Eltham South Electric Tramway

[Melbournesparks]

It's now almost a year this month since the first sod was turned on the construction of the tramway, so might be a good time for a bit of history.

This is actually not the first version of the tramway, the story started nearly 15 years ago.

That nerdy looking kid is me, some time in 2001. It was around that time that I saw an ad in the Trading Post (a printed paper classifieds, and the go to place for second hand stuff in the pre internet age) for a Bachmann big hauler set, the really early one with the battery powered locomotive and plastic track. The price was within even my minuscule means, so I called the number in the ad (as you did then) and went around after school and picked it up. At about the same time I was given an old copy of Garden Railway magazine, in which I saw the very same large scale trains running outside for the first time. Needless to say I was immediately fascinated by the idea and began building a garden railway, at first using just the plastic set track, and then expanded with a couple of lengths of brass track generously given to me by my grandparents for my birthday. The entirety of the brass rail from this era remains in use on the present day tramway, I have not bought any more since!

The stubby green tram was my first attempt at scratchbuilding, based on a set of plans from the same Garden Railway magazine. It had a very crude home made trolley pole, and was powered by an old VCR motor. The first section of overhead wire was little more than you see in the photo, possibly this was the first run. It was incredibly crude, but it worked, sort of, and provided many hours of enjoyment. This was the 'proof of concept' that paved the way for the present day tramway, and taught me a lot about soldering and trolley pole dynamics.

The original tramway eventually succumbed to disrepair and marauding possums as I got busy with high school, but I always intended to rebuild 'one day'. Unfortunately that 'one day' took over a decade to arrive, when after much procrastination construction began on the present day tramway (at a new location) this time last year. The fleet has grown too, but the original stubby green tram survives. The caboose from the big hauler set eventually became the track cleaning car.

Like tramway technology, camera technology has also advanced

The future of the tramway at it's present location is far from certain in the long term, so there may well be a version three yet. There's a reason you don't see many young people in this hobby.

Also if you're wondering how long a 1kg roll of solder lasts...

That's the very same roll, a decade and a half ago! There's even still a bit left...

 

[Tropic Blunder1]

Whats that yellow loco behind the tram in the background of the second photo??

I inboxed you too btw

 

[Henri]

I really like your tramways! What an inspiration for my own layout!!!

I'm not looking at the 'real' tram cars, but I an afraid that some day I'll fall for them as well...

And I also have that roll of solder... Have it for over 20 years now, and it still is 'in use'...

 

[Madman]

Your scratch-built tram is an excellent piece of modeling. Especially for a first attempt. Great story, by the way.

 

[Melbournesparks]

Whats that yellow loco behind the tram in the background of the second photo??

I inboxed you too btw

Ah yes, that thing! It is a very early (like 1970's) Chinese ripoff of an LGB 0-4-0 locomotive. It came with the big hauler set, along with two little four wheel wagons. Didn't work at the time, I think I tried to fix it with an old radio control car gearbox. I still have it around here somewhere, though not sure if I can turn it into anything useful. The wagons are still in use, now fitted with tramway couplings and metal wheels.

I really like your tramways! What an inspiration for my own layout!!!

I'm not looking at the 'real' tram cars, but I an afraid that some day I'll fall for them as well...

And I also have that roll of solder... Have it for over 20 years now, and it still is 'in use'...

Do iiiit.. Come to the dark side! I like your steam tram, you're sort of on the way already...

Your scratch-built tram is an excellent piece of modeling. Especially for a first attempt. Great story, by the way.

Thanks Dan! It was certainly a good first project for giving me the confidence to tackle more ambitious builds.

 

[Melbournesparks]

Today the RhB railcar had it's first test run after modifications were completed!

Here it is in the late winter sunshine. The wattle is flowering, it feels like spring is coming. None too soon either.

Trundling along through the moss. The terraforming of this area continues, trying to give the plants some establishing time before summer gets here.

About to depart the headshunt siding on a test train as the Ballarat tram passes on the main line.

Zooming along under the rock.

At the crossing loop. There has been some revegetation works here too.

Photostop at the mossy area. The moss is still looking nice and lush in the middle of winter, but will dry out soon.

At the depot with it's Victorian friend. It only just fits!

 

[Henri]

Oh boy oh boy oh boy....

 

[merlin]

Impressive machine in impressive surroundings = very nice indeed.

 

[minimans]

We have a feral fox plague here, they're a huge pest. They don't even seem to make a dent in the rabbit population either, apparently the native wildlife tastes better.

Feral Fox? aren't they all feral? Don't see to many domesticated fox's around here........................

 

[Melbournesparks]

Feral Fox? aren't they all feral? Don't see to many domesticated fox's around here........................

I'm sure I've seen pictures of someone with a pet fox on the internet somewhere...
In this case feral meaning introduced pest.


Finally got around to making a new set of points for the south end of the crossing loop. This time I tried using more conventional construction methods, it's certainly a lot easier than using the flat aluminium bar. Like most other sets of points on the tramway, this one is single bladed to simplify construction.

Ready for installation. The copper wire is an earthing wire, to make sure the whole thing is electrically continuous.

This is the old set of points that it will replace. This was my first attempt at making these so it's pretty crude. It will likely be recycled somewhere else. The replacement is of a more gentle curve radius.

New set of points in place. On the right is the transition from conventional brass rail to flat aluminium bar.

Testing. The Baldwin 2-4-2 is good for checking for smooth operation, since it's small pony wheels easily pick up track faults.

 

[Beddhist]

Do you have any pics or hints on how to make points from flat bar? I will need to make a few soon.

 

[Henri]

I admire your skills!!!!

 

[Melbournesparks]

Do you have any pics or hints on how to make points from flat bar? I will need to make a few soon.

Sure thing, I'll post some when I get home!
[edit]
Home now, just remembered I'd posted about this before, with some pictures as well.

One thing I forgot to mention was that it was helpful to make a drilling jig (actually just a block of wood clamped to the drill press table) for drilling the holes in the rails and the brackets. If you press the railhead up against the block of wood when drilling it's easy to make sure all the holes go in the middle of the bar.

If you add parts in the following order you don't really need any special measurement tools apart from a spare sleeper to use as a track gauge:

Make part 3 (the light green one) from a continuous piece of rail, since it's easier to get a nice curve that way. Later file a slot in it for the flangeway. Obviously this way doesn't work if you use track power, you'd need to cut the rail all the way through and insulate it. Not shown is all the check rails, the order for adding them isn't really critical. Use a little bit of bar offcut as a rough gauge for the width of the flangeway, you can tweak it later by bending the brackets a little.

I was trying to think of a way to make a set of points like this using slotted sleepers, it would be easier to assemble and look nicer. I couldn't think of a way of cutting the curved slots though, at last not without making up an elaborate template or cutting jig. Every sleeper would be different.

Note that while building points like this is very cheap, it's a bit labour intensive with all the cutting and drilling. Using proper flat bottomed rail is easier, since you can just spike it down instead of having to cut and drill brackets.

 

[Melbournesparks]

I've been a bit busy at work lately, it has been nearly two weeks since the last movement on the tramway. In that time spring has arrived, and with it the unpredictable weather that comes with this time of year. The temperature cracked 23 degrees last week, and then over the last three days we had over 100mm of rain. It's the weekend now and the temperature is once again heading for the low 20's, so an inspection trip was undertaken by steam (actually battery) power to assess the damage.

Our train for the day at the depot, consisting of the steam tram motor hauling the stubby green electric tram. The rollingstock stored here seems to have survived okay, save for a bit of dirt.

The high rainfall and warmer weather has seen a lot of weed growth in this area. Will have to do some slashing before regular electric operation can resume or there will be problems with crushed plant goo on the rails again.

The track IS still there, somewhere. The treefern on the right was a victim of the slightly dryer weather last week, it lost a couple of fronds before I watered it. Then we had 100mm of rain. Will probably have to water it again next week. Trying to grow ferns in this environment is hard.

Looking back the other way the green tram is well camouflaged in the weeds. A lot of this will start to die off soon as the summer makes itself felt.

The mint growing in the gully under bridge number 2 lives again! This is one of the areas to be covered by the proposed sewer harvesting irrigation scheme, so hopefully it survives the summer. I need to get to work on that...

The rock that hangs over bridge number 3 is always a popular spot for photos.

A small but savage spider has taken up residence in the passenger shelter at the crossing loop. Here it tucks into one of the large red headed ants for breakfast.

The large Monstera plant in this area still shows signs of the bad frost two years ago. This rainforest plant is surprisingly hardy in this frequently cold and dry environment, but it's large leaves are vulnerable to frost damage. Global warming has seen frosts in this area become increasingly unusual, we didn't have a single one this winter.

The short unelectrified siding at the crossing loop is infrequently used, but does come in handy on really busy days.

The passenger shelter has taken a bit of damage from the recent heavy rain, the only infrastructure damage noted so far. There's still a bunch of spare sleepers and irrigation parts stored here.

The long viaduct that carries the line over the low corner of the garden is not terribly scenic and rarely photographed, but there has been some recent planting to try and transform this area. The fish ferns and Lomandras are extremely hardy and common garden plants in this area.

Our train stabled back in the headshunt siding. From the inspection it looks like everything is more or less intact and serviceable, so electric operation will recommence shortly!

 

[dunnyrail]

What a superb line you have. Reminds me of UK Narrow Gauge lines in their early days where every Train was an adventure of will the Track still be there in the undergrowth? Magic.
JonD

 

[Henri]

LO VE LY!!!!

Green with envy! Full of inspiration!

 

[Melbournesparks]

Yesterday was by far the busiest day ever in the tramway's history. Jake brought his recently converted to battery power 4-6-0 over for a day of high traffic questionably safe unsignalled heavy rail action!

Of course we didn't know if was actually going to be able to run on the low quality tramway track at all, none of it was ever designed for something so big! After cautiously proceeding over the not to spec special work we found that it could, just. Amazing.

The tunnel was another tight spot, but luckily it cleared by millimeters. About two actually.

Jake also brought over a large amount of heavy rail rollingstock, which was marshaled into the longest train ever to run on the tramway. Here it crosses two trams at the loop.

Bridge number 2 is passed without disaster!

Ballarat 33 and the steam tram wait for line clear. The infrequently used unelectrified siding at the loop was pressed into service, all siding space was required!

Triple cross! Operating three different trains (or trams) under the control of three operators makes for some interesting situations. Especially since there is only one short crossing loop, and several different coupling incompatibilities. This necessitated a wide variety of very unconventional shunting moves!

The weather in Melbourne was very windy yesterday, with power cuts disrupting train and tram services across the city. Even our tramway was not spared, traction power failed after a large tree took out power lines. Here the 4-6-0 shunts Ballarat 33 into a siding after the power failure.

But service must continue, with the Baldwin 2-4-2 brought out to assist.

This is the first ever double heading of locomotives on the tramway, with loads on several primitive bridges that have never before been tested!

So far so good, on to bridge number 3! Luckily the can of bug spray on the first car was nearly empty.

But if a double header is good, what about a triple header? Three Baldwins of very different shapes and sizes run together on the same train. The steam tram motor and 2-4-2 are effectively in multiple unit on the same radio channel, the 4-6-0 is driven separately. Running a train with two different drivers requires a degree of coordination!

Some emergency measures were taken to restore traction power from battery backup to allow the electric rollingstock to resume operations.

The big RhB M car doing what it was made for, hauling a mixed train!

And the two Baldwins on an even longer mixed train, using every available piece of heavy rail rollingstock.

Of course there is a variety of unique local hazards to avoid.

Ballarat 33 on a very close following move, all safeworking is by line of sight only. Make sure you concentrate!

A multi national variety of electric rollingstock stabled in the headshunt siding.

Crossing the toastrack tram at the crossing loop.

This was certainly an interesting way to test all the infrastructure that was never built for such traffic, but everything worked pretty well. Video coming soon!

 

[Melbournesparks]

Just realized I haven't put the video up yet:

Featuring unsuitably large heavy rail rollingstock, excessive chickens and unsafe unsignaled following moves! Do not attempt.

 

[Madman]

Thoroughly enjoyable film. The "Roaster" looks as if she's a bit perturbed at the intrusion on her own "Right of way".

 

[dunnyrail]

Just realized I haven't put the video up yet:

Featuring unsuitably large heavy rail rollingstock, excessive chickens and unsafe unsignaled following moves! Do not attempt.

I saw nothing wrong with the closely following Trains. After all it is a Tramway. However I was not so sure about the Transport of the Giant Flamethrower! As fir the Chickens, well they are Chickens which just about says it all really.
JonD