If you haven't heard already we will be trading at Hobson Bay Expo this long weekend. Here we will have our full range of our products available plus some new items such as a mixed goods wagon load for I/ IA and GY wagons for $ 10ea, a six pack of 44 gallon drums for a $1 and our new release the Victorian Railways Pintsch Gas Tank Wagon (Q 26 and 30) for $60 ea. We will also have limited number of a new wagon the Victorian Railways IT 1 - 251, 253 - 273 Scantling Timber Wagon these will be sold first come, first served. They will selling them for $10ea. These will be available after the expo along with the Q's. Order forms will be available over the weekend and all orders taken over the expo will incur free postage. For those unable to attend this weekend they will be available to order in our online store after Easter.

SHORT BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In the early sixties just over 270 fifteen foot wheelbase I/IA wagons were modified to provide a special vehicle for scantling timber traffic. They were introduced due to a rise in housing development and the increased amount of timber traffic out of the Orbost region of East Gippsland Victoria . After a trail with one wagon the class IT was adopted.

The IT were loaded with scantling timber packed by sawmills in packs. Each pack consisted of various sawn timber which was stacked with all the ends together at one end. This results in load distribution problems. To deal with this problem the 273 IT's that had three distinct features:

§- Bulkhead at one end only (to support the stacked timber) 
§- Heavy springs, 10"x 5" journals and 3'2" diameter wheelset at the bulkhead end 
§- Standard springs and journals, wheelset diameters of 3'0" at the opposite (light) end 

Even though they had a the appearance of uneven load, derailments were rare, with you more likely to have seen them in the shunting yard 'rearing up like horses' when hit roughly from the bulkhead (heavy) end during shunting.

Our Victorian Railways Pintsch Gas Tank Wagon is set to be released this Easter at the Hobson Bay Railway Expo. We will be asking customers to submit the pre order form BEFORE April 3rd 2012, to reserve there kit for payment and collection at Hobson Bay. Those who are not attending the expo are still invited to submit a pre order and we will organise payment and post them out after Easter when the post office opens back up again. This will also give us a guide on how many to cast plus a few extras so you all don't miss out. We are happy to take orders for this kit at the Expo but cannot guarantee how many extras we will have. In the case of 'sold out items' at the expo we can post them out after Easter free of charge. The kits includes the four base parts in cast polyurethane resin (Roof, Cab Walls, Tank with Dome and Underframe with Cradle and Feet) plus for brass detail parts including Shunter Step, Pedestal type Ratchet Handbrake Lever with Safety Rails, Wagon Stirrups and Cast brass Air Hoses. We are still looking into decals. Price $60.00ea

In 1878 two Q bogie flat wagons numbers 26 and 30 were built by Tozer in Melbourne. By 1903 Q30 was modified at the Newport Workshops where it gained a Pintsch Gas tank with engine as too did Q26 in 1910. What looks like a tank dome is actually the water tank for the gas engine and there are a couple of pipes connecting it to the engine house. The underframe is skeletal and has tank car type spark guards over the bogie at the tank end and a tank car type handbrake. These two wagons had the cab installed over the engines and the fronts of the tanks to protect them from the weather.

In the early 1970's both wagons came off register and  currently been preserved in non-operational condition by the ARHS at Newport. In 1982 they had their numbers swapped. So Q26 became Q30 (2nd) and Q30 became Q26 (2nd). The Pintsch Gas was used for the lighting of pass cars and country stations.