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.
At a Model Railway Exhibition in the beginning of August I came across a stand selling 3D printed locomotives, carriage and buildings. The items were mainly in HO and N scales, but a few were Hoe (OO9) scale. The mining railway in Wombat Creek needs a couple of guards van. My intention has always been a self-build, but I got tempted. The price was right, so why not buy and save time. I wanted two but unfortunately only one NBC guards van with passenger compartment was left. On the upside the body came with two chassis. The bogies were not including but came from Peco. The couples are rather long, but could probably be shortened a a later stage. Now it is time for painting.
A ‘new’ tram has entered the fleet of Wombat Creek Tramways. The tram is ex-Hobart no. 47, which after re-gauging is ready for service.
The tramways in Hobart were quite unique in Australia. They did not start with horse trams, cable trams or steam trams but went straight into electric trams. Other unique features were bow collectors and double-decker trams. The latter caused some problems. Like the railways in Tasmania the trams ran on narrow gauge, 3ft 8”. With a relative high centre of gravity corners had to be rounded with caution. After a few roll-overs had happened, it was decided to cut down the double-decker trams to single-decker trams. Tram no. 47 is one of the cut-down trams. The advertising is for an Australian tea brand (yes, they did spell flavor without ‘u’) and of course Cadbury Chocolate. The factory is still in Hobart.
With a price-tag of AUS$ 25 each the manager of Wombat Creek Tramways thinks he did a bargain! The staff at the workshop will be busy for weeks to come building new trams.
Wombat Creek Tramways has received a new vehicle. This time it is a trailer for the ‘odd’ Danish tram KS 437.
KS 437 (Kjøbenhavns Sporveie = Copenhagen Tramways) was built in 1918 for the tramways in Copenhagen. The tram was withdrawn from traffic in 1965 and donated to the Danish Tram Museum at Skjoldenæsholm. The trailer is not quite right. In fact it is the same model as the tram itself with the trolley pole removed and extra window sills. Once the route numbers and destination box are removed from the roof, only the number will reveal its origin.
And you may ask, what is a Danish tram doing in Australian Wombat Creek? Well, a Melbourian W class are running at the tram museum in Denmark, so why not? Or is it a matter of nostalgia?
The fleet of trams in Wombat Creek has been extended by Freight Car No. 17.
(Photo: Trams Downunder)
The original tram entered traffic in 1906 as NMETL No. 13. The tram was part of a fleet of five (no. 11-15) single truck open cross-bench trams built by Duncan and Fraser for The North Melbourne Electric Tramways & Lighting Company. When the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (M&MTB) in 1922 took over the NMETL, No. 13 was renumbered as No 214 in the M&MTB roster and classified into the V class. It was withdrawn from passenger service in 1925. Two years later, it was fitted with windscreens and enclosed with a box type body for use as a freight car, and renumbered as No 2A. In this form it was used to carry spare parts and other materials from Preston Workshops to each of the running depots to enable minor tramcar repairs to be carried out locally.
In 1934 it was renumbered to 17. It was further modified in 1959 to carry large advertising panels on its sides, but it continued carrying freight between the depots. ‘Sunkist’ was one of the major advertisers with different side panels showing products like frozen peas and ice-cream.
The freight car was withdrawn from service in 1977 replaced by a lorry. In 1978 it was reconstructed to near original condition as a toast-rack passenger car by Preston Workshops for use on tourist services, numbered as V class No 214. In 2006 it was repainted in NMETL livery and numbered back to 13. It is now on display at the Melbourne Tram Museum as the oldest electric tram.
The model is not 100% correct, but close enough. Since Wombat Creek Tramways only have one depot, there is not much use for a freight car. But the manager saw an opportunity for an extra income from advertising, so the tram will trundle the streets of Wombat Creek. Perhaps it will deliver some freight to the Explosives Factory, which is difficult to reach by road.
The workers at the saw mill have cut another stack of fire wood. It has been loaded on the NQR and ready for the next train to the Big Nugget Goldmine.
