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Wombat Creek Tramways

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.

Sort of Progress

Text & photos from Wombat Creek Tramways Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Sat, March 18, 2023 14:50:05

From this:

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to this:

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in exactly one year!



The Bellcord – part 3

Text & photos from Wombat Creek Tramways Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Tue, March 14, 2023 18:07:33

Before I began construction of the Bellcord I searched the internet for an image of an interesting building, which would fit the corner opposite the bank and Fraser & Duncan. I came across a few photos of the former United Kingdom Hotel in Clifton Hill.

Next step was a visit to the hotel (now a McDonald’s) to photograph details of the exterior. I was especially interested in smaller details e.g. the yellow and brown bands on the lower walls and the tiles on the front entrance. They could be processed in Photoshop and printed out for the actual model. The trusted Street View from Google will help with other details (I know this from the build of the Bank).

So I felt well prepared and ready to go. Only the front will be more or less a copy of the place. The rest of the building has to be amended to fit the space on the layout. As the construction moves ahead I realise (again), it is impossible to find all the details until you get to them! The brick walls have their own set of tiles at the top; only the top part of the balcony sits on top off the lower part of the building etc. Some details can be incorporated at a later time. For some it is too late.

Anyway, the brick work is done. I am now waiting for the windows to be done by the joiner (me) and the glazier (also me).

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Big Box of Bogies

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Wed, March 08, 2023 18:15:20
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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.



The Bellcord – part 2

Text & photos from Wombat Creek Tramways Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Mon, March 06, 2023 17:56:39

Construction is well under way with most of the walls up. The radius of the curved walls is rather small (20 mm). To make sure the curves will be smooth once the bricks come up, small vertical cuts have been made for every 2 mm on the outside.

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The Bellcord – part 1

Text & photos from Wombat Creek Tramways Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Thu, February 23, 2023 17:27:17
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The construction of the Bellcord (the jazz club) has commenced. The concrete slab (foundation) has be poured (read: cut out of 1.5 mm cardboard). This allows me to see how it fits in on the corner next to the Fire Station and the future Comedy Theatre.



New wagons

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Thu, February 23, 2023 17:19:13
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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.



NQR wagons ready for service

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Thu, February 16, 2023 17:43:07
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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.



A Mock-up of the Jazz Club

Text & photos from Wombat Creek Tramways Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Thu, February 09, 2023 17:43:48
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To get an idea of how the ‘Bellcord’ will fit in on the corner of the Golden Mile and the Main Street, I have printed a photo of the the original building in the approximate scale. It looks a bit flat and the hight probably needs to be increased to correspond with the fire station. ‘The Golden Sea Gull’ on the front will of course not be part of the model.



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