Wombat Creek Tramways

Four sets of bogies arrived from Hattons today. The size of the box is quite impressive! The bogies will be used under the powder (explosives) wagon and the two brake vans with one set as spare.

Two more wagons have arrived at the narrow gauge railway. They stand out with their European look. But they were cheap! $8.50 for the two of them!

Only a joint in the middle of the floor reveals they are shortened versions of a general Liliput open wagon. From a side-on view the shortening is not visible. The wagons will be put into service as they are, but at a later stage they will be rebuilt.

The four open NQR wagons have been finished. The colour is very close to the colour used at the Victorian Railways’ narrow gauge railways. The numbers are 21 – 24, with the 10’s reserved for covered wagons (only the powder wagon is planned at the moment). The one digit numbers will be used for carriages and brake vans.

The wagons are rather light and prone to derailments. I have cut some steel to add as weight. This makes the wagons far more stable but unfortunately too heavy for the locomotives to pull. I will reduce the steel and load the wagons with firewood and other mining necessities.

The narrow gauge mining railway is up and running again. As mentioned in an earlier post, the original siding at the Big Nugget Mine wasn’t long enough for three wagons.

By moving the points into the siding closer to the entry points the siding can take three wagons. Now it is possible to shunt two loaded wagons and a brake van for two empties and the same brake van.

In 1899 the Victorian Railways began constructing rolling stock for their narrow gauge railways. It was decided all carriages and wagons should have the exact same dimensions. All are 27′ 3 ¾” long and 6′ 3” wide with 17′ between the bogies.

With this in mind I designed the track plan for the mining railway in Wombat Creek. The area with the Big Nugget Mine is rather constrained but calculations showed the loop should just be long enough for three wagons. Unfortunately the couplers are longer than expected. Only two wagons will allow the locomotive to run around. The ‘standard’ train will consist of one or two wagons plus a brake/guards van. A shunting puzzle has been created.

Shunting to and from the siding can be done, if the siding can take three wagons. Again, the couplers are just too long! Somehow the siding has to be extended, which can only happen by moving the points into the siding closer to the entry points.

After I have pulled up the tracks involved, I did some ‘line drawing’ and I have a new track plan for the mine. Exchanging two wagons already in the siding with two other wagons will be a challenge but can be done.

The inaugural four NQR wagon train passing the Explosives Factory bound for the Big Nugget Mine.

Hang on! The loop can only take three wagons!

Time to fire up the small 6-wheeler for the rescue.

The 6-wheeler has arrived and will take the wagons back to the depot area.

The train has arrived. Later the big locomotive will come back as a light engine.

The first open NQR wagon is ready to run. It still needs to be painted and and have a few details added. The body is made from 0.5 mm polystyrene sheets and 1.5 mm polystyrene angles. With another three wagons the fleet of NQRs should be big enough to serve the sawmill and mines

The narrow gauge railway serving Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd is now operational. The missing link between the Explosives Factory and the Big Nugget Mine has been constructed under the Main Street. The engineers used the ‘cut-and-cover’ method for the tunnel.

As a train may stall or derail in the tunnel access to the tunnel will remain from the top by moving a building or two.