East Coast Layout tour – Pt 3

 Visiting Layouts and Train Stations – Part 3

Late afternoon north bound XPT crosses the Coffs Creek bridge, Friday, June 24, 2024

Day 7.  Mt Kuring-gai to Taree

After overnight at Bob and Deanne’s place, Mt Kuring-gai, I continued north on the M1, encountering a traffic snarl just beyond the Hawksbury River bridge – a delay that limited a planned visit to Maitland railway station.  However, I was still able to get to Dennis’s place, at Berry Park prior to lunch

Dennis’s Layout at Berry Park

Barmedman station, as Dennis remembers it from his youth, when he was a youngster.  Recapturing memories, and railmotor travel is a great receipe for prototype modelling

 

Site of former platform, and station building.  And just a lonely sign to mark its location

Concrete plinth – location of former crane

The silos are still there, and in-use judging by the shine on the siding rails. An additional bulk storage grain bin is responsible for the conveyor gantry

When I crossed the level crossing heading to the station, I saw a waiting freight train.  However, in the time I took to park the car, the train had started to move. So, this was not the picture I wanted

Retention of the former triple doll signal was a nice idea.

Station building is well kept and inviting.  I spent a bit of time taking detail shots.

Looking towards the former roundhouse engine facility in the distance

I read somewhere that the Taree Model railway club meets in this shed

A relic from the steam age still is in-situ.

Greame Skeet posted some pictures from 1987 on the internet

Another image from Graeme showing a portion of the signal diagram. Note the triple doll signal, and the location of the former roundhouse

Peter Ware took a picture of the branch in 2003. This image is close to the mainline, north of Taree

The branch curved off the mainline close to the top middle of this map, and curved around to the triangle shaped building on Pitt Street in the bottom right. There is a line on the map showing the former branch alignment. (click on the image to enlarge)

The former factory building appears to be abandoned, or at least, not used for anything more than storage.  This is the Pitt Street view – the train tracks on the far side

Double track siding.  There were platforms and doors on both sidings

The 2 track level crossing is now the driveway to the Fish Co-op.

There is a reason why people move to the mid north coast to retire.  Beaches such as North Haven Beach are beautiful

Royal Hotel dates from the 1800s, and it is still prominently located on the waterfront

Coastal steamships used to provide freight services to the North Coast community before the railway was constructed around 1920.  Port Macquarie has many of these metal plaques in the footpath beside the inlet

The locals were friendly

Flynn’s beach has a great coffee house

A large station, but virtually all the yard tracks had been removed

The staghorns, and other plants added much to the ambience of the platform for waiting passengers

The waiting room was spartan in comparison to the platform

Waiting room.

Modernised, and repainted in Heritage colours, Macksville station continues to serve the community

Bombala – prefabricated station building, in more or less, original condition

Southbound XPT arrives at Macksville

I had previously visited Coffs Harbour in 1993.  The picture I took then shows a yard, an X200 shunting tractor (hiding behind the shed on the left), and a number of cement wagons.  (My slide image scanned for this blogpost, had deteriorated in the 30 years since the picture)

The former yard is now gone.  I understand that the yard closed in 1996

Waiting room.  Shame that there are not pictures showing the former railways at Coffs in here

It was the late afternoon.

Former railway Jetty. I am contemplating getting this picture framed

No sign of the former railway on the jetty.  The timber planking was more recent.

The demise of the jetty railway is documented on large information plaques on the walkway over the former railway alignment

A meatworks is being built on a newly constructed area of benchwork

A stock siding will generate a source of cattle for the forementioned meatworks.  Having an industry where trains can load, and unlead is key to successful operation.

Col had detailed the interior of many of his structures.  He told me he would invite himself into a store with camera, get permission, and take pictures.  These pictures would then be scaled, and applied to foamboard, which is then placed inside the structures, and lit.  I had my wrong glasses on to really appreciate the effect

Another layout with stockyards.  Great

The central peninsular and large staging yard was built in the last 6 years.  Al decided to remain in the picture – it was his choice

Lighting adds a different dimension to a layout

Small towns are all nicely detailed

Great use of colours

A tribute to John Allen, and John’s love of bridges

Roundhouse at the end of the central peninsular. The mainline runs around forming a dog bone with the yard

A massive yard, access from both aisles

The immense pier was constructed with individual planks.  Col had made up his own sawmill, which cut storebought radiata pine to specific sizes.  Had Col used commercial scale stripwood, the pier would have cost a motsa. The barnacles are crushed egg shells.  The freighter is a resin kit, which Col had modified.  The water effect was also quite effective

Col mentioned that he details specific areas to attract the eye, and purposefully leaves other areas devoid of fine detail.  An artist trick.

Scratchbuilt, large scale Captain Cook’s ‘Endeavour’ was an unexpected bonus.  Capt Cook also did a tour of the Australian East Coast, albeit before railways.