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Greetings from New Zealand


Barry Marchant

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Hi, My modelling interest is in modelling trams, mainly those of Christchurch, NZ. As a child I rode them frequently until the system was closed 1954. Perhaps my fondest memory is that of riding behind Kitson No 7 with two trailers in 1950 when it was recommissioned for Christchurch's centennial celebrations. It was run between New Brighton and North Beach on mainly abandoned track, and at the end of each day, with its two trailers fully laden, followed a service  car back to town and then to the shed at Moorhouse Avenue. Later that year the exercise was repeated at the end of the Sumner line, but this time between service trams .

I will take my model apart to photograph it due course for those interested

The scale of all my models is 1:32 and the gauge 45mm. Electrical pickup is basic 2 rail with dummy overhead.

 

BTW the prototype still runs on the Ferrymead tramway and is to receive a newly reconditioned boiler in the 'near' future.

 

Barry

Edited by Barry Marchant
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Hi Barry.

 

Great to see you on board. I always loved the Kitsons too. Looking forward to seeing your work on here. 

 You need to get suitable tram image for your avatar! Get busy mate!

 

Very best Regards,

Steve

 

 

 

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Hi,

 

I don’t think that photo link is working for you Barry.

 

I would suggest setting up a Flickr account (its free and safe etc) uploading your photos to Flickr and then copying and pasting the links into Britmodeller. That’s how I do it and it seems to work fine.

it’s a small rigmarole the first time you do it- but as you get practice it becomes straightforward.

 

 

Very best Regards,

Steve

 

 

 

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Thanks Steve, will do. In the meantime, have a look at "homepages.paradise.net.nz/barry-m/". Some of the pics should be familiar to you but the site has not been updated for some time. There are several more models to be added some time. Could I use a url to one of these photos to upload? I will try a link showing the Kitson and wagons

 

Some of the links to prototypes are now dead, thank you Vodafone for dropping some of your services.

 

d-004.jpg

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Hello, Barry, and :welcome: to Britmodeller, I am Joe. I live in the SE corner of Wisconsin, USA. Nice work in the photo above, I hope to see more. This is a great place to be. You'll find a lot of your fellow Kiwis are here. I look forward to your builds, comments, and questions.

Joe

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Hi Barry, good to see another Kiwi drop in. I'm a bit short on tram info, other than riding the Christchurch trams with the kids pre earthquake, my only tram experiences were riding a Wellington one as a 6 year old, memory kinda hazy there, dodging the teams in Amsterdam while driving tour coaches around Europe, memory hazy there too but for different reasons. ;) & riding the trams into the city centre in Antwerp a few years ago but maybe they were more light rail. I've long promised myself a day at Ferrymead when things are running, one day. :) Looking forward to seeing some more of your work on here.

Steve.

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Thank you All for your greetings. Looks like I will be spending some time with the camera and computer

I have a website "homepages.paradise.net.nz/barry-m/" which you may be interested in. Its probably due for a revamp, but you will get an idea of the size of our tram fleet.

Enjoy,

Barry

 

SORRY TO SAY MY PROVIDOR HAS STOPPED HOSTING WEBSITES SO MUNTING ALL MY LINKS, Barry

Edited by Barry Marchant
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On 12/05/2018 at 17:32, Bandsaw Steve said:

I think we need a closer look at the double deckers in the background. 😀📸🔭

Here is a better closeup of No10, the original was the 1st tram rebuilt for the Ferrymead Tramway in 1969?

This model built by Colin with hardware by me. To get this in I had to brush up on my knowledge of html coding from years ago. Note my Lamborgni in the background.

IMG_0401.JPG

Edited by Barry Marchant
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Hey everyone - that’s my dad’s model that one! Barry here and my dad made it! How cool is that! 👍And I’ve ridden on the original to boot! 👢 And dad used to work for Ballantynes sometimes!

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7 hours ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

Hey everyone - that’s my dad’s model that one! Barry here and my dad made it! How cool is that! 👍And I’ve ridden on the original to boot! 👢 And dad used to work for Ballantynes sometimes!

To clarify matters, I turned the wheels out of steel bar, the axles are of 3mm bright steel rod and run in inside brass bearings, then I fitted them to the car. The couplings are made from square brass tube for the head and brass bar for the towbar. They represent the originals as used in Christchurch and elsewhere.

 

The body of the car is entirely Colin's own work, its lovely.

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5 hours ago, Nikolay Polyakov said:

Welcome aboard Barry! You have a very interesting tram works 🙂

 

All the best from Russia.

Thank you Nikolay. Russia is a BIG country compared to NZ. May I ask whereabouts?

I believe some Russian cities still have tram systems. Some photos would be appreciated. Perhaps put them on flickr and post the link.

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1 hour ago, Barry Marchant said:

Thank you Nikolay. Russia is a BIG country compared to NZ. May I ask whereabouts?

I believe some Russian cities still have tram systems. Some photos would be appreciated. Perhaps put them on flickr and post the link.

OK Barry, I’ll do it for you soon. One of them is my avatar picture, the shot was taken in the tram!

P.S. For the start, you can search via Google the «московский трамвай», it’s about a Moscow trams, a lot of very interesting pics here 🙂

 

Cheers!

Edited by Nikolay Polyakov
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My model of a Christchurch double deck tram as built 1905. The trolley pole had been removed when this photo was taken. Usually the model appears after the original was built, but in this case the model came first! It was then used to persuade the unbelievers how the seating should be arranged on No 26 at Ferrymead. 

This is a good example of scratch building! The trolley standard is the barrel of a ball point pen, the netting around the top deck is a length of fly screen netting as used on a flyscreen door! and the windows are cut from a soft drink bottle with straight sides. Stairs were cut from a block of customwood with a fret saw. The pole (not shown) was made from a double-butted bike spoke and fitted with a trolley head and base. Wheels are the correct scale size. The truck side frames were made from two excellent patterns carved by Colin. These were embedded in plastersene and hardened in the freezer (don't tell mum!) over night. Next morning the patterns were removed from the moulds to be replaced with builders bog. The result is a set of 14D5  side frames to match the full size originals. Unfortunately the aprons are still missing their wooden tops. I think the driver has escaped to have a cuppa.

The model runs very nicely and will tow a trailer.

 

Edited by Barry Marchant
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Sensational Barry!

I think you should open a thread for these in the ‘civilian vehicles ready for inspection’ section and then just drop a new one into the thread once in a while to keep it fresh - I know you have heaps of these models! 👍

I think that sticking them in the RFI section will give them better visibility - more chance for them to be seen by the appreciative masses. 👍

Get to it mate!

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Thanks for the tip Steve. I have now copied the items about the Decker to where you suggest and will add more photos there.  

 

We did a countup of the numbers - I have 15 models, only 1 type duplicated. Duplicated (a) to show the different liveries used over the years, and (b) to replicate what was common practice on the streets of Christchurch in the 1940s and fifties when I was young and the Brills towed 2 trailers on some routes.

 

At last count Colin has >25, all runners, and spread over various systems. 

Must meet up for a propper pow wow next time you visit The Mainland.

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