Something broad yet slightly narrow

Hi all,

Something slightly different today. As I have previously modelled the THNSW rake, and having previously planned to model the Canberra Railway Museum cars, it was decided in around April of this year to get the ball rolling on it. 

The cars (HN. SCN, RFN) are externally identical to the N cars operated by THNSW and would make a valuable addition to my fleet, and they have definitely done so. 

The cars were built out of the same 3D printed sides done by Ctrl P models, however due to my poor storage of them they have warped. I did everything possible to minimise the warping; but in some cases they weren’t perfect. 

The cars were painted, lined, decalled and completed just in time for EMRC’s Rosehill show, and I am rather happy with the outcome. 

Having done this, I had already completed a model of 5917 some years ago and with the cars being in use by The Picnic Train, I had many moons ago done a model of R766 which I was never truly satisfied with. The decision was made to bring this model back to life, and correct a number of wrongs I had done whilst building the initial model, and I’m rather satisfied with the results. 

R766 was a Eureka Models R class, starting its life out as R707 as a coal burner. A new oil tank was manufactured from styrene, and the front truck wheels replaced with some from a Lima 38 of all things. At some stage, I will have to turn down the flanges as they’re great for code 100 and that’s about it. 

R766 was converted from broad gauge to standard gauge in the late 2000s and returned to active service in February of 2022. The engine is a credit to all of the men and women involved in the gauge conversion, and continued operation of the engine. 

With my R, some notable items of contention were the brake rack, twin turbo generators, oil tank, MU receptacles on the tender along with some other small things I’m yet to do, but visually it’s R766 as it appears today. 

Included are some images of the rolling stock, and the engine. 

Cheers.