The Miniature Railway

Locomotive details: Scale: 1:3.8 Kubota diesel engine. Hydraulic transmission. All wheels driven.

This locomotive was designed and built at the club, by club members. A generous donation from the Knox Council Community Development Fund provided most of the funding necessary and many of the components were donated to the club. The club’s talented members provided the labour and “know how”. It was named “REG” in acknowledgement of the contribution of MSTEC life member Reg Murton in obtaining the site for the museum and setting up the railway.

“REG” is the railway’s work horse tasked with pulling the passenger train on most Sundays. This requires it to be very reliable and to run for long periods between major overhauls.

The V/Line P Class locomotive was chosen as being very suitable for modelling. It has four-wheel bogies giving a simpler design than the six-wheel bogies of the larger V/Line locomotives. The body is mainly flat panels avoiding the need to form the curved surfaces of the General Motors Streamliner locomotives. The P Class has a cab shape and nose that is representative of a range of V/Line locomotives.

The P Class has a longer chassis than all but the first series of T Class locomotives. The longer chassis gives additional useful space inside the body.It needs to be easily recognised as a typical Australian locomotive and presented as a detailed scale model. The Steam Club values the presentation of its locomotives as being faithful representations of types of locomotives once seen operating on passenger carrying railways. It is a size that matches the carriage fleet.

0-4-0 Diesel Outline Shunter.

The loco is powered by a Ford engine via a 200 amp aircraft generator, to another similar generator which acts as the traction motor.
Joy was the principal locomotive for the railway for many years running the Sunday passenger service. The P11, Reg, is taking over this duty now.

The diesel shunter was built at Arncliffe, Sydney by Keith Mears for the Sydney Society of Model Engineers in 1961. They had an 8” (203mm) and 12” (305mm) dual gauge track at Ashfield. This locomotive was their main club workhorse for many years, both at Ashfield and at their later property at Luddenham. The abundance of steam locomotives meant that in 1990 this locomotive was no longer used. In 1994 it was purchased by MSTEC member, John Davies, and made available for use on the new track at Scoresby. Later, John gave it to MSTEC.

No.43 2-6-2 Locomotive details: 1:3 Scale 14 feet 10 inches long including tender, over pulling lines. 2’ 3” wide 11½” driving wheels. 6½” leading wheels and 8” trailing wheels. Cylinders (2) 4” x 5½”. Piston valves. Baker valve gear. Steam operated drain cocks. Tractive effort 810 lb Weight in working order 2¼ ton.

This locomotive is one of the best Australian examples of the amusement park railway era, 1920s to 1960s. It has classic steam locomotive lines. It is at home on a circular portable track or meandering through the grounds of a large facility hauling a very long train. It is a copy of steam locomotive No.101 built for the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Qld, in 1964.

Built in Brisbane in 1967 for Arthur Birch, the design brief was for a locomotive mechanically identical to No.101 but as a 2-6-2 and cosmetically dressed to be a 1:3 scale representation of a backwoods loco like those operated on the three-foot gauge Denver South Park and Pacific Railroad, USA. It operated at the Australian Reptile Park, North Gosford, NSW, from 1967 until 1975, on weekends and part of the school holidays.

From 1975 until 1997 with gradually increasing public traffic it operated weekly at the Smoky Mountain and Grizzly Flats Railroad, Warnervale, NSW. It was then stored on site. In 2022 it was purchased by the Melbourne Steam Club. It was built at Warner, Brisbane, Qld. (adjacent to Qld. Model Engineers site) by Jim Jackson who has built 27 miniature steam locos, including 1 x 11” gauge, 3 x 12” gauge.

4-4-2 Steam Locomotive. Number 1200. details: 1:5 Scale • 12½” (320mm) driving wheels • Cylinders (2) 3” x 4”. Piston valves. Walschaert’s valve gear.

Franklyn Flyer is currently being overhauled. Extensive work is being carried out on the motion and a new boiler is being sourced.

This tender steam locomotive was built in Ballarat by Alan Lewis in 1956. It was built to reflect the classic 1920s British express passenger style. It was used on a portable circular track at country shows, and later when Alan moved to Boronia, at fetes and parties. In the 1960s it operated just outside the western end of the present Port of Echuca Museum, and close to the paddle steamer mooring.

It was then sold and relocated to Moama, NSW. In 1984 it was purchased by MSTEC along with four wooden carnival passenger carrying carriages. This was the only locomotive when the railway started carrying passengers in March 1993. It then hauled the train on the last Sunday of most months until removed from service for major maintenance.

No.342 New Sth Wales Govt. Railways Z12 Class (1877) 4-4-0 steam locomotive details: 1:5 Scale 8 feet 2 inches long including tender. 9¾” driving wheels. Cylinders (2) 2⅞” x 4⅝”. Slide valves. Allan valve gear.

No.342 was built in Kogarah, Sydney, NSW in about 1926. It is one of two very similar locomotives built in Sydney at about the same time. These are the earliest 12 inch gauge steam locomotives from Sydney still in circulation. (The St Kilda 2-2-2 is thought to pre-date them by about 10 years.) Historically, No.342 is representative of the amusement park miniature steam locomotives of about 1920, having a design with these features:

• Having capacity to haul a modest train while having a manageable weight for loading on a small truck for transport between carnivals.
• Based on the design of a well-known local locomotive.
• Showing external features capturing the chief characteristics of the full-sized locomotives.

A special engineering feature of this model is the Allan valve gear. Stephenson’s valve gear lifts and lowers the expansion link requiring a high vertical space below the boiler. Gooch developed an alternative to this arrangement keeping the expansion link at the same level and lifting and lowering the radius rod. Allan combined the Stephenson and Gooch arrangements, so the expansion link was lifted when the radius rod was lowered. This arrangement used a straight expansion link which is much easier to make.

In May 1966 at Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains this locomotive featured in a Streets Ice cream TV commercial. From the mid 1960s during seasonal holidays the loco operated commercially, on a portable track, around the Sydney area. Venues included Roselands Shopping Centre, fortnightly on Saturdays, and Miranda Shopping Centre at Christmas. In 1971 Gerardus Mol bought No.342 and it went to Canberra with him in 1973. Over the next 20 years it had little use because of the lack of a public track in Canberra and the great distance to the model engineer’s track in outer Sydney. It was offered for sale in 1993.

MSTEC member Ian Ruscoe, bought it and delivered it to MSTEC, Scoresby on 18-July-1993. A copy of the boiler design drawing came with the loco, together with boiler inspection records. Passenger trains had started operation at the March, 1993 Steam Rally and the train only ran on the last Sunday each month. No. 342 ran a few times but never hauled all four of the club carnival carriages.

Soon afterwards, Ian and Margaret Ruscoe moved to Magnetic Island, Queensland. They sold the loco to member John Davies. The loco was considered to need some significant maintenance work. John engaged model engineers to recondition the loco. This arrangement only managed to achieve partial restoration and in about 2000 the loco was returned to the Steam Club in bits and was stored. Late in 2017 ownership of the loco passed to the Steam Club.

This loco had a history of boiler inspections and a verbal report of the boiler still being in excellent condition. In 2019 amember of the Thursday railway team took on the completion of the reconditioning of this locomotive and by early 2023 had it close to running.

No. H220. Victorian Railways H Class 4-8-4 Steam Locomotive, Heavy Harry Locomotive details: 1:6 Scale • 17 feet 5” (5300mm) long including tender over pulling lines. • 10¾” driving wheels. • Cylinders (3) 3.6” x 4.7”. Piston valves. Walschaert’s valve gear.

This is a remarkable and very rare model. In Australia, the fine scale model engineering hobby extends up to 7¼” gauge. This very detailed model is:

1. the significantly wider 12” gauge,
2. based on Australia’s largest express passenger locomotive,
3. three cylinder, when most model engineers build two cylinder models of such locomotives.

Much work was done on the locomotive when the builder, Archie Millage lived in Perth, WA and work then continued at Archie’s home in Monarto South, SA. The loco was completed in about 1997 and soon after advertised for sale. In about 1999 Graeme Knott purchased the loco, hoping to run it at a proposed railway at a vineyard near Newcastle, NSW, or at the Smoky Mountain and Grizzly Flats Railroad, Warnervale, NSW.

The vineyard railway was never built. At the Smoky Mountain Railroad, Arthur Birch was in his late 80s and was not keen on hosting a fine scale express locomotive built to a small scale. It would have required new shed space and a siding to be added. It occupied too much space at home, so arrangements were made to store it in a carriage shed at Lithgow, NSW. It remained in the removal crates with little interest from the host heritage society whose focus was on NSW stock.

Graeme acknowledged he had little prospect of seeing it run in NSW and word started to circulate that it was coming on the market. Word got to the Melbourne Steam Club. Graeme Knott saw that a helpful move would be to shift the locomotive to Melbourne where it could be viewed by prospective buyers. It arrived at the Steam Club on 3rd June 2016. Soon after a member purchased the locomotive, determined to have it stay at the club.

All related paperwork had been lost in a fire, so some years passed before boiler design drawings were obtained from government archives. The boiler needs a strip-down and detailed examination, witnessed by the boiler inspector. This loco has not had a fire in the firebox since Archie did test runs when it was newly completed.

No. AA440. Victorian Railways Aᴬ Class 4-4-0 Steam Locomotive details: 1:5 Scale • 9” (235mm) driving wheels • Cylinders (2) 2¼” x 4”. Slide valves. Stephenson valve gear.

This tender steam locomotive was built over three years at by Captain Ernest H James at his home in Hawthorn, Melbourne finishing in 1935. He was proprietor of The Model Dockyard in Swanston Street, Melbourne. He ran the loco at his weekender in Beaumaris, very close to the Beaumaris Hotel. In 1938 it operated at the 20th Century Exhibition, at the seven story Craig, Williamson Building, 20 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne.

When Captain James died the loco shifted to Balwyn Rd, Canterbury, the home of Alan Mason the son of his business associate, Major George Mason. In  November 2002 Alan’s grandson Chris Mason gave the train to MSTEC. This loco has not been operational for a very long time. A replacement water tube boiler is required. Historically, this locomotive is a very rare surviving example of one built for the enjoyment of the family and not for commercial use. The light nature of the construction meant that most were considered as not worth preserving.

Captain James, Military Cross, plus Bar, earned this rank leading the 1st Australian Armoured Car Section from 1916 until 1919, in the Middle East. He had led a group of car enthusiasts who were army volunteers. They built Australia’s first armoured cars and donated them to the Minister of Defence.

Passenger carriages. S Class, Numbers 1 to 4

Scale: 1:4. Length 5m. 7 cross seats, each with capacity for an adult and child.

These carriages were built at the Steam Club, Scoresby and completed in 2012. They are a simplified model of the Victorian Railways Spirit of Progress carriages of 1938. These are Australia’s best example of a scale model passenger carrying carriage for a park railway. Features include: 1. Comfortable seating for a long journey. 2. Easy boarding. 3. Side-by-side seating for two children or an adult and child.

Passenger carriages. OP Class, Numbers 2 and 3

Four of these carriages were built at Warner, Brisbane, Qld. by Jim Jackson, in 1967, for hauling behind steam locomotive No.43. They are a rare example of carnival style carriages from the 1960s. Steam locomotives from various eras have survived but the carriages were mainly lost because they were superseded by improved designs and could not be kept for sentimental reasons because storage space is so expensive.

These carriages operated at the Australian Reptile Park, North Gosford, NSW, from 1967 until 1975, and then until 1997 at the Smoky Mountain and Grizzly Flats Railroad, Warnervale, NSW. When that railway was dismantled, the remaining two carriages of this type were purchased by the Melbourne Steam Club and brought to Scoresby in 2023.

At the Steam Club, side panels have been added to give passengers a greater sense of being enclosed and to give a similar appearance to the S Class carriages. This work was done in a way that the original structure of the seats was not altered, and the carriages can easily be restored to their original configuration. OP2 is as built and is an eight seater. In the 1980s, OP3 had the chassis replaced to become a twelve seater, with the additional seats coming from one of the other original carriages.