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Capricorn Sugar Rail Museum Micro-Layout(s)

What if...?

What if the sugar industry in the Capricornia region of Central Queensland had continued to exist up to the present day? Might there still be at least a couple of mills and a museum to keep the history of the industry alive? And given the mills' health and safety/insurance concerns wouldn't that museum have a dedicated tourist railway to ensure that there wasn't a need to run tourist or excursion trains on the mill railway?

Capricorn Sugar is a fictitious mill crushing cane from the coastal area of Central Queensland. There were sugar cane operations in this area (Farnborough Mill) in the late 1800s and early 1900s but a lack of transportation, limited planting areas, and changing labour legislation (regulation of islander labour) resulted in their closure.

This fictitious mill operates a freelance railway based on Queensland shire and sugar practice, with cane, sugar, molasses and other trains for the mill as well as passenger and general freight services for the local shire.

The three modules comprising the On30 micro-layout represent a museum sponsored by the mill and featuring structures and equipment donated by the mill or the shire and its residents.

• Module 1: 20" x 24", 8.5" curves, continuous operation in a counter-clockwise direction but taking the line to the next module if operated in a clockwise direction. Contains the control unit for automatic back and forth running to the other modules. Photos: 1 - 2 -
• Module 2: 16" x 24", straight line to provide distance between modules and museum display space. Some of the Capricorn Sugar Mill's buildings will be located beyond the fence along the back of this module. Mill buildings: 1 -
• Module 3: 20" x 24", 8.5" curves, with engine facilities, turntable, locomotive display area and farm siding display. Contains the termination of the back and forth automatic running unit. 1 - 2 -
• The three modules under construction show the intended operation. While only the right hand modules was working when this photo was taken (early July 2009) trackwork was proceeding and was soon operational across the three modules.
• Construction updates
  NMRA Visit, 14-16 Aug 2009: operational, but without the electronic installed for automatic operation - 1. October 2009: shed construction.
  February 2010: electronics ready for the Brisbane Show but prior to the loco shed, etc., being constructed - 1. Loco shed under construction - 1. 21 March 2010: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7. August 2010: Queensland worker's cottage (available a free downloadable kit in HO and O scales).
  2010-11: cream shed and halt, both still under construction when photographed; exhibit shed: under construction - completed; 'Coke' vending machine; 20' weathered container; timber picnic tables, and preparion with backdop, etc., for the 2011 Narrow Gauge Convention and Brisbane Train Show.
• Mill Buildings
  Under construction late 2010 and early 2011, these are shallow flats located in a 4" x 24" space across the back of the centre module: brick workshop - iron sheathed warehouse -
  Constructed from card and computer printed with photorealistic textures, the mill buildings are being kit-bashed from 'industrial building' kits on CDs purchased from Clever Models LLC. The backdrop behind the models will show additional mill buildings: 1 - 2 - 3.
• Brisbane Train Show
  The layout has been exhibited three times at the Brisbane Train Show in order to to promote rail heritage modelling and modelling in On30.
  2009: Module 1 exhibited beside Ron Aubrey's On2 Sugar Valley layout.
  2010: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 and handout Getting Started with On30 Modelling (illustrated A5 brochure, pdf file).
  2011: The layout made its final appearance at the 10th Australian Narrow Gauge Convention (Easter weekend 2001 at The Workshops Rail Museum, Ipswich, 1 with O scale DH for size comparison - 2 - 3 - ) and the 2011 Brisbane Train Show (1 - 2 - 3 - 4 -).
  The layout was never intended to be 'finished'; as part of its purpose is to show construction techniques, but after three years and four outings it will be time for another sugar cane oriented railway to be exhibited in Brisbane.
  While the other modules will be broken up, the loco shed module will likely continue to be exhibited at Archer Park Rail Museum in Rockhampton (Carriage Shade Caper Days).
• More Recent Developments
  Discussions at the 2011 exhibitions indicated the general public confused On30 with HO because of the track gauge and the diminutive size of sugar cane/shire locos, wagons and structures. After all, a medium sized HO scale engine shed is physically larger than a single stall On30 loco shed and even a small HO station is larger than an O scale rural halt.
  My solution is to build one or more O scale models of QR equipment to either locate on a 'standard gauge' track on my layout or as a lineside building (navvy stores, etc.). Hopefully viewers will recognise the relative size of the more familiar QR equipment beside the cane/shire models and have a better scale understanding.
  My first QR model is based on a a 32' standard foot camp wagon with timber sides and a corrugated metal roof. I'm using photorealistic modelling techniques with components from several camp wagons to develop a 'kit' for a generic wagon that can be varied to build several unique but representative wagons. Basic plan and first build construction (1 - 2 - 3).
  Working on the camp wagon and promoting rail heritage at an Archer Park Rail Museum Family Fun Day. The cottage (centre right) was used to explain the techniques intended for the just started camp wagon (drawing and underframe, right foreground).

Construction details for some of the Capricorn Sugar equipment as well as general information, drawings and photos of the Queensland sugar industry can be found on the CaneSIG web site.