Introduicing...............

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 Without further adue, the star of show, the famous long trestle bridge.  Consisting of a mammoth 157 piers, this monster measures 770metres in length.  This converts to just over 1500mm in T gauge.

Pictured below is its creator with the cut out bridge deck, displaying its length (and his height which is 6ft 2in!!).

Below is a photo of the prototype, facing towards the Orbost terminus.

Here are the raw materials (0.8mm Tee tree and sliced Bass wood) used to construct the piers.  

The next two photos exhibit the construction stage.  Each of the 157 piers are unique meaning they were constructed in order using the photos taken of each pier. 

 The first of three stains covered the yelloow appearance of the Bass wood during construction.

The majority of the piers, through the middle of the bridge, measured 5mm high.   The piers deepen to around 7-9mm at each end of the bridge.

Here is the bridge with the completed piers in place. 



Track + Ballast + Power = ???

Gday All,

Another milestone has been reached with the first section of track being glued down and ballasted.  This enabled the FIRST EVER POWERED RUN of Orbost.  More of that later.......


First step in this process was to solder feeder wires to the rail.  The track was then fixed to the base board using a super glue gel. Haste was necessary to ensure the correct allignment of the track.




Ballast was sourced from the ACTUAL rail allignment.  This was crushed with a hammer and sifted through a stocking.  Following this the ballast was applied by a straw. 



This shows all the ballast in place.  The next step was to gently smooth this out with a dry paint brush.



The ballast first wet with a solution of water and detergent then mixture of PVA and water was applied through an eye dropper.



After the ballast had set, an artist chalk was rubbed over the railtops and blended onto the ballast with a dry brush, as indicated on the the left, compared to unweathered ballast to the right.



This winds up yet another blog update.............










Oh yeah the videos you ask???? :-)


This is a video taken with an iPhone.  Fortunantly the camera is located quite low enabling an EPIC view of the railway. 

This video was uploaded by the owner of Hobbies Plus (www.hobbiesplus.com.au), who is the Australian supplier of T gauge products.

Hope youve enjoyed this MAMMOTH update.

Take care and HAPPY MODELLING!!

Paul and Adrian.

Road O'Clock!

Gday All!!

Quick run down on the road construction.  The road shape was traced from the layout and applied to 10thou styrene then cut to shape with a scalpel.  Following this a coat of Matt Humbrol enamel paint was airbrushed with a colour that accurately represented the prototype colour.   

This photo is a trial section experimenting with the above listed paint and using scribing to mark the white line.  This proved to be quite successful.  



 This small concrete bridge is located on the old Princes Hwy near the base of the Newmerella hill.  The tree line can be seen in the background.



This concrete bridge was modelled from 10thou styrene, then painted and weather accordingly.



With the bridge installed, the first roadway of the layout can be finally installed. :-)







A bead of grey ToolBox glue was piped trough the centre of the roadway.  The styrene roadway was then gently pressed on top.



The road shoulders were added using acrylic paint that resembled the prototype.  Up to three applications were applied to get the best result.



A view of the area sadly with no bridge or rail.  This photos resembles how the area appears presently in 2012. :-(




With the roadway permently in place, the trees have been glued in their prior positions. 

 So much has been completed in past weeks.  It would be nice to sit back and relax however these scenes still lacks a lot of detail.  Details such as fences, reflector posts, road signs, power lines and telegraph pole lines are required to complete this module.

Stay tuned as Paul has just hit 2nd gear on his way to getting as much as possible constructed for the upcoming Stawell exhibition in JULY!!!

Take care and HAPPY MODELLING

Paul and Adrian.

Newmerella Trestle Bridge

Gday All,

After a 5 month break from modelling and with the Stawell exhibition coming up progress has once again 'snowballed' in the last few days. Paul has been busy using up all his spare time working on this little masterpiece.
The prototype bridge modelled has long since been dismantled with only one pier remaining.

The picture below shows the completed bridge. Note the roadway, powerlines and telegraph pole line are yet to be constructed. This does not take away from a beautiful scene!!


0.6mm microply was used for the bridge deck. The main girders were constucted using 10thou styrene cut into 4 strips, 2mm x 24mm and laminated with 10thou styrene rod to represent the angle iron detail on the face. The two 'H ' beams were constructed in a similar fashion as there was nothing comercially available small enought to represent the prototype. Note the picture under the model. This photo was taken in 1970 before they filled the UP end of the bridge (where the loco is) with earth fill. This was common practice at the time to reduce service costs on aging infrastructure. Paul is modelling 1981 post the area being filled in.

Here is a shot showing the smallest pier on the bridge. The same method as building the other trestle was used. Refer to earlier posts for more details.

An almost completed bridge with one remaining pier on the right to be built. The bridge stands 16mm high and will recieve a grey wash to represent the aged redgum of the prototype and the girders painted matt black.

The underside of the completed bridge awaiting installation.

T325 runs light engine towards Bairnsdale. The clearance sign is 1.5mm high and was printed using a laserjet printer. The girders recieved a mild rust chalk weathering.

I love this shot. It demonstrates the single line passing through the Victorian countryside. For people that are new to T gauge, the flex track has quite a twist to it out of the box. This will be fixed when the track is fixed and ballasted permenantly to the base. Many more detail items are yet to fill this scene. WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

Looking from the hill toward the township of Orbost. The scene today is almost completely identical minus rail and bridge. :-(

I struggle to get used to the size of T gauge and all that can be achieved. This photo truely demonstrates the tiny size and fine craftsmanship used to create a miniature marvel.

We will be attending the Grampian Model Railroaders exhibition in Stawell, 7th and 8th July 2012. If you are amazed by the photos here then, if possible, you simply must come and see Orbost 1981 in the flesh!!! We will be all to happy to spend time talking and explaining every aspect of the build to date.

We love exhibitions!! The amount of inspiration gained when you have a target date is amazing. Even though Orbost will likely not be finished and operational, Paul is aiming to have as much done as possible by July.

Likewise I will be attending with a large selection of Victorian 5inch goodies. Check the other blog for details.

Take care and HAPPY MODELLING!!!!!!!!!!!

Adrian and Paul

MOOORRRREEEE Photos!!!

Gday All!!!

I apologize for the delay since our last post. Both Paul and I have been focused on other projects including 5" track expansion and spending a lot of the summertime cruising in the Monaro!!
Paul is still enthused as ever to see this project completed however such delays can be expected when you have a thousand interests!!! :-)

Alright...... to kick things off we start with a photo of Paul with his much loved layout as it is today. This view captures the layout as a whole and demonstrates the vast landscapes that can be modeled in T gauge. Over the coming years this layout will continue to progress towards 'Bairnsdale', with modules capturing key locations of the line. From this photo the line will progress along the tree line. Stay tuned for this progress.
Layouts of 40thou styrene were used to raise the surface to rail height to represent the bitumen and sandstone that was used in the yard. Two pieces of 40 thou styrene were also used to fabricate the patform as you see here. This area of the layout still requires much attention as it is the most densely detailed area of the layout.
What can I say.......... Paul has an illness!! Your eyes do not deceive you. Paul has used very fine copper wire to represent the telegraph pole line. This is currently replaced with a more elastic material that will not distort and will stay tight. These lines closely resemble human hair when viewed with the naked eye. The paddock fences are strung with a nylon thread pulled from a stocking. Superglue was used at one end, the line was then tightened and glue was progressively added to the tip of each post, securing the nylon in place. Repeating this process enabled the second line to be installed. This is only a small trial section, with many more fences to go. This method was a success and to the naked eye, resembles a web from a spider!!!
Check this out!!! The 'famous' Grandview photo!!! Compare this with the photo from the older post.

Another view of the swamp. This time with a clear shot of the DERM as it makes its way up the grade on the return trip to Bairnsdale.

Looking up the 'old' highway to where the third bridge was located. The roads are yet to be constructed and installed. This will be the next bridge that Paul will construct. Hurry Up Paul!!!!!!!!!

A photo showing clearly where the bridge will be located. The swamp is behind the landfill to the right. The telegraph line will be at the base of the hill and the foreground will be littered with fence lines.

The view of an Orbost train crossing the (to be constructed) bridge, HURRY UP PAAAUUUULLL!!!! This bridge will be very closely modeled after the 770 metre prototype.

A view of the same train from the old highway........... a bridge would be nice PAUL!!!!

This sadly concludes tonights update. For those living in Victoria, we are attending the model railway exhibition in Stawell this July. I will post further details at a later date.
Although the layout wont be functioning, Paul intends to have much more goodies added by this time.
Last time......HURRY UP PAUL!!!!!! I, like you all are eager to see what other mini masterpieces you can create.
Till then,

Take care and HAPPY MODELLING!!

Adrian and Paul.