Model Railroading Can Be Fun - Other times it can be a PIA

 Hi All, 

 It's the end of November and work on the GSD continues. 

I was having a cup of coffee with Geoff T the other day and I said to him "Mate, there is so much to do here, what do you think my priorities should be?"  He said " Reg, you need to get your track running  reliably, get your point motors in, get your droppers in so trains cruise through the layout without dead frogs and  jerky locos". Fair enough I said. So I started a program of getting point motors fitted in Adelaide and installing droppers along the longer sections of track.

I got point 80, 84, 85 , 86 in ...... this is a doddle, I thought to myself. Next came Points 82 and 83. The Double Slip. Well, little did I know the poltergeist that resides in these inventions of Satan. I sent six hours over three days, naffing around with Tortoise switch machines trying to get the alignment correct, to have the throw arms move smoothly. after drilling, what seem like 65 holes for securing bolts to go through to get the alignment right. Remembering I am mounting these under Adelaide so had about 100mm to work with and...... Long story short, the Double slip has finished up in the bin and the track alignment changed to eliminate the need for these offspring of the devil. I never want to hear the words Double Slip mentioned in my presence again. That is if you want to live a long and happy life, or meet Emma the Trauma Nurse.

The new alignment in Adelaide Station   

       Not moon craters, Reg trying to align.

Yeah yeah yeah I know, not an Engineers……..On to a brighter Subject.

Op Session.

On 19 November we had an abridged Ops Session (Wednesday PM). As I had a specialist appointment and Steve had a funeral, so we ran for an hour then had lunch, proving once and for all the boys only come to my place for Helen's cake. The trains are something to do between food sessions. nevertheless we had some fun. Reg has a list of things to do to continue to improve the operation of the layout. I couldn’t take photos as Steve’s phone had some problems so he used mine. so I'll keep it brief. Main change was Geoff M and Steve played Yardmasters at Blue Lake. My instructions left a bit to be desired so a bunch of wagons were sent to Mile End early and a car for Wirrega which should have gone early was left high and dry. Not that was a problem as it was an Insulation car, Ice melted and the frozen crayfish from Port MacDonald went off.

 Next session is scheduled for 17 December when we will be running Thursday AM services.

Bridgewater Road Bridge

Many months ago I designed and 3D printed parts to scratch-build a road bridge as a scene block for the eastern end of Bridgewater yard. it has been sitting there as an eye sore since so I thought I would ease the tension of trying to install said poltergeist by doing something i really enjoy. So i I set about building the bridge. Background scenery is yet to be completed but I am happy with the way it is coming together.

This Blog

I am developing new pages for this blog which will detail the way operations are conducted on the GSD and details the activities in each town and the job of each train for each session. Look for the links on the sidebar.

Operating Session Wednesday AM Session 15 Oct 25

 The faithful gathered at Hawthorndene for another running of the GSD running the Wednesday AM services. 

Dispatcher : Geoff T

Supervisor: Geoff M

Blue Lake Yardmaster: Steve ( latterly of Porter at Tantanoola fame)

Operators: Ray, Ron and David

Observer: John F

Things got off to a good start with everyone complaining about something; a good sign everyone was happy.  Blue Lake became busy very quickly with the two Jets arriving for Loco changes shortly after ‘clock on’.

The timetable as planned proved good with no problem other than a bit of paint scraped off the Overland as it passed 905in Wirrega. 905 was just one car too long for Wirrega Siding

All trains ran to order and without major incident, it was such a relaxing day I forgot to take photos except for one when 905 arrived in Blue Lake and 240 about to cross the mighty Murray.

The day finished with a task list of things to fix before next month, just to keep me off the streets.

Good Running 930’s

 There is no doubt it is pleasurable to drive a smooth running locomotive. I have been frustrated with the performance  of my Traino 930’s. As it happened I can across a YouTubd video by one of my favourite modellers who goes by the handle Boomer Diorama on getting smooth running locomotives. Inspired I set about Alco 948 .Boomers advice was ‘it’s all in clean gear towers.”

Stripping Traino 930’s is not for the faint of heart, particularly the bogies. Oh well onward snd upward. I stripped the gear towers down, cleaned the caked grease off with IPA anc now have s beautifully running 948,

Operations Session 24 September 2025 Tuesday PM

 Today we ran the fourth Schedule in the Timetables drawn up by CEO of the BDR. Tuesday afternoon.

After coffee and listening to 1PM1 blasting along the rails through Blackwood we entered the Tardis to run the first half of the session. Seventeen Trains were scheduled to keep the troops out of The Commish's hair. The Team was as follows:

Dispatcher : Geoff T

Blue Lake Yardmaster: Steve

Operators: Ron, Dave and Geoff M

The sky was clear the sun shining and its was all go  at 1400hr with the Roadside Goods from Heywood VR89, the empty grain from Dry Creek  Train 333 and Train 390 from Blue Lake a loaded grain train to start proceedings.  390 was a bit late getting away due to a technical hitch with the drivers phone connection. Once sorted there was no stopping, except for the pickup in Wirrega of course. 390 was the crash test dummy for my recently painted 3D printed OBf cars on their first tour of duty.

The day went without any significant mishaps, although a range of challenges that only pop up when the layout is under full pressure have been set for the maintenance crews before next session. The most significant event though was the CEO of the BDR ( an avid steam train critic)  seemingly enjoying running Train 793/858 the regional passenger  from Adelaide to Murray Bridge and return; hauled by an SAR F Class with sound. The shrill of the Guards whistle was heard at every stop and the blast of the steam whistle echoed through the room  prior to each departure. I did note a broad grin at one point.

The Proof

The Commissioner has had a formal complaint from the Blue Lake Yardmaster, something about the task being too busy to have trains ready to run due to overwork, poor instructions and insufficient trackwork. Taking a leaf from the Donald Trump School of Management I understand the former Yardmaster is now Station Porter at Tantanoola. problem solved.

A few Pics of the days events.

Blue Lake Yard is busy with VR89 sits on Yard track 1 after arriving from Heywood while Geoff brings in 152 from Millicent on its way to Mile End after a bit of shunting here.

After crossing the mighty Murray River David guides 312 into Murray Bridge for shunting duties.

David is the picture of concentrations as he guides 312 through Bridgewater

833 waits in the Blue lake Yard for the call on 261 to shunt the Apcel Paper Plant in Snuggery

Train 9127 has arrived in Blue Lake off the VR. The Yardmaster backs 702 on the head end for the trip to Dry Creek while VR C510 heads to the loco depot for refueling.

Operations Session 20 Aug25. Tuesday AM Service

 August Activity 

The layout underwent some changes over August. Millicent has been renovated to bring the track out from under Heywood. Dry Creek Yard has had the track work completed and some kinks and alignments have been improved.

On the scenery front, not much, started to work on grounds cover and trees in Snuggery, started the building the landforms around tunnel portals and the support structure for a tunnel portal at the west end of the VR trestle over the Glenelg River Valley near Dartmoor. 

I have started the design work to convert the SW8 Switcher I bought in Melbourne to an ‘kinda’ SAR 500 class loco to switcher for Blue Lake Yard. First couple of bodies off the printer give me hope it will pass the 18 inch test. I also got my Green Long-Tom Brake Van running, all I need now is to get the 520 up and going and I can run an ARHS Special out of Adelaide.

I acquired a SAR FClass loco from Orient Express which now hauls a train to Murray Bridge and back. After returning it for a service it runs pretty smoothly, But it is precious, any little kink or flaw in trackwork and it will just stop and chug away on the spot. Great for track fault finding. 

Ops

The Wednesday AM Group, Geoff T, Steve W and Michael R gathered last week to put the layout through its paces prior to the larger Operational group who came  this week. We identified a number of failures that needed to be fixed before the main event, but we had some fun in the process. 

The Northern Clan gathered for another Operating Session at the GSD at 10.30am on the 20th. Coffee and cake to start proceedings and update on changes to the layout since the last visit in June. Steve was an apology due to having  a wog, so the crew became:

Dispatcher : Geoff T

Blue Lake Yardmaster : Ray B

Operators: Geoff M, Ron S and David O.

Troubleshooter: The Commish

Due to the amount of work I had done on the electrics, after April’s problems, I was not confident enough to run a Fast Clock Timetable as planned, so we ran a sequence based on the ops of the Tuesday AM program, with a Fast Clock running alongside.  We logged all the operators phones onto the internal network, connected to the system. The program started well  with the two Fast Jet freights passing through Blue Lake for their loco changes. Followed by 901, the Express Goods from Mile End hauled by 932. So far so good. I started to relax. Operators seem to be all over the brief. Trains continued to run smoothly, Geoff M pointed out a few administration improvements I could make to  my Train Control Sheet, Point 54 in Heywood (a Cobalt) played up  but that seem to be the only hassles.

The main sticking point though, was a major construction issue that rendered two of the Operators into a wild state of confusion. It seems some switches on my control panels are upside down, apparently.  It seems, if I understand the complaint properly, you have to have the switch oriented such that down is 'Closed" and up is 'Thrown", or is it the other way around? They also want LED to show which track is aligned, oh and those switches that are controlled by the Dispatcher should also have a mimic switch on the panel so they can throw it at their leisure. Both first world problems. I reminded them the panels are only temporary and the Board of Management will put their recommendations to their next meeting.

The layout exceeded my expectations to the extent I am happy to go back to a Timetable for the Tuesday PM session next month. I was also happy that all embraced the mobile technology willingly and today it delivered.

Some Pics of the day

Ron and Ray working Blue Lake

Geoff T overseeing Traincontroller 

The Fast Jet hauled by 702 passing through Upper Sturt from Melbourne on its way to Dry Creek. It was going so fast I couldn’t focus the Box Brownie in time 😳

Dave and Ray working Blue Lake

Geoff M working 87 in Bridgewater

The F about to uncoupled and run around it’s trains for the return journey to Adelaide

Ron working 185, the Appel switch in Snuggery.

A Visit to the Victoria Southern

 Today Ray and I had the great pleasure of visiting Kym Harvey in Ballarat Victoria, to run a few trains on his Victoria Southern layout. We started out by catching the VLine Regional train to Wendouree station where Kym picked us up.

Southern Cross (Spencer Street) at 7.45am 🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶

Kym is building a fantastic layout in his rather sumptuous shed, the back end of which, he has a sealed room for a doubled tracked dog boned loop layout with numerous towns with switching opportunities aplenty. He runs a radio controlled Lenz Command Station with Yard Panels operated through Traincontroller SmartHand add-on. (I liked it) The rolling stock is a mixture of VR, SAR, AN and some of the more modern names floating through Victoria over the last 50 years or so. He runs things he likes (what a concept). 

Kym had prepared a mini Operation session for us. I ran his newly acquired Overland around the layout twice, to orient (indulge) myself, before doing a couple of switches jobs. Ray just dived in the deep end doing switch jobs from the get-go. I ran my locos with sound on so the throaty roar of 900’s pulling the Overland and 800’s switching was a joy for me. Ray isn’t so keen on sound. He ran in stealth mode.

Kym’s wife Lynette provided a wonderful Morning Tea and Lunch for us all, which was greatly received. But, we had to be on the 1438 back to the big smoke so we headed back to Ballarat Station and the trip back to Melbourne. 

Ray and I had a great time, catching up with Kym and playing on his layout. Thanks mate. We will all meet again on Platform 11 at Southern Cross tomorrow at 9.20 for the trip to the Showgrounds and the 2025 AMRE Exhibition.

The entrance to Kym’s Train Room ( side note, the two lamps were the last two tail lamps operated on the SAR before they were removed from service)

SmartHand Control Panel (just touching the point and it throws)

Ray in his element

A bit of Foreign Power heading to Yimpi Flat

Dyson Yard

Tuesday AM Timetable 18 June 2025

 The next planned operating session on the GSD is scheduled for Wednesday 18 June.

It is planned to run the Tuesday AM Schedule as planned by Geoff M. The documents are outlined below. 

Arrive 1030 for coffee, 

Clock On 1100

Clock Off  1200

Lunch  1200-1230

Clock On 12.30

Clock off  1330

Coffee  1330 - 1415 ish

Running Sheet

Timetable

 

Trains 

Operator Roster

Train Orders (Revised after advice last Session)

Any Questions?

The Commish

 

 

Not All Holiday

 Just spent two weeks in Bali. A week of diving and a week of relaxation, well it wasn’t all relaxation. Still being in the process of developing the supporting paperwork for operations and having run the Monday AM and PM schedules. I spent many hours in my hotel room writing, or typing, out the paperwork for the Tuesday AM scheduled, getting ready for a June Operating session. Train Orders, Station Timetables, Blue Lake Switchlists etc. I also spent time processing images of my locomotives to use on the Traincontroller interface. 

15 years Operations of the BDR

 May 3rd, 2025 saw most of the BDR team, past & current assemble for the 15th Anniversary of BDR commencing regular operations

Geoff, Steve Ray, Bob , Don, Reg, Craig, Connor , David & myself  to a lunch time BBQ all wearing the Border Downs T shirt.  

Snags, onions & coleslaw with buttered bread & a choice of sauce - very nice followed up with a chocy cake that slid down very easily.

The Boss cooking up onion.

Some tall stories of all types

On a board were photos of the various stages of building the BDR

 a record of events

   and some notes from the History book

Reg. Bob. Steve, Ron,  Craig at the far end, Connor, Ray, David, Don - gunzel Geoff

this time Gunzel is Kris, the Boss according to Geoff

A very enjoyable period of time.

remember crew for May 8th

Geoff - main line driver

Steve - Train Control

Ray - Border Downs Station Master

Craig - poison train plus

Connor & David , the other crew members.

I now have two records to my name  - on both Wild Creek & Border Downs, I have the most operating sessions just behind the railway Company owners.

Sol

The Wolf Creek and Western Expansion

 Geoff has decided to expand the WCWRR further creating a little congestion on the layout. He has moved that layout around so that the Largest town, formerly Bristol is now in the centre of the layout, renamed Eagle. Now stay with me, Eagle is now Bristol, Bristol is now Eagle, Hudson is now Independence, Greenville is now Hudson, Franklin is Greenville, and Clinton and Dayton are Dayton and Clinton. The new area above Aaronsberg Yard is Franklin and Indepenence is either Jesus or Jehovah’s, I’m not sure which, maybe Jacksonville or Jump City. Anyway things have changed in the WCWRR. 😱😩

Bristol, I mean Eagle Yard

The new Franklin above Aaronsberg Yard

Dayton, or is it Clinton,