Ladysmith Perway shed

 Perway shed at Ladysmith - a "simple" scratchbuilding project

During the openday at Ladysmith on February 11th, I took an opportunity over the lunch period to wander down to the perway shed, and measure it for a future model.

Ladysmith Perway shed

Permanent way sheds were once a common sight on NSW railways.  They contained equipment used by the track gangs for repair of the line.  With the reduction of branchlines, use of hi-roller work trucks with decendable railway wheels, and the large track mounted resleepering, and tamping machines, the humble perway shed along the line is no longer used, and most have been removed, leaving just a concrete pad behind.  Fortunately, Ladysmith is not one of them

The line to Tumbarumba contained a number of perway sheds.  Whilst I haven't done a complete survey, I have seen the concrete pads at Humula and Coreinbob.

Coreinbob also had a small gangers shed.  The small culvert on the approach to the former shed is a nice detail

The 2 sets of rails in the Humula perway shed concrete pad can still be seen.  The size of the pad looks similiar to Ladysmith

Ladysmith Perway shed in pictures

A previous open day, the Perway shed was open, and I managed to take some pictures, which I will share here.

The perway shed fits in the "neck" between the silo loop, and the station loops

Note the internal door support frame design.

A telephoto picture has the station much closer to the shed.  It is a lot further away. 

Lots of details of clutter hiding in the grass

The doors opens to the right, the other to the left. 

The closest water tank does not appear to be plumbed in

A better idea of how far away the station is

Sleeper details in front of the Perway track entrances.

Interior

I was not planning to model the interior, but these pictures could be the basis of a detailed model. These images were taken many years ago

Modelling

I transfered my field measurements to a drawing - using a calculator to adjust the metric sizes down to 1:87 for HO scale.

The next step was to find some corrugated styrene, and cut out

Keen eyed viewers will notice I made a mistake - and one of the rear wall sections was cut incorrectly.  So I spliced in another piece from the leftover scrap, and smoothed down the join.  The join should disappear under paint, and being at the rear, probably won't be seen anyway.  If I was planning a contest model, it would have been replaced 

Joints were reinforced with 0.040 square styrene

The floor was made from a piece of 0.040 thick styrene sheet.  The flangeways for the trikes were cut (gouged)  out by hand, and a section of 0.010 x 0.040 styrene strip added for the future rail head.  The positioning for the superstructure uses strips of 0.040 square styrene strip

Framing for the inside of the doors made with 0.020 square styrene.  Fiddly.  The prototype doors just had thin corrugated iron over the frames, which also would have shown as corrugations on the inside.  A contest model would have had the door frames as soldered brass, and used foil for the corrugations. But compromises have to be made. 

Rear downpipe made from styrene rod, and cut at angle, and rejoined for the 45 and 90 degree bends.  I covered this technique a while ago 

I made another compromise - the Ladysmith Perway shed has a translucent roofing sheet above the RHS trike bay for interior natural light.  I haven't yet found clear corrugated styrene, so to simulate that would have been a challenge

After adding the roof edging, gutters and downpipes, the model is now ready for the paint shop.  Adding all the styrene now, makes the model stronger than trying to add these details later.  And as the floor is removeable, so painting the inside will be straight forward.

In summary.

 I had forgotten how much I enjoyed making a simple model.  Not only will the perway shed be completed quickly (unlike Wagga station that took 2.5years), I don't have to worry about it meeting contest standards.  And I will use my plans for Humula's perway shed.  Sure, using CAD, and 3D printing would be faster as I am making more than one model, and I get that.  (Note if anyone wants to use my plans to make a 3D model, that is fine, please drop me a note). 

Painting is the next step, and then I will ponder how to make the doors moveable/openable, or just glue them open in place.  I have a Lloyds trike model somewhere for the interior.  The water tank and stand are also required

Until next time, build a model or two (or more).  You will find it relaxing

Trike run at Ladysmith

 Trike rides at Ladysmith

February 11th saw the resumption of Trike rides for the public at Ladysmith. 

The first trike about to depart the loading area after the opening. The goods shed is in the background.  The fencing is new, and a requirement to stop people wandering onto the tracks

 This was the first opportunity in 20 years for the public to ride the rails.  The volunteers from the Ladysmith Tourist Railway, have managed to regain accreditation from the NSW government, and this was celebrated with a grand reopening.

Dr Joe McGirr, independant member for WaggaWagga in the NSW parliament provided the speech - in part congratulating the volunteers for their efforts, and he spoke about taking away concerns over the costs for certification - for instance, a $300 Medical per person - essentially the same costs as for Sydney train drivers

The trike train returns from its journey from well past the silos.  The lamp-room and toilet block is not original, and now sited on the northern side of the station (the original was on the southern side)

The view south from beyond the silo.  There is a siding hidden in the grass that served both the stockyards (now removed), and the silo.  The whole trip out and back takes around 10 minutes.

Some history

The line to Ladysmith was first opened in 1917.  

An early aerial photo of Ladysmith

The station platform was originally longer, and had a signal box, much like Tarcutta

I believe bagged wheat stacked at the goods shed

3026 visited Ladysmith on a few occassions until the line shut down in 1987.  This is from the 1983 trip (my photo)

After 1987, things started to deteriote.  The sign though was still in good condition 

It seemed only a matter of time, before the station would be demolished (my photo)

Reborn.

Ladysmith Tourist railway took over the lease on the Ladysmith Railway Station and yard in the 1990s. Buildings were restored, a new toilet block built, and the grounds freshened up.  Trike running for the public was regular   They had applied for running rights across the Kyeamba Creek bridge, but this was knocked back.  The station building became a small museum

Legislative changes brought a halt to the public trike running over 20 year ago.

Displays.

In the former parcels office in the station building, there is an accumulation of artifacts from the line Wagga to Tumbarumba.  Very useful to see - I was able to measure the size of the HUMULA station sign - letters are 12" high - Humula is a station I am modelling. 

GT van, parked at the Goods shed.  A GT van was occassionally pulled by the Tumbarumba railmotor.  This van looks incomplete in the underframe, and that may be a clue that the shed and underframe are from different railway vehicles. 

A typical gate - showing the ironwork

A selection of older trikes on display

 

Grey Furgie Tractor was one of a small tractor display

A display of historic cars.  It was not only the trains that appealed

Another excuse to attend (as if I needed one)

The last large structure I need to finish modelling the buildings at Ladysmith, was the perway shed.

A picture of the Perway shed from over 10 years ago.

So armed with some printed images of the perway shed (pictures taken over 10 years ago), I got permission to go and measure the shed during the lunchtime break

Well, it seems that there was a miscommunication.  As I was close to finishing my measuring, I was asked "what are you doing?" by one of the volunteers who had sighted me in the distance, and came up to ensure I was not up to no good.    Well, the discussion that followed, ended up taking long enough for me to photograph some trikes running after lunch, all from the safety of the perway shed.

Conclusion

Ladysmith Tourist Railway is planning to run trikes every second Saturday of the month.  For $5 a ride (Single adult), it is quite reasonable value, and contributes to the maintenance of the railway.  They do have a website, so confirm

Until next time - I might make a perway shed...