Operating on the Cann River

Last Friday Darren hosted an operating session on his Cann River layout which is based on the Victorian Railways.  Here are some photos that I took during the evening.


This N scale stock pen near Noorinbee is exquisite, and my photo does not do it justice. I need two, larger
stock pens on the GC, and I'll be hard-pressed to model anything this nice.

This is a view of the long platform at Noorinbee. The signal box at the far right is shown in
the following photos.

The signal box at Noorinbee.



Another view of the signal box at Noorinbee.

The motive power for the train that I ran during the evening was this "T" class,
accompanied by two guards vans.

After making up my train at Genoa I had to wait for a goods train pulled by this "B" class to pass.

Greg was shunting coal wagons at Wingan when I took this photo.

A town scene at Noorinbee, although this could be almost anywhere in rural Victoria.

A small goods shed situated next to overgrown track near Noorinbee.

Darren (L) watches as Graham shunts wagons at the Cann River yard.

The control panel at Cann River. I understand that the display follows VR practice.

Graham at Cann River



Chris, shunting covered wagons at one of the smaller towns (the name of which I forget.)

The control panel at Wingan is typical of those found on the smaller towns on Darren's layout. The plan is (or was)
for the layout to be controlled by a dispatcher using CTC, but train operators can over-ride that system by first
unlocking the local points and then operating them. The unlocking controls are shown in the box to the left
of the 4 toggle switches, and the process involves pressing a button until a LED glows, then throwing
a toggle switch. This adds an entirely new and fun dimension to operations.

This is my goods train leaving Noorinbee. I had arrived at Noorinbee via the track on the left, and then
run around the train so I could depart in the right direction.

A level crossing in rural Victoria.

Crossing a timber trestle bridge on the way to Chandler.

A couple of N scale wagons - a cement car and a tarp-covered GY wagon. The quality of the N scale
VR models available is staggering.

A VR goods shed with a couple of enclosed vans.

I've delivered my loaded coal wagons to the paper mill at chandler, and I'm on my way back to
Genoa with several empty cars.

Darren's layout ran just as nice as it looks, and I had a very enjoyable time running my goods train from Genoa to Chandler and back.

Unfortunately, the Cann River's days are numbered as Darren has sold his house and the layout is to be demolished. However, Darren hopes to host another session (or more?) before the layout comes down, and I hope to be invited over again.

Thanks for reading.

Regards,
Ron