Eltham Model Railway Club in Eltham, Victoria, Australia | Travel and transport

Eltham Model Railway Club

Locality: Eltham, Victoria, Australia

Address: Susan Street 3095 Eltham, VIC, Australia

Website: http://www.elthammrc.org.au

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• Non-profit organisation
• Railway company

25.01.2022 The Railway Museum team is delighted to advise that with the generous support of the Victorian Government, a second roof will soon be going up at the Railway Mu...seum. The project will ensure that heritage-listed locomotive H220 'Heavy Harry', the Museum's star exhibit, will be protected from the elements. The exact details of the size of the roof and the other exhibits it will also protect are now being worked through and further announcements will be made in the near future. In 2017 a roof was constructed over four wooden carriages and three 19th Century steam locomotives at the eastern end of the Museum site. It has been a complete success. Not only has it enhanced conservation of these historic exhibits by protecting them from the elements, but it has also enabled a vastly improved visitor experience with better signage, better amenity and better access. We are very excited that similar improvements will soon be realised for 'Heavy Harry'. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Williamstown MP and Public Transport Minister Melissa Horne for enabling this important project to proceed. We will keep you posted with further details of this exciting project as they are confirmed.

23.01.2022 http://elthammrc.org.au/the-grand-tour-2018-part-3/

23.01.2022 Get some joy into your life, try a model train

22.01.2022 PHOTO FRIDAY NO. 140: (Nyora) ‘B74 climbing the grade into Nyora with the return empty working of the Ouyen to Dalyston Livestock Special in September 1977’. IM...AGE CAPTION: ‘B74 works it empty livestock train from Wonthaggi up towards the junction at Nyora’. This image was taken by Peter Enlund. Livestock & Cattle Trains, Victoria was a state well known for this form of transport throughout the 20th century. The South Gippsland railway line known for its mixed goods and freight trains regularly transported cattle right up until the early 1980’s. Given the South East of Victoria and especially Gippsland is known for its thriving dairy and cattle industry, it is no coincidence why livestock and cattle was once a common feature on the freight trains from Melbourne to Yarram and the associated branch lines including Wonthaggi. Typically the 4 wheeler M-types for cattle and L-types for sheep wagons were generally used to transport the livestock due to the roadside operations of these trains whenever working as a mixed passenger train or dedicated freight train. In September 1977, B74’s journey from Ouyen to Dalyston with a loaded livestock train bound for the farms in the Bass Coast was well documented. The journey well over 600 kilometres conveying cattle was captured by a variety of photographers and featured in the late George Bambery's book, "A Bulldog Odyssey". The vast differences in the terrain and landscape between the Mildura and Wonthaggi lines would have well and truly been on display. The livestock special ran on Sunday the 11th of September, not long prior to the withdrawal of passenger rail services in December that year and closure of the line in November 1978. After unloading at the livestock and cattle yard at Dalyston, the train would continue to Wonthaggi for operational duties before returning empty to Melbourne. B74 is still preserved to this day by the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre and although looking weathered from the long journey in Peter Enlund’s photograph it retains the Victorian Railways Blue and Gold livery. Peter Enlund’s photograph shows B74 climbing the 1 in 50 gradient into Nyora on the Up towards Melbourne. The 2 kilometre climb into Nyora from near the South Gippsland Highway level crossing west of Loch to the junction point was made easier thanks to foresight from railway engineers and surveyors creating a raised embankment to ease the grade. This made it more attractive for freight operations on the Wonthaggi branch line, especially when the State Coal Mine at Wonthaggi was the main reason to open the line and transport vast tonnages of black coal. In the background is the Cape Horn Lookout telecommunications tower situated on the rolling hills south of Loch along Loch-Wonthaggi Road. The white whistleboard to the left is for the Berrys Road level crossing which crossed the former branch line along with the South Gippsland mainline adjacent to Ferriers Road south east of Nyora.

20.01.2022 http://elthammrc.org.au/the-grand-tour-2018-part-2/

19.01.2022 http://elthammrc.org.au/the-grand-tour-2018-part-8/

19.01.2022 http://elthammrc.org.au/the-grand-tour-2018-part-6/

19.01.2022 *** FUNDING SECURED TO RESTORE TAIT CARS TO ELECTRIC OPERATION ! *** We are delighted to announce that we have been successful in obtaining an Australian Govern...ment grant of $1million (exclusive of GST) from the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities as part of its Community Development Grants Programme. The funding has been received to return a Tait Train (or "Red Rattler" as it is known) to service by early 2020. The restored train will be available for public shuttle trips, occasional railfan excursions and to take passengers from Melbourne to Belgrave to connect with Puffing Billy and the beautiful Dandenong Ranges. The preserved train will bring great delight to young and old, as it did until 2004 when accreditation issues meant it could no longer operate. Tait trains are of both State and National significance, being used on the very first regular electric train services in not just Victoria but Australia. It is fitting that this announcement is made now, because we are not far off the centenary of regular electric train services for Australia, with the first services operating between Essendon and Sandringham in May 1919. Red Rattlers are nearly as iconic to the Melbourne transport scene as W Class trams. There would be few Melbournians over the age of 60 who do not remember riding a Red Rattler to school, work or to attend sporting/cultural events. They operated on all suburban lines and were the backbone of the suburban fleet for many decades. They played an important part in the State's industrial, transport and cultural heritage. They are amongst the finest examples of preserved electric trains anywhere in the world, featuring varnished interiors, pressed metal ceilings and ornate fittings. The earliest carriages were initially steam hauled and date back to 1910. In the early days, passengers could choose between first or second class seating and smoking or non-smoking compartments. The grant money will be spent on a series of safety enhancements and other works, including the: * Purchase and installation of train radios at both ends of the train * Automation of the trip (emergency brake) reset mechanism * Installation of speedos (having never been present in Tait trains) * Electrical modifications to make the train compatible with the latest infrastructure * Mechanical overhaul of components * Train testing / recommissioning * A repaint (if funds remain). Jason Wood MP, the Federal Member for La Trobe, has supported Steamrail throughout the application process. We are hugely appreciative of his support. A working group has been established to oversee the project, with excellent support being received from the following key stakeholders: * V/Line which will be the accredited operator of the heritage services * Metro Trains which will provide access to the rail network and electrical infrastructure * The RTBU (rail union) which is developing driver training material and will coordinate crewing * Downer Group which has been engaged to test the train * Steamrail volunteers who will both coordinate and undertake work. All stakeholders are very much 'on board'. Without their support the project would not be viable. The funding is a great boost for ElecRail volunteers, who are still recovering from the arson attack at Newport Workshops in 2015 which destroyed three beautifully restored older swing door carriages and another which was awaiting restoration.

17.01.2022 Exactly 90 years ago today, the Independent Goods Line between Albion and Broadmeadows was opened for traffic, providing goods trains running along the main Nor...th Eastern line with an alternative route into Melbourne to the busy suburban line running via Essendon, and also providing a direct link to the Tottenham rail yards. Since that time, the line has only grown in importance and today it forms part of the main standard gauge railway from Melbourne to Sydney. Regular travellers across the E J Whitten Bridge on the Western Ring Road will be familiar with the line's most notable landmark: the Albion Viaduct, also known as the Quarter Mile Bridge (it was just a few yards short of a quarter mile from end to end). Until the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932, it was the highest railway bridge in Australia, with the tracks nearly 55 metres above the level of the Maribyrnong River below. A photo from the ARHS Archives: the bridge as it appeared 90 years ago today, with an X class locomotive (also brand new for 1929) hauling what for the time was an impressively long 41 wagon load. Today's trains crossing this viaduct typically feature up to three 4000 horsepower diesel locomotives and can be over a kilometre in length.

14.01.2022 Tragic ending for a model train exhibition. It's hard to understand senseless destruction.

12.01.2022 Another magnificent image from the ARHS archives: an elaborately-decorated French locomotive! Or is it? 101 years ago this month, Victorian Railways A2 1001 was... specially decorated for the visit of French General Paul Pau, who toured Australia towards the end of World War I to thank Australian troops for their defence of France against Germany and the other Central Powers. As was typical of visiting dignitaries in that pre-airliner era, General Pau travelled by special train, and A2 1001 was selected to haul it. The decorations included fleur-de-lis motifs (even on the buffers!), and signs reading Bienvenue (Welcome) and Vive La France (Hooray for France). A2 1001, just one year old when pictured here, continued in service for another 40 years during which time it was renumbered 941. It was eventually withdrawn from service and scrapped in 1959.

11.01.2022 The 2019 Australian Heritage Festival is with us, and over coming weeks the Railway Museum as a participating organisation will be marking the 100th anniversary... of the commencement of electric suburban rail services in Melbourne on 29 May 1919 with a special display of photographs and multimedia footage in our historic vice-regal/departmental carriage 'Norman'. Not many people may be aware that the 'Norman' carriage, which served as a mobile conference room for Railway Commissioners during their tours of the Victorian network, was where the first plans for Melbourne's suburban electrification were sketched out by consulting engineer Charles Merz for then-VR Chairman of Commissioners, Sir Thomas Tait. At present we have some photographs of the project to electrify the Melbourne suburban network and the early 'Tait' and 'Dogbox' trains, as well as early models of the Hitachi suburban train and a multimedia presentation including the ARHS film 'Moving People', which has some wonderful archival footage of our suburban rail history. We are open Sunday 21 April, then every Saturday through to the end of May from 12 noon to 5pm. We hope to add a few extra items for visitors interested in Melbourne's electric suburban railways in current weeks, so please keep an eye on our page for updates!

10.01.2022 We’ve always wished that a streamlined S Class ‘Pacific’ steam locomotive could have been preserved and placed in our museum; sadly all were scrapped some eight... years before our Museum first opened. Today however, our wish has come true! (Sort of.) Museum volunteer Lee, who in recent months has been busy restoring our Overland sleeping carriage ‘Torrens’, has just assembled this beautiful HO scale model, showing he’s just as good at 1:87 scale models as he is with the 1:1 scale originals! This beautiful model is on temporary display in our station building, along with A2 and R class locomotive models. A 1980s era V/Line freight train is also on display.

09.01.2022 Natural light and model trains, a delightful combination.

08.01.2022 Some Hitachi carriages have been on the move this afternoon, but not on the suburban rail network! May 2019 will mark 100 years since the first electric suburb...an trains ran in Melbourne, and in coming days Railway Museum volunteers will be setting up a new display to mark the centenary of what was a truly visionary infrastructure project for our city. We began today with the installation of a scale model of the once-ubiquitous 'Hitachi' suburban train (the last suburban trains with opening windows to run in Melbourne) in the parlour of the former departmental and vice-regal carriage 'Norman'. We will soon be setting up a display of photographs that will document both the initial electrification project and also the ongoing development of the network and its rolling stock. Keep an eye on our page for further announcements on this exhibition!

07.01.2022 Our friends at Victorian Goldfields Railway be working on K160 at Newport Workshops tomorrow to continue its major overhaul back to running condition. They have volunteers, they have time, but they're short on funds. Any money you can donate will be gratefully received and all donations over $2 are tax deductible. http://www.vgr.com.au/k160appeal.php

06.01.2022 Keep a lookout for these stolen items.

01.01.2022 The Loch Community Development Association has been invited to attend a meeting with South Gippsland Shire Council to discuss their next steps with a proposed r...ail trail through our communities, following their recent confirmation of an 18 year lease on the rail corridor. We are mindful there are people in the community that are supportive of a tourist rail option, as proposed by Southern Rail Group. We would welcome your views on priorities for these two initiatives. See more