GSD 30 June Update

 Well it’s all happening, concrete is poured, Shed kit delivered and today, in the misty rain Luke and Nic are putting the kit together. Shed will be up and complete by Tuesday evening. 

D& S Report 26 Jun 23

 D&S Operational Report 

Crew and Location:

• Owner / Dispatcher / Train Control = Ron
• Tawnton West = The Scotsman (alias David)
• Tawnton East = The Scotsman's offsider (Craig)
• Watchit = The Ex.......Traindriver (Paul)
• Laid back Charde = The South Australian Railway living encyclopedia (Geoff M)
• Marabost = The long distance traveller (Reg)

Overview.

The evening started with the usual routine of coffee, tea, Iced Volvos, Choc Mint biscuits and Wagon Wheel delights. General chit chat prevailed and at 7.35pm an exodus from the dining room to the train room occurred. Yes, note the slightly late start. 

The usual entry order is becoming like an Army marching ritual with Ron barking orders as to the next in line to enter the room, 'single file' of course. After 8 minutes of familiarisation and controller check the clock started. A breakdown (pun) is below.

Laid Back Charde.

Obviously the most knowledgeable South Australian railway guru had this station but alas, there was no South Australian railway stock in sight. The English orientation did not fool the operating qualities of the Charde operator. Basically Charde did not appear to have any issues. His running issues were caused by other operator error, one such error being when he was driving a goods into the Tawnton yard and had the points set to the route but a point on the East end got changed at the last minute onto the main. No logical explanation was forthcoming, however, the Charde operator was on the ball and stopped his train just prior to the point - hence no derailment or accident occurred. There was certainly plenty happening underneath Charde but more about that later and trains the Charde operator drove to and from particular destinations. 

     Charde operator giving the Thumbs up.                            Charde Operator with cards and a controller.

                                                                                          Something must be happening at the Laid-Back station

The Charde DMU

The Tawnton Twins 

Sometimes teams just click and this is proving the case with the current operators at Tawnton East and Tawnton West. They are like an Olympic Rowing Pair - In Sync and very 'smooth' operators. Communication was valuable in this partnership and it was a matter of when to listen and when to speak. The shunting movements at Tawnton were extremely efficient and very timely, with the first part of the session being particularly well timed. Wagons were shifted into their respective sidings at a rate rarely witnessed at Tawnton. In saying this and not wanting to blow one's own trumpet there were 2 Tawnton errors for the evening and both of these involved the track not being set properly for goods trains coming into the yard. There weren't any derailments or head-ons with these errors as they were picked up very quickly. Even though Tawnton got busier toward the end of the operating session all wagons and locos were still shunted away into their correct sidings. 

  All sidings clear, ready for the next train

Marabost

Reg likes Marabost, well that is what he said at one stage during the operating session or was it post the operating session? Doesn't matter, he is not alone as there are others on the operating roster that quite enjoy operating at Marabost. The Marabost operator was also effective in his shunting movements and even though he too had a train he was operating derail, it wasn't his fault........we think. However, (starting a sentence with 'however' can indicate there is more to the story, a flip side). A comment from the Charde operator at one stage was in relation to 'Pigs can't fly', well we didn't see any pigs flying but there was a hand-in-the-sky flying a brakevan from Marabost to Tawnton. Apparently it got left behind and to be honest.... The guard was not happy. But wait, there is more. Later in the session a Marabost conflat appeared on a train from Marabost that was going to Tawnton, so thanks to the Charde operator for flying it back to it's home at Marabost. No other errors were noted from the Marabost part of the world and it was the Marabost operator who had to take time out from operating to fix a number of derailments that occurred at his end of the layout. One in particular was the derailment of the cattle train. It ended up being quite a shitty problem and took a bit of cleaning up. Cows can really shit lots when they have been fed green feed after drought conditions and after wobbling around in wagons. 

                                                                               A picture of concentration.

Watchit 

The Watchit operator was quite efficient for most of the evening. He ensured the Platform and other tracks were available when other trains were coming into the station region. Shunting was done effectively and the operator appeared quite focused on the tasks at hand. There was one issue of note and still to this hour there isn't a logical response that has come forth. The Tawnton operators operators witnessed a Goods train driven by the Watchit operator doing something unusual, something rarely seen on the D&S, Wildcreek or BDR. Put it this way; the Station Master at Brownbill Halt was screaming and shitting himself when he observed a train that (3 minutes previously had gone through his station) was coming toward his station Brakevan first. Now, for those unfamiliar with English operations there were trains that ran pre 1950 that were push-pull sets, usually consisting of an autocoach or Push Pull coach leading. This only occurred on smaller branchlines and occurred West and South of London. BUT a brakevan running first.......NO! This did not occur unless it was accident waiting to happen. It was like slow motion viewing from the Tanwton operators. This goods train was going to the west, led by a class 20 loco and all of a sudden it changed direction (near the West End Bridge) and backwards it went - thankfully not fast. A quick 'who is driving the Class 20 goods' from both Tawnton operators soon raised the awareness of said Watchit operator and thankfully the train was eased to a stop before it entered the tunnel, It was envisaged that the train travelled 4 real miles before the directional problem was rectified. Wonder if he ever did that in real life train driving operations?

                                                                    Taken after the Backward train incident. 

Train Control / Dispatch

Clock was stopped twice during the session. This was due to the cattle having the shits from their derailment and some major derailments in the Durston region (underneath Charde). 

You wouldn't believe the carnage that occurred behind this green board. Blurred to protect the innocent.

Other errors noted included a Irish coach on its side which caused a derailment. This occurred on the track that enters Brownbill Halt and a couple of point changes that caused derailments, in particular Durston. There were a few 'my fault' words coming from the where the dispatcher bases himself and it didn't sound like Paul's voice. As per usual and like on a number of layouts we know operational nights would not work if it wasn't for the Dispatcher / Train Control, so hats off to these folk. But one must not be too critical because even with the best intentions or preparation there is still a possibility that:

1. Murphy can join the operating crew on the night and the
2. FU Fairies can be present as well. 

* For those unfamiliar with the letters FU they are representative of terms that have recently been used to describe those invisible fairies that appear in layout rooms. The 'U' represents the word 'UP' and the 'F' represents an acronym that was first coined in Medieval English whereby certain people could only partake in Fornication Under Consent of the King. 

** Also the reference to the phrase Pig's can't fly!, 'It's impossible', which is precisely what the expression means. We say it as a response when someone tells us something that we think is impossible or very unlikely.

In times when everything was running smoothly - happy dispatch camper

The D&S Media Manager. 

BDR Report 22 Jun 23

T'was a Cold and Stormy Night........

On a cold & stormy night, the following braved the elements to  conduct busies on the famous ( or is it the in-famous) Border Downs Railway.

Geoff as the Jack of all things but Master of none
Steve as the Ringmaster at the Downs whose words MUST be obeyed or else
And as servants / people who earn the valuable $( and accolades) for the Man,  being Ray, Reg, Craig & the scribe.

The Downs busy......

Some nights, all goes well but this night, we were visited by the Wicked FU Fairy - no, the bridges on the lift ups at the door  ( commonly known as The Ditch) worked OK as I installed them :-P

   but the helix proved a problem or two with locos not pulling their weight;
 trains coming uncoupled;
a new loco ( 900 class) derailing in many places;
I even ran a turnout the wrong way ( tsk, tsk)
 mutterings ( that your Grandmother would not like to hear) was heard from Border Downs;
some short circuits:

then not busy

I even got told off for interrupting an important discussion between another driver & train Control !!

In fact things got so bad by the end of the night, someone had to take the blame & it was decided it was me so I was awarded the first inaugural The Johnny Award. Not sure what form the award will take when at the end of the year, the Boss will tally up those who received the fortnightly award, to determine who deserves to wear with pride, the Title for the year.

Craig got a crash course in shunting at Coonara - I think there were 4 bodies in the aisle at the same time.
 I had shunting at Coonara & Donald & it was easy peasy.
 Ray needs platform shoes so he can reach turnouts at Coonara - they would match his wearing apparel - shorts in this weather ???
I didn't hear Reg carry on but he showed us photos of his new train room concrete base - he hopes to be start to build the SAR Southern Division in August.
 As normal, banter was given & received with the respect it deserved - it makes the night more enjoyable !
 
Now before the pictures for those who can't read ( or don't read), the next session is
Thursday July 6  - crew to be advised

Motive power at the Downs waiting to be unleashed into action

Gunzel 2

Empty poison train running through Coonara to Border Downs

I now know what train I will be on next session - perhaps I should takean emergency sickie !!

(Though I have suggested to the Boss , while it is at Border Downs perhaps the local crew can do that poisoning  while all other workers are absent - saves me getting it the neck from the SM  ;-)    - it has to be filled anyway before I report for duty)

Centenary Brake on 928 Goods

 

In the loop at Coonara

Loaded grainie rolls through Coonara

Craigs Shots

Reg's Shots

The Stonie Rolls across the River heading to Donald.

The Poisons train rolls past the Stonie at Coonara

The Stonie heads to Donald and the Poison Train leaves Coonara

the next session is

Thursday July 6  - crew to be advised 

& it is hoped the FU fairy does not visit us again for some time.

Sol

And so it begins

 SAR Southern Division – June 23 Update

After 6 months of dealing with Insurance claims and processing applications to Plans SA we are finally at the point of building a new home for the layout.

Hopefully this week will see the pouring of the cement slab. for the shed. The shed kit is due for delivery on 29 June and I am hoping it will be erected the following week.. The shed is a 11m x 4m steel shed from Shed King in Lonsdale. Once erected it will be lined with insulation and gyprock, power applied and of course AC added.

I am hoping I can turn the first sod on the SAR Southern Division in early August.

In the meantime I have been busy designing the new layout on Anyrail and Sketchup. Additionally I have been thinking about what trains should run. I have determined that due to seismic shifts in the tectonic plate in Central West Victoria, the line between Horsham and Kaniva has been destroyed, so all traffic between Melbourne and Adelaide will travel through the Southern Division, including the famous Overland Passenger Service and Freight Jets. The branch line to Millicent will be represented with Apcel Paper at Snuggery added. The VR will operate from a hidden Staging at Heywood but the town of Dartmoor will be modelled. The layout is planned service towns with passenger and parcels traffic, general cargo, grain silos, livestock and fuel traffic. Two features of the layout will be the Murray River crossing at Murray Bridge and a classic VR Trestle Bridge  when leaving Dartmoor.

The SAR Lines are planned as follows:

Adelaide Staging > Upper Sturt > Bridgewater > Murray Bridge > Wirrega > Blue Lake. The Snuggery Branch runs Blue Lake > Tantanoola > Snuggery > Millicent Staging under Adelaide.

The VR Lines are as follows:

Heywood Staging > Dartmoor > Blue Lake. The final section runs underneath Bridgewater on hidden track.

The Room Layout is proposed

 

November Update - BOOM!

On November 12, around 4 pm in the afternoon, the Good Lord  sent us this little parcel across Gulf St Vincent.

Whilst soldering wires onto  one of my 930’s I heard our Gum Tree starting to shed its boughs in the high wind. I decided to move to the door frame in the front of the building in case the big gum to the west of the CBW decided to drop onto the CBW. Just as I got to the doorway, the back end of the room, where I was soldering, exploded. Two large gum trees gave up in the wind and  crushed that end of the building. I hightailed it out to the safety of the house.

 After the storm I surveyed the damage, thought about the Good Lord’s message to me and decided he was right. Not big enough and  much more rolling stock required.

The photos below show some the damage.

Previous image

Next image

The following day, friends and family helped us clean up. Ray and Ron drove all the way from the far North to help move my railway ‘stuff’ to a safer environment.

I am in the process of dealing with our Insurance Company on repairs/replacement. It will be probably six months before I have a building to work with again .

With the loss  of the CBW, I am looking to the opportunity it provides. I have started work on kits I have had for  years, and ones bought recently. Helen has given me space in the house to set up my ‘hobby desk’. I have also started designing the new new CBW.

With tragedy, comes opportunity. I can redesign the layout without duck-unders, simplified wiring, design it more prototypically with the VR coming in from the opposite end of Blue Lake from the SAR.

D&S 14 June 2023

  D&S 14 June 2023

The evening started as usual with a cuppa, some biscuits and discussion about the AMRE Exhibition and other train related matters. 

Soon after 7.30pm the operating begin. The roster looked full of professionals that were experienced and each operator had previous experience at their chosen station:

• Ray – Marabost
• David – Watchit
• Craig – Charde
• The Tawnton Twins – Geoff (East) and Brian (West)
• The Fat Controller / Dispatcher was Ron.

It was clearly evident the experience and professionalism of the operators was a contribution to the minimal clock stoppages and derailments. The ‘that was me’ comment was heard a few times across the room, coming mainly from the only person who was seated for the majority of the evening. A couple of errors saw trains run into the wrong tracks at Newton Abbot but overall, one would have to say it was one of the ‘smoothest running’ operating sessions in quite a while.

Marabost:

The Marabost operator was the quiet achiever for the evening. He was just a clone of Bob the Builder, whereby he just got on with the job with minimal fuss and everything ran like clockwork from the Marabost point of view. The additional loop that was installed at Marabost a while ago is proving beneficial for operating and running purposes. The only complaint from the Marabost operator was when the Charde DMU didn’t go further into the platform and some passenger complained. Also, the Marabost needs to take his American Cap off when he enters the D&S and put his English cap on. American = Caboose…. English = Brake Van. If only the Geelong Cats had the form that the Marabost Operator had. 

Full of Concentration

The Tawnton Twins

Language from the Tawnton side of the room was subdued with swearing non-existent. There was productive chatter and teamwork seemed to be at the fore. The B&G team seemed to manage Tawnton and its busyness / occasional complexities fairly well. The Occasional ‘beep’ and orange light appeared from that side of the room but in reality, it always does. ‘Mostly Efficient’ would be a description that one could use for the Tawnton operators. There were no major derailments in the yard (that we know about) and it appears everything was shunted into the correct sidings, otherwise the D&S owner would have sent out the ‘Red Card’ and ‘Please explain’ by now. Overall, the Tawnton operators should be pleased with their efforts and operational capabilities throughout the operating session.

Yes, I know the Controller is on the track. Tawnton East Operator focusing on the work to be done. 

Teamwork at Tawton

A usual scene at Tawnton, with plenty happening.

Watchit

A couple of terms sounding very much like ‘shit’ were heard from the Watchit operator, however, there didn’t seem to be any major disasters that couldn’t be rectified within a few fast minutes, maybe it was something to do with wagons or points or both. Certainly the Watchit operator was very effective at listening for the ‘Watchit, LP56 arriving at your platform in 5 minutes’ instruction. This instruction, albeit with a different Train Order was repeated numerous times from operators at various locations. David handled the copious amount of trains that pass through the Watchit township and require the tracks (either main or platform) to be clear, reasonably well. Like others on the night, a mostly stellar performance was conducted by the Watchit operator. 

The concentration which is required at Watchit

Shunting the Goods 

A longer Goods train almost ready to depart after shunting took place. All blocked no doubt. 

Charde

The Charde operator felt like a pig in shit. He hadn’t operated at the Charde station complex for over 12 months and it was a welcoming sight to be back at the little rural station. It was also a pleasant surprise to be operating a new Charde DMU – a very reliable ‘Flying Banana’. It ran smoothly all night – unlike some of its predecessors. The Charde operator ran the railway effectively with no mishaps or derailments. At the end of the operating session the passengers at Charde were quite impressed with the ‘on-time’ service. 

Shunting in progress

Dispatcher 

The Dispatcher / Chief Poncho / D&S Owner was on the ball most of the evening. As always suggestions were flying from all edges of the room and the Dispatcher took a couple onboard. The Mainline Passenger services along with the 3 DMU arrivals at Tawton seemed to be one that needed addressing but overall, other than a couple of points that were changed by central control, everything ran fairly smoothly from the Dispatcher chair.  

The Dispatcher looking a little anxious

See you all in a month

The D&S Media magnate