- THE HISTORY -

The HOBSON’S BAY MODEL RAILWAY Club (Inc.) was  formed in 1988, when a group of then Public Transport workers, got together and decided to acquire one of the many disused government operated Railway’s buildings, in order to form a truly Australian based modeling group.  More than 100 Train Drivers, Signallers, Gangers and others from all over THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT CORPORATION signed a petition requesting that a suitable building be made available and to our amazement, our employer agreed.

Even  greater was our astonishment when one of the buildings on offer turned out to be the former “Amenities  Building” for the, by then, long abandoned No. 9 and No. 10 Sheds (the former North Eastern Inwards/Outwards L. C. L. Forwarding area) in a disused section of the Melbourne Freight Yard.  This was a double-storey building of early  1960’s vintage and ‘solid brick-curtain construction’ that  measured externally almost 90 feet x 22 feet (27.5 meters x 6.5 meters) and which provided a clear internal area of approximately 75 feet x 20 feet (21 meters x 6 meters)  into which we could fit a layout (and that was just the upstairs area)!   Downstairs, there was an equal amount of room (albeit divided into smaller  sections) that could be used for amenities and storage and as Clubrooms.   Needless to say, our search for a home promptly ceased!

A  few months were to pass before any work of a railway nature could be undertaken,  primarily due to the fact that the building had, over the 5 years it had lay dormant, acquired a layer of dust some 6 mm (1/4 inch) thick.  It was a “sight  to behold” to see the torrents of muddy water cascading down the stairs and out  through the front door!  Eventually, after a great deal of effort from a small team of commmitted and devoted individuals, the building was once again declared  ‘fit for human habitation’ and we officially took up residence.

- THE LAYOUT -

       Our first running session took place courtesy of our good friends - the CORIO MODEL RAILWAY CLUB - who were  kind enough to loan us their then current exhibition layout for the weekend.  Interestingly, the presence of this layout in the space we had at hand caused some members grave concern as the room available quite simply dwarfed that layout (despite the fact that the CORIO layout was considered quite large by normal standards).   Nonetheless, much fun was had by all!  Short lived, though, the fun was then cast aside as we set about the daunting task of filling the enormous space with railway track.

Right  from the very beginning it was agreed by the founding members that the layout would maintain direct ties with our workday environment.  Being employees of  V/LINE, this meant that our miniature world would reflect the practices of the state government owned railways operating throughout the state of Victoria, located in South Eastern Australia.  It was also agreed that we would feature the Industrial backdrop (as provided by our home city of Melbourne) as the  primary “backdrop” for the layout, an aspect of real life railways that was hitherto neglected by the majority of local modelers.  It was also accepted, in toto, that Sunshine (a major junction station in the Western suburbs of  Melbourne), would be the ideal location upon which to base the layout.  Being the diverging point for the then Western Main Line (which ultimately led to Adelaide) and the location of the only other suburban passenger platform  (outside of the main terminal) on the Standard Gauge Main Line (which joins the capital  cities of Sydney and Melbourne), this would allow us to model electrified suburban passenger and freight services, as well as Western, Northern and  North Eastern intrastate traffic and North Eastern interstate freight and passenger traffic.  This way, we could justify the presence of nearly any rollingstock from around Australia (irrespective of it’s originating system) on the layout.  One of the other aspects which found full agreement was the requirement  to accurately recreate any specifically modeled location and to emulate, as best as possible, any ‘safe-working practices’ that are in use on any ‘rights of way’ (where such lines are depicted).

Several different plans were proposed until all agreed upon the plan that forms the basis of the existing  layout.  The layout itself conforms to the ‘along the  walls’ principle with two central peninsulas.  One of these provides the  “˜left-hand turn” at Sunshine (which is the aforementioned ‘branch’ to all points  west), whilst the other peninsula allows for the continuous run of our double-tracked Broad Gauge Main Line (representing the prototype’s 5 feet 3 inches [1600 mm]  gauge), as well as the reversing loops which allow for the  ‘point-to-point’  operations of the single-tracked Standard Gauge Main Line (4 feet 81/2 inches [1435 mm]  gauge).  One of the other important standards upon which the founding members agreed was to ensure that all major crossing loops and reversing loops were a minmum of 20 feet (6 meters) in length, which allowed us to emulate the then current prototype railway practice of running trains of 50 vehicles in length.  Hence our slogan “WHERE THE BIG TRAINS  RUN!”

The  main central peninsula, we think, is unique amongst club layouts in this country, in as much as it  makes use of two popular American modeling principles.  In order to obtain as much physical distance between modeled  locations, the track-work is hidden for much of it’s length.  To accomodate four separate modeled locations on only two visible sides, we resorted to the use of  “Double-Decking” and to obtain the required height for this, it was neccesary to install a 540 degree helix.

It  should be noted that this is not the “be all and end all” of the matter.  Plans are afoot to commence work on the stub-ended terminal yard (a fictitious location to be called KORWEINGUBOORA) that will be the visible end of the central peninsula (which presently stops in a hidden,  three-track, reversing loop cum staging yard).  This location will be based on standard ‘Victorian Railways’ practices for such yards.  As  well, the points and crossovers are already in place for the proposed  prototypical VR single-track, country branch  line that will diverge from the main suburban lines in an “easterly” direction from the main Passenger Terminal (to be located on a “double-decked” layout in the former upstairs toilet  facility).  For more detailed information,  please feel free to visit our Layout Room.

- THE CLUB -

The  Club boasts a steady membership of some 40 members, not all of whom are from a railway background.  In fact, our current constitution allows us to have three ‘unqualified’ members (a person not employed within the rail industry) for each ‘qualified’ member (one who is).  Although with the present  situation regarding the ‘privatisation’ of the railways in this state, the need for this restriction is diminished and there are moves to change the  constitution to improve this ratio.

Club  meetings are held each Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, with Tuesday being set aside for working on the layout  and Saturday and Sundays being our running nights - Saturdays for trains controlled by DCC (Digital Command Control) and Sundays for trains operated by good, old fashioned DC (Direct Current).   As well as this, from time to time, some members will organise special meetings (mostly on Saturdays) for ‘New South Wales’ modelers (where trains from “north of the  border” invade  the layout) and ‘American Running Nights’ (when our American  modeling friends get to see their trains running on our metals), both of which are extremely popular.  Once in a while, some of our members (who are  accomplished and recognised railway photographers) will organise a get together  to compare notes and photographs - the result of which is usually a slide-night  “not to be missed.” 

HBMRC also provides some extracurricular facilities for it’s members, in the form of a computer network equipped with full Broadband Internet Access and a wide selection of Rail Simulation Programs and our fully equipped, 29 seat Theaterette, where the aforementioned ‘slide nights’ are usually held. All visitors are welcome at the Club for any of the  above events, although Saturday and Sunday nights are highly recommended for those who wish to see trains in motion (don’t forget to bring your trains)

Hobson’s Bay Model Railway Club