Wombat Creek Tramways

The tracks or roads in the
depot are assigned a road number. The depot in Wombat Creek has five
roads, numbered from 1 to 5. 1 to 3 is in the main depot, 4 and 5 are
assigned to the tracks next to and in the old depot.

The run-in board is used
by the Depot Starter – who is responsible for managing tram
operations at the depot – to show arriving crews which road to
berth their tram on, by writing the tram number under the appropriate
road number. If a tram number didn’t appear on the run-in board, the
driver would stop on the entry track, and go into the Depot Starter’s
office and ask where to berth the tram.

This is important, as
different roads have different purposes. Only roads 1 and 3 have
maintenance pits, where the pit-man can perform basic maintenance
such as adjusting brakes. The Depot Starter will ensure trams needing
maintenance are place on run-in on road 1 or 3. The run-in board is
also a key tool used by the Depot Starter to position trams ready for
next day’s operations.

The run-in board is
modelled from the board from the Hawthorn Depot, Melbourne. Today the
depot houses around 20 vintage trams and is managed by the Melbourne
Tram Museum. The Wombat Creek run-in board only has tram numbers for
roads 1, 2, and 3 since it doesn’t really make sense to list trams
for roads 4 and 5, which are approached through a different set of
points.

(Large photo)

The Seekers at the Mug Punter Hotel.

Click on the link and read the article:

The
‘Mug Punter Hotel’ next to the entrance to the Racecourse is now open
for business. Only a few details are missing (e.g. steps near the
doors). The building itself is modelled after a small hotel/pub in
the“Flagstaff
Hill Maritime Museum and Village”, Warrnambool. Because the
original hotel is quite small the model has been extended with an
extra set of windows to the left and right of the main entrance. The
back of the hotel is not modelled after the one in Warrnambool but
designed to fit the space on the lay-out.

(Large photo)

The
model is made out of cardboard covered with ‘Semi rough cut grit/sand
stone’ from Metcalfe. The tiles on the roof is also from Metcalfe.
Windows are cut from thin plastic sheet. The signs and the banner are
made in Photoshop and printed on 300 gr. paper.

(Large photo)

The
lay-out of ‘Wombat Creek Tramways’ is set in year 1963 – the year
the Seekers produced their first album ‘Introducing
the Seekers’, so tonight’s concert is really a scoop for the ‘Mug
Punter’. The audience is quite big so some have gone to the veranda
for some fresh air – even with the first floor windows all open.

As mentioned in a previous
blog the tram depot is coming along. The whole area has been fenced
off. The tramway logo will be fitted into the ‘squares’ in the brick
wall. The pavers in the front of the photo is for the Depot Starter,
so he doesn’t get wet feet going down to change the numbers of the
run-in-board (still to be erected).

(Large photo)

The ‘birds-eye view’ show
the whole layout as of April 2019. The two white areas next to the
depot are set aside for two fibro houses. The white area behind the
tram will be a small park with a bandstand. The photo clearly shows
the missing concrete cover between the rails of the tram tracks.

(Large photo)

Life goes on in Wombat
Creek. The residents are mainly busy with their own businesses but
thanks to Mayor Alfred Campbell a lot of constructions take place at
the time of writing. Two blocks of land next to the tram depot have
been developed for the construction of two Fibro houses (!).

The tram depot itself is
undergoing major work mainly at ground level. The whole outdoor area
has been covered in cobblestones and grass and the wooden floor of
the main shed has been put in place. Still the area has to be fenced to keep
the public off the grounds.

The mayor himself is
indeed very pleased to move into the town hall at Victoria Square.
The building is a plastic kit from Faller and after the German
inscription on the front has been removed, it resembles the old Shire
Hall in Warragul quite a bit. The public toilet at the square will
later be relocated and replaced with a statue of Queen Victoria.

(Large photo)

(Large photo)

A photo from April 30 2018 shows the scaffolding aorund the big logo on one of the walls of the Brewery claiming the painters were off for lunch. After 10 months they are finally back at work. Well, two of the painters are back working. The other two seem to be less busy. Perhaps they haven’t finished their beers.

Most model train and tram
layouts will have a backside and Wombat Creek Tramways is no
different. The layout is designed to be viewed from the ‘front’. As a
result some parts of the buildings will be hidden from view, This is
the case of the shop fronts along the western side of East Street. So
do you leave out details.

Well, I haven’t! So the
fronts of Manning & Co., Goldstein and Simpson Lee & Co. are
fairly detailed. Another problem with building near the back of the
layout is limited space to take photos. With the use of a mobile
phone it has been possible even the photos aren’t to great.

As with the rest of the
buildings in the area the front of the fashion shop and the furniture
shop is inspired by shop fronts in Queen Street, Warragul.

(Large photo)

(Large photo)

The name ‘Manning &
Co.’ relates to a photo from Museums
Victoria Collections
showing a fashion shop of that name in Bendigo 1890. The business is
also mentioned in a newspaper
article after a fire in 1889.

(Large photo)

‘Simpson Lee & Co.’
was the name of a home and furniture business in Sydney in the 1930’s
and 40’s. The sold almost anything needed for the household of the
time.

(Large photo)

If detailing shop fronts
facing away from the viewer is somewhat wasted, it makes more sense
to detail the back of the buildings and not the least the surrounds
of the buildings. This haven’t be done yet, but it is expected the
‘yard’ formed by the brewery and the row of shops will full of
interesting details in the future.

Click on the link below and you will be taken to my Flickr account with photos from Wombat Creek Tramways

Wombat Creek Gallery