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Well I had intended to fill this chapter with the amazing
story of when Mick and Anita Thornes arrived on Planet Jandowae for
a few days...
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However that will have
to wait until next chapter. For this chapter instead I would like
to say that both Jade and I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas
and a happy new year.
With any luck the fat bloke with the red pajama fetish was kind
to you all. He was certainly kind to Jade and I.
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On the 3rd of January Jade gave birth to our
Son. Keith Allan Wuiske was born in the Dalby hospital at 12:16am
and I’m pleased to say that he is healthy and happy. Little Keith’s
names (before the guessing games start) come from my late father
Keith Wuiske and my late Grandfather Allan Herman Wuiske.
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So with all of the experience that
being a dad for a fortnight provides I am of course now in a position
to dispense my sage parenting advice to all those who are silly
enough to listen. |
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Within an instant of informing people of our
new Ready To Scream miniature, the word was passed around that
I would be getting little to no work done on the layout for some
time to come. I am happy to announce however that on New Years
Day I decided to remove about 20% of the layout and rebuild it.
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| That’s right, Adam has REALLY lost the plot
this time… or has he? |
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After the visit from the Thornes,
I realized that the layout did not have anywhere near enough running
options. So after lots of thinking (with Jade standing by on the
fire extinguisher), it was decided to remove the Western end of
Summiton yard. The theory was to shorten the yard by a couple of
feet and to add a small branch line. |
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Now it is worth mentioning that when I say
small I actually mean about eighty feet worth of branch line.
With the remodeling of the yard, I have worked out a way of incorporating
a model of Toowoomba Station or at least my version of it. This will include
the rail motor docks. So if you are leading a train from Summiton station
out of the docks, you head down the Western side of the Range and over
the entire main line. |
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At the point where you would formerly enter the
Eastern end of the yard, you will now head down to what was going
to be the workshops. This area will now feature a passing loop
and storage roads. This point will also be the end of the signaled
section of the layout.
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All areas on the branch will be handled
by DTC (Direct Traffic Control) and will have Block Limit Boards
at all loops. Upon being given the road out of the loop, the train
will proceed down a slight grade and into a tunnel. This grade allows
the branch to cross under the main line at its highest point. |
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From there the branch will continue above the
main line into a helix. At the point where the track workers used
to be on the main, a small station and loop will be located instead.
This will also be about four inches above the main line. From
there, the branch will again disappear into a tunnel and proceed
to do another loop of the helix.
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| When it emerges from its tunnel there will
be a terminating station with a few small sidings for cattle, goods and
possibly water melons. |
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Obviously there will be shorter length
restrictions on trains on the branch. This will ensure that the
storage roads in front of Summiton yard are kept busy. There will
also be a lighter axle loading for the branch so sixty tonne locos
will be the predominant power, mixed with the occasional DH. |
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| Somewhere in amongst all of this I am trying
to fit in a staging yard as well to increase the capacity of the layout. |
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With all of this good news must come some bad.
On Thursday the 14th of January my Grandfather Ron Barry passed
away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. You may remember
my Grandfather from chapter 40 of my little rant. Thankfully with
the early arrival of little Keith, he at least
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| managed to find out that his first Great
Grandchild was a boy. He will be deeply missed. |
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Getting back to model related stuff,
Wuiske Models have released yet another building kit. Irish’s Armoury
is our largest building kit to date and represents a more modern
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1970’s anyway) style of building. Over the next
little while we will be releasing a few new kits and even a new
loco kit that we have had over an hundred requests for.
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| So with all the promise of things to come
I had better get back to work whilst trying to give Jade a chance to get
in an hour or twos sleep for this month. But as always, We shall see how
we go. |
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