scruffulous

I don't have any of the large LEGO wheels (my Emerald Night is on it's way to me as I type), but I do have a small collection of BBB wheels. The extra thickness of the BBB wheels was problematic for my Victorian Railways B class locomotive, which has external frames. To get the frames and coupling rods outside the wheels and maintain a reasonable width I needed to use a non-standard gauge (the track has 3 studs between rails instead of the usual 4), but to fit the BBB wheels inside the frames the spacing between the wheels had to be slightly less than 3 brick widths. Not an insurmountable issue, but annoying nonetheless. Otherwise, I'm really happy with the BBB wheels: they fit very snugly on an axle and the separate spokes on the small wheels do look much better than the solid small LEGO wheels.

This is a Victorian Railways rail tractor (RT). These odd little engines were used for shunting wagons within station limits, and could manage a maximum load of ~10 loaded wagons. They were basically a farm tractor engine and a cab built onto a wagon underframe. You can read more about them here. RT33 operated at Korong Vale, and I was lucky enough to ride on the back of one when I was around 8 years old. Unfortunately, it was cold and raining on that day, and the driver was so busy shunting trucks that he forgot about me...I ended up with pneumonia, but I still think it was worth it ;) In terms of the build, the cab took the longest to get right...lots of SNOT to get the window proportions right, and the doors recessed. The external mirrors were also a challenge. I'll probably do a "RT33" decal for the side. You can check out a few more photos here.

I also felt the urge to make a rake of them, but my small collection limits me to three....not quite enough to look impressive. Perhaps a collaborative effort could get enough together (Brickvention 2010 perhaps?). Of course we would also need a VR loco to pull them... The brake is surprisingly stable and I don't think it would pose a problem while rolling. I don't have a permanent layout, but I'll check it out next time I set up a loop.

These were owned by the Victorian Railways. The tarps had -VR- stencilled along them. I'm still trying to figure out how I can get -VR- on the tent canvas in a way that is not permanent. Sorry, the doors don't open. I've added a few more pics of the wagon without the tarp to my Flickr photostream. Thanks!

ENTERED This is my entry for Category 2. It's a tarped GY wagon. In the mid 1970s, block grain trains of these "Hansa" yellow GYs were commonplace in central Victoria, Australia. As a kid I spent many summers walking along the tracks that ran through the small town of Korong Vale collecting wheat that had spilled out of these wagons. I'm interested to see how people feel about my use of the folded Indiana Jones Jungle Duel tent as a tarp. I think it works well, although the holes are annoying. I tried heaps of alternatives before settling on the fishing rod as the lever handbrake...I ended up sticking with it because it actually functions as a handbrake.