The Culcreuch
Branch
This page currently under construction
The "Culcreuch Branch" as described below ceased to exist late in
2001.
Problems with track work, mainly due to temperature extremes over the
previous
15 years, demanded attention and it was decided that a new layout would
be constructed under our main dwelling in an area previously used as a
double garage. This area was insulated. lined and painted.
Construction commenced on what would be a continuous mainline
running
around the 7 metre x 5 metre room with a branch line, having small
stations
to generate traffic.
Here begineth the resurrection of the "Culcreuch Branch"
 |
The layout uses the basic "L" girder construction using
laminated 9
mm MDF (Two pieces 85 mm wide glued and screwed to provide the vertical
of the "L") This has allowed the layout edge to be curved to
eliminate
square corners. |
| Track has been laid on one of the Branch Line Yards and
scratch built
building and vehicles are temporarily in place |
 |
 |
One of the yards on the main line. The main line, which loops
around
the layout room is fully wired for DCC operation. A Digitrax
Chief,
currently with two DT100 throttles provides control. There are 24
points
where the throttles may be plugged in |
A scratchbuilt "Art Deco" RSA fills one corner of the, yet to
be named
town, on the Branch Line.
The cattle truck is a scratchbuilt OB Bedford, which gained a Third
Place in the model Competitions at the 1976 Wellington Model Railway
Convention. |
 |
This is progress to date 20
June 2005.
PREVIOUSLY
Unlike a large majority of the model railway fraternity I did not
start
out with Hornby Dublo or Marklin. My early years were spent building
numerous
models and structures with Meccano. During the 60’s I became involved
with
slot car racing and was a foundation member of the Heretaunga Slot Car
Racing Club Inc in Hastings. Building and racing car models was most
enjoyable
and culminated in building a 1.32 scale car that set the original NZ
record
for a 100 mile race (actual distance). With the decline in the late 60s
of this hobby in Hawkes Bay, I looked for something which would present
a challenge and give access to a variety of skills.
My first purchase was a Triang tank loco and freight train complete
with an oval of track. Many Superquick kits were purchased and
assembled
and a start made on a layout. Having no reference material was a
handicap
and working on one's own did not help. Frustration was the name of the
game and had it not been for the opportunity of joining the Hastings
Model
Railway Club, I may have given the hobby away. The first meeting of
the Hastings Model Railway Club that I attended was at the home of
Russell
Smith. This was the first time I had seen models of the NZR prototype
and
I was hooked. With encouragement from Russell, John Dunne, Ian McPhee
and
other NZR modellers in the club I set about obtaining Stoker rolling
stock
kits and demolishing my fledgling British Rail empire and building an
NZR
layout. Motive power was required and my first attempt at kit-bashing a
locomotive was under way. A Fleischman 'Black Anna' was purchased and
the
body modified, using plasticard, to build a representation of a Dubs A
0-4-OT. Chimney and domes were turned on a newly acquired
Unimat lathe and attached with the wonder adhesive, Loctite 1S12 This
locomotive ran for some ten years before the plasticard became brittle
and various parts started dropping off. A rebuild in brass was started
and, like Sir Len Southward's first Model T, has not yet been
completed.
I was Chairman of the Convention 74 Committee in Hastings, President
of the Hastings Model Railway Club, Secretary of the Guild in the late
70s, in 1981 foundation member of the Wairarapa Railway Modellers and
currently
Secretary, Secretary of the Wonderful Wairarapa 92 Convention,
Secretary
of the New Zealand Association of Model Railway Clubs from 1993 to 1998
and President of the New Zealand Model Railway Guild Inc from 1996 to
1998.
THE
CULCREUCH
BRANCH
A 1:64 scale slice of New Zealand
This layout is housed in a 9m x 6m converted garage. The aim has been
to
depict portions of the NZR and yards have been
based on actual stations or prototype practice. No particular area
of the country is meant to be represented; rather I have chosen
stations
or yards that have been of particular interest to me, either by their
style,
positioning, or some peculiarity. Sean is based on Matiere on the
Stratford-Okahukura
Line. Kahutara is based on a foreshortened Featherston. Kahutara is the
terminus of the railway proper, with the Katrina Bay being the Port and
industrial sidings accessed from Kahutara.. The layout may be operated
as a continuous loop for just running trains; very handy for trialling
or running in locomotives, etc. During operating sessions the layout is
run in
a point to point configuration.
Let
us board our Model T Railcar, RM 5, at Kahutara for a trip over the
Culcreuch
Branch of the NZR. Leaving Kahutara from the railcar dock, we pass into
a tunnel under the town of Kahutara and emerge to pass over a bridge at
the head of Katrina Bay and enter Sean. Sean is a small station
with
a loop and goods shed siding with back shunt and low loading bank.
Heading
south out of Sean we descend the 1:50 grade and pass through the second
of several tunnels to pause at Whareroto to cross a freight headed for
Kahutara. With clearance obtained we pass under the road bridge and
enter
another tunnel and emerge to pass under a combined road rail bridge on
the Culcreuch - Sherenden Branch before entering Ngaumutawa. Here we
cross
another goods train heading for Kahutara. Leaving Ngaumutawa we again
pass
under a bridge on the Culcreuch - Sherenden Branch before diving into
another
tunnel to emerge alongside Kau Creek which is followed for a short
distance
before being crossed on an 18 span wooden bridge. A short climb brings
us past the abandoned turntable and loco facilities before being
switched
into the railcar dock at Culcreuch, the southern terminus of the
branch.
Culcreuch is an industrial centre with a manufacturing plant serviced
with
its own private siding. A round roofed goods shed, a high loading bank,
stockyards, coal and log traffic make this a busy station.
We are in time to catch a cab ride in the F class 0-6-0ST to the coal
bin at Fernridge on the Culcreuch - Sherenden Branch. Our train
consists
of the F and four empty L wagons. Heading north out of Culcreuch we are
immediately into a 1:47 climb through a tunnel to cross the three span
bridge across the upper reaches of Kau Creek. Passing the Fernridge
junction
we
proceed to Sherenden to run around our train so that we may proceed
up the Fernridge Branch. Climbing still higher we again cross Kau
Creek on a short single span bridge before heading through yet another
tunnel. We slow to pull up under the coal chute at the R W G Fowler
Coal
Company's mine. After filling our four Ls with high grade coal we move
off to drift downgrade to the junction and into Sherenden for the loco
to again run around its train before proceeding down to
Culcreuch.
After leaving the full wagons in the yard the loco is run down to the
loco
depot for servicing. A short walk from the loco facilities and we are
just
in time to get our seat in the standard railcar for the trip back to
Kahutara.
When the layout is used for running-in rolling stock, the train
travels
through Sean, Whareroto, Ngaumutawa, Culcreuch, Sherenden and back into
Sean. This gives continuous running.
Operation
The layout has been designed with operation in mind and a working
timetable
produced which contains the rules and regulations governing the
Culcreuch
Branch. The Culcreuch Branch uses a version of the tried-and-true
car-card
system of dispatching rolling stock. We have adopted many ideas from
articles
in both American and New Zealand publications, and fine tuned them to
suit
our own purposes. The current car card or waybill is a four cycle item,
which has four separate traffic movements. Waybills are placed in a
pocket
on a separate card which is associated with one wagon on the layout.
The
card contains 
information specific to that wagon, while the waybill contains
information
on the traffic movements the wagon will perform. Information
includes:
Destination of the wagon and the receiver of the goods.
Originating
station and the original consignor of the goods. The contents of
the wagon, or if it is loaded at all. At the end of an operating
session
it is the responsibility of the traffic manager to cycle the waybills.
i.e. change the waybills to show the next destination for each car. The
layout is operated under a fast clock giving 24 hours of operation
(midnight
to midnight) in two hours actual time. In all 17 trains are run in the
24 hour period. These include commuter and freight services between
Kahutara
and Culcreuch and workings on the Culcreuch -Sherenden - Fernridge
Branches.
Ideally five personnel are required to operate the layout, although it
can be done with a minimum of three.
Short
yards and tight curves restrict the classes of locomotives that can be
operated on some portions of the Culcreuch and Sherenden Branches. This
has been intentional as I prefer to operate short trains. Why have I
chosen
these particular names for the branch and stations? When we first
shifted to the Wairarapa we lived at Kahutara, 44km south of Masterton.
Sean is named after my son who has grown up with my railway modelling
and
has been the main instigator and developer of the working timetable.
While
Sean was in the local Air Training Corps Squadron he became involved in
gliding and we spent a lot of time flying off an airstrip at Whareroto
in the south Wairarapa. Ngaumutawa is the name of the road where my
factory
is situated and Culcreuch is the name of the family castle in Scotland.
Kau Creek is a polite corruption of the corruption Karl Morris made of
Culcreuch. Fernridge is the area of the Wairarapa in which we live and
Sherenden is where my wife Ann spent her childhood.
Construction
The framing of the layout is the tried and true L girder construction.
In the early stages 3 in x 1 in pine was used for the L girder but
later
construction was carried with 18 mm x 75 mm custom wood planks. This
material
together with the correct screws makes for a very sturdy and reasonably
inexpensive structure (considerably cheaper than pine). The track
work and turnouts at Sean are hand laid using rivets fitted to ply
sleepers
with the rails soldered in place. The rest of the layout is laid with
PECO
track and turnouts. The track base is custom wood cut to suit with an
overlay
of Pinex. The track base was run right round the layout with additional
risers each side of bridge sites and a bearer below. The track was laid
and, when satisfied with the alignment, the baseboard was removed for
each
bridge site and, where required, holes were drilled in the hearer for
the
bridge piles. The piles were pushed through the bearer and the bridge
span/s
offered up under the track. The piles were then pushed up from below to
suit the particular span and glued in place. All bridges have been
built
from NZ Model Railway Guild Plan books. Fifty one piles were driven for
the 18 span curved wooden bridge crossing the lower reaches of Kau
Creek.
The spans are all 10 ft, 11 ft or 12 ft wooden spans. These were
positioned
on the piles and with the aid of a length of in x in the piles were all
driven to their final depth and fastened in place. The sleepers on this
section are a mixture of PC board and
wood. The rail is soldered to the PCB sleepers. The rugged hill country
was built up using narrow strips of card woven, basket fashion, to the
contours required. This matrix was then covered with strips of old
sheeting
dipped in thin plaster. From this base rock faces were formed using
aluminium
cooking foil as a mould. After removal of the mould, some additional
carving
created the effect required. Shadow and additional texture was given to
the rock faces with watered down India ink and various powder colours.
Open country was created using the zip texturing technique. Scrub has
been
created with a mixture of under felt and raw wool. The scrub was
coloured
by a light over spray of black followed by sprinkling on a mixture of
dyed
sawdust and ground foam. In the swamp area of Kau Creek binder twine
has
been used to depict swamp grasses. Trees are a mixture of yarrow,
hydrangea
and some Woodland Scenics.
Locomotives, Rolling Stock & Structures
The locomotives are a mixture of kit and scratchbuilt models covering
both
steam and diesel. Rolling stock is mostly Kit built with some
scratchbuilt.
Apart from the Model T railcar, Standard railcar and an 88 seater under
construction, passenger rolling stock is limited. Bridges, goods sheds
and station buildings are all scratchbuilt. The town behind Kahutara
station
will be a mix of scratchbuilt and modified DPM kits. Control is by Digitrax
DCC (Digital Command Control) using the Digitrax Chief. Locomotives are
fitted with a variety of Digitrax decoders. Turnout control is by
two position rotary switches operating the throw bar by torsion rods.
The
rotary switches provide the mechanical operation of the turnouts as
well
as switching the
frogs. Where it is not possible to use this system, Fulgurex slow
motion
point motors are used. A lot of work is still to be carried out to
complete
the scenery, buildings, ballasting and detailing which is all part of
the
fun of model railroading.
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|
Railside Dsc 426 with train of Q coal hoppers on the bridge
crossing
Kau Creek, between Ngaumutawa and Culcreuch.
The locomotive is fitted with a Digitrax DH140
decoder.
|
| De 506 climbs up into Sean with a short freight en route to
Kahutara.
The locomotive is from a Gorilla kit and is powered with an Anchorage
D10
motor.
The locomotive is fitted with a Digitrax DH140
decoder.
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|
 |
Rm31, Tokomaru, a Standard Railcar in the original Silver,
with Green
stripng on an excursion trip on the Sherenden Branch, preparing to
descend
into Culcreuch.
The railcar is fitted with a DH120
Digitrax decoder
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A very full yard at Culcreuch. Just before he left for
Australia,
a friend, Colin Pike, purchased a Digitrax Chief and asked me to fit
decoders
to his motive power. All models are Sn3½ scale.
From left: Ka 945 4-8-4, Model T Railcar, "88" seater Drewry
railcar, (commonly referred to as Fiats), JA 1211 4-8-2, Dx (U26C) and
Dg. Behind the Dg is a Da (GM G12) |
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|
Over Queen's Birthday 2001, weekend Ian visited the Auckland
9 mm modellers
at the Exhibition they staged in Henderson in conjunction with the
Auckland
3/16 NZR Modellers. The Auckland 9 mm group wanted to set up
their
large layout and insert the new Te Kuiti station modules ready for
wiring
and testing. The new section is 7.2metres long.
in the foreground terry Bradley is building a diamond crossing while
Phil Rzoska and Ian, (background) solder the wiring to PCB rail
connections. |
| Phil Rzoska's DSA was used for checking the continuity of the
wiring.
A meter was available, but the DSA was more interesting. In the
foreground
is the chassis for a 9 mm Df 2 - Co + Co - 2 diesel-electric
locomotive.
During the course of the weekend the new Te Kuiti modules were joined
to
the layout in place of the old Black Creek sections and a
temporary
connection was made to the existing control; panel to allow the layout
to operate for the public on the Monday |
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Top
Updated 5 May 2003
(c) 1998, 2000, 2001 Ian
& Ann Galbraith
