I previously mentioned that my returning inspiration to tramways was the chance viewing of an old tramway layout I had built around forty years ago on an 8mm movie I had taken. I have hundreds of feet of 8mm silent film taken from the early seventies that have been lying around, probably fading and covered with mould. I must admit I haven't taken as good care of the film as I should have. One of the issues was finding a suitable movie projector to enable viewing. Stupidly I had given away my Eumig projector years ago as I had copied most of the film onto VHS tape and thought I would never need another one. I reclaimed the family projector but the bulb was blown, another one would for some reason chew all the film, then another would take the film through the gate but then all of a sudden stop winding onto the back reel. And another issue is going to be the finicky nature of the mercury vapour bulbs designed for the projector. They can blow at any time and currently around $80AU it might make this project very expensive.
I eventually found a projector at a garage sale and thought I would give it a try. I even got a second projector thrown in for $50 but then when I got it home out of the box found it was a Super 8 model, which had completely different sprockets, so now that needs to be disposed of.
Back in their day when this was the only form of achieving a 'moving film' the 8mm film was good and I am pleased I got footage of various subjects that now deserve some preservation. When you consider the ease of pulling a phone from the pocket and pressing a button to record 4K clear resolution film it certainly has come a long way in forty years since the old windup movie camera. Later changes were to invent Super 8 film where most of the film width was altered to give a bigger picture achieved by redesigning the film and providing smaller sprocket holes closer to the edge. After all 8mm film was actually 16mm film cut down the middle. Sound Super 8mm came along by actually gluing a narrow magnetic strip down the edge of the film. Although this was an improvement it then required you to buy a sound 8mm projector which were not cheap at the time. So with todays technology via phones and digital editing platforms we are very spoilt for choices. Any way I know that amongst all the piles of film I have stashed away I have more film of my early model HO tramway, I hope one day to find it.
When my old HO tramway was in full swing I had around 8 to 10 trams for the layout. These were purchased over a period of a few years, mainly from the Model Dockyard Hobby shop that was on Swanston Street in the heart of Melbourne. It was usually one of the first stops after arriving there either by train of other trips when we went by car. Rows and rows of brass models filled the showcases and model trams featured well, spoilt for choice, but always limited by how much I could afford. You drooled over the choices but always happy when you could leave the shop with a model tucked under the arm or in the bag, no matter how small the model might have been.
THE MODELS
After I got all excited about modelling some trams, it was trams that I needed to obtain to run (doh). This wish is harder to achieve in 2024 than it was back in 1975. Brass trams were readily available, Suydam was in full swing producing their overhead wiring frogs and wire hangers, and I had taken out a subscription to the Traction and Models magazine which I eagerly waited for to be posted out from the states for me to read. Sadly now my big pile I had of the mags was handed over to the purchaser of my model tramway layout, they have been probably been put into a skip bin long ago. How I wish someone had digitised these mags as I believe they are no longer produced and I don't think there are any pure traction model magazines out there.
So as luck would have it, while I was on a high on traction motor fumes on Facebook Market place I noticed someone had put up some brass model trams up for sale. So to cut a long story short in a deal I managed to obtain a total of eight trams which will be enough to start off my empire for now. Out of the eight, two were raw brass which were freight cars and the remainder were beautifully painted models from the Chicago Surface lines. I must admit when I first started modelling I wasn't fussed where the models came from as I had a Hollywood car and also a New Orleans car and a Birney which could have come from many US cities, indeed we had four models running right up to the end of the Bendigo trams in 1972.
So I need to start studying the Chicago system and start learning how to identify one from the other.
MODEL 1 - BRILL WATER SPRINKLER CAR.
After the seller had sent me a photo of many boxes of trams he had, I was able to spot a box containing a sprinkler car. I had fond memories of this model years ago as being something different to a passenger car. It could run around the layout with an imaginery different purpose for being there rather than having to stop and pick up passengers. I remember that I painted my first model black which I suppose it was in real life. I don't know if the Chicago system had one of these in their fleet yet, that is all part of the research that needs to had. I had set up a circle of set track to test the trams I purchased, this one ran OK and I don't think I will need to fit a sound decoder to it as it has its own unique trolley sound.
The box it comes in has stamped on it "Model Tramway System, Wilton, Connecticut, and for the princely price of $19.75. I think I paid a little bit more than that! One thing I used to do was run all of my trams without crew, so now at the second coming I will try and get some figures to put at the controls when the time comes for it to spin around the layout. I will have to see what is in the Modelu range from England, the beauty with 3D printing now is any scale models can be printed. I have a very talented figure painter from Queensland who may in the future get a few jobs from me.
MODEL 2 - BROOKLYN RAPID TRANSIT SOUTH BROOKLYN RAILWAY, DOUBLE DOOR FREIGHT MOTOR
When I asked the seller if he had any freight cars besides the sprinkler car he stated he had this freight motor which I was happy to get. I took the above photos without the poles but be assured they are in the box ready to be fitted. On this model one of the bogies needs resoldering and more major at this stage is it doesn't operate. It was just admired, put on the track to test and put back in the box for another day after it wouldn't go. I am just hoping it will be a loose wire and nothing major. I am sure once it gets painted it will fit in quite well. I am planning to have a freight track on the proposed layout so it may see many visits there. When you consider how beautiful a virgin brass model looks it seems a shame to paint it, I don't feel the same way about a 3D printed model.
Well thats the two freight models dealt with, I will show the others on a later posting.
