There is a fine line between detail and insane.

I have been in the process of installing lights into the two SEC trams, Ballarat 28 and Bendigo 29. These trams were DCC chipped nearly two years ago, they had their CVs tweaked and have been in regular service since.

 

County cousins from about 2 years ago.

 

However a tram without running lights can be a hazard to itself and to others, for when it is called up by the controller, you have no clear idea which direction it will go when it moves into step one, (usually into the tram 'behind' it at the depot), nor can you tell if it has stalled on dirty track or it's just being difficult.

That's the thinking behind about fitting lights are, the headlights let you know which way it should go and the saloon lights inform you that the tram is receiving power and is waiting for further instruction, this sums up the detail aspect.

The insane part of this blog, is that both trams are of the single truck four wheel variety, (Ballarat 28, a reworked tyco/mantua trolley and Bendigo 29 a JEM resin kit on an Bachmann 44t powered bogie) therefore there is a distinct lack of real estate inside these models, even when you have installed rather small decoders, there is the space consumed by the mechanism, then you decide to install headlights, marker lamps and interior saloon lights as well, enter the two blokes with the straight jacket and a few sessions of weaving cane baskets!

 

The mechanism of Bendigo 29, with a socket on top

fashioned from half an eight pin IC socket.

 

 

The innards of Bendigo 29.

With three LEDs at each end, two warm white, on red.

 

What makes this concept more interesting is that I install LEDs with dropping resistors for lighting, but as I choose not to incinerate surface mounted LEDs for these projects, no, I use the more robust 3mm LEDs, warm white for the headlamps, red for the tail/marker lamps and yellow for interior lighting.

With the marker lights, I use 1mm(.040") fibre optic thread/element that is heat shrunk to the LED, and to ensure that the 'magic smoke' does not exit the decoder, all leads of components and wires are heat shrunk and insulated. All of which is in the confined space of these trams.

 

The marker light assembly, a warm white LED with heat shrink

surrounding the two smaller heat shrunk sleaves that the 1mm Fibre optic

element will press fit into.

 

 

Testing the marker light assembly before installation.

 

Ballarat 28 was just as entertaining to do, and was fitted out in a similar way. The results speak for themselves

 

 

Ballarat 28 & Bendigo 29 passing outside the Grand Theatre,

 

 

and earlier in the evening along Victoria St.

 

 

Then back at the Depot later that night.

 

 

From under the wires with little trams in the dark.

Glenn

P.S. This is the 100th post of Victoria Street.

 

 



 

We're havin' ourselves a barn raisin'

All good depots need a shed, a tram shed/car barn, somewhere to berth and then service rollingstock after a hard days work, and in the situation of Victoria Street, somewhere to hide rollingstock from the domestic curse of household dust.

 

The Depot shed with W5 800 on the kitchen bench

(The place where all good models are photographed)

After the construction of the depot light and overhead array, I have been trawling cyberspace for a suitable structure to 'plonk' over the frame, I have settled on a traditional 'saw tooth' design that will allow ambient light during the day but will 'light up' in the evening when trams are retiring for the day.

A simple construction made from 4mm foam board, this grand shed spans the three roads of the Albert Road/Westside Depot, the roads, numbering from 1 to 3, left to right.
This is enough to serve the requirements of this cross suburban line with a little more space for a few heritage units for weekend gunzel* excursions.

 

Hiding in the shed

At the rear of the shed, road three runs through to an external yard (loading ramp), this is the entry/exit point for rollingstock on the layout.

 

A shot from the rear door of road 3,

looking out onto Victoria Street

More details to be added, brick paper, roofing and so forth, but it is a tram shed.

From under the wires inside the shed,
Glenn.

*Gunzel ( noun, slang Australia especially Victoria): A person who pursues useless and pointless railway enthusiast activities. Verb (intransitive) to gunzel, to go gunzelling.

UK equivalents: gricer, anorak.
USA equivalents: foamer, foamite.

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

January Shutdown Works 2016

"Service changes apply to Victoria Street trams from Monday, 11 January 2016 to Wednesday, 20 January 2016 due to network upgrade work at The Junction.
As part of the modernisation of Melbourne's tram network, The Tramways are installing signalling equipment and repairing and renewing tram tracks and overhead at The Junction.

• Information about The Junction upgrade including expected impacts for motorists and local residents

Service changes for tram passengers 

• Service changes to Racecourse
• Service changes to The Ammo Factory
• Getting around the work zone

 An accessibility bus is available at The Junction between 10am and 6pm to assist customers with mobility aids, prams or the elderly.
During the work, trams and replacement buses will operate to the normal frequency. However they may not arrive at the scheduled time. The Tramways suggests that you allow extra time for your journey."

As I have done for the last two years, I attempt a fair crack of work on the layout that I have been planning for the last few months.

This time, the projects completed are,

- The illumination and positioning of all structures left of the railway bridge.
- The installation of backboards to all of the newer modules.
- The installation of a road indicator board for the three way point of the depot.
- The installation of the signalling system for trams entering and leaving the depot.
- Repairs/modification to the overhead on the rest of the layout and under the railway bridge.
- The installation of a flickering light module for the backyard incinerator.

My previous experience in industrial maintenance gives myself the opportunity to plan and strategise the approach that I take on 'major projects', unless there is an urgent reason to do some maintenance/repair, all other wish list items can wait until the 'shutdown'. 

The illumination and positioning of all structures left of the railway bridge.

 

 

Departing the Ammo Factory

 

From inside the Depot.

 

 

The Victorian terraces.

 

 

Outside the Depot.

 

 

The pub and the tidy overhead under the bridge.

 

 

The Servo.

 

 

Victoria Street at night looking from the Ammo Factory.

 

 

The installation of backboards to all of the newer modules.

 

 

The Ammo Factory.

 

 

The Depot.

 

 

The Junction.

 

Trying to colour match your previous effort to your current effort, is near impossible for most blokes as we are usually colour deficient.  

 

The installation or a road indicator board for the three way point of the depot.

 

 

The tidy facia that hides that madness underneath.

 

 

 A quick video of the magic.

 

 

The madness...

 

The best way to describe this ensemble (mad woman's hat) is, that both coat hunger wires connects to both point throw bars and the limit switches by the use of junction connections and bent up paper clips, the limit switches feed into the output terminal strip (below left), upon which is fed into the input feed board (left of centre), which in turn feeds into the diode matrix board (upper left) which drives the digital display (left on the control nobs), all old school D.C. driven.

 

The installation of the signalling system for trams entering and leaving the depot.

 

 

A similar mechanical system as the Depot point,

combined with a DPDT switch for depot entry/exit.

 

 

With another rats nest diode matrix.

 

How it works......

 

A tram wishing to enter the Depot, throws the car in/out switch to in, sets the points to enter the Depot, therefore sets the signals against through running and exiting the Depot.(note the tiny red 'T' light signal)

 

 

 

 

The tram waits at the repeater stop light at

the exit from the Ammo Factory.

 

 

Another stop light for trams from the 'City'.

 

 

Along with protection from trams coming from the Depot.

 

 

Now the tram has clearance to proceed into the Depot.

 

 

After the points are reset for through running and the

switch set for car out, the through service can proceed.

 

Repairs/modification to the overhead on the rest of the layout and under the railway bridge.

 

 

Ballarat 28 trundles under the reworked rail bridge.

 

The railway bridge on Victoria Street has a long history, for most of the layouts life, it was the end of the known world. I had originally wired the trolley wire under the bridge by the use of brass thumb tacks and an appalling effort of soldering copper wire to this dubious assembly, which resulted into numerous dewirements and snagged pantographs.(even though Victoria Street now runs two rail DCC)

After the Depot frame construction, upon which I utilised N scale code 80 rail for a more solid form of an interior overhead, I decided to use the same material for under the railway bridge. As the bridge had received a knock at the Caulfield exhibition (almost a year and a half ago!), I thought I would use this down time to rectify the problem. Code 80 rail plus two part epoxy, wins.

 

The installation of a flickering light module to the incinerator.

 

 

The innards from a flickering LED tea light candle.

 

 

Nothing too scientific here.

Just ditch the battery and install a 1K resistor in series when running from 12V.

 

 

and tada, a backyard incinerator!

 

 

from under the baseboards.

"We thank you for your patience and regret any inconvenience caused by this essential renewal work."

Glenn

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking back to go forward.

As per usual at this of year, a stocktake of the previous twelve months takes place. The idea is to keep some perspective and a sense of progress.

As I look back on posts from this time last year, the main project at the time was the ever expanding empire.

 

 

Now

 

 

Twelve months ago

I believe that the layout has reached its physical limits in size at this present time and present location, the last year has increased the layout area by at least fifty per cent, along with more operational scope and with a more cohesive narrative.  The concept of a depot has been a successful inclusion.  Operationally, the layout performs excellently, track issues and bugs have been resolved during the year.

On the technical side, the DCC control and interface with JMRI that delivers wifi capability is also at the level required/exceeded at this time.

This leads to the coming year, this year will be about finishing off the layout with details, such as lights and trolley wire, at the moment all of the structures for the layout are in the final process of being built and/or illuminated. Then Victoria Street will be complete*.

Then the further expansion of DCC conversion/improvement of operational rollingstock will be considered.

I think with this layout, I have avoided the most common error of taking on too much, too soon. It started off as a modular micro layout that has gently expanded over time. I haven't fallen into the trap of buying a shed load of wood, track and structures then slapping it together in a hurry, only to find that I hate it, pull it all up, throw most of it out, then only to repeat the process again, nor have I been seduced into the latest offerings from competing manufacturers of Austrailan prototypes, scorch a hole in the credit card, and then have boxes upon boxes of rollingstock with nothing for it to run on.

As a bloke with a missus and young kids, like most, I don't have the time or the resources to engage in the fore mentioned issues in the above paragraph, any modelling time is precious and it would be pointless to frustrate oneself in the pursuit of 'happiness', remember we all should model for relaxation, gratification and entertainment.

I started Victoria Street as a re entry into model railways/tramways for something quiet to do when my oldest child was born, as opposed to blasting out classic Australian pub rock at 140dB, that was over seven years ago, the tramway modelling and the micro layout option was due to the available real estate issued at the time. So my secret to this ongoing saga, is to think twice, do once, enjoy your work, then think twice again.

Here is something I thought would never appear on Victoria Street when I first started.

 

The oldest with 'her' tram, cutting notches at the ammo factory on wifi.

 

The eye and lippy war paint come from a monster high doll tart up kit, as I say, it is her tram.

(Mehano mech under a Manner promotional tram fitted with a NCE D13SRJ decoder with led lights)

From under the wires, in the same space as a toy hospital for reassembling dismembered Barbie dolls,
Glenn

*Is a layout ever finished?

That time of the year again.

As per usual at this time of the year, the annual Christmas card from Victoria Street.

 

For some people have to work on Christmas Day.

 

Enjoy the season, be safe, try not to eat and/or drink too much, and who knows, those that have been good this year may do better than a lump of coal.

 

 

From under the sparkly overhead wires.

Glenn.

Clocking up a milestone.

It is only just recently that this blog site, that has been online for the last four and a half years has passed the 50000 visitor mark,  I would like to thank those who regularly visit and those who leave the odd comment of encouragement for making this all possible, also those who post links from their blog to this one.

As you may have noticed there are no advertisements on or around this site, I intend to keep it that way as I have no interest in attempting to make money here, all I wish to do is post updates along with photos of the going ons of this model tramway layout, and hopefully inspire, educate and entertain you in the process.

Feel free to wander through the back catalogue of posts, and thank you again for your ongoing interest, for I believe that layouts are to be shared, either online and/or at an exhibition. We all can learn and appreciate from the efforts of others.

 

Thank you, from the locals of Victoria Street.

 

From under the wires after 50000 odd visits.

Glenn.