Gippsland Historical Model Railway. in Bass, Victoria | Sport & recreation

Gippsland Historical Model Railway.

Locality: Bass, Victoria

Phone: +61 3 5678 2014

Address: Bass Village 3992 Bass, VIC, Australia

Website: http://gippslandmodeltrains.weebly.com/

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25.01.2022 Update Sunday 15 March 2020. I am sore, tired, injured, blistered, wounded after a run-in with my circular saw and getting over food poisoning. But most of all I am excited. After working on the foundations round the clock for the past three weeks, Ive managed to pull off the impossible. Ive finished the foundations just in time for the concrete footings to be poured tomorrow. Ive never done so much walking, picking and shovelling in my life. This was essential if I were to hold to the delivery date of this coming Friday. However, theres still a lot to do before then. After six years of perseverance, its going down to the wire.

25.01.2022 Update Thursday 30 January 2020. Today I applied for a new permit application, the 3rd one in 4 years. This involved drawing up new site and foundation plans and submitting a total of 8 documents. I talked to my original courier today who is charged with removing the bogies and ancillary parts off carriage 1909T at Newport - at Victracks cost. This task is to take place next week. I hope to go to Newport next week to view the work, take more video footage and double check some of the measurements for the foundations. I am expecting delivery sometime around late February to Mid March. Weather looks like holding up until at least mid March. Timing is everything from now on.

24.01.2022 Update Saturday 8 August 2020. Glad to be back inside the carriage after a months interruption with work and home duties. With the Covid-19 thingy, Ive had to postpone the cutting of the floor because the people I had arranged to help me cannot come here due to the latest restrictions. But I have plenty to do in the meantime. Ive started to mark out the two sections where the floor is to be cut. This may sound like a relatively simple task but its actually very time-consu...ming because the measuring up starts outside the carriage where I have had mark out where the cross beams are on the undercarriage, then transfer these measurements to the inside and use them as my starting points. This is not helped with certain areas of the carriage not square, making it difficult to know where to mark out my datum lines. But as always, for every problem theres a solution. The photos are of me dismantling the frames today (Saturday). I started on these last month, as mentioned in my previous post. This is another physically-hard, labour-intensive task. I anticipate that it will take me about two weeks to completely remove and clean up all 12 sections. Its a terrible job as these particular areas have been built like a brick shithouse, i.e.bolts/screws/rivets and accompanying glue thats near impossible to remove. As a result, Im not going to remove all of it, just whats needed. Cheers, Ian.

23.01.2022 Update Monday 27 July 2020. Yes Im still here. Been working hard with real work over the past month. Gotta keep my customers happy. Ill be free next week then its back to the carriage. When I left it last, I had started to remove the inside panels near the doorways. These need to go to give the station masters access either side of the layout. After partially dismantling the first one, I can see that Im in for yet more physically-demanding work. I also want to start marking out the floor in readiness for cutting two large areas for the planned lower decks. Bye for now.

22.01.2022 Update Sunday 29 March 2020. A week has passed quickly. Quite a bit of work needed to be done on the carriage before I can get to work on the layout. No rear door - had to be boarded up. One of the side double doors is jammed open - this too had to be boarded up. The Interior was filthy - the floor in particular. Have had a rethink in cutting the floor to create two basements. The logistics and consequences when the carriage is moved at some point in the future are too great.... Instead, the layout will be reconfigured. This will mean that Ill no longer be able to mirror image MMRSs layout as planned. No big deal. With the floor cleaned, Ive started to remove the seats. Only managed two so far at an average of around one hour each. This is not being helped by the poor workmanship when the seats were installed. Near enough is good enough and/or what you dont see wont matter. Some of the seats were so badly installed that they cant be lifted out without removing the aluminium trims and window frames. But this aint gonna happen. If I cant come up with a practical solution I will have to cut away some of the seats fibreglass structure in order to remove them.

22.01.2022 Update 20 March 2020. Another exhausting day. Up at 6:30am. Lots of phone calls to coordinate everything. Where the hell is my carriage? Finally it arrives over an hour after the expected time. We find on arrival thats its several tons over the anticipated weight. Crane drivers are worried. Despite keeping the ground as dry as possible since last December, all of the vehicles sunk. But the ground just held up enough with the aid of bog mats. But would it fit on the foundations as planned. Yes it fitted. After 6 years of planning an disappointments, Hitachi carriage 1909T is now safe and secure in Bass. Yippee! In the foreground is one crane and you can just make out the second crane at the other end. Let the project begin.

21.01.2022 Update Wednesday 22 January and its all good news for a change. Today I did a 4-hour round trip to Newport for about the 6th time in 6 years. Another 50 bucks gone (linked day pass and fuel). The meeting only went for about 10 minutes. However, the deal has been done. We now have a carriage, Hitachi 1909T and its in reasonable condition, especially the interior. Just needs a thorough steam clean. ETD is around mid February. Weather looks like holding up, so too the ground a...t Bass, which has now firmed up. Oh and by the way, Vicktrack has had a last-minute change of heart. Ive now been offered to take only the cabin. Victrack is going to have the bogies and some ancillary bits removed at Victracks cost. This will mean a significant reduction in costs at both ends. Looks like Im not going to go broke afterall - well not immediately anyway, lol. See more

21.01.2022 Hi all. And so the saga continues. I finally received a new quote for transporting our Hitachi, after spending weeks preparing my property so that I could produce a decent video of the lay of the land for whichever courier gets the transporting job. Ive also re-drawn the plans to accommodate the extra tonnage expected to sit on the foundations. Unfortunately, the quote is around 4 times more than the original quote. I can live with double the cost but not quadruple. As a result I have been forced to get several quotes from other companies. For the first time in over 5 years I am beginning to feel pessimistic. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?

20.01.2022 Update Monday 19 October 2020. Steady progress is continuing on carriage 1909T. The inside doorway panels and internal parts have been removed. It took 30 to 40 hours overall to complete this phase of the work during September and October. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WyW0Uq5Buk

20.01.2022 Update Monday 23 December 2019. What to do next? That is the dilemma. The original quote for the cab was under $5,500. This has now risen to around $18,000 in having to take the whole carriage under the new arrangement. Ive now sourced independent quotes from other couriers and crane companies and already Ive saved around $4,000. However, there are dubious conditions on some of the quotes whereby if things do not go according to plan I could end up paying for unexpected del...ays at the rate of $750 an hour for trucks and cranes collectively lying idle. This is simply not good enough. My budget for the move is $12,000. With Xmas upon us Ive now missed out on getting the permit for the year but I could start digging the new foundations if I could firm up some quotes. Unfortunately everyone has knocked off for Xmas so for the time I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. See more

20.01.2022 Update Sunday 15 November 2020. Not much has been happening since my last update because I'm presently taking advantage of our council's free, three-week, green waste removal. I've also had some issues with the loaned grinder. Concerned of its longevity, I decided to return it and buy my own. The video on Part 2 of the removal of the inside doorway panels was completed last week but I'm not happy with it, so it's back to the drawingboard. Stay tuned.

20.01.2022 Update Thursday 2 April 2020. With the seats removed (cushions go tomorrow) and the preliminary cleaning out of the way as of today, so begins the fun part - making the mock-up. I anticipate it will be completed within a couple of weeks. Removing the seats was physical demanding and very draining. Glad to see the backend of this process. Follow the carriages progress (and more photos) here: https://gippslandmodeltrains.weebly.com/the-progress.html

20.01.2022 Update Friday 5 June 2020. Heres the long awaited video of the model railway project. Its taken two months to complete. The Foundations. Ill let the video do the talking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abKTPunEU4o&t=7s Presently, the design phase of cutting the floor is in progress. Watch this space.

19.01.2022 Update 22 February 2020. If I were religious I would think she doesnt want me to get this carriage. The permit was delayed a week. My fault for not reading the terms in the fine print - BUGGER! Good news is, the permit came through on Friday and Ive already locked in 2 cranes for Bass - YIPPEE! Courier was supposed to check out the carriage last Monday and get back to me with a quote. He forgot - BUGGER! Rang him yesterday (Friday) but hes gone away for 10 days can you bel...ieve. Ive asked someone else in the company to sort it out on Monday, pronto. The digger chap was coming next Monday to dig the holes for the foundations but you guessed it, his machine broke down yesterday (Friday) and he cant get here until next Tuesday - BUGGER! But what can one do in these situations? Stay cool and solve the problem! Im making good headway with other areas of the foundations, as theres quite a lot of prep work to be done. As Ive never done this sort of thing before, its a matter of designing and/or planning what needs to be done in ones dreams or whilst driving the car then put it into practice the next day. I have to be one step ahead of the contractors to keep costs to a minimum. Keeping on top of this to ensure that everything falls into place just at the right time is a massive task. Reluctantly Ive now forwarded the delivery date from Thursday 5 March to Tuesday 10 March. At this point in time the ground at Bass is holding up, though theres one area thats causing some soggy issues but I think it will be fine as long as I ensure that the plastic covers get put out well before any further rain appears. Weather is still looking okay for the next 17 days, yes Im counting the days and keeping an eye on the satellite radar map around the clock. Were expecting only 2 heavy downpours between now and the 10th with the rest of the time remaining relatively dry to very dry. Its all coming down to the wire now. Once the holes have been dug out next Tuesday and Ive prepared them further in readiness for an inspection a couple of days later, it will take a further 5 days to complete the foundations in readiness for the carriage. This will take us to Tuesday 3 March, allowing a week for the foundations to harden and/or for any further delays. And dont worry, Im logging every step of the way with photos or video footage, so youll get to see the current progress and delivery at some point down the track.

19.01.2022 Hi All. Its been awhile since I posted something. Thats because nothing much has happened. The sticking point has been trying to get my very busy courier to come and inspect my property. In the meantime, Ive sent the company a video of the property accompanied with a new site plan. But someone still has to inspect the place in person, which is fair enough. But at last I got a call today saying that an employee is coming here next week to assess the lay of the land. If he s...ays, "Yes we can do it," then its full steam ahead. If not, well I dont want to think about that. For those who are interested, heres that video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXSDt4SNKg0&t=199s Oh yes and Im not getting an M (motor) carriage. Instead I will have to settle for a T (trailer) carriage. Reason being, the logistics and cost of a 40 ton motor carriage was going to be astronomical. A trailer or standard carriage is around 10 tons lighter and not having the pantograph or air-cons on top keeps it within the standard height range, thereby keeping the costs to a minimum.

19.01.2022 Update Thursday 19 March 2020. Im too bloody stuffed to think straight after another 12-hour stint so Ill keep it brief. My hands are so sore from cuts and splinters that I can barely write. Carriage is arriving tomorrow. Lots of coordinating to do in the meantime. Are the foundations ready? Well almost. A chap was supposed to drop in this evening to back-fill the foundations but he was unable to make it. Ive managed to get a local to do it in the morning before the carriage arrives. I am up at 7am for a 2-hour round trip to get some bog mats. Will be glad when this is all over.

18.01.2022 Update 27 December 2019. Ive now sourced independent quotes from transport and crane companies and in doing so Ive saved around $4,000. But its still going to be a bloody expensive carriage, even though the Government has given it to me for free. So do I pay out around $14,000 or not? I still have to pay for a new permit and concrete for the new foundations. Yes or no?

18.01.2022 Update Thursday 9 April 2020. Well today a milestone was reached. I ran a train for the first time. This wouldnt mean much to the reader but its taken 6 years for this to occur, so for me its moreso a great relief rather than a thrill. Now begins the fun of laying out the 88 legs and configuring tabletops to resemble the scale model. The legs took 4 days to complete and comprised of just under 600 pieces. While this might seem a bit over the top, I can assure you that the method chosen for the mock-up is very efficient. Theres around 2 weeks work in building the mock-up. More photos showing the latest progress can be found here. https://gippslandmodeltrains.weebly.com/the-progress.html

17.01.2022 Update Wednesday 5 February 2020. One step closer to reality. Today at Newport our carriage was lifted off its bogies. Was expecting most parts of the undercarraige to be removed. Not so. Yet another problem to resolve and possibly a last minute amendment to the foundations. Will be going to Newport in the coming days to take more measurements and do some more filming while I am there.

16.01.2022 Update Monday 30 March 2020. Now this has a feel good feeling about it. Managed to remove that stubborn 6-seater. One compartment down (4 seats removed), a few more compartments to go, Due to now not cutting two 5m pathways in the floor to make two basements, Ive decided to make a full size mock-up, rather than alter or make another scale model. Im now sourcing suitable material for the mock-up.

16.01.2022 Update 7 August 2019. I received a letter this week from the Victorian Minister for Transport, confirming my suspicion that the Minister had intervened in this matter after receiving my letter. Ive now been officially given the go-ahead to remove Hitachi Cab M273 from Newport Railway Workshops. Yippee! However, logistically this changes a number of things. As I now have to take the carriage fully in tact, the 20 ton load becomes over 40 tons and the truck and two cranes required become much larger and heavier. The logistics of placing the carriage onto my property will now require some lateral thinking and I still have to find around $20,000 to make it happen, which is more than double my original budget. A gofundme page has been set up to help raise the money needed. https://www.gofundme.com/f/gippsland-historical-model-railw

15.01.2022 Update Wednesday 4 November 2020. Steady as she goes. Today I cut the steel through to the underneath of the 2nd and 3rd leg of one of the lower decks. I could have dislocated my shoulder due to a massive kickback caused by a shredded grinding disc - but I didn't. I was warned this could happen. It's happened frequently but today's kickback was quite a jolt. This part of the renovation demands a lot of physical strength. As such, I'm only cutting one leg of the length or one ...to two lengths of the width per day. It takes roughly 3/4 of an hour to cut each leg. I wear out one grinding disc per leg. Four legs have now been cut with four to go. I bought a grinding disc yesterday that supposedly cuts through stainless steel. I'll try this out once I've completed cutting the normal steel around the perimeter of both lower decks. For those of you who don't know what kickback is in engineering terms, it's when the high speed grinding wheel jams up or comes to an abrupt halt, causing the machine to take off in the opposite direction - with the user still holding on to it. This usually does not cause death - but it does scare the shit out of you. Hopefully I'll live to tell the rest of the story in the coming days. If you are new to my page, the floor consists of a 3mm vinyl top, a corrugated steel base with a 13mm profile and 3mm wall thickness, sandwiched in between 36mm of plywood. The vinyl and plywood were cut last week using an ordinary hand-held circular saw. The stainless steel was only discovered recently when the grinder hit a snag, in fact several snags in the form of what I presume to be stainless steel strapping laid in between the plywood and the steel base. I just ordered four block and tackles. These will be used lower the cut floors into their new positions. The machine I'm holding in the photo is a large grinder, aka demolition cutoff saw, aka demo saw. Cheers, Ian.

15.01.2022 Update Monday 5 October 2020. Another milestone reached yesterday. I completed dismantling the interior doorway panels - and what a hell of a task it was. The first panel was removed back on 8 August. Why has it taken so long? Well apart from home duties and work for my business customers, there were many days where I simply couldn't face going down the back to the carriage to do the same repetitive task over and over again, not to mention that it was another physically-deman...Continue reading

14.01.2022 Update Monday 14 September 2020. Haven't done much in the past couple of weeks, only because I wasn't looking forward to the next stage of removing the inside doorway panels, that being the final cleanup. After making up some steel jigs to use as stoppers to prevent me from grinding back the metal too far along the delicate steel and aluminium vertical parts, I discarded the jigs after the first two sections because my skill level in grinding over the past few months has real...ly turned me into a pro. Hence, I was able to grind the parts flush to the aluminium strips either side of the green pole with a high degree accuracy without the use of jigs. While each section takes around 1-1/2 hours of painstaking work to complete, the procedures have worked out easier than I thought they were going to be. It's now just a matter of getting on with the task at hand. So far it's 3 down and 9 to go. There's still some fine sanding to do once the grinding procedure has been completed on all 12 sections. See more

14.01.2022 Update 15 February 2020. Yesterday I enacted my insurance policy. 150m of plastic covering. I only bought it two days earlier. I procrastinated for sometime as the radar map looked like the main storm would bypass Bass. It did. Nevertheless, at this stage of the proceedings I cant afford to have any rain at all on the property. The plastic took around two hours to lay on Friday and I finished just as the rain came. The transport vehicle carrying the carriage, collectively wi...ll weigh about 40 tons and the two crane trucks weigh about 36 tons each. I borrowed a laser-level today so that I can calculate the depth of the holes, which will be about 1200-1300mm deep. Ive already marked out where theyre going. Ill make a start on digging the holes as soon as the rain stops, in preparation for the auger (a bloody big drill) coming in next week to dig four holes 1200mm square. Things are starting to fall into place at long last but theres still a lot of coordinating to do for everything to come together. Expected arrival of carriage 1909T is now between the last week in February and the second week in March. Cant wait. Stop Press: Rain looks like clearing today. http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR022.loop.shtml

13.01.2022 (I must learn to keep my fingers clear of the lens, lol.) https://youtu.be/RJoWw_4yh6E

12.01.2022 Update 13 February 2020. Following more emails back and forth and more pulling out of hairs on my part, Victrack came to the party at the last minute and agreed to take off the rest of the parts in order to keep my transport and crane costs to a minimum. Thank you Victrack. Last Sunday I went to the museum at Newport, located in the rail yards, to check some measurements on the Hitachi housed there. I then went to Newport again last Wednesday, to where our carriage was being ...dismantled, to oversee the final stages of dismantling and to ensure that there would be no further holdups. Our carriage will be ready next week. In the meantime, I can now start digging the foundations. The ground at Bass is looking good, which has been helped along by the daily easterly winds over the past two weeks blowing right down my property and assisting the ground to continue to get firmer. As an insurance policy, yesterday I bought 200m x 4m of plastic to cover the ground should heavy rain occur. So far Bass has escaped any substantial rainfall over the past few months. Still have to firm up a quote, now that we are getting the cabin section only. This will be followed up with a delivery date, pending the quote and pending the permit, both of which I am expecting anytime from now. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? NEARLY!!! This month can you believe will be six years since first inquiring about the availability of a Hitachi carriage and over ten years since dreaming up the idea of building a community model railway. My motto has been, "One step at a time, dont argue, negotiate, every problem has a solution and last but not least, never give up on your dream." I have tentatively booked a prominent spot for a major story in the Sentinel Times (Bass Coasts major newspaper). Our slogan will be, Wonthaggi Railway to reopen - just not as you know it.

12.01.2022 Update Thursday 29 October 2020. Part 2, the video on removing the inside doorway panels, is almost finished. Work on cutting the floor has begun. This is the most dangerous and unpredictable phase of the project as there are so many unknowns. Hopefully I'll still be alive to tell the story when it's been completed. Recently I found two inspiring videos. This one I like because the construction method is very similar to the way Gippsland Historical Model Railway will be built.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHL55gHJEkw The one is awe-inspiring which ever way you look at it. ww.youtube.com/watch?v=vvbg_tL9JXM To all our followers, you are invited to help add to the layout. While the overall design is pretty much fixed - with a bit of room to move, I'm open to suggestions regarding the landscape. Now please don't think I'm arrogant if I say, "I've already thought of that," because over the past 6 years I have been constantly storing things in my mind and there's not much I haven't thought of. Nevertheless, I do welcome your input. Here's some of the things you can expect to see on the layout: * Over 200 metres of track winding through a mountainous terrain * A fascinating maze-like walk-through for the general public * Overhead crossovers, tunnels and secluded passageways * Ships transporting cargo in miniature oceans and rivers. * Authentic codes and signalling used throughout the layout for our timetable running days. * Miniature plots of land and houses available to purchase * Publican rights to manage a miniature railway station * Real Time train driving as viewed from the driver's cabin (not a simulator) I'll be back in a few days with Part 2. Bye for now. Ian.

12.01.2022 Update Monday 14 September 2020. Havent done much in the past couple of weeks, only because I wasnt looking forward to the next stage of removing the inside doorway panels, that being the final cleanup. After making up some steel jigs to use as stoppers to prevent me from grinding back the metal too far along the delicate steel and aluminium vertical parts, I discarded the jigs after the first two sections because my skill level in grinding over the past few months has real...ly turned me into a pro. Hence, I was able to grind the parts flush to the aluminium strips either side of the green pole with a high degree accuracy without the use of jigs. While each section takes around 1-1/2 hours of painstaking work to complete, the procedures have worked out easier than I thought they were going to be. Its now just a matter of getting on with the task at hand. So far its 3 down and 9 to go. Theres still some fine sanding to do once the grinding procedure has been completed on all 12 sections. See more

12.01.2022 Update Tuesday 25 August 2020. Well the last two side panels sections were removed yesterday. Now to clean up whats left with the grinder and an array of sanding discs. I hope to have this rotten task done by the end of the week. Then its on to cutting the floor in two areas. This will be a massive task that will take a lot of careful planning, as it will be potentially very dangerous work. My aim is to have the two lower decks completed by the end of September. The ground ...is sodden here and getting worse. Just as well I dug the foundations to a minimum depth of one metre right down to the clay and beyond. Had I gone with the original plan of 20-40cm deep, I reckon the carriage would have sunk or tilted by now. The estimated weight of 20 tons turned out to be 24 tons, according to the crane company. That extra weight cost me an additional $1000, bringing the total cost of the delivery to around 11-1/2 grand. I still have my sights set on having trains running by Xmas. By that I mean having all the tables installed and track laid from one end to the other. Ive recently been offered an end door which was missing. However, due to the Covid-19 restrictions Im unable to pick it up.

11.01.2022 Update Sunday 19 April 2020. Yes its been awhile. But I havent been lying idle. Today I completed Stage 1 of the layout, that being the base table height of the mock-up. Thankfully I had the scale model to use as a guide. Even so, it was quite a task to get everything to fall into place over the past week. The standalone legs worked a treat, as they enabled me to move them around any which way as the layout progressed from one end to the other. Not cutting the floor to make... way for two basements for the overhead crossovers means that I now have to come up with another solution, of which there are several. But the most practical way is to include helixes (spiral staircases) in the layout. However, this is easier said than done. While there are 10 places where trains cross the public walkway, these can be cut down to 6, as some of them will be ustilised more than once. But crossovers require 2 helixes per side, i.e. 1 for the trains to go up and 1 to go down. Unfortunately, this now means that I wont be able to duplicate my other clubs station to station track distance, which was in the master plan. So the task at hand is where to place the helixes without compromising the intrigue and unpredictability of the layout. To start this process Ive made several cardboard circles roughly the diameter of a 44" helix, also the diameter of the radius track to be used. The cardboard cut-outs will be overlayed around various parts of the layout in the hope of finding a solution to the crossover dilemma. And dont think that all helixes ascend. Descending helixes are also being considered. A job I was not looking forward was cleaning the seat cushions. It was suggested to sell the seats as they came out of the carriage but thats not my way of doing business. Conway and I started cleaning 196 cushions on Saturday arvo and finished on Sunday arvo. Cleaning the fibreglass seat bases started a couple of weeks ago and progress has been steady. 17 of the 24 seats have now been sold.

10.01.2022 Follow the carriages progress here: https://gippslandmodeltrains.weebly.com/the-progress.html

10.01.2022 Update Monday 31 August 2020. Stage 2, removing the inside doorway panel sections, was completed over the weekend. This involved more cutting but mainly grinding everything flush. What a shit of a job! While it took a lot longer to do than actually removing the panels, I knocked it off in less than 5 days just to get it behind me. Stage 3 involves the same procedure but with finer sanding equipment, Stage 4 is cleaning off the glue and muck on and around the metal frames and Stage 5 is the final sanding, cleaning and painting of the said sections. For those who missed the start of this operation, scroll down to Saturday 8 August 2020.

08.01.2022 https://youtu.be/SvK_2zP449k Great footage from 1.25 shows a great variety of carriages on this haul.

08.01.2022 Update Wednesday 11 September 2019. This coming Friday Im visiting Newport to inspect Hitachi Cab 273M. While there Ill be taking video footage for my next video for YouTube, measuring up the carriage for the foundations, inspecting rail track to look at some options on how to seat the carriage at Bass and anything else I can think of.

07.01.2022 Update Sunday 9 August 2020. Thought Id make a short video to show you the current progress. I do appreciate all of our followers, including your comments and likes. It gives me inspiration and urges me to keep the videos coming. https://youtu.be/_4qXBncNU_k

07.01.2022 Update Wednesday 18 March 2020. To say this has been a horrendous week would be an understatement. The foundations have been extremely labour-intensive right throughout each process. Preparing the mesh for the footings on Monday nearly killed me. The concrete truck turned up in the arvo while I was still trying get things sorted. Smoothing out the concrete was another arduous task, particularly as the footings are well below ground. Tuesday was tidying up the footings and fur...ther prep work for the pillars. The pillars were installed and aligned today. I had intended to use a heavy duty car jack but to no avail. Instead I used a long fence post as a cantilever. I ended another 12-hour day by cementing some broken bits off the pillars. I got word tonight that the steel brackets that will sit atop the pillars are ready; these were the last items to be made. Tomorrow I have a bit more work to align the pillars, fit the brackets, back-fill the foundations and have a clean-up, thats if I dont keel over first. I am running on adrenalin atm. Just hope my body keeps producing it for another 24 hours. See more

06.01.2022 Update 11 January 2020. Well next week is crunch time. I meet up with the courier at home and with the crane truck driver at Newport who is going to do the lifting there. Last week I met up with the crane truck driver who is going to do the lifting at Bass. He had serious concerns about the planned method of lifting the carriage off the truck. These concerns have now been addressed but it involves yet more money to be spent - lots, lots more. By the end of next week I should know if this is all going to take place. Stay tuned.

06.01.2022 Update Saturday 7 March 2020. The rain we had earlier in the week caused a major setback. I had the covers on for the trucks but not for the foundations. I wasnt expecting it to rain and rain and keep on raining. Hence, water filled the four holes. Three days later, lots of pumping via a mates water pump, hours upon hours of scooping with an icecream container, more shovelling, more scooping, more shovelling and I am back on track. Having said that, Ive now lost several da...ys and my window of opportunity is fast closing. If I cant get the footings poured by mid to late next week the project could be in jeopardy. The good news is that I still have lots of digging to do to widen the holes. Hows that good news you might ask? Well the flooding caused the rock-hard clay to turn to cheese, so to speak, making the final lot of digging almost a joy to do. The bad news is that despite having the covers going right to my neighbours fenceline, water from what I suspect to be a drainage issue has waterlogged where the couriers truck is going to back in and this water is now seeping into the nearest hole, threatening the project. I can only hope that the next week of warmish days will dry out the ground enough to pour the concrete. Basically, next week is now or never week. Heres hoping. Tomorrow I get back onto the timber frames for the footings. I have to design an arrangement whereby I have a way to line up the frames in their correct positions around 1m below ground.

05.01.2022 Update Saturday 31 October 2020. Well there's no turning back now. The unknowns I alluded to in my previous post came to fruition. I'll elaborate on these in my video. But I did manage to cut the vinyl and timber with my little hand-held saw but at the expense of two $40 carbide tipped saw blades - mmmmm, had something to do with those unknowns, known as hidden screws. I was lent a demolition saw, aka demo cut-off saw, aka bloody big grinder, to cut through the corrugated ste...el base. The most dangerous part about this machine is the vicious kick-back, aka, a jam when you least expect it. But there were more unknowns. There appears to be two flat stainless steel beams sandwiched in between the plywood and steel base; the grinder seems to have no effect on these. As it's going to take 6 to 8 grinding wheels to cut through the whole 21m of the steel base, I may need to invest in a diamond coated saw blade - if only to cut through the stainless steel. Cheers, Ian. See more

05.01.2022 Update Friday 3 April 2020. Very productive day today. Got a tipoff where I could get some cardboard tubes to act as legs for the mock-up. While I have used this method in the past, I had decided to use timber this time as it was going to be difficult to source enough tubes to do the job. That was until today when I was able to pick up ample tubes to make at least 50 legs. With the help of my friend and member of our club, Conway, I managed to cut all the necessary timber pie...ces for the leg bases before dark to make at least 50 self-standing legs. Tomorrow Ill finish cutting and sanding the tubes then begin gluing them to their base boards. I also picked up heaps of old carpet from the same place. This will be handy for the carriage to act as a dust collector and it will also make it a bit easier on my feet - only socks inside from now on. Follow the carriages progress (and more photos) here: https://gippslandmodeltrains.weebly.com/the-progress.html

04.01.2022 Update Friday 8 May 2020. For the past couple of weeks Ive been procrastinating over the design issues around cutting the floor. There are several ways to go about this complex task. One way is to cut a snake-like path in two sections as planned. Another way is to cut multiple rectangles in the same two sections. Both ways would require rather complex side wall arrangements and they would have to be done right the first time. However, a third way and the option I am leaning ...toward, is cutting two large areas 3m x 2.1m in the two mid sections. Forget about the negative aspects. On the positive side, this would mean the cutting would be much easier and cleaner, there would be little or no restrictions in designing the walk-through, and the new walls (around 76cm/30" deep) could be made from only four straight pieces of metal per section. Also, any deviation from the original design due to unforeseen circumstances could be altered with ease by having a large flat area in which to work. I am now working out the least expensive, most appropriate and safest method to go about this. Stay tuned. See more

03.01.2022 Update Thursday 20 August 2020. Got a bit behind during last week. Only managed to dismantle 4 side panel sections over 5 days. However, armed with new cutting and grinding accessories I bought last Saturday and having worked out the most efficient way to dismantle the said sections, I thought I would attempt to dismantle 4 sections in one day. So on Sunday, and to my pleasant surprise, I removed them in only a few hours, much quicker than any of the previous 4 sections. On M...onday I started to throw out and dismantle the temporary legs, as there was no needed to keep theses any longer now that most of the layout has been worked out. Today (Thursday) I had a big clean-up for the photo-shoot because the carriage was in a hell of a mess as it hadnt been cleaned for months. Attached is a photo of where I am up to so far. All going to plan the final 4 sections will be dismantled over the coming days. I then have the arduous task, if it wasnt already, of scraping, grinding, sanding, cleaning and painting whats left of these sections. This process could take another week to complete. The marked out lines on the floor using masking tape is the first stage of preparing the floor for cutting. The method of cutting has been decided. The 150mm x 80mm u-shaped cross beams underneath the carriage are to be cut with plasma cutting equipment or the like, while the 55mm thick floor is to be cut with a reciprocating saw, not a demolition saw as was first suggested. The overall depth is simply too deep to cut in one go. I hope to get the cutting underway within the next few weeks. Whats a reciprocating saw you might ask? https://www.protoolreviews.com//best-corded-recipro/51278/

03.01.2022 Update Monday 25 May 2020. So whats been happening? Not much! Working out how to cut the floor is a lengthy process. Plans for the proposed layout, which include detailed drawings of the two lower decks, are now complete and ready to send away for approval. However, Ive decided to withhold sending them and to cut the floor or have it cut in the next few weeks then play around with it for a couple of months before committing. This will give me time to make any adjustments I ...may not have foreseen on the scale model or the full size mock-up. I had planned on both lower decks being 3m long, which is the maximum length of my local steel mans bender. But the parameters I have to hold to, regarding the cross beams on the undercarriage and the walk-through on the inside, mean that both cut sections will need to be well over 3m. So I now have to source a company which has a bender around 3.5m long. I also have the rotten task of removing mounds of clay left over from the foundations, which is being hampered by the wet, muddy and partially flooded area surrounding the carriage. Cant thank my intuition enough for going the extra mile and digging the foundations 1m down to clay and laying four 1m square concrete footings. Had I gone with the original idea of shallow foundations, I reckon the 24 ton carriage would have started to sink or keel over by now, so sodden is the ground atm. I spend around 2 hours a day digging, picking, raking and shovelling clay from around the carriage to a pile 40m away. Once done, Ill bring in new top soil and re-grass the area. Its a physically demanding job. At the rate Ive been going over the past couple of weeks, the ground should be repaired in about three months time, pending the weather. Ive almost competed a new video about the preparation of the foundations. Another big task. My video editor started off with 78 pieces of footage, which would equate to about three hours of video. So far Ive managed to crop it down to 23 minutes - and still cropping.

02.01.2022 Hi all. Heres the deal with the carriage as of today, 24 August 2019. The initial cost for Stage 1 was around $9,000. It could now rise to around $25,000 due to having to take the carriage fully intact. Required are a new permit, new full-length foundations (2 x 26m steel track, 30 sleepers, a few tons of ballast), a larger transport truck, 2 larger cranes, more complex and costly road transport regulations, etc. But Im not giving up. Ive decided to follow through with my plan, even if it sends me broke. Hopefully a generous philanthropist or accumulative donations will prevent this from happening. Im aiming to bring Hitachi 273M to Bass between December 2019 and February 2020 when the ground hardens up again. Please help me bring this project to fruition. Let the fundraising begin.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBKbhY6haKo

02.01.2022 Update Thursday 5 March 2020. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Not far away. Delivery date has now been forwarded to mid or late March. The holes were dug out last week by a paid contractor then I got a friend a few doors up to clean them out further with his excavator. Didnt think there would be much more to do. Three days later and Ive still got more digging to do. Picking and shovelling for an average of 6 hours a day is back-breaking work - literally. Clay is bloodin...Continue reading

01.01.2022 Update Thursday 24 December 2020. Work on the carriage pretty much came to a standstill in December due to continual interruptions on the homefront. So my aim of having trains up and running by Xmas didn't eventuate. Cutting the floor has proven to be as difficult as expected. The stainless steel strapping sandwiched between the plywood and steel base, I believe now to be plain steel about 100mm wide by 4mm thick - bloody hard to cut through all the same. When work came to a ...halt, I had completed most of the cutting of both sections - no turning back now. I visited my train club in Auburn last Friday for its end-of-year breakup. That's the Melbourne Model Railway Society (MMRS). I've also noticed that one of our members has been posting regular video updates on Facebook of our running nights. One thing that came up for discussion during the night was how to set up my carriage. DC, DCC or both. I've collected more than enough gear to run DC but I know the future is DCC. What to do, that is the question? Idea #1. Get rid of all my DC stuff and begin with DCC. Idea #2. Build two tracks, one for DC and the other for DCC. Idea #3. Set up one track to cater for both DC and DCC. All three ideas have merit and are possible but which way to go! What would you do? Bear in mind, the layout will be set up for timetable running. See you next year, Ian. .