| CCSM members and visitors scrapbook: you send it, we paste it in here. It stays until we need
the space. Newer contributions are at the top.
As far as we can manage, the
scrapbook also serves as a "What's New"
page for the whole CCSM site. Please send in your news or photos: (attach your photos to the e-mail form that opens when you click here -> <- or refer to our contact info. Due to e-mail size limitations please send large photographs one at a time.)
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 Stillgrowing ! |
You can check for last minute announcements about rain cancellations and extra running days at https://www.facebook.com/CentralCoastSteamModelCoOp. (You can also post comments and photos about our activities on that page.)
Twenty seven years ago
Thanks to HDMES for sharing this movie made before digital cameras were common.
February 2021
Now that some virus restrictions have been eased we are getting many enquiries about when we shall be running again. Here is our typical reply, we hope that you can understand our position.
Hi [xxxx],
I regret to advise that the trains will not be running on 6th March. Many of our elderly members are reluctant to participate in crowded activities until everybody is vaccinated. Also we are taking the opportunity of the covid shutdown to do some overdue maintenance on our bridges and this work is not ready yet.
We do hope to be able to see you at the track one day once we are able to open again.
regards
[secretary]
May 2020
Our ex-NSWGR guard's van after a long overdue repaint. It wasn't too hard to maintain social distance while up a ladder.
March 2020 Virus Precautions
We regret that due to virus precautions our April running day is cancelled.
We expect that we shall also be required to cancel our May run so please check before visiting.
To all our visitors, we shall welcome everybody back to the track as soon as the danger passes.
To our fellow model engineers, now would be good time to progress some of the incomplete projects that we all have hidden in the back of our workshop, under the house or in the garage. We look forward to seeing the results when things return to normal.
To our members, you should have already been advised that our monthly meetings are also cancelled for the same reason but that the gardens, track and workshop are open at the usual times for maintenance and other activities that do not involve close contact.
September 2018. Trains at our running day - all 7 1/4" except for 42105.
Vice President Ted driving Keith's Jumbuck
Logging truck
Leal's NSWGR X200-class rail tractor
President John driving his 5" gauge NSWGR 421-class engine.
Leal driving a full load with a little help from behind
A little help from behind.
Towards the end of the day when the crowd was thinning we practiced running to the far end of the grounds. Here Leal's radio-controlled engine is running around its train which is waiting on one leg of the triangle. Our first project is to fix up the triangle so that trains can reverse direction without detaching the engine.
At the party area the engine has run around the train using the turntable and is ready to take the train back to the station and on towards the far end. Between the camera and that motley crew is the north end of our trestle bridge. Our second project is to repair the bridge so that trains can reach the far end without reversing.
Driver under instruction!
July 2018. At our Annual General Meeting we appointed a new board. The directors are now Les Banhidi, Ted Williams, John Gordon, Kris Macey (treasurer) and Tom Fink (secretary). The positions of President and Vice-President will be chosen from the directors at a future meeting. Since then we have sorted ot the following positions: President- John Gordon; Vicepresident- Ted Williams; Treasurer- Kris Macey; Secretary- Tom Fink and Director- Les Banhidi.
May 2018. Another good day. On the 7 1/4" gauge track we had the club diesel and two members brought their steam engines and one brought his diesel. The club's 5" gauge diesel also ran. [pictures to come]. Passengers were still queueing to ride at 4pm but the trains kept running until everyone was carried.
Also, out of a thousand tickets sold, someone said that they did not know that they had to wear shoes on the trains. There are plenty of signs on the grounds and these web pages and all our publicity are littered with footwear warnings. However, just to reinforce the message we have added these new green banners.
December 2017. A routine running day, in spite of the forecast the weather stayed dry until after we had packed up at the end of the day.
Three engines, plenty of happy passengers!
Winter Uniform For any member who wants to buy a black, fleece-lined jacket please contact Adam urgently. The jackets cost $45 each and include the club logo enbroidered on the front. (17 June 2017)
June Running Day. While we were sorting out some minor problems with our other trains we connected a double length train behind our yellow 41-Class engine. This was a good test of our drivers' skills in starting and stopping a heavy train. Later more engines became available and the long train was divided. Our visitors seemed to enjoy the activity and later we received two messages of thanks including photos or movies (in addition to the usual Facebook comments). Well done to all concerned. Here is the long train:
41 Class with a full load
Photo: David and Tracey Ross
Robert and his Engine. For some reason people at our last members' meeting asked for a picture of Robert and his engine. Here he is practice driving at the track last year.
Train detection. Our rails are welded to metal sleepers so we connot use the same track circuits used on full-sized railways. So we are sometimes asked how our signals know where the trains are. Here is our solution. It is electrically simple but mechanically robust. These detectors have survived several floods.
Train detector
Progress. As we work on repairing the trestle we find more work that needs to be done. Most of the trestle bents have been removed to expose footings buried in silt. About half have been exposed so far.
These footings were all above ground level when built. The silt build up has been removed to expose the footing tops in preparation for replacement of the bent structures..
Temporary drain in place to allow access to the route of the trestle.
A Railway at Home? From time to time visitors comment that they would like to have a train to ride at home. Our idea was that a short standard answer would help, however the resulting paper is no longer short! For any of our local readers thinking of laying track at home please note that the paper makes allowance for our American friends and mentions several gauges. However, if you stick to 5" or 7.25" gauge track you will be able to join a club like ours and run your rolling stock on a big layout as well as at home. The document is still a work in progress. As usual, any comments and suggestions to us at web @ narara . cjb . net.
Club Secretary Unfortunately Ian has had to step down. Damon Kinkade has been appointed secretary. We wish Ian all the best for a speedy recovery.
October 2016
A run along the back straight to keep the rails clear until the we can fix the bridge. Passenger Natsumi took this video, and no, we don't really travel at that speed.
September 2016
Here are some photos from the last three months. They are not yet arranged properly but they do give a feel for the atmosphere at the track.
A pristine NSWGR 422 class
Damon showing what it can pull
John and his train are here nearly every month
This photo tells everything you need to know about why we enjoy our hobby!
Happy steam-hauled passengers
Robert and Sam double-heading
Robert explaining the guard's duties.
For those wondering what else is on offer at the track on running days
Our new board, elected at our annual meeting in September 2016. The position of vice-president is still vacant.
(L to R)Wayne Sinclair, Kris Macey (treasurer), Adam Kinkade (president), Ian Svenson (secretary)
Founding member Lindsay Brack came back from retirement for a visit, here with volunteer gate keeper Moeko.
Like father, like son and grandson. John Brack with new wheels for a 12" to 7 1/4" conversion.
Volunteers Norika and Aiko from Nagoya ready to start checking tickets and shoes at the gate.
Leon's new toy - fixing the erosion gully at last.
Trestle repairs have exposed the silt which built up around a few of the supports. (July 2016)
New Phone Number For various reasons the club now has a new public phone number for table bookings. It is 0479 041 321.
Newsletter. From September 2015 Ian Svenson is now editing and producing our newsletter. Here arw the first issues:
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Thanks to Melissa for taking up the challenge of managing these bookings. |
New Board elected
At our AGM held on the 19th of September 2015 we elected the following board:
(Board photo to follow in due course)
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The reason for this change is that since we have stopped taking new party bookings (due to our bridge rebuilding work) we have been overwhelmed by people phoning to book tables. It has also been difficult to enforce payment in advance. We hope that the new system of arrive-pay-select will be fairer for everyone. Once the swamp trestle is reopened and running the full circuit is restored then the party station will be reopened. At that time we expect to be able to take party and table bookings again. Special and private running days are not affected by this policy. Table bookings as at 3 August 2015 will be honored. We expect that we shall be back up to full capacity early next year. |
Bridge Work. We are rebuilding the north end of the long bridge. As at 23 July 2015 the deck has been removed to allow work on the beams (and trestles if necessary).
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Tables are fully booked for the next month or so, but we still have vacancies later in the year so it is worth calling to check. |
April 2015 Floods. Coastal NSW suffered serious rain and wind storms this month (April 2015). Our track was flooded and when the water receded parts of the track and lawns were left covered in silt. Several trees were blown over in the party area and others across the track. Most machinery was spared, however some of our newer riding cars were saturated.
Members cleaned up the top part of the track opposite the clubhouse, including the main station and the party station in anticipation of running on 2nd May. However heavy rain overnight washed more silt onto the station and saturated the lawns, particularly the party area so this day had to be cancelled. A few sunny days and we shall have the top section running again but it will take us a while to dig out the far end (roughly from the level crossing, through the bush by the creek, down through the new dish drain and back to the junction).
At this stage we don't know if the far end will be ready for the June run but if the weather is fine then we shall be running the top section, including the party area and station.
Visitors who had booked tables or parties for the washed-out running days in April and May will be given the option of a refund or a new booking.
The following pictures were taken on the 2nd of May. They show how much material is carried by flood water. We shall be just running the upper section (including the station) for a while.
Water under the bridge, three weeks after the April floods. The track here is undamaged and we shall be running on it during our next running days.
April flood damage, looking north. On the right there is the 7 1/4" main line buried under the silt. On the left are the emergency connections between the small "party" loop that we usually run around before going out on the swamp trestle and the 5" and 7 1/4" main lines.
April flood damage, looking south. Once the silt dries we can finish digging out the track.
The long trestle bridge is usually above water, but not always!
We were able to buy some second-hand platform seats from the real railways. Just before the floods some were installed in place of the old telephone poles for seating in the viewing area. We have a few more for the hillside but these will have to wait until we finish with the flood repairs.
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Birthday Run Gosford N.S.W
- Notice to fellow AALS members -
And members, please make an extra effort to come so that we can handle station management and other tasks so that our visitors are free to enjoy running their trains on our network. |
Tunnel. Here, for no particular reason, is a view of our storage tunnel which is empty at the moment.
Uniforms
Heather and Wayne model our new uniform shirts
- Base colour is blue, traditional for hiding oil stains
- Includes the club logo so public know who to talk to on running days
- Includes some high visibility material so we can also look like modern workers
- Made from modern quick drying fabric
- Made in a variety of sizes from
anorexic to obesetight to comfortable - Price only $20.
And the webmaster wishes to apologize to anyone who thought that the above is anything but a joke intended to advertise the good news that we now have uniform available. Be assured that he has been waiting some years for a CCSM shirt and will buy one for himself at the next club meeting. Indeed he would have bought one at the last meeting had the clubhouse been open.
Special Extra Run for our Gosford City HO Scale Friends. Here are a few photos taken on the day. Thanks to all our visitors from other clubs whose engines helped move the crowd.
Short North Returns After a five-year gap, we have a new editor for Short North. The February 2015 edition is available here to view, download or print (This is 2MB file so it might be cheaper toview it on your PC rather than your phone.)
September Washed Out Unfortunately we had to cancel our regular running day on the September father's day weekend. The ground near the station was quite wet and continuing showers meant that it was unlikely to dry before opening time. This was a pity becuase the grounds are in particularly good shape at the moment. For example here is a plum tree is in blossom, seen during our ground inspection on Saturday morning.
Photo: Devon Jones, 6/9/14
Website Cleanup To make this page load more quickly we have split this "scrapbook" page between 2009 and 2010. The older enties are now here. Also we have removed obsolete calendars for years past.
2014 Birthday Run Follow-up Some of us visit the Railpage forums from time to time. We came across this interesting post from someone who, although obviously a rail minded person interested in models, chose to book a table for his family just as any other member of the public. Here is an extract from the thread at Railpage. He posts there as "KRviator".
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Mini-Me turned 2 yesterday and we decided to have his party at the Narara miniature railway given his love of all things rail. Just what I wanted to do on my days off, though...Go to a train place...But anyways. A fun day was had, with an administrative error giving a bit of grief midway through but still, it wasn't enough to ruin the day. CCSM has about a dozen tables arranged off to one side of the grounds for parties and the like, $10/table, great value, plenty of sun and/or shade and plenty of space. However, these tables are numbered and those assigned to groups are placarded with a Reserved {NAME} {TIME} sign. But...These details were left blank on every sign, so when the KRviatrix laid claim to two unoccupied tables they weren't actually the ones assigned to us. Our assigned tables were over yonder ---> so we had to move. Halfway through. OOps.  Our stuffup, true, but an entirely avoidable one if the signs were labelled as to who the tables were for. The rightful owners couldn't have been ruder about it if they'd tried. No doubt she was a Mercedes-driving yuppie from Terrigal called Fiona... The only other criticism I have was with a dozen tables, and perhaps 150 people having various parties, there were no bins in the area, all rubbish had to be carried out and the first bins visible were the general waste bins near the kiosk, both well and truly full given the great turnout. Another bloke and I eventually found the wheelie bins, but a couple in the party area might be a good idea. Other than that, the layout was good, much bigger than I was expecting, and quite a scenic trip. I was hoping for a couple of heavy haul locos of some description given the invitational tomorrow, but it wasn't to be had. Oh well. Those that did run - and there was plenty of traffic on their little network - did an admirable job of ferrying their passengers around.  So, on with the photos! 
A 5" Gauge goods train, complete with antique car chained to a flatcar. 
Which I thought was a nice touch. 
Something British - I dunno what it is? 
Some kind of cane loco, I presume? 
The breakdown train. Not needed today. 
But we did have a failure in the section. Advise Control, ring for relief 
Plenty of people out enjoying the sunshine today made for healthy loadings on every train. 
All on, Driver! 
Sticks Off! Let's GO! 
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My reply:
Thanks KR, |
New to the track! May 2014.
 New member Shane brought his grandfather's train to try on our track. He fitted a camera to record the trip. |
 The amazement on the faces of these children should keep the hobby in the family for another generation. |
Umina Childcare - Special Run. Saturday the 29th of March saw about 150 children, parents and friends come up for a picnic and private running day at the club. Two engines and eight carriages were in continuous use.
Picnic at the Station
Off into the Jungle
March club meeting - business as usual except the bad news that vandals had attacked the club house and pulled down the railings around the verandah and some rainwater pipes. Not only was this a hazard to visitors but there will be some cost in repairing it all safely. If anyone remembers seeing anyone or anything unusual around the grounds in the last 10 days (probably Friday 7th March) please contact us on 0415 083 907 or direct to Gosford Police (quote incident number E54526658).
The railings put up out of reach for now, they were found on the ground.
Testing a couple of vehicles that you won't see on a public running day:
Wayne's Fairmont-inspired section car almost complete and Tom's muck truck.
How to build a simple live steam model locomotive, from scratch. The International Brotherhood of Live Steamers is publishing a series of how-it-was-done books on their revived web-site. Here is the first:
Jan-Eric Nyström's Baldwin 3003
Facebook. For those wondering what is going on, the club has rationalised its facebook presence.
There is now one official page which is available for anyone to see and will be used by the club for announcements about rain cancellations etc. and also by the public to share comments and pictures of past events that they have enjoyed. For requests for changes to the fixed information or page design please contact our secretary who can make these changes.
The old facebook group has now been made private for members. For the time being it is there for members to share internal news and technical comment etc. The club website now points to the public fb page rather than to the fb group.
Apologies to those of you (those of us!) who are not facebook people but apparently fb is important to some. (5 March 2014)
King Tide. Salt water rushing under our bridge to refresh the mangrove swamp.
(January 2014)
The shed floor just got a little more complicated: 
(December 2013)
The first edition of Engineering Heritage Australia is now available at no charge at http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/engineering-heritage-australia/activities-publications. Produced quarterly online, it covers stories about engineering and industrial heritage (when almost everything was powered by steam).
Web updates: Added Questions we have been asked. More contributions welcome! Deleted "Useful forms (under development)" from the front page, until we get some more forms.
New Board elected
At our AGM held on the 21st of September 2013 we elected the following board:
Wayne Sinclair, director; Kris Macey, treasurer; Leal Brack, vice-president; Jimmy, dog; Greg Rowland, president; Ivan Burns, secretary.
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New for 2013 Rail
Suitable for small gauge railways (miniature, live steam etc.), display stands and cases etc. May also be considered as an alternative to hollow section for boat ribs etc. Main dimensions: height - 25.4 mm, foot width - 25.4 mm, head width - 12 mm, head depth - 6 mm, head profile curved similar to ASTM. Ends pre-drilled for joint bars. Material: extruded aluminium alloy 6061 for resistance to corrosion, temper T6 for improved stiffness. Made in Australia. |
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Birthday Run Gosford N.S.W - Notice to fellow AALS members -
.... and we had such a good time that we shall do it all again next year. See you 2nd and 3rd of August 2014. |
| April 2013 work day | |
| Heavy rain last week so the Narara Creek is carrying a fair load of yellow silt. This eastern water dragon is admiring the reflections. |  |
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The main job today was rebuilding the set of 7-1/4" points from the swamp trestle junction. Without these the trains don't get far. |
| The points are now fitted ready for pneumatic operation at some future time. Meanwhile they will be worked by the old crank and rod system. |  |
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Mick Farrel (one of our senior members) dropped in to say hello. He showed us this old photo taken inside the running shed at Eveleigh. |
Additional running days can usually be arranged for schools and other party groups.
Members meet at the meeting room at the track at noon on the third Saturday of every month. Most other Thursdays and Saturdays are work days for members.
New bookings officer: We are pleased to announce as of 1st November the appointment of a new Party/Table Bookings Officer. "Mr Joel Ross" is the New Party/Table Bookings Officer, Joel can be contacted at anytime on the Club Mobile Phone on this number (
Fathers' Day! Bring your dad to the track on Saturday 1 September 2012.
Photos from this year's birthday run are here.
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Birthday Run Gosford N.S.W - Notice to fellow AALS members -
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(Back to the CCSM home page)
| Floods again. December 2011 saw heavy rain on the Central Coast. Narrara Creek rose and then receded leaving a layer of silt over much of the track. Here we are getting the track back up to standard ready for our January 2012 running day. |
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New President. Following the resignation of Greg Rowland for family medical reasons, Fred Pryde was elected unopposed at a special meeting on 27 January 2011.
Activities this month
Wednesday 08/12/2010 Gosford Playgroups Run Day 11:00 – 14:00
Saturday 11/12/2010 Members Play Day 10:00 – 18:00
Thursday 23/12/2010 Grounds Maintenance Day 10:00 – 16:00
Thursday 30/12/2010 Grounds Maintenance Day 10:00 – 16:00
Saturday 08/01/2011 Public Running Day 11:00 – 16:00 (note that for this month only the public running day is NOT the first Saturday, due to the first Saturday being New Years Day.)
Our calendar for the rest of 2011 will be promulgated in due course.
| With the summer months rapidly approaching, the lawns are starting to take off again. All members are asked to come to the grounds, even if not on a designated “work day” and assist where you have the time – even if it’s only for half an hour, the time all adds up. |
Peter Holt hard at work installing the new traverser for the 7¼” Steam Up Bay. Picture taken by Mick Farrell (who wasn’t helping Peter while he had the camera in his hands!).
The board for 2010/2011. At our recent AGM the following were elected:
Other positions are appointed and will be published in the November and later issues of Short North.
September Short North is here.
Our new club loco will look like this.
July Short North is out.
5 June 2010 Running Day. It was raining everywhere else, but not at our track! There was only a small crowd today but those who came were rewarded by short queues to ride the trains. Hope to see you all at our next regular run on 3rd July.
A scale brake van at the end of a 5" gauge train on the gauntlet track at the station.
Newsletters available again on-line! Short North is back in production. The April 2010 issue is here, in pdf form so it will appear just like the printed copy, except now in full colour.
March work day. The usual handful of members showed up to get the grounds pretty for the Easter running day. Unfortunately nobody had the key for the fuel locker so we just ran every machine until its tank was empty. Then we were able to get home for an early lunch. (hint to others: leave us the key, or top up all the tanks before you leave!)
Naohiro-san from Japan dropped in to help. Here he is returning yet another empty mower to the collection.
Mangroves. We think that we are the only club to have a mangrove swamp trestle bridge. Here is link to some backround to these interesting plants. (DPI mangroves information pamphlet)
Gardening, railway style. Behind the scenes: an interesting operation,as recorded by Mitch here.
February 2010 running day ... Slight rain in the morning so we decided to run as usual. Visitors were rewarded with a short queue for rides and a good variety of engines to see and ride. However at one stage two engines failed to proceed and the result was one very long train bringing everyone back to the station. Here is the movie:
Rebecca and friend riding 'Speedy'. The man on the left is Tsubasa, a visitor from Okinawa, keen to see our "locomotive club". Pity that a few minutes later the heavens opened and everyone just had to stay wherever thay could find shelter.
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Central Coast Steam Model Co-op. Ltd. - Club Track: Lot 10 Showground Road, (opposite Bellbowrie St) Narara, NSW - Running Days: 1st Saturday of Every Month from 1100 hrs (anyone expecting to ride the trains must wear proper shoes) - All correspondence to: PO Box 692, GOSFORD, NSW, 2250