A very special pair of Rail Tractors......

On a recent trip back to Melbourne I was fortunate enough to secure this very special pair of rail- tractors. They are a Victorian Railways (VR) Rail Tractor and a Massey-Ferguson "6 Ton" Rail Tractor/Locomotive. Both of these rail-tractors were hand built by Harry Grosvenor and came packaged in their original box along with a delightful warehouse structure diorama named none other than "Grosvenor Rail Tractors".

Here is an over-all shot of the two rail-tractors and the structure/diorama that they came with.  

The Massey-Ferguson "6 Ton" Rail Tractor posing in front of the building diorama. Both rail-tractors are DC, have working lighting and genuine Kadee couplers.

The Victorian Railways Rail Tractor also taking its position in from of the building diorama. The attention to detail is evident in these models, a testament to Harry Grosvenor and his amazing construction skills.

A big thank you goes out to Paul & Annette at The Buffer Stop in Preston, Victoria for having such and exquisite item in their shop!

My new PCO with thanks to North West Models

I recently took delivery of a PCO van from North West Models. It was PCO 2 in the West Coast Railways livery and I could not be happier with this model.

The model is of excellent quality, both the casting and paintwork are impeccable as is the level of detail. The bogies and wheels all run freely and the model came fitted with Kadee 148 equivalent couplers.

The roof detail is also very impressive, as can be seen from this photo.


I must commend North West Models for producing such a nice model. In addition to this, their level of customer service was very high and delivery time very prompt.

Spare time modelling takes the slow route....

The title of this post is true in many respects. Sadly of late, not alot of time has been spent on modelling due to the many commitments that come with a busy life; work, travel, family and other activities. None the less things have slowed down just a little bit recently and the modelling may begin again.

Construction of the layout has been slow, mainly due to shifting house (another time-sapping activity) and having to re-jig the track plan a little to fit the new location, but these things have been over come and I am again satisfied that I have the basics of a track plan that I am happy with. I will dedicate a future post to the track plan and more layout construction.

Through all this, I have made some new acquisitions, both of these will run "under the wires" on my Victorian Railways themed layout - an E Class electric in VR Blue & Gold as well as a Single Ended Dogbox Pilot in the unmistaken and unmissable Met Colors of Green & Yellow.

E 1108 in Victorian Railways Blue & Gold.













Just another photo of this lovely little locomotive of the Victorian Railways.

113M Pilot in The Met Green & Yellow

This will be sure to add some extra color and spark to the layout on a typical cold "Melbourne" day.

Both of these lovely & striking models were purchased ready to run from Sam's Workshop.

The value of great customer service

Great customer service seems to be something thats lacking in society today, so sometimes when you encounter it, you just feel the urge to go out there and tell everyone about it.

In the last two weeks there are two manufacturers that I have dealt with that really stand out in my opinion - they are Auscision Models & Trainorama.

Both companies were able to deal with my recent orders efficiently, coureously and had the items shipped to me safely and securely packaged.

So a big thanks to both of these comapnies, you obviously understand your customers, understand what they want and will be rewarded by continued business from myself and no doubt more customers in the future.

Keep up the great customer service!

A micro-layout is born....

Looking at all the left over materials from the construction of the framework and base boards of my HO scale "home" layout and after a  few hours of planning, cutting & drilling - the basis of a micro-layout is born.

Here is a photo of the top and frame work that will host a minimum space, micro-layout. The top is 1200mm in length and 450mm in width with a height of 1200mm - frame work of pine and a top of plywood for strength and more importantly - lightweight and portability!

Why such a small layout? Well not only did I want something that could be completed in a short amount of time, but I also wanted the opportunity to show to the modelling world that just because you might think that you dont have the room for a model railway layout, that a small, minimum space layout isn't out of the question and that no matter what scale or gauge you model in, or no matter how large or small your home or flat is - anyone has room for a model railway!

Anyway - this is just the beginning, the framework is there - now for painting to seal the timber and getting the track plan finalised and some track work laid.

Please enjoy and feel free to post any comments.

Thanks for joining me on this journey......

Thanks for joining me on this journey. I have been a long time modeller and collector of model railway items and in particular in HO scale of the Victorian Railways (VR) - modelled on standard HO track to represent the 5'3" broad gauge system that dominated most of the State.

Much of my Victorian Railways motive power and rollingstock is from the period of around the late 1960's through to about the early 1990's, with much emphasis on the transition from the Blue & Gold era of the VR to the Tangerine & Orange colors of Vic Rail & then V/Line. This period was chosen as it gave rise to the opportunity to model a variety of motive power and rollingstock in several different color schemes - adding that point of difference to the collection and the now under construction layout.

More recently I have also decided to venture into the wonderful world of modelling the Western Australian narrow gauge system of the WAGR in Sn3.5 - a well represented Scale & Gauge combination here in Western Australia. S scale modelling on standard HO track gives a very convincing and accurate representation of the 3'6" narrow gauge system.

My models are a collection of; ready to run - off the shelf, kit built, kit bashed and scratch built models in brass, white metal, resin, plastic & styrene with many of them using a mixture of all to acheive the desired results.

Furthermore this will give me an opportunity to display my Victorian Railways "home" layout that is currently under construction as well as my WAGR Sn3.5 portable, minimum space "exhibition" layout that is also under construction.

Who needs therapy when you can just build two layouts, simultaneously ?

On that note, please enjoy & feel free to leave comments.