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.
After I have spend quite a while in the Big Nugget Gold Mine, it is time to do something different and get back to the Tramways.
The photo is from just outside the tram shed. In the foreground a Bachmann Brill tram, like the one at the back, has been cut through the middle and one door from each side has been removed. All in an attempt to turn the body into a tram resembling a Melbourne class Y tram like the one below.
A new tram has arrived at Wombat Creek Tramways. It is a former H-class from Vienna. The tram is non-motorised, but comes with space for a small motor. Before entering service, the tram will be modified to resemble a Melbourne U-class.
After almost three months I am pleased the Bellcord, or as it is known by the good people of Wombat Creek ‘the Jazz House’, is finished.
The sign at the top of the building is made from ‘stem wire’ (used by florists), super-glue and some patience. As a template I printed the sign in a appropriate font called ‘Jam Session’ and bent the wire following the outline of the letters. Once glue together, the sign was a little hard to read being green letters on a green ‘scaffolding’. Painted black they stand out a bit better and also tie in with the letters on the balcony.
I have enjoyed building the Bellcord, but I look forward to smaller projects which can be done I far less time.
The Bellcord is ready to turn up the jazz music. Since the last update the work has mainly been on the roof. As seen on the photo the roof is rather ‘complicated’ with quite a few elements. The roof is in two parts and detachable in case I need to work on the interior of the building.
No point of turning up the music if you don’t get any audience! Time to finish the build with a bit of advertising. All will be revealed in the final update.
After three days of modelling the Bellcord looks like this:
Next task to tackle is the roof.
The fictional gold mining town of Wombat Creek is named after my favourite animal, the wombat, and a place for gold panning, the creek. On our way home from holidays my wife and I passed the real Wombat Creek. Nothing like the grand model town. Just a small creek and a handful of houses along the highway far from the Victorian goldfields.
Before the builders went on their Easter break they fitted the external doors and all the tiles on the front. Back on the job they will focus on the ‘art deco’ features.
Work has started on the intricate front of the Bellcord. My research photos are a good reference for the actual front and its tile cladding. For details on the roof I go to Google Street view and Google Earth. It will not be 100% accurate, but only I will know (and you, since you are reading this!).
