Sponsorships

It has always been my belief that those of us who have been successful in the model railway industry, and therefore the ones who take the most out of it, should put some of it back into supporting the people who support us. Usually this takes the form of donations of locomotives as raffle prizes to clubs whose exhibitions we attend ( and in the many cases where a club has asked even though we are not attending their exhibition I don’t think that we have ever refused support of some form following a genuine request. )

This year the opportunity has arisen to support three clubs in ways that have never presented themselves before.

Firstly the Epping Model Railway Club in NSW have set out to raise funds to extend there clubrooms. As part of the fund raising effort they are running a steam train trip to Newcastle on Sunday 3rd August, 2008 using the recently restored 3642. Because we make a model of the C36 class the club approached us for support. We were more than happy to cover their printing costs for the tour brochure and to use our mailout to send brochures to everyone on our mailing list in NSW. www.eppingmodelrailway.org.au

Secondly AMRA Victorian Branch, after having to cancel their exhibition at Box Hill last year, are relaunching themselves into the exhibition scene this year using the excellent facilities at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne. To help finance the heavy costs involved in this enterprise they approached the trade to buy sponsorship packages at various prices. The top package, Platinum, was open to bidding. We are pleased to announce that Austrains, after bidding a not inconsiderable sum, will be the Platinum sponsor for the 2008 AMRA (Vic) exhibition.

Now, no doubt, the usual bunch of suspects on the internet newsgroups will go ballistic claiming that Austrains has bought themselves an exhibition in Victoria to counter someone else’s little soiree at Sandown. Not so. This is purely a sponsorship arrangement to assist a club that has invited us to their exhibitions in the past and where we have always enjoyed ourselves. A substantial amount of Austrains product range is made for the Victorian market and by helping AMRA get their exhibition up and running again we can say thank you to those who support us. Austrains will be there purely as an exhibitor, albeit a prominent one. We will have no say, nor would we want to, over who else attends and who is invited. That is up to the organisers. We don’t want to see anyone left out. As far as we are concerned everyone with any connection with railways or tramways, model or prototype, or hobbies in general for that matter is welcome, as long as everyone enjoys themselves and has a good time.

Third: Arid Australia. At the AMRA NSW exhibition at Hurstville last year I bumped into Tony Gray. Now Tony is probably not well known to most people east of Kalgoorlie but in WA he is one of those who own Arid Australia. ‘What’s that?’ the ill informed amongst you may ask. Well Arid Australia is a huge ( 25m x 12.5m ) exhibition layout living in Perth and based on the Pilbara iron ore lines. It is in the shape of a horseshoe allowing the viewing public to walk through it. At one time, until beaten under dubious circumstances by a bunch of Krauts, it held the record for the longest model train ever documented, some 650 ore cars behind 4 diesel locos. I first saw Arid Australia at the Adelaide exhibition in 1999 ( the only time it has ever crossed the Nullarbor ) and since then have wished that I could find a way to get it to an exhibition on the East Coast. Bringing the layout and its operators to Sydney from WA is a not insubstantial exercise and would be a strain on the financial resources of AMRA if they are to make a reasonable return from their exhibition. After discussions with Tony and then with AMRA exhibition organiser Glen Percival I approached our colleagues and fellow manufacturers, lent gently upon them, and came up with a sponsorship package financed jointly by the biggest names in the industry. All going well Arid Australia will be coming to the AMRA Sydney exhibition in 2008 via a sponsorship package financed in equal measure by Auscision Models, Austrains, Eureka Models and Trainorama.

At this point I would like to thank the proprietors of Auscision, Eureka and Trainorama who did not flinch when I put the proposition to them. Between the four companies we put together a five figure sum.

We all hope you can get to Hurstville in October for possibly your only chance to see and enjoy this unique exhibition layout.

So, now on to more mundane things

Cement Hoppers

The VR - V/Line - V/Line Freight JX -VPCX Cement Hoppers.

We thought that we would have adequate stocks of Cement Hoppers to last well into 2008. However as we have learned in the past things never go according to plan. After a very good exhibition at Collingwood at Easter and an initial distribution to Austrains retailers we now find ourselves Sold Out of all VR packs.

To make matters worse stocks of the V/Line and V/Line Freight wagons will probably not last beyond August. A rerun has ordered in VR and V/Line ( with new sets of numbers ) and Pac. Nat Blue and Freight Australia Green. Around the time we were taking delivery of the first shipment of Cement Hoppers Pacific National got busy repainting a batch of the real ones that had been in storage for up to ten years. Mostly numbered 50 or less.

These have been sand blasted and given a coat of cement coloured paint with the Pacific National logo ( in various formats ). They were then transferred to standard gauge bogies and sent north. Twenty five wagons have been so treated and moved into NSW. So never being ones to miss an opportunity we will also do two packs of three numbers each in the new Pac. Nat livery. However delivery of the second run of Cement Hoppers will not be before November 2008.

Retail price will remain at $149.95 per pack of three.

Postage is free but we charge $3.00 per pack insurance and $4.00 per parcel receipted delivery. Order forms for the JX / VPCX Cement Hoppers are now up on the web site under Cement Hoppers.

Y class

The Y class shipment arrived late January and was mainly distributed by the end of February. As this is being typed we still have around fifteen customers who placed orders and then disappeared into the ether and who have not replied to our follow up letters. We also have a couple of packages returned as undeliverable. If you think you may be one of the aforementioned please contact us. Your loco/s are waiting.

We still have good stocks of all Y class models however the time for the pre delivery order price for the Y class has now long passed. Those of you who waited have procrastinated too long. The price for the Y class is now $255.00.

And we will no longer honour the pre delivery price for those smarties who think they can get away with posting a cheque and an old order form with the lower price. There were quite a number who tried that one on.

C35 & NN class

Production of the C35 /NN is now underway in China. Shipment will be late May which should get them here mid June. That is barring the usual delays which now are becoming commonplace in the industrial areas of southern China.

The paint schemes of the coloured locos is impressive. Especially the 1920 Royal Train version in Caledonian Blue. Despite our best efforts other things have had to take priority and we have not been able to get the photos up on the web site. They did however appear in the April edition of AMRM.

There will be a QSI sound option for both the C35 and NN available for an additional $100.00 per unit. The QSI sound has also been signed off. If you want to know more about the NN and C35 an excellent reference is the RTM publication ‘The C34 and C35 class.’ (Unfortunately now out of print.) Two variants of the NN will have the early version low sided tenders. In response to many requests the C35/NN models will have a removable section in the front buffer beam to allow the fitment of a knuckle coupler.

In late May letters will be sent to everyone who has ordered a C35 / NN asking you to reconfirm your order and make any payments still outstanding.

The pre-delivery order price for the C35 has now expired. The price for the loco is now $450.00 for standard models or $550.00 with sound. No deposits are now being taken. Full payment only please.

As order for the C35 / NN have not yet reached the breakeven point it is unlikely that the model will be available to retailers immediately upon its release

Sometime during late April we are expecting the painted samples of the DL diesel electric loco. The factory has given us a delivery schedule which should enable us to release the model at the AMRA exhibition at Caulfield in Melbourne during August. However this is cutting it very fine and will only work if we airfreight the first batch off the production line. In fact the closer the time gets the harder it becomes to meet that deadline. Retail price is for the DL will be $260.00. Colours will be AN Green, Pac. Nat Blue and two shades of National Rail Grey. Our original plan was not to take any pre orders. This was to cut down on the ever increasing paperwork which is eating into our private lives. As usual the best laid plans of mice and men go astray. We usually take an extended overseas holiday mid year. This year because of the exhibition commitments listed above that trip has been postponed and we will now be leaving Oz for six weeks from two days after the end of the Hurstville exhibition. If we delay the postings of the DL until after we get back it is possible that many will not get their models until after Christmas. This will make a lot of people more cranky than usual so here is the amended plan.

An order form for the DL is now up on the web site. We will take advance orders for the DL on the following basis.

Orders must be received by mail, fax or email. Phone orders will not be accepted.

Orders must be accompanied by a Cheque or Money Order for the FULL amount of the order including postage and insurance if required or by a Credit Card number. No deposits or part payments will be taken. No Cheques or Money orders will be banked or credit cards debited until the models are ready for shipment.

Cheques or Money Orders which do not include the cost of postage will not be processed. Omitting this item is becoming an increasing habit of many customers.

No acknowledgements of orders will be given. Do not even consider the consequences of phoning to ask if we have received your order. Remember, we are trying to cut down on paperwork and the time spent on the business in general.

Orders will be posted during September.

If you think that you will be able to purchase your model at either Caulfield or Hurstville exhibitions please do not place an order at this time. If we are cutting it too fine for Caulfield we will put a note on the web site in good time. Don’t worry about us running out of stock. There will be plenty of DL’s

Some minor modifications are underway to the NSWGR MLE Flat Wagon and its variations the TME Pipe Carrier and the FME LCL container wagon. The modifications to the LCL containers to allow the fitting of a separate galvanized iron roof to simulate the insulated version have taken a lot longer than we anticipated because of procrastination at the factory. Because of this the release date of the flat wagons is now indeterminate. Our current plan is that the FME LCL carrier will be released first in October 2008 followed by the MLE and TME early 2009 however this may go back.

The MLE and its variants are moulded in diecast zinc alloy with plastic detail components. This gives them plenty of rolling weight which makes them sit on the track a lot better than previous all plastic or resin examples.

Expected retail price for a three pack of FME’s with a six container load will be around $135.00. A three pack of unloaded MLE’s will be around $115.00 but this is yet to be confirmed. We will also make available the LCL containers off the FME, with different numbers, in a separate six pack for around $25.00. There are any number of variations to the LCL container. Our model is based on one preserved at the ARHS in Canberra.

CL series

We now have very few items left of the CL series locos. Most of the remaining models are now in AN Green. Refer to the price list for availability. A few ANR Red and Silver locos have turned up in a box from the Hobsons Bay exhibition but not to enough to warrant putting them on the price lists. They will be offered at exhibitions until all are sold.

The price of individual unit CL’s has now risen to $255.00.

X Class

Stocks of the X class have taken a battering and we have very few left. All VR Blue models are now Sold Out. We have a few left in Freight Australia Green and V/Line but that is it. Due to other commitments no rerun of the X class is planned until at least late 2010.

Price of the remaining X class is $245.00

C36 class

All advertised items are in stock. We have ordered enough C36 models to last some time. A working headlight has being fitted, the rods and valve gear have been upgraded to stainless steel and provision has being made in the tender for a DCC decoder.

Kadee #5 clone couplers are fitted to the tender and the fitting of longer couplers, if required, is made simple by having a standard coupler box moulded into the tender. The C36 is available with the option of a factory fitted decoder for an additional $45.00. Price for the C36 will be $395.00 standard and $445.00 with decoder. This pricing should ensure that the C36 remains the least expensive high quality Australian steam locomotive available for some time into the future. 750 units of the rerun have been made with the factory decoder which works quite well.

T class

We still have good stocks of all remaining T class despite some more being water damaged in the second deluge that hit Sydney while we were away in China January. Most of the water damaged stock was sold at the Hobsons Bay exhibition at Easter but a few items left behind in Sydney remain and will be sold at the Epping exhibition. They will not be sold by mail, mainly because in many cases the boxes are so waterlogged many literally full apart in the hands. The contents however are fine and covered by a full 12 month warranty.

Price for all the undamaged T class remains unchanged at $239.00.

Water damaged boxes depending on how we feel at the time but pretty cheap

80 and 442 / 700 classes

Pacific National have recently announced that they are overhauling and returning to service a number of units of the 80 class units. Austrains has the tooling for these models but both suffer from being early models and, especially in the case of the 80 class which is now over eleven years old, a lack of much of the detail of more recent releases.

An upgrading program is being undertaken on both these models to bring them closer to recent standards. At present discussions are being held with the factory to what is possible ( within a fairly extensive budget ) and what is not. Most certainly the upgrade will involve separate brake cylinders on the bogies and separate air hoses to replace the moulded on relief of the first runs. Separate mirrors and windscreen wipers for the 80 class are a definite along with re engineering the weights to allow for better fitment of DCC chips and sound speakers. The coupler mounting system will also be changed to something closer to recent models and the large gap in the pilots done away with negating the necessity for after market coupler mounts. While they won’t be completely up to modern standards they will be as good as we can make them.

At the same time we will be upgrading the NR class. This will involve retooling the chassis to accommodate sound speakers and the addition of working marker and ditch lights.

When these models are re-released starting in mid 2009 the opportunity will be taken to rerun some of the more popular colour schemes from past runs. Tuscan and Reverse liveries on both the 80 and 442 versions come immediately to mind. All liveries previously done on the NR except NR30 in Grey, NR52 in Black and NR109 in experimental Pac. Nat. liveries will be done in one massive production run along with the new Pac. Nat. livery and anything else that comes along in the meantime.

Future models

81 / G / BL

81 / G / BL: In mid February we sent the G / BL drawings back to the factory after having passed their first checkup with only fifty or so modifications. The drawings for the 81 class required only around thirty corrections but were running a few weeks behind.

The YOU CAN’T WIN DEPARTMENT: True story. I was within ten minutes of packing the amended 81 class drawings into an envelope for a quick return trip to Hong Kong by Fedex when, as usual, I decided to just have a last look to see if there was something we had collectively missed. I had on my desk at the time a few photos of locos in the new Pac. Nat. blue with yellow cab livery that I took at Moss Vale about six months ago. These were taken for livery, not body detail, purposes and eighteen months or more after our original design drawings, which covered, we think, all known variations up to that time, were finished and sent for quotation to the factory.

Something didn’t seem right but I couldn’t pick it at first. I checked a few more photos of different locos, asked some mates for more pictures of repaints and for an independent opinion. Then it jumps out at us. As Pac. Nat, are repainting the locos, they are removing the steps from the bodywork behind the cab, thus preventing easy access to the roof of the loco. Collective groan……and a couple of weeks later an amended set of drawings were on there way to the factory. End result……. probably another 60 – 80 grand for another body. But it has to be done if we are to get the loco right for its present day, and into the future, colour schemes. .All drawings for both the 81 and G / BL are now at the factory but the episode has cost us time, probably 3-4 months by the time we get a set of drawings from the factory for the new body. ( They are already short of design time. ) That time can’t be made up and is lost. There is probably no way now that we will have test shots of these locos before early next year and it would be a brave person who would bet on the first production run arriving before early 2010. We have to be realistic.

As there is a huge amount of interest in these models we will open orders for the 81 / G / BL with the August 2008 mailout.

And for those who have been asking YES, there will be two different variations to the sides of the early 81 class. The original version with single access door and the rebuilt double door version.

There will be two prices for the 81 / G / BL. The first will be a pre production order price of $245.00 if fully paid with your order. This price will rise to at least $285.00 immediately upon delivery of the models. A deposit of $80.00 per unit will hold your model at the pre delivery price.

Although the models will have provision for sound Austrains will not be offering a sound option on the 81 /G /BL however some consideration is being given to fitting the factory DCC chip to as used in the C36 with some success to part of the run. This will be the subject of much testing and experimentation before we make a decision. Interestingly we have had only one return on a C36 class caused by a failure of the factory chip ( and that was more likely operator error ) so the idea may have some merit. Any feedback from the DCC gurus on this would be appreciated

ELX Open Wagon and variants

No sooner had we spent a day discussing the ELX project with the factory in early January than we discovered that, once again, our competitors from south of the Murray have produced some test shots of the same wagon. Déjà vu, the T class. Not being ones to shrink in the face of a little competition the Austrains ELX and its variants will proceed but the factory has given us an accelerated schedule. This means putting the design work on the FO Coaches back a few months but such is life. The ELX will now take priority.

The variations we have planned are for the first production run are:

• ELX Original version with flat sides.
• ELX Heavy Duty version with reinforced flat sides.
• ELX Ribbed sides with strengthened underframe.
• ESX Steel carrying wagon.

The SAR / AN version will also be made.

We had opted for opening doors for all models but after discussions with the factory engineers this idea has been dropped. The major difficulty was that the factory believes that opening doors would require hinges twice scale size. After inspecting some models made for the European market with this feature it was deemed unacceptable.

Despite the accelerated schedule delivery of the ELX should be very early 2009 but most likely later.

I suppose that I could say ‘Don’t buy another ELX until you see our ELX’ but I promised not to use that again.

Flat Top T / P class

Flat Top T / P class: Being fair dinkum about it there has been no further progress on the Flat Top T / P class project except that the Victorian research teams heads have now shrunken to their correct size after their triumph with the Y class. When they feel up to it work will begin on the Flat Top T / P class but other things like family etc. have to take priority. The T / P will happen all in good time. At best the Flat Top T / P class will not be delivered before sometime in 2010 but this also is looking optimistic.

We can now announce that the rolling stock model following the ELX will be the NSWGR - PTC WH / WHX Grain Hopper followed by the CH Coal Hopper. Drawings are underway on this model now. Delivery of these models is expected late 2009.

Passenger Coaches

We have now finalised our design drawings for the NSWGR American End Platform Cars generically know as the FO’s. These will be in three variations, platforms both ends, enclosed guards compartment and for the ever diminishing band of branch line modelers the CCA which effectively manages to combine First and Second class, smoking and non smoking and a guards compartment into one coach.

These coaches will have interiors and the current plan is that they will be lighted with provision for a DCC chip for those who want to dim the lights. An alternate proposition is a simple on / off switch under the floor of each car to manually control the lights. A decision on this will be made once the designers in China come up with a few ideas. As stated above design work on the FO’s has been postponed until the ELX drawing package is finished. The factory will make a start on the design of these models around July 2008. Additional two car sets will be available as add ons.

That gives us an expected delivery time of late 2009 to mid 2010. Expected price around $300.00 + for a six car set.

Z19 / Z20 class

The quotation received from the factory for the Z-19 0-6-0 tender loco and the Z-20 class 2-6-4 Tank loco has proved to be anything but satifactory. We have sent it back for requoting and suggested to them that they can sharpen their pencils a lot finer than they have done. Until we receive the amended quote the project is on hold.

No, it wasn’t an April Fools joke as some thought. Austrains, in conjunction with Great Southern Railway, who own the Ghan and Indian Pacific are having an N scale NR class made to retail for around $40.00. The bad news for all you N scalers ( if any of you actually read this epistle ) is that it is meant as a corporate giveaway and something to sell as a momento on the train.

We will do our best to keep it accurate but it will not be powered and will not be designed to be powered. That’s up to you. The good news is that it will be available in a range of liveries other than the Ghan and IP.

The next exhibitions Austrains will be attending will be:

Epping Model Railway Club Exhibition.
Epping Boys High School,
Cnr Epping Rd. & Vimera Rd,
Marsfield, NSW.
June 7th – June 9th. (Queens Birthday Weekend )

Australian Model Railway Assoc. Vic Branch.
Caulfield Racecourse,
Station St, Caulfield East,
Melbourne, VIC.
23rd – 24th August.

Australian Model Railway Assoc. NSW Branch.
Penshurst Aquatic Centre,
King Georges Rd, Penshurst,
Sydney, NSW.
4th – 6th October.

Unfortunately due to a conflict of dates with Caulfield we will not be attending the Newcastle Exhibition. We will as usual be represented at that exhibition by Barnes Hobbies.

Austrains retail network

It is the belief of Austrains management that a strong retail sector is vital to the continuation of the model railway hobby.

While we would like to supply our retailers with new product from the moment it is released the ever increasing cost of new tooling makes this situation impossible. Our policy is to market direct to the public bypassing the retail sector until such time as the tooling for a new product has paid for itself by the extra retail margin we receive from direct marketing. If we don’t do this there are no surplus funds to invest in new tooling and the business stagnates. Austrains retailers understand this situation.

This means that not all new product releases may be available from Austrains retailers when they are first released and possibly for some time afterwards. Please do not assume that you will be able to buy a new release model immediately from a dealer. Austrains does not supply all retailers. We are not a general wholesaler and as such do not run accounts. We require prompt payment from our retailers.

We also require that our retailers carry a minimum stock of product instead of ordering on customer demand as with many other products and that they actively promote the modeling of Australian railways. Many retailers have found these requirements beyond their capacity or willingness to comply or unsatisfactory for their particular business.

Others for their own reasons do not wish to stock Austrains products. ( Take that as you may. ) For any combination of the aforementioned reasons we do not or will not supply them.

Postage and insurance

All items posted by Austrains have compulsory receipted delivery and optional insurance.

Compulsory receipted delivery now costs $4.00 per order. Optional insurance is $4.00 per diesel loco. $5.00 per steam loco.

If you do not nominate no insurance and we have your credit card number we charge it automatically. Austrains accepts no responsibility for packages posted uninsured.

Austrains office phone number

Our phone: 02-9817-2333
Our fax: 02-9817-2377
Postal Address: PO. Box 3076, Putney, NSW, 2112
E-Mail: austrain@idx.com.au