Archives Research

 Visiting the Archives in Runcorn in Brisbane has been a great experience for me. I was warned by one of the staff on my first visit, “careful, it’s addictive!” She may have been right. 

Being completely new to QR modelling everything QR related that I see is hugely interesting. That in itself has created a real issue, in that I tend to try and record almost everything that I find. I have found some excellent plans that I know I will put to use one day, but not just yet.

So here I am a few weeks later, armed with a little more skill in how to achieve a better search result, and a far more focussed search for information. I did spend some time with the Archivist, as they are there to help, and that was well worth it. Understanding the best way to drill down to just be looking for a specific subject enabled me to be a lot more efficient with my time. There is a real advantage to, in using the search function in your own time at home, logging into the system, and then lodging your searches, so that the research is available to you as you arrive at the Archives.

The knowledge gained in research techniques has meant I’ve been able to focus on my main subject areas, and in particular the subject  matter for this blog, Beenleigh Station. The plans that I’ve found so far are from 1885, those being the Goods shed, Carriage shed, Loco shed, and Station Masters residence. For the age of these plans, they are truly well preserved, a credit to the original draftsman, and all those since, who’ve maintained their storage. You are able to obtain a scan of images, for a small charge, but it’s also worth checking as many images are scanned already, and available free of charge.

The above scan is part of the Goods Shed plan, and shows the details and colouring of a plan almost 135 years old, what a great resource!

I also asked about a track plan for Beenleigh on the Facebook QR group, and two helpful gents helped me out (thank you Steve and Arthur) The plan shows the original track layout before modifications, of which there were a few. It seems that in many locations they build a basic plan, and then over time increased the length of sidings, or even extended buildings to suit the increased use of facilities. The practise of relocating buildings as lines, and stations added, appears a fairly common practice, but I digress.

The track layout, I believe, is as opened, but I need to confirm that fact. I’m also keen to find out the history of the line, when it opened, when stations were added, and indeed determine the locos and rolling stock that ran on it, early on.

As I plan to build a few buildings soon, the next job to complete is a list of materials to complete them. I’ve already created a list of basswood to order, but I am stumped on one measurement, the weather boards. On all the plans for Beenleigh that I have, I cannot see the measurements for the cladding. I do however have a plan  a for gatekeepers house that lists the boards as 7”x1”, with 1/2” overlap. If I look at the plans I have the boards appear to be about 4-5” exposed, but I need to do a better measure to be sure.I’ve had a bit of discussion with Arthur (thank you Sir!) about cladding size, and it does appear that the 7” boards were fairly standard, and also I think it was dependent on what materials were available.

In past builds when I’ve used basswood, I have rationalised the size of timber used. So for instance the plan may list 6x3, 6x2, 6x4, and I would use 6x3 for all three. Now the question is do I do the same for O scale? Well probably yes, but, there’s always a but, what about the windows and doorways, surely the correct scale sizes would be necessary in O? The jury is still out on this point, as it does bring into question, do I use a proprietary product to save time, and use a ‘near enough is good enough’ product, or, do I scratchbuild the windows myself? Isn’t the idea of adding more detail one of my main reasons for O scale? I dare say there will be more on this, another post.

The initial list of buildings that I mentioned above has one obvious omission, the Station building. The plans for Beenleigh that I have already were an easy find, when you know how, however the Station building plan has been elusive. In the QR Facebook group I had asked about plans for Beenleigh ages ago, and Steve had been most helpful in his suggestions. He stated that he thought the Station building was similar to that that had been constructed at Southport, and included the item number to find it at the archives. I have those plans now, and they are most helpful, however I think that they are close but not a match. Ok, I guess it’s time to come clean, there is another reason for choosing Beenleigh, and that is that the original Station building has been preserved at a local historical village. It is used as a cafe, but it is there ready to be measured!

As you can see from the above two photos, there are differences, that will be solved when I head to the Historical Village. The waiting room appears to be completely different in location compared to the plan, it does show that at Beenleigh there were two entrances at the front of the building, so it may have been a modification to the plan. 

For now though the research to make a start on some models is complete. I need to finalise my materials list, which will also include some O scale corrugated iron, to complete the roof structure .

So now we’re just beginning a three day lockdown, so out to the carport I go, time to do some modelling,

Stay safe everyone,

Oorroo!

Geoff.