Wombat Creek Tramways

After weeks without rain we got showers today. Good for the garden and spare time for me.

The goldmine in Gumnut Gully doesn’t have the capacity to crush the ore. Instead it has to be shipped to the Big Nugget Mine in Wombat Creek. The ore skis are without brakes and a brake van is needed.

The result of a few hours of measuring and cutting resulted in the body of a small brake van. A similar van was used at the Mt. L yell railway in Tasmania. The body is on a temporary chassis which explains the lean.

Woody has come to pick up some timber from the sawmill. A heavy wind gust must have come through! Better get the timber stacked again.

The phone number (WC 1049) will have to be changed soon. In the early 1960s Australia went from two letters and four digits to six digits. The new number will be 92 1049. I think, Woody will rather buy a newer truck than repaint the old one.

Two trestle bridges over Stony Creek (yes, the creek running through Gumnut Gully has been named) have been finished. As a test, short goods train has passed over each bridge. Not a tiny squeak was to be heard!

Gumnut Gully still appears very quiet and abandoned. Not much of activity is to be seen. However, the still to be named creek has started to form. The creek bed is made from toilet paper (!) which has been painted with green and blue paint. The water is a 2mm thick plastic table cover.

With an outside temperature of 30+ yesterday was too hot for gardening. Instead, I spent some time in Gumnut Gully. As seen on the photo a simple control panel has been installed. Three sliding contacts control tracks 1 – 3. A push button provides power to the turntable. Two push buttons to the right are for a future shed used by the upcoming tourist railway providing services between Gumnut Gully and Wombat Creek. The turntable is turned manually by the white disc to the left of the panel.

The narrow gauge railway is up and running again. Only one wire snapped during the move and is now re-soldered. The extension from Wombat Creek to Gumnut Gully is also temporary wired except for the turntable. In the background the sawmill has been turned 180 degrees and an 50+ years overhead crane added.

The kit from my neighbour is very nice with all major part being diecast metal. Unfortunately the gauge is 12 mm and not 9 mm . I’ll hand the kit back!