Garden Whistle Dec 2007 - Sandman.org.nz

- G scale news from around New Zealand -December 2007Santa relaxing on the Rocky Creek Railway in anticipation of the busy festive season.Photo: Glen Anthony.

The Garden Whistle - December 2007Twilight Meet at the Taita Gorge RailwayA tram appears from the darkness.The flood-lit railway, with a light streak from a departing train.Gavin Sowry had a running evening at hisgarden railway in Wellington.Photos by John Robinson.to do what modellers do. TaitaGorge Garden Railway, now 8years old (well, it will be come1st January), was in operation allnight to show off my stock, and to allow visitingtrains to run. John Robinson brought along,and ran, his Dubs A and train.For 5 years now, the first Tuesday or Wednesdayin November has been a Twilight Meetheld at my place.Initially, it was for the Wellington Area Modellers,however, since the formation of theWellington Garden Railway Group, I thought,that as I was member of both, I would run theevent as a combined session.This year, in gloriously fine weather, 21 membersfrom both groups descended on my placeThere were other non garden railway activitieswith three Gn15 layouts on show/running.There was my Haywards Estate Railway, andPizza 'n Beer, a 'pizza' type layout in an ABCbeer crate...these are going to Rail-Ex 2007.(see photos next page).Paul Napier brought along his Cardboard Challenge,a layout that is being built for the competitionon www.Gn15.info.My wife served up a lovely supper to roundout a very enjoyable evening.The Four Square shop is a popular stop for loco crewsJohn’s Dubs A passing the Taita Gorge StationPage 2

Principle:The clean function of ultrasonic wave is to use the waves overthe frequency ofhuman hearing conducting within the liquid.When ultrasonic waves,longitudinal waves, are conductingwithin the cleaner, which pushing function for the medium willenable the pressure within the liquid to change and producenumberous mini vacuum bubbles referred as “cavitation”.When gas bubbles ard pressed to break, they will produce sogreat excitation energy as to separate the dirts sticked to thedead corner of object as well as to enhance clean effect ofcleaner.With high frequency ,short wave length and strongpenetrating power,so that it can completely clean the articlehaving hidden seamor complex structure.DIRECTIONS FOR USE.1.1 The machine will washing streamline if you fall somewashing liquid in the water in the machine sink.1.2 The power supply is combined with AC 110V or AC220V power point,(depend on the machine style).1.3 We have two ways to wash the stuff that you want to cleanfirst of all, you can put the stuff in the sink with full waterdirectly, in the second way, you can put the stuff in theglass with the water and some washing liquid then put allthing into the sink of machine, also clean water inside.1.4 Please push the start key (ON/OFF) , the moniter willshow you “1” (Original Setting), then you prese the timekey for wash.(From 1 to 99).1.5 After setting up, you can press the key (START/STOP)it ismean the machine is working after the function is a sign ofthe light (SONICS).1.6 If you want to stop the wahing action in the medial way,also you can push the key (START/STOP), it will stop allaction.THE INTRODUCTION OF THE FUNCTION(1) The counter system have the counter down function.(2) The buzzer will sound by five time when the action isFinished.(3) The number will be save when you stop the action, butit will be fail by stopping power supply.

The Garden Whistle - December 2007McLeans Island Miniature RailwayThe longest bridge is across this swamp surrounded by flax and cabbage trees.Glen Anthony reports on the ChristchurchNovember meeting.Photos by Kevin Leigh & Glen Anthony.Our November meeting was held at the MiniatureRailway at Steam Scene, hosted by Alan,Viv and Jonathon Grueber.The railway is a 7 ¼” gauge ground level trackwhich runs through mature pine trees at theMcLeans Island recreational area on the outskirtsof Christchurch. The site also features afull size railway and a steam museum, butthese were not open on the day we visited.The running distance of the miniature line isjust short of a kilometre, and like all good railwaysit has a tunnel and a couple of bridges.Rob Wilson at the controls with Don and Phil waitingA central signal box can control the system,although there are also local buttons for changingpoints (done Rob by Wilson’s compressed new loco air) and tracksideLED signals display the route set. There isa turntable, a turning Wye and the track can berun bi-directionally, but most times it is justrun as a big oval.There are miniature level crossings with crossingarms and flashing lights which all startworking automatically as the train proceedsaround the line.Moving an Ec into one of the shedsThe loco shed facilities are extensive and it isPage 4

The Garden Whistle - December 2007evident that a lot of moneyand time has been spent overthe years. There is a largehoist for lifting locos ontotrailers but most of the regularlocos stay on site in oneof the many storage shedsand containers which arescattered around.It was a very enjoyable afternoon,and was capped offwith the opportunity for afew members to try theirhand at the controls of aloco.The railway is open on thefirst and third Sunday ofeach month and also catersfor birthday party groups.Contact the Gruebers if youwant more details.Illuminated track diagram in the signal boxNext month is the club endofyear BBQ hosted by Karland Alison Arnesen. Wivesand partners are most welcome.This year it will be alunch time BBQ (cookingfrom 12noon), so bring yoursunhats and a chair, and letshope for warmer weatherthan last year!Steam loco in the shed^ Alan Gureber with his loco< Johnathon at the tunnelNew Happenings in WaikatoSomething is GROWing in the Waikato, andGrant Alexander lets us know all about it.I would like to introduce this group we callGROW.That's Garden Railway Operators of Waikato.We are a motley bunch of just seven at thisstage with a common interest in garden railway'sas well as many other diverse and(sometimes) train related interests.We meet at each others places on a rota basisso that the burden (oops I mean pleasure) ofhosting our gatherings is equally shared.We meet on a Friday evening, specifically thefirst Friday of the month for a good old chat,train running (sometimes) and the obligatorycuppa afterwards.We are a far flung group with members fromHuntly in the north to Tirau in the south! But,if you were to find yourselves in the greaterWaikato region and at a loose end, and youhappen to notice that it's the first Friday of themonth, give me a call at the contact numbergiven in the Club Directory and we'll be morethan happy to make you welcome and listen tosome of your tall tales!Page 5

The Garden Whistle - December 2007Graham Family RailwayDavid’s speeder travels along the town line with a variety of buildings in the backgroundRobert Graham hosted the Auckland group inNovember.This was the third year that David and I havehosted the group at our garden railway. Wehave made a lot of changes since the groupwas last here and the line has been extended tothe south where the tracks pass through a timbertunnel under a feijoa tree and then it loopsround one and a half times to link up with theoriginal line. This has allowed us to greatlyease the grade of the climb up to the rear trackand has therefore eliminated the steep southerncurve. Stage three will be to extend the line tothe north and thereby eliminate the steep northerncurve down to the main yard.We had also replaced the troublesomelength of rail leading out of the maintunnel and across the large bridge.This was a spot where we found trainskept on derailing and when we replacedthe track we found that the oldrail had a slight kink in it, and thatwas what had been causing the derailments.David had spent most of Saturdayand Sunday morning cleaningthe track and checking electrical connections,which meant that the trainsran faultlessly on Sunday.White Pass Diesel runs along new track extensionThe weather was perfect, warm andsunny and we had heaps of yummyPage 6

food and drinks ready to feed the anticipatedcrowd. The only trouble was that we had avery low turnout with only six members ofthe group able to come. So thanks here toyou guys for coming it meant that all thehard work we had put in to finish the trackextension and get everything running perfectlywasn’t wasted. Thanks also to Louisefor catering the afternoon tea and at least wehad enough sausage rolls, cakes and biscuitsto do lunches for the rest of the week.The Garden Whistle - December 2007We ran my White Pass Diesel with a train ofhopper cars and we also ran David’s LCEexpress train. The LCE looks really goodsnaking its way around the track. With thenew track extension the White Pass Dieselhad no problem pulling its load of heavyhopper cars around the track. Don ran hisLGB duo diesel shunter with a train of fieldrailway tipping hoppers and Bruce ran hisradio controlled battery powered steam enginewith its freight cars. David got out theMars Flyer which is quite challenging to runand requires a bit of skill to get the speedright to get up the hill while not going toofast down again. He had fun running thatround and entertained people with somehigh speed derailments on the corners. Despitethe small turnout we all had fun runningtrains and enjoyed the nice weather. Ialso got some useful tips and suggestions formy next stage of the track extension andplanning has begun (don’t tell Louise).Louise, Mathew, David and I would like tothank everybody for coming and we hope tosee more of you visit next time.Don looking for his train. An LCE train in the backgroundTrains parked up in the main yardRob Wilson’s new locoDon's LGB duo shunter and trainThe Wellington Garden Railway Group now has a web presence at:http://www.culcreuchfold.org.nz/wgrg.htmAnd while you are surfing the web, here are a few more NZ garden railway sites to visit:Ian Galbraith: www.culcreuchfold.org.nz/ian.htmlMurray Bold: http://blod.dyndns.org/home/grailway/GRail.phpGlen Anthony: www.trainweb.org/nzgrGrant Alexander’s old rly: http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/squirrel.valley.rail/If you know of any more, please let the editor know.New Website:Page 7Also:www.loco.co.nzwww.gscalechuffchuff.comhttp://afr.nzcan.comwww.gscale.org.nz

The Garden Whistle - December 2007The Fairlie BranchBy Rob WilsonPhotos by Glen AnthonySeveral years ago Iwas given as an appreciationof a longfriendship, severalitems of NZR rollingstock in 1/16th scale,that the late HaroldJoynt had created inhis workshop atKakanui, just southof Oamaru.Included in the itemswere an NZR "D"class steam loco anda "Tr" diesel shuntingloco. The D iselectrically poweredfrom a 12volt batterycarried in a steel La wagon that incorporatesa simple double pole switch for reversing,however the Tr has centre contact electricalpickup.I had these beautifully crafted locos on mantlesand shelves at home but thought it was abouttime that others could enjoy the workmanshipTr 18 trundles down the line, passing a farmer moving cowsand sheer delight of the locos and rolling stock.The Tr was the candidate for the moving portionof the layout and is operated using anAristocraft reversing unit. To power theloco required setting brass nails down the centreof the track at the correct height, for currentcollection.The track workfor the newmodel railwayalso incorporatesthe reuseof Harold’so r i g i n a l( b e a u t i f u l l yw e a t h e r e d )sleepers fromhis outdoor railway.D16 at the Clive Station with velocipede shed and coaling craneI used Peco "O"gauge rail forthe track andfixed them usin g t r a c kspikes.Page 8

The Garden Whistle - December 2007The railway is based on thelong disused Fairlie Branchfrom Timaru to Fairlie incorporatingtwo stops on theway inland - Cave and Albury.The two locomotivesdisplayed are still operationalat the Pleasant Point Railwaytoday and Harold had aphoto taken of his D in therunning board of the full sizeD.The layout also featuresother creations of Harold,(all fully operational) includinga manual goods crane, asteam powered coalingcrane, a water tank and a 3wheeled velocipede.The main feature of the Albury Station is a platform mounted goods craneThe track is deliberately undulating and to seethe Tr trundling its merry way from Cave toAlbury and return I hope is a fitting celebrationof the model engineering skills of its creator.The layout is deliberately open-ended so that Ican add to it if so desired. Since the train showI have started mounting a collector shoe underthe D so that both locos can be seen moving onthe layout.Rob with the layout at the recent ChCh Train Show.Master modelbuilder HaroldJoynt in his garageworkshop inKakanui.The walls werelined withscratch builtEnglish, Americanand NZRgauge 3 & 1locos (almost alllive steam)On the floor is alive steam 5”gauge.Photo by DonWestern. (dateunknown).Page 9

The Garden Whistle - December 2007Making Wagon Tie-down RingsNow bend the other end around a 1mm drill bitheld in the vice and squeeze up with the pliers.A bit of a knack to itBy John RobinsonI was quite pleased with the look of the tiedownrings which I fitted to my R wagon and acouple of other upgrades.So as I was making some more for the nextproject I thought I share some "how to" picswith you.but you get it after only a few tries.Now you need to open the end up with a craftknife, or small screw driver, so you can slip thering into it later.The Rings:The rings are made out of 0.7-0.8mm brasswire, and the Eyelets are made from 1/4"builders staples.These are made by twisting some 0.7-0.8mmdia soft brass wire around a 3mm dia drill bitheld in the vice.Kind of like making a spring really.Slip the twisted up "spring" off the drill and cutThe Eyelets:To make the Eyelets I straighten out one end ofthe staple to make it easier to handle.into rings with some good side-cutters.The rings then need to be twisted with twolong nose pliers to get the spiral out of the ringso the ends close up.Page 10

The Garden Whistle - December 2007I put a drop of solder of the joint so it's not soobvious.To hold the rings in place while they get soldered,Imade ajig.It consitsof a1 / 1 6 "s q u a r epiece of stripwood stuck into a h o l edrilled in some scrap customwood.Slip the completed rings over the opened upstaple and squeeze the pliers to close up thestapleThe finished product was mounted by drillinga 1.5mm dia hole in the side of the wagon, adrop of thick instant glue, push in and jobsdone.It took me about an hour and a half to makeabout 30 of them including fooling around takingout of focus pictures.Thanks for reading through this far, hope you'llfind theideausefuland improveityourselfnodoubt.Tip for ChristmasBy Glen AnthonyIf you get a “live” Christmastree for Xmas; whenChristmas is over, don’ttake it to the transfer stationlike everyone else.Instead you can recyclethe trunk into a woodload for your wagon.Here is the tree we hadlast year.Save the dump fee, savethe environment, and geta load for your wagon allin one!Merry Christmas!Page 11

The Garden Whistle - December 2007G Scale Expands at Pokaka AgainThe projects display table at the recent Pokaka, with a good assortment of scales and prototypes to be seenMichael Hilliar reflects on another successfulweekend.The weekend of 9 th till 11 th November was anotherone of those great cultural weekends heldat the central North Island village of Pokaka,where we again saw further expansion of the GScale side of the hobby.Wayne Haste of the Wellington group not onlybought along a large number of his scratchbuilt rolling stock, but also some track etc. torun it on. A large flat bed truck had been usedto bring down some new roofing iron for theTaylor Memorial lodge. Once this had beentaken off Wayne saw a suitable flat surface tolay his track. The only problem was the deckwasn’t quite wide enough for those large radiuscurves, but raiding the shed we foundsome useful wood and some carpet tiles [goodfor sound proofing] the problem was soon overcome.Trains were run on both Friday afternoon andSaturday with displays from Wayne, IanGalbraith and John Robinson. The weather wasso great that we got the other great problem ofgarden railroading; we felt the sun burn. I believemost of the other inhabitants braved thisrare phenomenon and extracted themselvesfrom the dark insides of the lodge to view whatis becoming the growth side of the hobby.I look back over the years when I bravely putmy first bit of modified LGB on their treasureddisplay table and have slowly watched the acceptanceof G Scale. This year we had modelsbeing displayed by Tom Pearce, Ian Galbraith,John Robinson, Wayne Haste and my nearlyfinished 7/8th scale port class Hunslet whichtowered above all the other models on the table.Hopefully most will soon enjoy playing withlarger trains; you do need a hobby from thehobby!!Ian Galbraith, Wayne Haste, Neville Connew, Terry Bradley and Phillip SmithRunning trains in the sunPage 12

The Garden Whistle - December 2007Food for ThoughtBy Karl Arnesen, Christchurch.For quite some time now there has been somedisquiet amongst some of our members overthe direction the club is moving. There is aschool of thought that the garden aspect of theclub appears to be disappearing. Recent announcementsthis week have got my thoughtprocesses going and I believe we have an idealopportunity to do something about it.Mind you it will mean a lot of hard work bymany if not most of the club members to see itthrough to the end. What is he on about youmay be asking yourself? With the announcementthat the flower show is coming to ChristchurchI wondered if it is time that we got backinto the garden and looked into the possibilityof entering next year's show?If you were a member a year or three backwhen we had a layout on the floor we also hada layout on a trailer set in a garden with plantsand a water feature leant to us from a gardencentre in town. For the flower show we wouldneed something a little larger but just as simpleto put on a display. The visits would need to bemade to a garden centre to see if they would beinterested in coming on board with us, andthen the planning preparation and building of adisplay could follow.It has been obvious to me when setting up myown layout at the August show that there arefewer and fewer helpers ready and willing andable to set up, and even less to pack up aftereach show. This would be a big commitmentfrom the club and would need many to be involvedif it is to succeed to the level to be anattraction at the show.Lets think about it. Try to think of ways itcould work, we can all come up with ways itmight not succeed. Quite frankly I don't wantto hear these. If I hear nothing back then I willknow what members really think of the idea.Think of the future directions you would likethe club to move before making your decision.I look forward to what others could come upwith if this is to be a runner.A visit to the other side of the ditchBy Russell Postlewaight(editor of the Coupler)A couple of weeks ago I went to the BritishRailway Modellers of Australia Convention inAdelaide.Here are some images of one of the layouts ontour in that big gauge you all dabble in.No electricity here – these things are radio controlledlive steam!!!The boats were also steam powered as was thesteam crane (see photos next page).Enjoy.Page 13

Auckland:Sunday 2nd December:Alf and Rosie Williams64 Derbyshire Lane, Karaka.2pm onwards, wet or fineAGM and B-B-Qbring a train and those staying onsomething for a shared BBQ teaSunday 26th January:Ken and Liz MacdairmidGlen EdenClub Contact:Auckland 45mm GaugeModel Railway GroupC/- Michael Hilliar22 Halver Road, ManurewaAuckland 2102Ph 09 266 4745hilliar@internet.co.nzWaikato:Friday 7th December:David Petchey,Hamilton(no meeting in January).Club Contact:GROW: Garden RailwayThe Garden Whistle - December 2007Club Events and ContactsOperators of Waikato!Grant Alexander,PO Box 1172, Cambridge.Ph 078230059. gscale@clear.net.nzWellington:Sunday 2nd December:1pm at Lee & ChristineCollett in Carterton.Then 3pm at Lloyd Dickensin Masterton.Then 5pm at Ian & AnnGalbraith, Masterton.For more train running andBBQ.Thursday 6th December:Big Boy’s Club night atMacks Track. note: Not theusual Wednesday night.Please phone John on 0274 427 160for more details.Club Contact:Wellington Garden Railway Groupwww.culcreuchfold.org.nz/wgrg.htmC/- John Robinson39 Taylor Terrace, TawaWellington 5028Ph 04 232 5175jdmcm.robinson@xtra.co.nzChristchurch:Sunday 9th December:Karl & Alison Arnesen.460a Marine ParadeEnd of year Family BBQ11am. (BBQ12noon)Bring your food, sun hat & a seat.Sunday 20th January:Andrew Hammers9 & 10th February:Jim Staton, Hokitika.Club Contact:Christchurch GardenRailway SocietyP.O. Box 7145Christchurch 8240Chairman: Don Ellisph/fax 03 365-2267 wkdon@computercables.co.nzOther Events:15 & 16 March:Wellington G Scale MiniConvention. Tawa RSA(get in and book the cheapair fares now!)The Garden Whistle is compiled by the Christchurch Garden Railway Soc and features news from variousG scale clubs in New Zealand. Each club is a separate identity and the contact details can be found above.Editor: Glen Anthony, 59 Colombo Street, Christchurch 8022. glen.bren@paradise.net.nzMore of Russell’s pics.See previous page for detailsPage 14