"With the breaking of the long suffering premiership drought together with the time honoured spring racing carnival on top of the bride absolutely smashing her post graduate studies, services have resumed along Victoria Street."
Other than the odd shuffle of services along Victoria Street, I did make some headway into a drawn out project, my interpretation of MMTB freight 19.
On a mail run to Victoria Street
The prototype
(Photo Trams Downunder)
(Photo Trams Downunder)
The prototype freight 19 started off as a single truck saloon tram, built by Brill and assembled in Australia, originally plied its trade for the then NMETL (North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Light Company).
These trams ran services through the inner north west of Melbourne, which connected with the then cable (city) tram at Flemington Bridge to the then outer suburbs of Essendon and Ascot Vale.
After the consolidation of all municipal tramways under the banner of the MMTB, these little trams found themselves operating on short cross suburban routes until they were retired into freight duties.
These freight duties involved the distribution of departmental mail and supplies from Preston Workshops/stores to outlying tram depots, as trams they could access deep into the sheds over pits to deposit such items as brake blocks plus other bits and pieces.
This tram was kitbashed from the readily available Tyco/Mantua trolley, with the combination of a few strokes from some needle files, holes drilled for headlamps plus some panels from 20 thou styrene, a dash of filler with a splash of paint together with some decals, and Bob's your uncle.
There are a few details to add, such as lifeguards,
a decoder plus some weathering.
MMTB U 205
another reworked Tyco/Mantua trolley
another reworked Tyco/Mantua trolley
the pair at the Ammo Factory
One basic model, many possibilities.
L-R, SECV Ballarat 28, MMTB U 205
& the stock model.
Pushing freight from under the wires.
Glenn
