Rare model train collection donated to Queensland museum after being kept in secret

[tossedman]

This is cool. 4.5km of track!

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-28/rare-model-train-collection-donated-ipswich-museum/8100116

[Suica]

This is amazing.

 

It doesn't say anything about the gauge though. But they look quite large.

[Das Steinkopf]

This is amazing.

 

It doesn't say anything about the gauge though. But they look quite large.

Gauge 1 at a guess.

[medusa]

OMG the AD60 is breath-taking... I feel so weak if it comes to Garratts...

Fortune or misfortune they're so hard to get in N scale...

[velotrain]

OMG the AD60 is breath-taking... I feel so weak if it comes to Garratts...

Fortune or misfortune they're so hard to get in N scale...

 

Since you like challenging projects, you could build one.

Just get two of your favorite (and least expensive) N-scale mechanisms.

 

I always thought one of the major difficulties is the motor typically extending so far behind the driving wheels, and wondered if it might be possible to modify the drive train so the motor (perhaps different / thinner) was on top of the drivers, and hide it with the superstructure - which you'd have to scratch build.

 

This guy always has lots of small motors (and gearmotors) available.

http://stores.ebay.com/microlocomotion

[velotrain]

Apparently there are now some N-scale steam engines with the motor mounted over the drivers.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SBshVp5Msk

 

 

Also, the world came close to having a RTR N-scale AD60, but not quite enough people were interested.

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1560185090/n-scale-nswgr-ad60-garratt-locomotive

[medusa]

Yes, I had this kind of discussion before in the german forum. Know about the failed kickstarter project, too.

 

Like the idea of doing my own Garratt from two steamer chassis. There may also some suitable for this - either from existion N models or as single part.

Problem is, even if I had only one hobby I'd not enough time to build all this.

So, this is one of the not-yet projects quite far down on the list. :(

[westfalen]

Knowing the museum I'm not holding my breath waiting for the collection to be put on display.  Their exhibits have hardly changed since they opened in 2002, though hopefully we might see some at next year's Ipswich model railway show which is held at the museum (one of the reasons they gave for cancelling this year's show was that they had to catalogue this collection).

 

The other bit of criticism is that although it is great to see the collection saved and, hopefully, put on public display it doesn't really fit the museum's core mission of preserving Queensland's railway history which they don't have the best track record of handling.  There are steam locos gathering dust and pigeon droppings out in the back shops and several historic diesels and other rolling stock were disposed of recently after being left to rust and rot in the open for years.

 

All things aside I wish them luck as it could be the seeds of a model railway museum like the Hara Model Railway Museum in Yokohama.

[beakaboy]

Knowing the museum I'm not holding my breath waiting for the collection to be put on display.  Their exhibits have hardly changed since they opened in 2002, though hopefully we might see some at next year's Ipswich model railway show which is held at the museum (one of the reasons they gave for cancelling this year's show was that they had to catalogue this collection).

 

The other bit of criticism is that although it is great to see the collection saved and, hopefully, put on public display it doesn't really fit the museum's core mission of preserving Queensland's railway history which they don't have the best track record of handling.  There are steam locos gathering dust and pigeon droppings out in the back shops and several historic diesels and other rolling stock were disposed of recently after being left to rust and rot in the open for years.

 

All things aside I wish them luck as it could be the seeds of a model railway museum like the Hara Model Railway Museum in Yokohama.

I would tend to agree with you Westfalen having visited the Museum in 2015. Not enough volunteers or paid staff for a start, possibly due to the PC police and also management who are more focussed on micro managing and other non productive stuff. Health and safety has also raised its ugly head in NZ and introduced rules and other restrictions for volunteers. These types of collections would be better off with passionate modellers and set up for public display with some business backing.  Our local club were offered the opportunity ,a few years back ,to join with a local  historic aircraft museum and have a public layout on display 6-7 days a week using automation with minimal staff required as well as have room for a clubrooms for building models and displays. The problem was lack of commitment from club members who were mostly retired. There were very few experienced modellers in the club anyway, with most of the members more interested in playing trains or having meetings to drink tea and eat biscuits and discuss their latest loco or video  purchase . Interesting that most of the really good modellers with superb American Layouts at home had their own group gatherings at each others homes.They didn't require a committee or meeting and had been involved for several years operating in this way with no friction or animosity. getting off my soapbox now.

[westfalen]

I just don't much faith in them handling a collection of model trains. My club was in a building in the workshops at the time the museum was being planned and they pretty much ignored any advice we offered in regard to the museum's display layout at planning meetings we attended and in the usual manner of government organisations the Queensland Museum spent a six figure sum to have a 'professional' build it.  As a goodwill gesture we volunteered to man the layout on opening day and aside from having to remove or hide things that shouldn't be on a display layout that kids will be looking at like a guy who had been run over by a train and was lying beside the tracks with his head between the rails or hastily putting some bushes over the drowned body floating in a lake, we spent a good deal of time under the layout putting out burning scenery where insulation had burnt off wires and they were acting like a hot wire tool cutting through the styrofoam because the builder had used 10 amp, yes 10 amp, fuses as short circuit protection, we suspect this was also the cause of at least one turnout we found having its point blades actually welded to the stock rail. We decided if they didn't want to listen to us they were on their own.

 

The people at the museum have changed over the years but the layout still struggles to keep operating with a loco and three or four hoppers representing a mile long unit train and at least half of the loops of track seem to be idle at any one time and the scenery is looking rather faded and tired after almost 15 years.

 

With regard to staff, my late father offered to volunteer at the museum but as someone who started out at Ipswich roundhouse working on steam in 1947, ended up in charge of the engine rebuild section at Redbank diesel shops and could tell you almost anything about any loco QR owned, as well as being a model railroader since he was a boy all he was qualified to do in the eyes of the bureaucracy was to be a greeter at the gate handing out leaflets.

 

So as I said I wish them luck and I hope the collection has a future where people can enjoy it.

Edited January 1, 2017 by westfalen

[cteno4]

Ah that does sound so sad. I've worked in the museum world since I was 16 and they can get very bureaucratic and full of themselves. Not using volunteer skills is one of the best examples. It mainly takes organizational skills to get and maintain a good volunteer pool of special talents, skills, knowledge (and these can be uber expensive and hard to find). Finding a good paid or even volunteer organizer is not anywhere near as hard as finding the experts!

 

I always steer museums away from operational exhibits like a layout unless they are going to be well staffed (paid or volunteer) out in the future with staff that can work on it and give a good budget to upkeep, but sadly they tend to want it without that most of the time and also tend to want to have a lot of control over its design when they know little about public presentation or how the mechanics work or what it takes to keep it going.

 

One came up with the idea of a large roller coaster track to be DNA and the roller coaster car proteins interacting with the DNA. It was so far off the mark prenentation wise, cost wise, and impossible to maintain. But in the final interview between us and another design team they listened to our ideas for the exhibits they has solicited (for free) and promptly told us this was their idea and they wanted it done, screw our ideas. I politely told them the idea had major issues and what they were but they were all the top of biochemistry world so they thought they knew better. Ironically I had been around all of the committee in grad school even with one of them on my prelim exams so they knew I knew the science. We walked out of the meeting and decided to politely bow out of the project. They selected us even though we bowed out ironically but we didn't take the job. Strangely the roller coaster never happened and the 5 produced exhibits were exactly what I had presented at the meeting... This gives you an idea how bad they can go. Others are great, give us the latitude to do our job and engage the public and utilize volunteers and the public in the design and final exhibit and they can be wonderful and done on much more of a shoestring budget. All in who is driving the ship on the institution side and if they are wise to choose folks that will listen on the design side, work freely together, and trust they know what they are doing.

 

Many times also (especially in many gov projects) you have separate design and production contracts. This leads to designs being made that are not well producible so they can look cool as designers. Screw if it's impossible or won't work they don't have to build it. This also forces half the design budget to be design documents that look cool and complete but are crap to actually produce because even though complete they have fatal flaws. This then leads to production company to follow the flawed design until the flaws start to show then they get big change of work orders (this is where they make their money after low balling the initial contract) to try and patch things up and of course things get late and pressured this way and of course you end up with a thrown together patch job...

 

Cheers,

 

Jeff

[kvp]

The question is if they have a rule that prevents them selling everything or not. Also is there a requirement for having a display or they are allowed to chuck most of it into storage until it rots or could be sold? I would assume the default would be to sell everything that is not local, display one or two locos in a glass box and store the rest uncataloged.

[beakaboy]

I also wonder whether anything is going to walk out the back door before they finish cataloguing  the collection! When I used to belong to our local club, we had never kept a detailed record of donated goods or items the club had purchased over the years.Sadly when records were finally updated and a stocktake done, they found many items had disappeared. At one stage I had taken the clubs N scale locos home for repair work, which had been documented at a club meeting. I had used some of my own spares to repair them and one loco had required more work which meant I returned it after the rest of the locos had gone back. I presented it to the president one night and it never was seen again. I felt like I was the guilty party as president couldn't recall receiving it (He was in his late 70's and having health issues at this stage) Last time I volunteered to repair anything!

The loss of knowledge at museums and other facilities is epidemic in all aspects of life. My wife works for a private aged care  Facility and Hospital which was purchased by a large corporation last year. They have lost a huge number of key staff with vast knowledge over the last 12 months. mostly down to your comments Jeff. Interesting that the CEO of the corporation put his foot in it when he spoke to all staff and patient families upon acquiring the business. He said I don't care about staff, I care about patients! He tried to backtrack, but seed had been planted! This corporate attitude has spread everywhere now. If you question anything coming from management, they want to get rid of you!

[cteno4]

Knowledge like that is not valued anymore at all! Out the window these days and actually seen as evil as only the new, innovations are valued. Very sad. I keep seeing happen at all the businesses and instituonal I have worked with for decades now, some are turning into shells that feel like they will crumble.

 

Getting large donations like this can ruin an institution. They are done with good intents (and many times have agreements stuff won't be sold) but end up being way too much for the institution to be able to handle or veer them off course. They usually see the donation to be prestigious, but are usually puffed up too much by it to really be honest with themselves if it will work for them or not.mthey see it as a loss of face to have it go to another institution or work with the donor to maybe Taylor the donation some better for the institution and sell some off to help make the right mix for the long term preservation and interpretation of the items. But again this takes wisdom and some humility and self knowledge.

 

The donors also get really attached to their collection having to stay intact and it may not be of a real fit with institutions or even the public. Good ones will work with the institution that is the best fit to allow them to sell off part to pay for preservation and presentation in the long run, but that doesn't happen all the time...

 

This one sounds like a bad fit.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[westfalen]

I can't see anything on the museum's website or Facebook page about the collection yet though I suppose its early days yet.

 

One thing about the Workshops Rail Museum that can go in either the pro or con column is that it is a part of the Queensland Museum.  On the one hand they have access to funds and resources beyond that of railfan run museums and preserved railways but on the other hand the rail exhibits have to compete for those funds with other things from dinosaurs to bringing exhibits of Egyptian antiquities to Brisbane.  In recent years there was a WW1 German tank in an airconditoned plastic bubble to protect it taking up space in the shop building where the model train show was held while locos and rolling stock that were already antiques in 1918 were sitting untouched and deteriorating.

Edited January 2, 2017 by westfalen

[medusa]

It's not only in public institutions like this but also in large companies. Powerpoint slides sell. Don't ask why I know. :(

[westfalen]

It's not only in public institutions like this but also in large companies. Powerpoint slides sell. Don't ask why I know. :(

Yes, if you know how to run Powerpoint you've got the job, no need to know anything about the actual job.