Eugowra, Nanami, Trajere, Nyrang Creek, North Gooloogong...a quick visit.

This last week I had a chance to spend a day traversing some old dirt roads, down by the Eugowra line with my Son Z. We had the best time, and without Z's help on the GPS there would have been no way we would have found as much as we did.

The scenery is fantastic, fresh air and cow pats! We started at Eugowra and took many photos of what is left. A lot of deconstruction around the main station area has seen huge piles of dirt and rail making the area safe for trucks to turn around it seems.

Off to town and we took many photos of the local houses and we were watched by a silver headed fellow in his Aurion, in fact as it turns out he does it to anyone he doesn't know, apparently a one man neighbourhood watch group! So the local ladies in the coffee shop told me.

Down the road we headed and we found Nanami, a stub siding with a timber mill and five S wagons. The area was being used to store farm equipment and had not seen use as a mill for ages. The area was set into the side of a hill, as were other spots on this line.

Once we left Nanami we drove along looking for Trajere when we spotted an old mud brick Church in a paddock close to the road. I find these sort of buildings a real attraction, so out came the camera. It will definitely find its way onto the layout. The outside of the building walls were not completely worn away, as up under the eaves some of the walls were protected enough to keep their surface. I just really loved this spot, trying to imagine who had been here, how it effected the local community, Gods House. 

Oh yeah! Trajere as well, great silo complex. to be honest i'm not sure about all the silos, a heap of work to model, but what a presence on the layout.

Next on the list was Nyrang Creek a loop siding just down the road. It is being used currently by graincorp, and Z loved the idea of illegally trespassing, and with his Dad!

North Gooloogong was last on the list. The Station is about 4km out of town, located in the side of a hill between cow paddocks, quite literally! The area could not be seen from the closest road, in fact without the GPS we would have thought the access road was a dirt driveway. This was by far my favourite spot. Silo, two loading banks, gantry crane  (footings only) and Station (long gone). The whole of the complex was on a curve following the lay of the land. An interesting point if you haven't already noticed, all of the above mentioned silos had their corro roofs painted, just these the other side of Gooloogong and they are unpainted again. It does pose the question though, when were they painted? Did it happen when these stations were opened? More to find out I think.

It was a great day, and has really got the research juices flowing. In case someone reading this can help. Some questions to find out:
1. What was the track layout of Eugowra at opening? Did it have a grain shed at opening?
2. Who ran the timbermill at Nanami, and why are the wagons still there?
3. The Church at Namami, wow! Anyone got anything?
4. Track plans for any of these stations, when they opened, and as they were changed.
5. Any photos of this line?
6. Where and what to ask for when wanting information on trains that ran, what locos, what wagons?

Thanks for reading, what a hoot of a day, I did have the best of company though, Thanks Z, 
have a great week,
Oorroo!
Geoff.

It's down to four...maybe five

A couple of weeks back Daz dropped in some ideas of what could be done in the space that I have out in the garage. The basic plan is for a two level layout with a peninsula ending in a helix which is about halfway along the track plan. It is a great use of space, enabling long stretches for the yards and some scenery between them. Daz, your a generous man of your time and ideas.

So armed with thew basic idea of what the layout could be and the space it creates I started looking at track plans and locations. The main stations start with Eugowra on the top deck along the back wall of the layout, then moving along the left hand side a scenic break before moving into either Trajere or Nanami, then down the helix then into North Gooloogong, then round to under the scenic break above on the left hand wall ending with Canowindra. This means that at each station there is not a yard above or below. The above sketch is mine, Daz has done a much better one.

There is one issue, that being if you follow your train around the layout when you start at Eugowra and head to North Gooloogong (on the lower level with Canowindra) you then have to head around to the other side of the peninsular to again pick up your train before you head into Canowindra. Any ideas of how else to manage this would be great. I'm off to the Toosdy Niters tomorrow night so I'll open up a discussion to see what they come up with.

I've also used the line drawings of three stations to convert them to the spaces I have working on the same ratios so that the the yards are proportioned the same. My first thoughts on the yards is to build them as opened, which basically means no silos and slightly simpler yard layouts, perfect for restricted space for layouts. This also sets the layout in the 1920-30's maybe.

So as an example Eugowra yard to HO scale would be 8872mm long. I have 4000mm for this yard. I simply divided one into the other giving me a reduction rate of 2.218. This then gives a total yard length of 4000mm, stock siding of 2318mm, loop siding of 2726mm, loco siding of 1243mm, and a goods siding of 1699mm long.  These sizes sound ok to me so I've gone on and done the same exercise for Canowindra (total yard length 3938mm), North Gooloogong (total yard length 3624mm),
 and Trajere ( total yard length 2087mm). I don't have a plan for Nanami just yet. These sized yards do fit in the spaces ok. I might be able to reduce the size of Trajere and North Goologong so that the other two main yards appear larger and the space between stations increased for scenic purposes.

I have to get back to the Historical society to get some more specific info on this part of the branch. Have a great week!
Oorroo!
Geoff.