More Doggies from Aussi

[interurban]

Hello you lot:D
Here are some doggies from me mate Arthur.
I think they are really great.
Thanks Arthur;)

[interurban]

Nice

[interurban]

Woodie ya had better string some wire up :D

[interurban]

OOOO BOY

[interurban]

I Thought I saw a spark FLY:D

[interurban]

Thats all for now Folks Hope you like them .
They would be great to model;)

[triman]

God it's nostalgic. Here are a bunch of photos from my home town and I'm 3000 miles away!!
One of the more enterprising small businesses in Melbourne does kits for the suburban stock. I'll try to track down details and post them if there's interest.

[interurban]

Hi Triman, I think these would make a great layout.
BUT you have to electrify properly:D
I would love a kit. Let us now the cost please;)

[triman]

Several of the smaller lines around Melbourne also had a 1-car service with a combined driving/motor dogbox trundling through the leafy suburbs.
Parcels service was provided by about 10 or 12 1-car units painted later in a blue/yellow livery advertising the parcel service.
As for costs I'll hunt around the net today.

[interurban]

Cheers Triman.

A friend is going to make one last trip to Aussi:D
He would pick them up , Could you find out if they are motorised please.

I don`t know when Dave me mate is planing the trip.

[triman]

Manufacturers of Oz gear, especially Victorian outline.

Broad Gauge Bodies - http://www.users.bigpond.com/bgbho/index.html

Steam Era Models -
http://home.waterfront.net.au/~sem/index.htm

Weico Models - for those in to trams (Interurbans)
http://www.users.bigpond.com/weicomodels/index.htm

The Buffer Stop - no website but the street address is
The Buffer Stop 55 Plenty Rd, Preston VIC 3072 Australia.
That's where I saw the suburban models!!

[interurban]

Thanks for the info triman:D :D

[Matthyro]

WOW do these bring back memories for me too. At one time I lived in Pretoria South Africa and often traveled to Johannesburg on trains like these. That would be in the late 1940s and early 1950s unfortunately I never even thought of taking pictures of them

[triman]

Hey Interurben. When your mate heads down this way have him check 2 dining possibilities in Melbourne. The first is the Classic carraige train restaurant
http://www.classictrainrestaurant.com.au/classiccarriage/home
runs from Spencer Street Melbourne to Geelong and return, a trip of about 90 miles or so, takes 3 or 4 hours depending on the day of travel. Good way to take a short train trip.
The other option is the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant, a couple of modified W class trams which trundle around the streets of Melbourne
http://www.anzac.com/aust/vic/ctr.htm
Good food and some grand views.

[Woodie]

Chris,

As I mentioned, I have a set of the "taits" and a set of the "dogboxes" running around Garahbara.

They are resin moulded "one piece" body kits, supplied with white metal chassis. No motor, but recommendation on which ready made locos will fit. Extenstion to the driveshaft and uni-joints are supplied.

They are made by "Sam's Workshops"

Sam's Workshop Models
PO Box 507
St Albans MDC, VIC 3021

No email, phone number, or website available.

Cost is about $90 - $130 (AUS) per car (not including motor). Parts included are body, buffers, and panto, and whitemetal bogies. You supply the windows, and paints and couplers.


They were a limited run, and I don't think a re-run has been done, as the guy that made them may have.... ummm.... passed on.

I got mine from

Victorian Hobby Centre
1st Floor,
21A Swanston St.
Melbourne VIC 3001
+61 3 96504817
(right in the middle of town).

email vichobbycentre@bigpond.com (got that from a hobby shop list, so don't know how current the email addy is).

BTW... the second pic **points up the thread** is an area of Melbourne that no longer exists. The bridge/viaduct that is in the pic was demolished about 8 years ago and is now the location of the world's biggest casino!!! However, the portion of the bridge across the river has been kept for heritiage purposes, as it was the first railbridge built in Australia.

[Woodie]

Chris,

Does this one get your juices going?? :):):)

It is the Melbourne Flinders St railyards in 1961 (from the same book as the pics you posted).

[Woodie]

....... and the same area as it is today (from a bit further away). In the background is the 100,000 seat MCG stadium (1956 Olympics) but has been rebuilt since the "yards" pic), and on the right (with the white roofs) is the National Tennis Centre, where the Australian Tennis Open is played. A lot of the yards have now been removed, and relocated to the suburbs, and housing/parkland/tennis centre have replaced them, plus a project to "roof them in" has been going on for about 30 years now. Your second pic (above) tacks onto the bottom right of this pic. (but, of course, that pic is from about 35 years ago.)

[interurban]

Woodie thats a sight to behold, Glad ya got the mag great eh?
Hi Triman me mate:D said he was in the shop last year,
so I should be all set now all I have to do is kick him over there.;)

[triman]

Interurben, woodie etc.
Woodie's pic of Flinders Street Station and the Jolimont yards, probably taken from the Rialto Building, shows the construction of what must be the world's second ugliest public space, (there must be one uglier, but then I'm not an architect or artist) just beyond the bridge.
Every election for about 50 years the main plank of the Liberal party campaign was to roof the rail yards and bring the River Yarra closer to the city.
Few years ago the project finally started. All the suburban stock went to de-centralised stabling sidings where the graffiti vandals, sorry, public artists, could get easier access to them.
If Woodie has a picture from the west face of the Rialto it will show the country stabling sidings just north of Spencer Street Station. There once was an extensive freight marshalling setup over there but it's been removed to allow access to the port area from the west end of town and to put in Death Valley, sorry, a roofed stadium for assorted sporting events.
To the northwest is the main loco servicing and storage facilities.

[interurban]

H Triman Thanks for the info and great history. why do Elected Goverments always ^&%^$^&*** about with things.
Have you any recent shots of the same area??

The Same happed in the UK with Beechams so called AXE the swine decimated British rail.

I think you had a darn cool electric railway service with great looking "doggies", I do hope some one models that era, WITH PROPER OVERHEAD WIRE AND LIVE PICKUP OFfTHE OVERHEAD.
Now that would be neat:D :D :D ;)

[interurban]

What a geat scene to model;)

[interurban]

From the same mag Woodie;)
Do you like this one Triman??;)

[interurban]

And one more to help Robin remember his old town.
Cheers;)

[triman]

For an up-to-the-minute look at Melbourne try
http://webcam.omni.net.au/
This is a series of webcams that give various views over Melbourne, the port, inner suburbs etc.
A webcam on the Rialto, where Woodie's pic probably was taken, is at
http://www.bigbenpublishing.com.au/victoria/virtual/vr/rialto.html
For a site with photographs of Victorian stuff go to
http://www.railpage.org.au/vr/ and click on the photgraphs link and have a wander round.

It makes me very nostalgic to see these photos. As I mentioned before my library, and for that matter all my models are back east in Melbourne.
Might have to fly home and get them!

[interurban]

Many thanks Triman those are neat sites;)
already sent them to a few mates:D

[interurban]

178 at the Luna loop

[interurban]

181 chatting to a rail grinder:D

[interurban]

181 near Flemington Bridge;)

[interurban]

Observe the use of a switch iron:)

[interurban]

217 at Malvern dept, Melbourne. And I work out of Malvern dept Toronto Canada, small world:rolleyes:

[interurban]

And digging out a lowering section.
All these date from the 50s and 60s

[Woodie]

Ahhh... So that's why Elstrnewick Station is newer than all the others on the Frankston Line. I thought they had just rebuilt the station as part of a precinct redevelopment in the 60's. Didn't know the track used to be at road level. :cool:

[Bob Collins]

Oh goodir, I'll be in Melbourne in a little over a month and will actually be staying in the St. Kilda area. Will plan to check out those train/eating possibilities. I've heard of the tram restaurant, but not the other one :D :D

I have my tickets to ride the XPT from Melbourne to Sydney, an 11 hour daytime adventure. Really looking forward to it.

Bob

[Bob Collins]

What will I find to ride on when I'm in Melbourne next month? Are there any reguarly scheduled "streetcars" in operation?

Bob

[triman]

Bob, unfortunately I'm in west oz but have a look at

http://www.victrip.com.au/

This is the public transport website with timetables and route maps for train, tram (streetcars) and bus services.
There's about 40 or 50 odd tram routes covering lots of the city.
A 3-zone all day tikcet will cost $11, about $6US and gives you unlimited all day riding on the tram train and bus network.
Good value for anyone who wants to spend a day under the wires. The down side is you can't buy these tickets on a tram, you've got to go to a metcard outlet, but they are all over the place and hard to miss.
I doubt if you'll be able to see much of the entire public transport network in a day, but careful planning will show a variety of suburbs.
But, most of all, enjoy!!!

[Bob Collins]

Thanks Triman. I will look it over carefully. It all appears to be quite an adventure. Wish I had time while in Oz to do the Indian Pacific or one of the other famous trains, but will have to settle for the XPT this time around.

Bob

[triman]

Some time soon, exactly when I'm not sure, the Alice Springs to Darwin rail will open and it will finally be possible to visit all the mainland capitals by rail.
The operators of the Indian Pacific, Sydney to Perth, who also do the Overland, Melbourne to Adelaide, will be operating the Darwin train.
I'm not sure if it has been named yet, or whether it is just an extension of the Ghan, which runs from Adelaide to Alice Springs.
In any case with a truck load of money and some study of the timetables you can do Brisbane-Sydney-Canberra(I'm not sure why but some people do go there!!)-Melbourne-Adelaide-Darwin-fly back to Adelaide then rail to Perth.
It's a mongrel of a life but someone has to do it!!

[Woodie]

Look what I found!! Hunting through some old junk pics of Garahbara MKI.

My partially complete Melbourne Dogbox set. (Windows, pantos and underframe detailing to go). :)

[interurban]

Lovely Woodie, Keep looking in you old phote box.:)

[Woodie]

Found this one too, guys. The interior of the red "Taits", as picced above. :)

I used to ride these to work every day, til they were withdrawn in the mid 80's.

http://www.railpage.org.au/pix/electric/Tait_inside.jpg

[interurban]

Great stuff woodie do you now what type of wood they used on the interia ?? Don`t say tree wood:D
Here are a few more lovely shots from me mate Arthur
Fresh of the press from Aussie;)

[interurban]

This a great street shot.:p

[interurban]

Last one or should I say two.
:)

[Woodie]

"Ordinary Old" wood as far as I know. Dunno actually. It would be some sort of local timber they were made out of.

If you have a close weeny microscopic look at my dogboxes on Garahbara, you will see they are decaled/numbered exactly the same as your fav "street scene" pic. That is the same pic I used to decal and number the model kit.
The two tall brown buildings in the background of the red "Tait" with the banner on the front have since been demolished. They won an achitectural award in the 60's for inovative design, and featured on the phone book covers of their day.

The Premier of Victoria won an election with the policy of demolishing them, as they had become a city "eyesore" since they were built.

[interurban]

Those doggies do look neat I may just manage to get a couple if me mate ever makes hid mind up to take another vacation downunder:D :D
Woodie are you gonna string the overhead on the Garahbara??;)
I can get ya some Panatgraphs;) about $20canadian.:p each

[Woodie]

Thanks Chris for the offer. :) The kits come with pantos, so I'm fine in that area. I may string up some wires on Garahbara MKII, but not all over. Maybe a branch line. An "out and back" setup. Something like that.:)

[interurban]

Good on ya Woodie But once the over head is done you will love it.


Here are two nice older pics from me mate .
I have always liked the colour on the trams.;)

[interurban]

And the second one 1960`s

Enjoy.
Thanks Arthur.:)