Episodes of Bustitution

Buses, either complement or are the nemesis of tramway operations, but they are a reality. They offer flexible route alternatives without the pork barreling and/or the expense of infrastructure in implementing a tramway.

Victoria Street now has on its roster ( or streets), six buses of four differing types and vintages. 

All buses in the collection are all 1/76 (OO) scale made or offered by mobs such as EFE, Trux, or Oxford, then a maybe a combination of all of the above. 

First cab (bus) of the rank is....

The Austerity bus.

(Oxford Bedford rework)

Loosely based on the unit that featured a timber body that was pressed ganged into service during the darkest days of WW2 before the tramway was extended from the then terminus, Maribrynong River to the government cordite/explosives factory further west over the river.  Most services 'gunned  it' from Footscray railway station with the headboard coded with 'Special E'. 

MMTB 301

This model has 'blackout' white markings on the bumper bars and mud guards. 

Now it's on an enthusiast's excursion. 

The next stop at the interchange features the Leyland Tiger TS8 half cab.(Trux)

I have three of these units in service, these entered service when the MMTB was in the process of rehabilitating  the age expired cable tramway network with electric tramways or as a replacement entirely  

These sort of buses extended the range of the then electric tramway network without the necessary outlay required for rails and overhead, yet provide a glimmer of hope in future, given patronage, of the option of expansion of tramway services. 

In most cases, these replaced late night and/or weekend services on some tram routes. Then on some cross suburban routes led to the demise of local tramways completely.  

I have also changed the headboards to reflect west suburban destinations. 

The third phase. 

The Leyland National. 

An EFE/Trux production. 

What happens when successive state governments offer a rail link to the city, yet do nothing, bustitute. 

The citizens of suburban Doncaster, north east of Melbourne, have for as long as has been recalled, have been promised a heavy railway line into the city, to this day this has not happened. 

Some Melbourne suburban rollingstock even had Doncaster East as a destination on the headboard roll in anticipation, but alas these units have retired from service and will never arrive.

Another case of promises,promises. 

Enter the mid to late 70's, tangerine is still somewhat a fashionable colour and as long the sun still shines,  rail is not heading out to Doncaster soon. 

Behold the Leyland national, barreling down the Eastern Fwy, to the city, in its own designated lane at 80km/h. 

These buses apparently due to their modular construction, led to handling and ongoing maintenance issues that in the end resulted the exclusive use on 'slow' suburban runs. 

While the run number features 'D' from the Doncaster depot the headboard has been altered for a Footscray depot run. 

Going long haul, the Denning Mono Coach. 

A Trux model. 

Introduced in the early '80s, these coaches filled the void by the closure of lesser country rail services, they also provided a rather cheap (and somewhat long and nasty) interstate transport between the state capitals as an option when airfares at the time compared to today were incredibly expensive.  

The other use for these coaches were charter services such as school excursions, country race meetings and at the the time, the rather lucrative border raids from Melbourne to the Murray River towns of New South Wales with 'sports' clubs that housed poker/fruit/slot machines. This caper ended when these horrid machines were introduced into Victoria by a state government who was at the time going a bit scruffy for revenue. 

This model in AAT livery is relevant as AAT at this time had their Melbourne depot in the inner western suburb of Spotswood.

 The nightmare scenario on Victoria Street.

As in the past tram depots have evolved into bus depots, for a variety of reasons such as the tramway has become redundant or the depot has become too small for larger trams and/or an expended fleet. 

The former Footscray tram depot in Buckley St, went from a four road yard and shed housing a collection of four wheel single truck trams to an extensive bus depot covering an entire block. 

Under the wires on its last day of trams

(Photo courtesy Trams Downunder)

After the closure of the local lines. 

(Photo courtesy Trams Downunder)

Back to back buses. 

The wheels of progress have turned again, recently the bus operator moved from Footscray to a new and larger greenfield site further out west, resulting in the Footscray site being sold off for a development featuring apartments and a retail section.  

Not under the wires but amongst the diesel fumes and oil leaks on the tarmac. 

Glenn

Something different.

How does one make a layout a little different and offer some other entertainment. A narrative requires conflict in an effort to define a hero or a villain, enter tank warfare.

These were obtained in the Christmas Day draft that is Kris Kringle at the outlaws.
  

One of German decent the other somewhat soviet.

While Melbourne avoided direct contact with the enemy during WW2 other than the odd surveillance aircraft sporting bright red dots as an insignia, that what followed with the associated level of domestic anti aircraft fireworks. this city managed to continue on as a hub for munitions and logistics during the great conflict.    

The latest interaction features two small remote control battle tanks of indeterminable scale. but they do offer another dimension of theatre.

These little pieces of conflict are operated on the common remote frequencies of 27Mhz and 40Mhz, their only downfall is that they tend to run at full speed, regardless of straight line speed or turning and under certain circumstances prototypically throw their tank treads thus rendering them disabled.  I may have to 'adjust' their enthusiasm.

These micro examples of warfare use the concept of infra red signals to impact the other, after a four "hits" the receiver is disabled. The entertaining part is that the delivering tank 'recoils' on firing while the victim 'twitches' on  impact.

Waiting its turn at the gates.

The visitors are taking advantage of Oktoberfest at the racecourse.

The comrades are waiting in the siding at the Ammo factory.

"Sorry sir, but our insurance does not cover damage due to international and/or domestic insurrection or conflict."

A foot note:
' on July 14, 1943, tramcar No. X1 459 possibly made tramway history-- it collided with an army tank! It was outbound on the Russell St route '*
This happened while crossing Geelong Rd along Barkly St, outside the Plough Hotel,and..then...clout!.'

*Electric Traction, Footscray memories, Vol XVII, July, 1962.

Here is my take, sister tram X1 460 has had a run in with the interloper at Victoria St & Albert Rd.

(There will be some paperwork for this....)

There is nothing a spot of weathering cannot do to improve these.
 
Always learning under the wires and have a happy, safe and enjoyable new year.

Regards Glenn

After the epic sports hiatus.

"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)

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

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

Living in a parallel universe

As one of those that models a small scale tramway, one tends to heavily invoke the modellers licence; but what if your slightly obscure view of your small empire became reality?

 

X1 460 (an old Footscray Tram) leads SW6 964

across the crossover heading off to the football

 

Victoria Street is my little microcosm of the tramways that run in the western suburbs of Melbourne, while not true to any particular part that exists due to the ever dynamic streetscape that is an inner urban environment.

I have kitbashed various buildings with verandas together with rather local signage to offer an experience of familiarity.  A combination of local and nostalgia breathes life to Victoria Street. 

This weekend stuff did happen, my little empire may have cross pollinated life as we know it, because I for my own amusement had populated the local streetscape with small copies of the 1954 premiership banner poster from the long forgone Melbourne Herald newspaper celebrating the Footscray Bulldogs grand final victory. 

The Milk Bar

The Servo

The Pub

The Signal Box at the gates.

Football (Australian rules) is much a part of Melbourne as its trams, the original suburban football grounds were/ are served by nearby tram routes, some even had spur lines or loops built nearby to handle the traffic on game day (every game then started at 2pm and finished about a quarter to five).

The club I follow are now called the Western Bulldogs, formally Footscray. The club has somewhat a tumultuous history featuring the combination of poor luck, decisions and financial management. It has survived through all these dramas, but has never been successful on the field, it has always been every one else's second favourite club. 

This weekend I got to see my beloved Western (Footscray) Bulldogs play off in the AFL grand final, their first opportunity in fifty five years, then finally win their second premiership in sixty two years. I also managed to obtain a ticket to 'the big dance'. 

time for an update

As you may guess, the entire inner western suburbs of Melbourne and beyond are at this stage painting and or decorating this region red, white and blue.

Somewhat a shade dusty under the wires in a red, white and blue neighbourhood.  

Glenn

Lunar new year on Victoria Street.

As a nod to our Asian/Oriental friends at this time of the year, the lunar new year festivities have been going off around town with a lot of red and gold, some pyrotechnics, and a chance to get a cracking feed.

 

"Dad, can I keep him? He followed me home"

This celebration highlights the diverse cultures that exist in historical and contempary Australia, the Asian/oriental component started with the gold rush of the mid nineteenth century, when thousands of hopefuls descended from all parts of the world to try their luck at the diggings of Ballarat and  Bendigo.  This included a fair contingent from mainland China, the goldfields were a rough and tumble environment, upon which fortunes could be made very quickly while others suffered the drudge of working for survival.

The Chinese miners at the time were resented for their ability to work over previously worked ground  collectively and still manage to turn a profit, this led to a discriminatory landing duty of  £10 for any man landing in the Colony of Victoria from mainland China.  This tax was thwarted by the miners landing in the next colony of South Australia then trekking across to the border to central Victorian goldfields.

One party of Chinese miners in 1857 while en route from Robe, South Australia to the goldfields, struck gold at the Canton Lead (Ararat, 92km west of Ballarat), which led to the establishment of that town.


As the alluvial gold diminished, leading to the deeper mechanised mining techniques utilising underground shafts and drives, the Chinese miners moved into mercantile industries such as market gardens, restaurants and specific business aligned with their communities. Little Bourke St, Melbourne is home to one the longest continuous operating 'Chinatown' in the western world and there are still temples and joss houses in Ballarat and Bendigo.


The lunar new year is also celebrated by a more recent arrival, the South Vietnamese, they refer to it as Tet. After the fall of Saigon which signalled the end of the long protracted conflict in 1975, thousands sought refuge outside Vietnam by attempting the perilous journey across the sea.


Upon processing and resettlement many Vietnamese created 'Little Saigon' enclaves in the Melbourne suburbs of Footscray, Richmond and Springvale, thus in filling these tired shopping strips with exotic grocery stores, butchers, fishmongers with restaurants that serve variations of the Vietnamese national dish of noodle soup called phó (pronounced fer), this fragrant broth with either chicken or beef strips and rice noodles when done well can have the restaurant with a queue out of the door waiting to be served.


These communities with differing histories in Australia that share a common calendar, welcome their new year with similar ceromonies that involve colour, food and fireworks with family and friends.

 

Lining up for a feed

This is what I love about Australia, variety courtesy of immigration, otherwise we would be stuck with stodgy meat and three veg forever.


So welcome to the year of the monkey.


From the red confetti of exploded crackers littering the street that's under the wires.
Glenn

Where are the trams?

"Due to a long running industrial dispute, together with a stop work meeting today between 10 am and 2 pm there will  not be any trams services along Victoria Street during that time, delays are anticipated before the stop work action and when services are restored."

'Passengers are to expect some issues with services.'

As in the past and as now in the present, industrial disputes between staff and management occurs when  there is a difference of opinion on how the business operates, most disputes are usually about remuneration and workplace conditions.

In today's workplace environment, certain parties believe that for workers to receive extra income they must trade away long fought for entitlements and conditions, thus improving the 'efficiency' of the business.  The flip side of the argument, is that the worker can only do so much with the equipment that is available at a certain rate that does not endanger themselves or others, while expecting renumeration that enables them to sustain/improve their current standard of living.

The days of spontaneous wild cat industrial action, together with secondary boycotts are long gone, the process now involves mediation through an independent industrial umpire; however, this process can only work if both parties agree on a suitable outcome, now known as an enterprise bargaining  agreement. When this fails, the workers representative can apply for a protected industrial action ballot amongst its members, to gage the feeling of the intent to engage in further industrial action, the result of the ballot can enlighten management to the ill feeling of their workforce, therefore make a more suitable offer in an attempt to prevent possible damaging industrial action.

When the result of the dispute, which willl affect the travelling public, this action gains the interest of the media, who in turn may publish certain details about the workers current wages and conditions that is supplied/inflated by the management in an effort to push the public against the worker. This is not negotiating in good faith.  The workers now have to give significant notice about their intention to withdraw their labour, so the travelling public can make alternative arrangements, this in turn places the ball in the court of the business to come up with a solution that is palatable for the workers before the deadline.

The withdrawal of labour is usually the last thing that the workers want to do as it results in loss of income for that period, as some workers may not have the resources to sustain that short term loss, however, the alternative that is the combination of an uncompetitive wage together with reduced conditions which may include reduced job security means that the workers have no other alternative but to engage in industrial action.

Hence the cameo at the front gate of the depot.

Unity from under the wires.
Glenn.

Watching the grass grow.

A little bit of horticulture has taken place at the junction, the old house is bedded into some natural surrounds, some badly kept lawn and a couple of trees. The grass came from the Easter guinea pig, and the trees are Noch.

The grass came off in clumps from the donor rabbit, so when glued to the painted 'dirt' around the house it does look more realistic than the 'hair raising' method of a static applicator*, this allows the clumps to show a hint of terra firma between the foliage while not being dragged the same way by the laws of physics.

 

'An established neighbourhood'

 

 

In keeping to the time frame of years past before the local authorities (Council/EPA) ruined the art of backyard pyromania involving waste disposal, we have an incinerator fashioned from a 44 gallon drum. (Today they are called fire pits, braziers and chimineas!)

 

 

"Ahh, the serenity"

 

 The drive way, house, vehicles and chattels all received a dusting of pan pastels for that hint of neglect.

 

 

 

A small corner of the world.

 

 

A dull winters afternoon.

 

 

The back yard.

 

 

All that is missing is the Hills Hoist.

 

 

*A static applicator was discussed about with the domestic authorities, but was knocked back due to the potential of a mess during the process and the small amount of real estate requiring treatment, the short answer was NO! 

 

 

From next to wires while watching stuff burn with a few beers.

Glenn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Some urban density.

Another structure has been built to add to the Junction module, in typical inner urban style a row of Victorian Terrace Houses, this is a local kit that features the style that lined the main roads and back streets of inner Melbourne.

 

Urban Reality

These houses are modelled on the British 'two up and two down' but have verandas/porches on the exterior in an effort to tame the Australian summer, usually of brick construction, these houses were built for the working class that served the industries of a inner suburbs.

For a fair time these sort of properties housed tenants that were on the lower end of the social economic scale, Melbourne suburbs such as Fitzroy, Collingwood, Richmond and Carlton are still full of these houses, but the demographic has moved on from the working poor, migrants and university students to urban professionals (yuppies/trendies/dinks) and recently the hipster generation. This is due to the proximity to the central business district/city centre.

A certain number were obtained and demolished by authorities after the second world war as these were the worst of slum housing, and were replaced by prefabricated concrete high rise flats (public/community housing), a concept that still reverberates to this day.

The era I am trying to capture is the transition from a gritty working class area to gentrification, each of the three houses tell a story, the left house features a 'home business', the second/middle house a student share house, the right a recently renovated/restored home.

 

Student share house

(I just noticed I have not fitted the facia board)

The kit while basic, was improved with addition of printed brick sheet, and the course of bluestone foundation, is a strip of 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper. The middle house has had the top veranda built in as an extra room using my 'Fibro' technique. The kit came with printed windows and iron lace work that offers some character, and as with all structures on Victoria Street, was extensively kit bashed to fit in as a low relief structure.

 

The fast filling junction module.

 

There are still some more details to add such as chimneys and weathering. All the buildings on this module are not fixed to the surface as yet, so I can finalise positions of span poles and the trolley wire, also a back board needs to be installed to all newer modules.   

 

Gratuitous tram photo.

 

 

 

From another time before hipsters sat around on milk crates stroking their beards while sampling bespoke micro brewed beer from jam jars after riding their fixed wheeled pushbikes.

 

 

'Heading out to the races'

 

 

'A quiet Saturday afternoon'

 

 

From the wrong side of the tracks.

Glenn

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Works at the Junction and the Depot.

Since the Easter break, there has been some more work done to the layout, the paving of the 'junction' and the depot is now completed with tarmac and road markings.

 

W5 800 cars out from the depot, while SW6 870

observes the compulsory stop at the facing points of the 'junction'.

 

 

870 picks a break in traffic to pull out from the Ammo Factory,

while 800 is edging across the junction.

 

As you can see in the above photos, neither the concrete of the tram tracks, or the tarmac and road markings are dead flat or ruler straight, as per prototype. The tarmac is 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper, cut and trimmed to size, the edges are dressed with a grey felt tipped pen, patches of 'tarmac' are glued to the 'concrete' of the tram tracks for pot hole/broken rail repairs.

 

The road markings/clearance lines are strips of office paper cut to a width of just over 1mm, then glued with PVA directly to the road surface.

 

The Depot roads received a similar treatment of tarmac, clearance lines and fouling marks.

 

 

Rollingstock lined up at the Depot.

 

The fouling marks are between the rails on the individual roads, no tram is to proceed past, or be berthed over them when another tram is in the area, so not to have a collision, the clearance lines are so other vehicles are aware of the potential overhang of the rollingstock. The white dusty marks on the tarmac are where the drivers have tested their sanders before entering service.

 

 

 

The fouling marks and clearance lines at work.

 

Looking out from road 2 at the Depot

along Victoria Street.

 

This weekend marks the one hundredth anniversary of the start of the Gallipoli campaign, and in turn the observance of Anzac Day,(Australia's memorial/remembrance day).  I did a post a few years ago about this and its significance.

  http://glennofootscray.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/lest-we-forget-anzac-day.html

 

This year I assembled a few more people around the cenotaph at the Victoria St and Epsom Rd end of the layout.

'Lest We Forget'

 From under the wires,

Glenn