Christmas 2025

For the last six months or so, I have been slowly refurbishing the Mount Windeatt module, essentially converting it to a 'stand alone' shelf layout while still sharing the lower 'back of house' staging area. This change was foreshadowed in an earlier post this year.( https://philipscreek.blogspot.com/2025/03/a-bridge-too-far-or-moving-to-next-job.html ) As I mentioned in the post, the inspiration for this line is the Dorrigo branch line and the purchase of 1919 was a "necessary" part of this conversion. However, the HOn3 logging railway indulgence also retains its place on Mount Windeatt. 

To date, the old layout and scenery has been removed and most of the HO and HOn3 track recovered. Both types of track have now been relaid although I had to supplement the HOn3 portion with four lengths of  new Peco track. I have to say that I found the Peco track much easier to work with than the original Shinohara track. Rodding has been installed to operate all points. Trains have been running over the revised layout to confirm there are no problems. So far so good! The following video shows 1919 bringing a rake of empties into Mount Windeatt .

My focus has now turned to the scenery. The buildings have been roughed into their new locations and styrofoam has been installed to shape the rising ground leading to the timber harvesting areas beyond the limits of this module.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress to date has been slow for a variety of reasons unrelated to the hobby but, hopefully, landscaping can be achieved in the next six months - we shall see.

However, the end of 2025 will arrive much sooner and this will be my final post for the year. While the terrible event of Bondi casts a dark shadow over Christmas this year, I'd still like to take the opportunity to wish all readers, as well as your "near and dear ones", best wishes for Christmas and for a happy 2026.

  

A Bridge Too Far or Moving to the next job - Mount Windeatt

No, this is not a post about the failed parachute operation in 1944 although, hopefully, I will be visiting that location shortly as part of our current travels.

Since my final post for 2024, I have managed to get the northern end of Philip's Creek to a point where it could be considered to be 'substantially complete'. This area is dominated by the flour mill and to a lesser extent the G1a type goods shed. Beyond these, the line disappears into the upper staging yard representing Muswellbrook and locations further north. Conceptually, this is the second “industrial precinct” of Philip’s Creek (the first is the coal mine to the south of the town). The main structures in this area are the flour mill and goods shed. A fettlers' shed and weigh bridge can also be found here. These two photos show the view of the approach to Philip's Creek from the north.

With an enforced absence from the layout, it's time to start planning the next phase of the work. A few posts previously ( https://philipscreek.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-biological-clock-is-ticking.html ), I had outlined the projects that I'd like to complete to get the whole layout substantially complete in the next few years. I had hoped to start on the quarry module but the failure of a point at Mount Windeatt pushed me to focus on those modules next. For new readers, Mount Windeatt is a fictitious location serviced by a branch line and provides sleepers and sawn timber to Singleton and locations further south.

It's a bit scary to say but it has now been over four years since I posted this photo of the two bridges linking the branch lines, Kingston Plains on the upper level and Mount Windeatt on the lower level, to the layout. Both bridges span the access to the main operational areas. Over the past four years, the upper hinged bridge has worked very well. However, I can't say the same the lower level bridge, a lift out section. Aligning the curved portion of the layout track and the lift out section has been problematic, and frankly, inserting and lifting the bridge has become an operational 'pain in the butt'.  So, dissatisfaction with my access arrangement to these modules has convinced me to take a more radical approach to the refurbishment of Mount Windeatt rather than simply replacing the failed point and refreshing the scenery.

The intent is now to create a self contained 'shelf layout' with a direct access to the Singleton staging area. This means that trains for Mount Windeatt will no longer travel on the lower part of the main line. Instead, the trains will now emerge directly from the staging area onto the Mount Windeatt modules. These trains will still retain a place in the Philip's Creek operating sequence but without the challenge of installing and removing the bridge each time. It will be a total rebuilt with the station area and sawmill being reversed. The proposed changes are summarised in the two graphics below.

 

But before I can start this work, I need to return home and that's going to take a few weeks yet!