Saturday 30 December 2023

 Not dead nor sleeping! 

ESET's Big mining diesel at Fern Hill

I'll be the first to admit I've always been terrible at keeping diaries. It certainly hasn't gotten easier as I've gotten older and now having facebook groups, messenger groups, forums and youtube it's even harder to keep everything updated for that reason I'm going to abandon keeping this blog updated as a "blog" per-say (not that it ever really was. For semi up to date information I keep my gardenrails forum semi-regularly updated.) 

With that in mind I will now start uploading writings on the block about particular items of rollingstock or features on the line that can get clumped into their own sections much like Rik Bennets excellent blog. The original Rurr Valley and Sandstone and termite sites were quite similar and I spent many a long hour as a child pouring over them dreaming of something similar. 


So with that Since my last post I believe there has been 15 items of rollingstock enter service and at least the same changing hands. The Barclay like a bright star was finished, entered traffic and then moved onto pastures anew in Tasmania. In retrospect other then Alexanders stock (Melbournesparkes), 14, the MM and some of the Bachmann flatcars nothing in any of the pictures on this blog is part of the active fleet anymore!

                                                    DH 2 Runs around its train at Marysville

Thanks to the wonders of 3d printing there have been around 20 4 wheel wagons that Daz and I have put together over the last two years mainly from different thingiverse files. These have been augmented by wagons that have been scratchbuilt or designed in house. I offered the EBR C wagon as a kit and although I didn't advertise it broadly I'm quite proud there's now more 1:24th scale C wagons then real C wagons that were ever built!


A selection of QR, WAGR and TGR wagons in service. Just as I always wanted.

Motive power wise the bulk of the current fleet (as of writing) is made up of the BHP DE, The DH (Currently withdrawn for minor overhaul), A Bachmann Climax converted to RC, The MM and 14 as always in reserve. There are Bachmann Porters and a TGR DP railmotor as well but these see limited use. 


One of the lines DE's In "Safety Yellow" this scene with the harbour sheds is now a memory.
NEVR Stock joins ESET and a Tasmanian DQ visiting a railway in the Dandenongs

14 Rolls downhill with the evening pass
ESET Sparks sit at Fern Hill (Badger creek)
DH and DE await their next assignments at the port


The Railways new oil burning Sharp Stewart on trials before entering the workshop for works

You can also see some videos on the action on my Youtube channel @northeastvictoriarailway