Modelling sugar cane railways, shire tramlines, and other small industrial lines is a niche interest, regardless of scale or gauge. This means that there are a limited number of commercially available models and detailed information on a specific wagon or locomotive is often unavailable.
While some cane/sugar operations run on standard gauge, most are narrow gauge. . . anything from 18" to 42". . . with some variation in what is regarded locally as 'standard' gauge. The mainline, or 'standard' gauge railways in Queensland are 42", for example, although it's likely Queensland's main north-south line will eventually be converted to Australian standard (4' 8.5").
Layout construction, scenery and other basic skills required are much the same as for any model building. However, the lack of commercial models means that most cane railway modellers end up kitbashing or scratchbuilding at least some of their models. . . and it's really not as hard as it may first seem to a novice modeller.
Both the locomotive and the brake van in the head photo were
scratchbuilt. They're HO using 9mm gauge track to represent the
sugar cane narrow gauge. This means that 'N' scale mechanisms,
etc., can be used. The locomotive uses a Bachmann mechanism
(construction
article, history and other
details) and the
brake van is built on a N scale 6 wheel passenger bogie
(construction
article).
Wholestick cane trucks can easily be built using a N or HOe scale wagon chassis (construction article) or scratchbuilt (construction article). Back in 1997 Bob Dow had an article in Australian Model Railway Magazine describing how to scratchbuild cane bins (pdf file).
Many commercially available HOn30 models also mount an HO scale
superstructure on a N scale mechanism. Converting them to cane
railway use may be as simple as kitbashing a 'tropical' cab to
replace the northern hemisphere-type enclosed cab
(construction
article).
On30 models are roughly twice the size of HOn30 models and run
on 16.5 mm track, thus can use HO mechanisms, etc. They are
easier to see for both modellers and viewers alike (I've had some
complaints about the small size of my HOn30 museum dioramas,
particularly when they are located in a glass cabinet). This model
was inspired by a Queensland sugar cane loco and has a scratchbuilt
superstructure on a commercial chassis
(construction
article).
Even totally scratchbuilt models often use trucks, couplers, and
other components. This model was inspired by a Fijian wagon,
while it's mounted on an On30 underframe, it uses HO bogies
(trucks) and couplers
(construction
article)
last updated: 12/12/08.