A very long run up

A small selection of my various projects plus a photo of me in the mid 1990, plenty of ideas (and hair)... not much money for modelling!

I have been seriously pondering a QR themed layout since the mid 90s. With virtually no commercially available rolling stock and locomotives (at least within the budget of a junior graphic designer) I went on an eclectic modelling journey that ranged from British Rail OO to NSWR HO, back to British Rail OO to a fleeting attempt at Queensland N and then finally Japanese N scale. In retrospect all those projects were an attempt to capture an essence or small aspect of the numerous diesel hauled services I went out of my way to catch to my first city job and before that and my train journeys to and from my time at Queensland College Art at Morningside in the late 80s. 

Many hours were spent waiting at Morningside and Park Road stations watching various blue livered locos slowly trundling past with coal and container loads. My favourite part of the journey though was always passing through Rocklea station. Behind the south bound platform was a small freight depot operated for Hile Transport. Everyday, a huge variety of goods were loaded and shunted back and forth in preparation for the train's daily run up to Toowoomba, Warwick and beyond. Every day something  different was being loaded! An amazing sight for a train enthusiast who'd grown up in the UK, where the transition from comparable British Rail Speedlink freight operations to heavy block trains was largely complete.