Jesus.

.......Because again this year, if I have any skill in modelling it is only because it's a gift from Him.

Best wishes for the Christmas Season and the New Year in 2021.

It still runs, no really it does....quite a bit!

I have taken much footage of "Glenburn" over its lifetime, sharing some here in older posts and in more recent years through the Facebook Group, but realised I hadn't shared some of those links here for Blog followers. Here's a few clips (just click on the link) if interested:

An overall view of operations from 2016

https://youtu.be/MY4ZEP3cT78

A brief running of the F Class from 2019:

https://youtu.be/9Cp92ErRllw

In arrears on the Blog.....

So much for keeping this more up to date, I meant well.... The markets area has progressed since last with addition of some detailing, vehicles (by Hauler, Matchbox-modified & Wespe - modified) and a couple of chaps chewing the cud. Backscene also complete, a Rembrandt I am not but hopefully conveys the look. I have also formed and attached the portals and will either ballast/trackbed detail next or wait until the next scene is also done. As always, more recent updates are posted here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AndrewCollierModellingHOVictorian/

Nb. No, the "Kerang & Koondrook" style Sentinel will not work here, the VR held the contract for these sidings, and in any case the spark arrestor wouldn't clear the bridge! I just posed it for the "2 Sentinels" proximity shot.

Cut-Edit-Paste

The next section to build out is the road/overbridge which is based on that area where Flinders St extended under and beyond the Spencer St viaduct, just past the base of Spencer St. Details differ so take it as trying to capture the "vibe" of the area, as our modelling often does. The section is tricky to work in with restricted hand space, so I built the roadway and retaining walls as an insert on a thin sheet of styrene away from the layout and having completed it sufficiently have attached it into the section. This method has its drawbacks - the scenery is not as solid as build straight to board, but worked well in the instance. Nb. The surfaces are per prototype as far as I can tell from the evidence (alternate views welcome), the VR bluestone pitcher paved the "Fishmarkets branch" as it was with screenings as infill, the roadway way also paver based but in most pictures has a layer of fine dirt, perhaps pressed surface to make it smoother, hence the brown colouring. Sometime toward the end my era it appears to have been tarmac'd taking away this appearance, perhaps in line with the extension of Spencer St across the bridging of the Yarra near here.

Plan: PROV.

Immigration nearly complete.....

Here's the assemblage of Kibri bits nearly complete and installed, the styrene sheeting over some of the detail and "blood and bandages" helping distract from the heavy Euro origins of the kit - A picture of how it was meant to be by Kibri included at base as is a picture of the building it is roughly based on. Quite a few more buildings and such to go before this area is complete but it's good to get the first one under the belt and might tackle the road overbridge next. Just waiting on some small detail items (coal sacks mostly, unlike my model the prototype wasn't rail served) to help bed it in. Just enough to do so and have deliberately not over-detailed this as it would draw too much emphasis to something that's meant to be just one building among many.

 

    

Picture: SLV Excerpt

Same, same but different.... & Wharf progress

Just a note on location of the layout, something some spend a long time wording up, but that's not really my thing. In brief, the suburban section of "Glenburn" has representative elements and traffics of Glenferrie, Auburn, Hawthorn and Deepdene, the city section has representative elements of the area around the now-removed Queens Wharf area and so is located somewhere around there. A great gift of recent years is the digitising of earlier era directories so I can show this approximation appropriately....

 

Both courtesy of the State Library of Victoria, and for fun, here's the cover of the edition I used - 1926:

In the meantime, work continues on the Yarra Wharf area, the paving, track and wharf frontage having been completed, attention turns to trying to convert one of those overtly European kits into something much more Melbourne-ish. A few more layers to go beyond the base shaping and styrene here, but the bones seem right so far.

 

As always, more detail on these developments via the Australian Finer Scale Page where I keep a more regular presence if you're interested:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/AndrewCollierModellingHOVictorian/

............. and back again from the Mountains back to the River

The boomerang it seems and feeling lucky I can engage both interests as suits in the present location. A few pictures of recent work - the two bridges for crossing the Murray anabranch into Tintaldra, one road and one rail, both are modified from Laser Rail Kits beautiful and beautiful to assemble NSWGR open deck trestle, the Truss Bridge the more modified of course. The continuing work on the final part of Glenburn's city section now has suburban stabling sidings and the wooden framework in place for the Yarra River wharves. This is a simpler and less cumbersome outline for this area than the earlier incarnation but I think I can include most of the key scenic bits I would like.