento Tramways. However, this version has been re-gauged to standard gauge.
A ‘new’ tram has entered the fleet of Wombat Creek Tramways. The tram is ex-Hobart no. 47, which after re-gauging is ready for service.
The tramways in Hobart were quite unique in Australia. They did not start with horse trams, cable trams or steam trams but went straight into electric trams. Other unique features were bow collectors and double-decker trams. The latter caused some problems. Like the railways in Tasmania the trams ran on narrow gauge, 3ft 8”. With a relative high centre of gravity corners had to be rounded with caution. After a few roll-overs had happened, it was decided to cut down the double-decker trams to single-decker trams. Tram no. 47 is one of the cut-down trams. The advertising is for an Australian tea brand (yes, they did spell flavor without ‘u’) and of course Cadbury Chocolate. The factory is still in Hobart.
The workshop at the Tramways is far too busy and blocks all the roads at the depot.
In road no.1 a Hobart tram is rebuilt and re-gauged to standard gauge.
The yellow chassis in road no. 2 will be a trailer for ballast and coal.
The ex-Vienna tram in road no. 3 will loose a few doors and emerge as a Melbourian U class.
In front of the steam shed a major reconstruction will take place before a Bendigo steam tram enters the heritage fleet.
It is difficult to predict a time frame for the various projects, but the Hobart tram appears to be the first to enter traffic.
With a price-tag of AUS$ 25 each the manager of Wombat Creek Tramways thinks he did a bargain! The staff at the workshop will be busy for weeks to come building new trams.
Wombat Creek Tramways has received a new vehicle. This time it is a trailer for the ‘odd’ Danish tram KS 437.
KS 437 (Kjøbenhavns Sporveie = Copenhagen Tramways) was built in 1918 for the tramways in Copenhagen. The tram was withdrawn from traffic in 1965 and donated to the Danish Tram Museum at Skjoldenæsholm. The trailer is not quite right. In fact it is the same model as the tram itself with the trolley pole removed and extra window sills. Once the route numbers and destination box are removed from the roof, only the number will reveal its origin.
And you may ask, what is a Danish tram doing in Australian Wombat Creek? Well, a Melbourian W class are running at the tram museum in Denmark, so why not? Or is it a matter of nostalgia?
The fleet of trams in Wombat Creek has been extended by Freight Car No. 17.
(Photo: Trams Downunder)
The original tram entered traffic in 1906 as NMETL No. 13. The tram was part of a fleet of five (no. 11-15) single truck open cross-bench trams built by Duncan and Fraser for The North Melbourne Electric Tramways & Lighting Company. When the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (M&MTB) in 1922 took over the NMETL, No. 13 was renumbered as No 214 in the M&MTB roster and classified into the V class. It was withdrawn from passenger service in 1925. Two years later, it was fitted with windscreens and enclosed with a box type body for use as a freight car, and renumbered as No 2A. In this form it was used to carry spare parts and other materials from Preston Workshops to each of the running depots to enable minor tramcar repairs to be carried out locally.
In 1934 it was renumbered to 17. It was further modified in 1959 to carry large advertising panels on its sides, but it continued carrying freight between the depots. ‘Sunkist’ was one of the major advertisers with different side panels showing products like frozen peas and ice-cream.
The freight car was withdrawn from service in 1977 replaced by a lorry. In 1978 it was reconstructed to near original condition as a toast-rack passenger car by Preston Workshops for use on tourist services, numbered as V class No 214. In 2006 it was repainted in NMETL livery and numbered back to 13. It is now on display at the Melbourne Tram Museum as the oldest electric tram.
The model is not 100% correct, but close enough. Since Wombat Creek Tramways only have one depot, there is not much use for a freight car. But the manager saw an opportunity for an extra income from advertising, so the tram will trundle the streets of Wombat Creek. Perhaps it will deliver some freight to the Explosives Factory, which is difficult to reach by road.
The girls from the 3rd floor are enjoying their lunch break – and so is Chris from Accountants!
