Wombat Creek Tramways

After a couple of months working at the mine railway I got time to do some work at the Tramways. A new shelter (stop) has been erected opposite the terraced houses in the Golden Mile. The shelter is inspired by a heritage listed shelter in Kew, Melbourne. The original cast iron tram shelter was designed by the Prahran & Malvern Tramways Trust and erected in 1916/17.

Tram shelter ver. 1.0 was scrapped being too tall and too narrow, but I think this one has the right proportions/dimensions. I even got the ‘wonky’ benches in place.

The terraced houses are finished with front fences and steps down. A tree gives some shade for the roses in Mrs. Paterson’s garden.

With the cast iron lace installed above the first floor and the second floor the terraced houses are finished. Still need a fence along the footpath.

It is afternoon and Mrs. Nelson is in her garden reading a gardening book. She needs some ideas for planting along the south facing wall. How do we know it is afternoon? Look at the sunflowers. They are facing towards north west and the sun. Which leaves us with a conundrum. The sunflowers are quite mature for the time of the year. The date is Sunday the 7^th of October. How could we know?

Well, a worker at the tram shed is reading about Geelong’s defeat of Hawthorn in the Grand Final the day before. Okay, just a not quite right detail!

Not much to remark about no. 5, the number engraved in the glass above the entrance door. Mr. Smith is clearly fond of riding his bicycle. He has chosen a very bold colour for a 1963’s bicycle, but being parked in front of the house it serves as a focus point for the onlookers.

The four terraced houses on the Golden Mile are designed to be unique and exclusive. To keep this exclusiveness certain rules applies to the exteriors. All window and door frames are to be the same shade of green. Well, the McNaught family in no. 3 are not into rules and have painted their windows and doors dark blue! Perhaps a ‘-y’ should be added to the family surname.

At the back of their property a panel has gone missing in the fence. Did it just fall of or did the kids pull it off? Who knows, but the missing board gives the two kids a good view of the mine and the steam trains.

Mr. James greets Mrs. Paterson tending to her roses. Though her garden is rather small Mrs. Paterson is a keen gardener and especially likes roses.

The 10 rose bushes are each made from six stems glued to a base. They are from a Busch kit with a total of 120 individual stems. It requires a very steady hand to glue the flowers to the stems. In an Australian fashion the flower bed is covered in mulch – tea leaves.

With only the ‘lace work’ under the eaves and under the front veranda missing the tenants have moved in. They are also waiting for the front fence to be installed.