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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.

The walls are up

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Mon, November 27, 2023 17:05:30
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The corrugated walls are all up. The task took longer than expected, but now the painter can get on with his job.



Make it joyful

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Thu, November 16, 2023 17:21:45

I could make a list of ‘jobs-to-do’ at the layout. The list would be very long and probably overwhelming. Instead of the said list I embark on projects I find enjoyable. Isn’t our hobby all about joy!

Following the above ‘rule’ I have started on three small buildings at the Big Nugget Mine. Working full time five days a week doesn’t give me much time modelling, but the fact the buildings are small even half an hour at any time is enough for some progress.

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The doors look somewhat wonky, but should be pretty straight once excess frames are cut off. The walls and roofs will be clad in corrugated sheets. The building to the right is for the blacksmith and will have a bricked forge and chimney.



Melbourne Cup Day in the mine

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Wed, November 08, 2023 17:50:16

With Melbourne Cup Day being a public holiday in Victoria and having no interests in horse racing I spent a day working in the Big Nugget Gold Mine.

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A while ago I purchased Auhagen Mine Accessories with wagons, tracks, turntables, bike racks and a corrugated iron shed. Each piece of track is 80 mm long and straight. By cutting 1 mm sections of the rail I was able to curve a couple of tracks. The (dummy) wagons come as tipper trucks. I kept one and converted four into wagons for firewood. The yellow wagon with a roof and canvas sides is for explosives.

The bridge across the creek is scratch built from 1.5 mm thick ‘timber’.



Spheres instead of urns

Text & photos from Wombat Creek Tramways Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Sun, November 05, 2023 16:34:09
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During a recent visit to Melbourne I spotted a building adorned by spheres, so why not in Wombat Creek?



We have the erosion under control

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Sun, November 05, 2023 16:30:27
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With the grass in place the erosion of the bank next to the tracks at the Big Nugget Gold Mine is avoided. The afternoon workers’ train is ready to depart.



Better get the grass seeds in before the erosion takes over!

Text and photos from Wombat Creek Consolidated Mines Pty Ltd Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Tue, October 31, 2023 18:01:04
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Control panel

Text & photos from Wombat Creek Tramways Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Thu, October 26, 2023 11:56:45
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The control panel for the Tramways is almost finished. All switches are installed but some are not connected.

The black sliding switches are for sections between tram stops. They are normally on and only used for emergency stops.

The black push buttons are at tram stops. They are normally off.

The red push buttons control the points. Some are still to be wired.

The toggle switches will control traffic lights (currently not working due to a short circuit!), street lights and interior lights. At the moment two are spare.



Mechanics Institute resurrected

Text & photos from Wombat Creek Tramways Posted by Claus EllefPosted on Sat, October 21, 2023 18:35:16

A proper country town in Victoria will have a ‘Mechanics Institute’ and Wombat Creek is no difference.

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A 2021 visit to Lancefield provided me with the front of a very low-relief Institute (it is less 10 mm thick). Unfortunately it didn’t look quite right next to the RSL building. Too massive and dominating, but it had to do until something better turned up.

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I recently visited Creswick and came across the Victoria Institute. Quite difficult to photograph with the sun right behind the building but worth a try.

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Back home the image went through Photoshop. With the colours brightened and the windows cleared a mock-up replaced the old Institute.

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Not quite right. It is more a free-standing building than in a row of houses. I liked the windows, though.

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Back to the old Mechanics Institute. This time with the windows cut out and glazed, which has ‘lighted’ the building. I am in fact quite satisfied with the outcome. Only issue is the missing ‘urns’ at the top of the wall. Not sure how I replicate them.



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