The aftermath

Further to the previous ‘blog, here are some more pictures as the track is lifted from my railway.

The track has been lifted copy

The trackbed on the gradient out of the colliery.

Trackbed without track copyNo more Garratt climbing the bank, no more 8F pulling the coal wagons.

The trackbed almost looks like a real one after the tracks are gone.

The track has been lifted 2 copy

 

 

 

This picture is less real ….

 

 

 

No railway left copy

 

So here is the final view.

The new owners might want to use the baseboards (unlikely) or use it as shelving.  Or, most likely, knock it all down.  I just couldn’t bring myself to do it ….

The lights go out copy

 

 

… and the lights go out for the last time.

A sad day ….

After 20 years of construction, this is the time of deconstruction ….

My model railway at Mount Riverview has to be taken apart.

IMG_1397

 

This is after the wagons have been packed away and the buildings removed.

 

 

 

IMG_1400

 

 

Now the deforestation has occurred.

IMG_1401

 

 

 

 

 

Now the tracks are being torn up ….

 

 

 

I spent the day at our old house, in the cellar pulling apart the model railway.  It was bit sad.  Odd, also, remembering the struggles to get this point working, that bit of scenery to look right, etc.

Overall my verdict is that I did a good job, but I certainly wouldn’t do it the same way ever again, or advise anyone to do the same thing.  I copied what Dad had done in Liverpool (UK), rather than using modern techniques, ideas and modelling gear.  It would have been so much easier if I had done it differently.  Sometimes you simply shouldn’t repeat the experiences of the past.

If (and it’s not certain) I build another model daily, what will I do?  Another Scale 7 model, but portable, smaller and linear (rather than circular)?  Gauge 3 (in the garden possibly)?  S7 in the garden?  If I go to G3, or decide not to build another railway, what should I do with the stuff which I have now?

So many questions, no answers.

Glenbrook House 25 – Moving In!

At last the time has come that we can move in.  By one way of looking at it, this is after a six-month delay: it has taken us that long to sell the house at 33 Blackbutt Circle.  However, by holding on, even in a market said to be going down, we have settled for a price only a little less than we asked.  $1.27M as you asked.

We had to leave all, or nearly all, the furniture in 33BBC in order to make it easier to sell, which in turn meant that we couldn’t move into 47 Park Street (well, we don’t have two sets of furniture).

Moving out of 33BBC 5 smallSo, when we eventually had the OK to move, it was a major exercise.  It was odd to see our home for more than 20 years become empty of furniture.

 

 

Moving out of 33BBC 7 small

 

 

Bedrooms with no beds.

 

 

Moving out of 33BBC 10 small

 

Our main bedroom with no furniture.

 

 

 

47 Park Street First Day 4 small

 

It was all a little sad, really.  Until, that is, we set foot in the new house.

 

 

 

Then it was wonderful.  The first day made us realise what a good decision it was, to move.  We sat under out covered balcony roof and could easily have been in a Cotswold village in England, complete with blackbirds chirping, the (relatively) long evening, and the perfect temperature (it is still very early summer here in NSW).  Yet we still have all the benefits of living in Australia (see the special section in The Economist from last week).

47 Park Street First Day 1 small

We even have a peacock in the back garden, courtesy of the builder, who came to visit on Saturday, bringing us a present.

Glenbrook is a lovely village, quiet but well-supplied with services such as doctors, a pharmacy, a (very small) supermarket, and several places to eat out.

We aim to grow old here.