First Post from a Narrow Gauge Fan Down Under

This is my first post on TrainBoard.com although I have been a member since early December.

I am Curator at The Workshops Rail Museum (TWRM), Ipswich, Queensland, one of four campuses of Queensland Museum (State Museum in Queensland). Besides the main museum in Brisbane there is the Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville (specialising in marine archaelogy and the Great Barrier Reef), Cobb & Co in Toowoomba (specialising in horse-drawn vehicles) and ourselves. TWRM is located at the Heritage Listed Ipswich Railway Workshops where Queensland Railways started in 1865. We share the site with Queensland Railways who use the 19th century workshops to maintain a fleet of six steam locomotives and wooden carriages for excursion traffic. I worked for Queensland Railways as Curator of their Heritage Collection and worked on the construction of the museum from 2000 to 2002, When Queensland Musem took over in July 2002 I transferred across to the staff of Queensland Museum and the Museum opened on the 1 September 2002.

I have just had a 40 feet by 20 feet steel shed built in the backyard of my home to house a proposed double-deck On30 layout. The layout will be about 32 feet long by 20 feet wide. Currently we are awaiting an electrician to run the cabling and install powerpoints and lights before getting a builder in to install insulation and plasterboard sheeting. The model railway is a joint project between myself and my adult son (who still lives at home). We have quite a large collection of rolling stock and locomotives - mainly Bachman but also MMI as well.

Regards
Curator 49

 

Welcome to the forum!

I'm only speaking from what I've garnered from people who have built them, but double-decker layouts can be a pain. True, they give you twice the running length, but I've heard a lot of complaints regarding the difficulty involved in making the lower of the two levels as user-friendly as the upper deck.

But good luck in your endeavors.

 

Welcome to TrainBoard!

I had the pleasure of visiting the museum and having a tour of the heritage fleet whilst part of the '05 N Scale Convention tour. Very impressive the work undertaken.

That should be an impressive layout to build. Please keep us informed of your progress.

 

Weclome to TrainBoard Mate!!!!!!!

:tb-biggrin: :tb-biggrin: :tb-biggrin: :tb-biggrin:
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Welcome at TrainBoard, Curator 49.

It's good to see more narrow gauge fans.

Do you have already a track plan?

Wolfgang

 

C-49: Welcome to TB...always pleased to see a modeler from half-the-planet-away come to visit (via Electrons, yet !). Sincerely hope you find employment soon ! All that time you're spending on trains can't help the income - how much do you pay that Museum to work there? Bob C.

 

I told my The Workshops Rail Museum's Director that I feel guilty about getting paid for working doing something I love so much. He said "Careful, he might take me up on the offer to work for nothing" (it helps pay the bills - and build my new model railway)

Regards
Curator49

 

With that kind of space, you ought to have a pretty nice mainline! Will it be an Australian Themed layout in scenery and such?

With what I've found online, you guys have quite the collection of locomotives! It is definitely great to have someone with your professional experience in 42" gauge here!

Michael

 

Thanks for the welcome and constructive suggestions guys.

We are building a double-deck module 4 feet long to test out the various heights from floor level and the distance between the two decks. O Scale is so much bigger than HO even if this is narrow gauge. I need to determine the optimum distance between the decks making allowances for buildings. Trouble is that most kit manufacturers usually show only the footprint of their models and do not tinclude a height. I contacted Raggs to Riches who sent me some height information. Their Durango Coal Tower is 15 inches high! That means we would have to have about 20 inches clear space between the lower deck and upper then there is the space needed for the upper deck framing and things such as lighting fixtures, Tortoise switch machines etc.

We have a plan for the way we want our baseboards set out and the general layout of the main line with a long branch but no yard plans have been developed yet. We are starting to look at these but still have some time with the electrical wiring, insulation and installation of the plasterboard and painting and......

We have been listing "Givens" and "Druthers" for the shed and layout. Things like 36 inch minimum radius on the main line, 3 feet as absolute minimum for aisleways around the layout, a walk-in style for the baseboard arrangement with no duck unders (except where absolutely necessary for repairs or a derailment)

The shed will be air-conditioned as well (although I am not sure what my wife will say as we do not have any air-conditioning in our house)

Regards
Curator 49