This layout, modelled to a scale of 1:87 in H0 gauge, represents the station of Dungog on the North Coast line between Sydney and Brisbane. Dungog is a small quiet country town, located about 80 km (50 miles) north from Newcastle’s main locomotive centre of Broadmeadow. However, its geographic position allowed efficient crew and locomotive operations to be made for the heavy express passenger trains working the North Coast Railway, as it was called in the 1940s.
Most of the layout is constructed from blocks of High Density Foam sandwiched between two panels of 7 mm plywood, this providing very strong and extremely lightweight units joined and aligned by aluminium dowels. Code 75 Peco trackwork is rubber glued to the foam.
Uncoupling is achieved automatically via electromagnets laid under the tracks and operated by a timer and push button on the control panel.
The trees, scenery and buildings are the work of our members and the backscene is made from actual photographs of Dungog.
A lot of the rolling stock has been either scratchbuilt or kitbuilt, with a good percentage of quality proprietary products altered to improve their appearance and to represent the types of trains typical of the area. These include timber from mills on the North Coast, fruit expresses, and daylight and overnight passenger trains. Trains are both steam and diesel hauled. Although the AD60 Beyer-Garratts only worked as far North as Martin’s Creek quarry, through the use of modellers’ license they may be see on our layout.
The layout can be operated either using DCC or conventional DC control, and can be changed from one to the other within minutes.
Dungog won the trophies for “Best Model Railway Layout” and the “Best Australian Prototype Layout – Club” at the AMRA Exhibition, Liverpool, October 2011.