Great Dividing Range Mining Company

[Leggy]

Noel, great to see you on here, think I first saw your WCM on the N Scale Aus site about 7 years ago and have been keen to know more ever since. Great work with the Dash-8 rebuilds too.

I'll post a photo tomorrow but I've built the structure across the doorway and it's ready for a gate to be added in, just gonna have to wait on that till benchwork is underway. Nearly to the point where the main structure is complete and I can start on really getting towards trains having somewhere to run 

[Purrs]

Well thank you Leggy. Good to see the mutual admiration society is still alive and kicking Lol!
I can give you some pics, if only I knew how to embed them in the post. Using an iPad seems to have some limitations.
The locos are kato u30, that replicated what Hamersley Iron did all those years ago, when the cabs were designed by a committee. Bit like a racing camel in the Melbourne Cup. They are definitely only a design that a 'mother can love' espically as it was I who modified the models.
The cabs are a custom etch that I commissioned some time back from a local etcher here in Melbourne, organized throughout another friend of mine, Vic. He does a lot of brass etchings/models for his trucks, signals, fences etc.
Each of the locos has a new cab, footplate, dynamic housing, large capacity fuel tank with fuel filler extensions, large capacity radiator and upgrade exhaust all from brass. The u30's are great locos but with the extra weight (it does add up) they are great performers. Brendan has retrofitted them with digitrax decoders for me as well.
The modelling group we are in are very supportive of each other and provide some great impetus to do things.
I too will be in Brisbane for the next convention, so it would be good to catch up then.

cheers Noel

[Purrs]

Hi Ian,

They are true blue N Scale, 1/160

I've been a N modeller since 1975, so I have experienced the worst and now the best in terms of what is available in our great hobby.

Regards Noel

[Leggy]

I just use the IMG tags around the url copy and pasted from my image host (flickr in my case).

Didn't realise they were U30C rebuilds, bit more unique than the run of the mill Pilbara CM40-8M. I've been considering a similar SD40-2 to SD60 rebuild (SD60S I guess) but it doesn't appear everything will quite fit on the 40-2 frame without it looking odd. If you decide to have any more etches done I'd love to get a couple, not long now till the BHPB Dash-8s are all gone....

I'd be happy to host yourself along with Brendan for a visit during the 2015 convention and I should have the track laid and ready to go atleast. I've not yet made plans to go but I'm not entirely sure if my work or rugby schedule will interfere, got a year and a bit to make tracks anyway....

[Ian MacMillan]

Hi Ian,

They are true blue N Scale, 1/160

I've been a N modeller since 1975, so I have experienced the worst and now the best in terms of what is available in our great hobby.

Regards Noel

Thanks Noel. If you have any more I'd be interested in one!

[Purrs]

Morning Ian,

If you love Ikea, then you would love putting one of these cabs together! Only difference is there are no instructions, no tools and especially no screws. All you have is prototype photo and a very strong urge to build one. Be nifty with a soldering iron, hold your tongue the right way, have a little blessing from above and then you have a finished cab. I think I made 18 in the end.

Noel

[Leggy]

Yay photos! Here's looking in the doorway, the swing bridges will be on the other side and an outward opening door will be on this side, a enclosure around the roller door will also be constructed to help with insulating the area. The end of the peninsula can be seen thru the entrance.



Looking out from inside.



Another view.



And looking a bit towards the right of the last view.

Still debating whether or not to just turn the layout area into it's own room (put a roof on top of the support structure) or just add a very tall wall at the so far non completed side, will nut that out....

[Purrs]

Looking good. Yes, in my opinion, turn into a room. Nothing beats having a dust, light and insect proof room. This then you the ultimate control of the envrionment. Air conditioning, lighting and other creature comforts. If you do anything, at least seal the concrete floor. Bare concrete generates dust when walked on. Keep going........

[Leggy]

I spend most of my time barefoot at home so I will be definitely painting the concrete and laying carpeting over the top. The support structure is 2m tall as it stands but if (and I likely will) a roof if built on top I'll add some height and have it something like 2.5m ish. A smaller room should make airconditioning easier too.

Would be up there right now but I'm out of screws and glue....

[Ian MacMillan]

Morning Ian,

If you love Ikea, then you would love putting one of these cabs together! Only difference is there are no instructions, no tools and especially no screws. All you have is prototype photo and a very strong urge to build one. Be nifty with a soldering iron, hold your tongue the right way, have a little blessing from above and then you have a finished cab. I think I made 18 in the end.

Noel

I am!

[Leggy]

Well another update.....

According to the landlords I've gone above and beyond what they were expecting, guessing they just thought I was going to build some roundy round and that'd be it, not a whole new room in the shed! As such the footprint of the layout has shrunk slightly due to needing access to an unused bookshelf and the apparent 'blocking off' of the garage door. Where an entrance to the layout room is. As it was designed to be.

In all honesty I've gotten a tad bored of being looked at like I'm a dumbass so I've ceeded to the changes asked and the layout is now 1m back from the garage door. Ugh.


Something I've also just realised, is it me or have both the freelanced iron ore haulers posted in this thread got blue and orange as their predominant colours? Appalachian Lines style merger time? 

[Leggy]

Right, so after the above misadventures I've regained lost space but at the requirement of a second swing gate being added to access the as mentioned unused bookshelf. So with that aside things have returned largely to normal....

Today the next lot of locos from Brian arrived and I've got them all sitting on my desk.


Yes, that's Unitrack. No, the layout will not be using it.


Another shot of the P&H 4100 alongside SD80MAC #5004. Both machines owned by the same company.

Now my loco fleet features a number of details some unique to Australian motive power and some just plain normal. To illustrate those features and how the GDRMCo 80MAC differs to the normal SD80MAC I took a couple of shots.



-As can be seen both ends of GDRMCo locomotives do not feature numberboards, this is mainly a legacy of my many years spent drawing GDRMCo locos and not once did I ever put numbers in them. Guess a 15 year tradition isn't meant to be broken?

-Also, no marker lights. Here in Australia normally locomotives feature both red and white markers on both ends, white for when leading a train and red for when at the rear of a consist or bringing up the rear of the train. BHPBIO uses the same white/red combo whilst RTIO only uses red markers on their fleet. GDRMCo locomotives generally did feature markers in the drawings I did of them but when it came time to model them and the sheer number planned the idea was scrapped, partly due to difficulty, partly due to time.

-GDRMCo like the NS is a high headlight only RR and as such the headlights both front and rear are at the top of the cab and above the rear sandbox.

-Due to not having markers there is no need for a shorter sand box on these 80MACs and so the sandbox was extended in height. Whilst the rear of a SD9043MAC could be used the expense of a second shell and time required to make the swap was deemed a no go and a simple block is added to the sandbox to fill in the height.

-One of my favorite model RR's and a large influence on my setting is the Utah Belt and like the UB the GDRMCo is always set in the present. Being a 90's kid I've only ever had modern RRing to look at and that's reflected in what I've created the GDRMCo as. Following this I've kept up on the rules and regulations in effect in Australia and being that OH&S is now everywhere and in force I've reflected that in the details on my models (via Brian Kuhn's talents). Here in Australia personnel working above 2m (or thereabouts) are required to be wearing a safety harness in case of falls, being the near impossibility to wear one on the top of a locomotive outside dedicated servicing facilities (i.e a provisioning shed or workshop) the need for grab irons is effectively no more and like BHPBIO has done the GDRMCo has removed them from all locomotives.

Progress on the support structure continues as the heat permits and I hope to have more layout updates soon.

[High Hood]

I never realized some of those details until you pointed them out, looks like your going to have a very believable road!

[Leggy]

That's exactly what I'm trying to achieve, if I can make it feel like the GDRMCo really does run across QLD hauling ore then it'll be job done imo.


Finally finished the support structure, will need to erect something better on the left but as it is it's all done.


Sorry for the camera phone photos, my mobile was all I had on me. The reason why one end of the structure module is above the ground is to allow an open escape route in case of something going up in flames....not that I'm expecting it to happen, just good to be prepared!

More to come....

[PEIR]

Another shot of the P&H 4100 alongside SD80MAC #5004. Both machines owned by the same company.

Progress on the support structure continues as the heat permits and I hope to have more layout updates soon.

You have an immense project underway and well thought out approach to getting it accomplished. Very impressive!

The SD80MAC is a huge loco but next to that earth mover you have to appreciate the size of the industry you are modelling. Do you have any other equipment for the mining op that you could post?

Looking forward to seeing those updates soon.