Program for 2011

The sixteenth annual Modelling the Railways of South Australia Convention will be held at the Medical Lecture Theatre and Tutorial Rooms of the Flinders Medical Centre on Saturday 10th September 2011, using the same lecture theatre as we did for 2010.

The convention area can be reached from the southern end of the hospital. Go to the car park at the southern end, and then follow our signs to the area used for the convention. Included in the convention fee is morning and afternoon teas, a hot lunch in the canteen, and approximately 200 pages of Convention notes which will again include a number of colour photos. Three-ring folders are available to file the notes in and, together with previous years' notes including an updated index, they form a considerable reference library of around 2500 pages.

Topics tentatively listed to be presented in 2011 include the following:

Motor Body Traffic
Alan Lees will be presenting details of both prototype and models for what used to form a large amount of traffic for both the SAR and the Commonwealth Railways. With special sidings that ran into Mitsubishi and GMH works, all railway systems had a considerable number of vehicles converted for motor vehicle transport use. Some of the largest wagons ran as triple deckers and still do on the Perth line.

A Tribute to Rob Burford
Peter Fehlberg and Rod Barrington will give a presentation about the late Rob Burford's layout which is loosely based on Port Pirie. With more than one gauge, the layout was never going to be simple, but a plan of his layout will be included in the notes showing how modelling three different systems including the SAR broad gauge, the SAR narrow gauge and the Commonwealth Railways standard gauge can all be accommodated into an average sized room using three different levels for the baseboard. Rob was well known as a Convention presenter. His last presentation on the 720 class locos was in September 2010, less than a month before he passed away from a sudden heart attack.

The Penfield Branch
The history of the branch line that serviced munitions and other war time factories, the Edinburgh Airfield and in later years, numerous research facilities forming the "Weapons Research Establishment" has been hard to document for the simple reason that cameras were simply not allowed, given the nature of the industries. Graham Cocks looks at the track plans, their history, the large number of trains that serviced the line, especially in the war years, and the traffic that was carried on these lines. Included will be suggestions for modelling the line.

The R and Rx class steam locomotives of the South Australian Railways.
In conjunction with the proposed release of the Rx model railway kit designed by Nigel Gardner, Hugh Williams will present a written and pictorial history of the Rx class locomotives and what changes were made to the 84 members of the class over their long and illustrious life of around 80 years. Detailed plans of the loco and of its numerous different types of tenders will be provided in the notes.

Victorian and South Australian Freight Wagon Design
Philip Dunn from Victoria will present an intriguing look into the design and specifications of rolling stock that was common to both the Victorian and South Australian railway systems. It is anticipated that samples of models of these common wagons might also be on display.

Mile End
Bob Sampson will present some movies including a time lapse movie, showing the workings of the Mile End freight yard. Bobs presentation and paper will effectively be about the operation of the yard. Two track plans of the yard will also be included in the notes. One plan dated 1921 shows the layout prior to the Webb roundhouse. The second plan dated 1970 shows the Mile End layout with roundhouse before everything was dismantled. Although not part of Bobs presentation, railway historian John Ramsay has prepared an article dealing with the history of the Mile End railway yards.

LocSound DCC for SAR
With many modellers adopting Digital Command Control (DCC) as their preferred method of operating their model railway locomotives, Max Wright will show us how to incorporate sounds from the South Australian Railways into the chips which are used in conjunction with DCC, for producing such sounds. Why settle for an American or European whistle when an exact copy of those used in South Australia can be substituted.

Other Information
As in previous years, a number of commercial stands will be at the Convention. John Gordon has agreed to take over Robbie Burford's role of looking after the Commercial stands for the 2011 year. He can be contacted on essington@sa.chariot.net.au or via the Convention e-mail site

Attendees are encouraged to bring along any models of their handiwork, especially models with a distinctive South Australian flavor. There were nearly a dozen 720s in 2010 following the release of Stuart Gamble's 720 class body kit. A large number of N gauge models were also on display, encouraged no doubt by Graham Cocks. (see photographs of the 2010 Convention kindly provided by Gavin Thrum)

As in previous years, the odd extra article might appear in the notes, although not necessarily a topic for a presentation. Another of Peter Manning's great loco plans will be printed together with a small article to complement the plan. An article on casting materials and their availability in Adelaide will also be printed. The 2010 notes again totaled 230 pages including plenty of pages in color.