Making Dreams Come
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Saltwater Creek Railroad

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RECENT

ACTIVITY

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Recent Work Image

Hamersley Iron 2000


HO scale model of the Hamersley Iron 2000 locomotive which rests peacefully on display in front of the Rio Tinto workshops at seven mile Dampier after a lifetime of hard yakka.

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Mt Newman Mining 5464


HO scale model of the Alco M636 class 5464 sporting the Mount Newman Mining livery.

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Recent Work Image

Robe River 9401


Having seen locomotive 9401 on the entry to Wickham in the Pilbara in May, I was absolutely convinced I had to have a couple of these Alco RSC-3 locomotives in HO scale to enhance my collection of Pilbara work horses.

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The fascination with model trains may be from established memories ingrained as kids from the toys we loved and the sounds and experiences from simply riding on a train. These memories have a way of imprinting themselves on us especially those of us who’ve never really grown up. This allows us to take those memories out and play sometimes...


About Saltwater Creek Railroad

I've come to realise that building and running model trains is in fact almost certainly one of the most difficult, broad-range hobbies one can have.

You need to know some basic electrical engineering and maintenance for wiring up track power and maintaining locomotives and in recent times with the introduction of Digital Command Control (DCC), some programming and software manipulation skills would be advantageous. You need to develop artistic skills for weathering, building scenery and combining separate pieces made of various materials into one recognised looking item. You need to be able to work with timber so you can build the structure upon which your model train layout will be constructed and if you want to include budgeting, you need some financial management skills, because this stuff is getting expensive – nah forget that bit.

What other hobby is simultaneously so challenging and yet so fulfilling?

Saltwater Creek Railroad is HO scale and deliberately focuses on Australian and to a greater extent, Western Australian trains and infrastructure including landscaping and scenery. There is also a strong emphasis on locomotives past and present that relate to the Pilbara mining region of Western Australia. Unfortunately, most of these locomotives are not produced in HO scale with the related liveries such as Mt Newman Mining, Hamersley Iron, Robe, Rio Tinto and others, which means if I want to add it to the collection, I have to buy similar locomotives with differing liveries, strip the existing paint and repaint, add decals to suit and often install a DCC sound decoder. This results sometimes having slight differences and variations from prototypical, however I find that seeking perfection is never as smart as making progress.

All locomotives in the collection (80+), have ESU Loksound sound decoders installed and operate on the layout controlled by an ESU Command Control unit. All outdoor and indoor scenery lighting is LED equipped, housing and buildings have a 1970’s rural appearance and motor vehicles generally fit into the 70’s or earlier. There are three Magnorail double tracks in operation, one being a cycle path, a taxi cab circuit between ranks and a motor vehicle circuit through the town’s buildings.

The layout is always changing and to that affect, it never reaches a point of completion…so be it!

SWC Image
SWC Image
SWC Image
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RAILWAY vs RAILROAD

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE

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Does it really matter?

Railway and railroad both mean a set of rail tracks for trains. There's no ambiguity regarding the word 'rail', pretty straight forward really, however the term 'railway' is more common in British English (UK, Australia, India etc) and 'railroad' in American English (USA). Despite the regional fondness for their preference, the meaning remains consistent across both terms. Both railway and railroad refer to the infrastructure that uses tracks to move trains for the transport of passengers and freight to different regions in the world.

Railway and railroad aren't just limited to the parallel tracks; it includes all the land, structures, buildings, and equipment to support the rail tracks. That support may include management, staff, passenger, freight transport, and maintenance. Whether you consider the two terms describe the delineation of use; railways are used to move large amounts of cargo along a track while railroads are used to transport passengers or as some others consider, the type of locomotives used may have a bearing on the term used or again just regional differences, don't lose any sleep over it!

So arguing over the correct term to use, is a bit like using Mick and Mike or two fleas arguing over who owns the dog they live on. Really, it could be just down to personal preference or regional variations, and one should just consider the question 'does it really matter'?

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CONTACT

COMMENTS

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Meet The Man Steve

Contact Steve

Hi, If you would like to contact me with comments or questions, just click on the email link below. I'm more than happy to answer questions regarding Saltwater Creek Railroad or any other model train related questions. I'm always more than happy to try to help you out."I find that seeking perfection is never as smart as making progress..."

I now realise that I should have retired after I left schoool, that way I could have played trains while others were working. However, I think there's a flaw in that somewhere!