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It has been a bit too long since the last edition of this newsletter but things have been pretty busy here at the Eureka offices. The arrival of the sound equipped 620/720s in March was followed by eight weeks of intense activity to get them out and, as a result many of the normal day to day activities suffered including the writing and distribution of this newsletter. John Eassie of Austrains once told me that I had no idea of the effort involved in distributing a model and he was certainly right. Still, we have been pushing on with our other projects and this issue contains details of our next project, the NSWGR CPH/CTH rail motors. We won’t be saying much this issue but the 12th edition which should be out in late July will contain a major announcement about our future rolling-stock program which we have been working on for some time. The usual updates on our current projects and a couple of other items which we hope will prove interesting round out this edition. With a number of complete pilot models of the AD60 now available sightings of Eureka’s first two models together in service are becoming more frequent as the accompanying photo shows.
Photo: Ray Pilgrim
Numbers: The
locomotive numbers that will be produced has been finalized and are as
follows:
A small number of un-numbered locomotives
will be available in un-weathered black and 10 numbers will be available
in black or with weathering.
Distribution: Some of the lessons that were learned in the distribution of the 620/720s will be applied with the AD60 distribution. We will be posting them in the order that the original orders were received provided we have full details (especially required locomotive number) and postage ($10-), if required, has been paid. Pick-up will be available. We will also contact each person before an order is posted and distribution will be by registered post as with the 620/720s. To achieve the pre-order price of $795-
any balances outstanding should be paid now together with postage if required.
If you have not yet advised us of your preferred number from the above
numbers being offered please do so now.
The 620/720s: Distribution
of the 620/720s is complete apart from a handful of units. If you have
not received your model yet, please contact us as there is some reason
why you have not been sent your model. We did order what we thought
would be enough to keep stocks available for a reasonable time but demand
has been such that stocks of some colour schemes have been exhausted.
The non-sound equipped, early tuscan red scheme is finished, weathered
units in both non-sound and sound-equipped units are just about gone and
some numbers in various schemes in both non-sound and sound equipped units
are either gone or getting low.
The 900 class DEB set: We
consider this to be an extension of the 620/720 project as essentially
the same tooling is used. Work has commenced on this project and
at this stage it is our intention to produce 2 four-car sets, the standard
four and three car versions which when amalgamated made up the seven car
set as used, for example, on the Northern Tablelands Express. As part of
this project however, we propose to produce the TP parcels trailer which
will make up the fourth car in the second set. Whilst the TPs were
built to provide parcels service as part of a DEB set they were able to
be used on locomotive hauled trains. More details as the project
progresses.
Photo: G Ball
The proposed colour schemes for the CPH/CTHs are as follows: Silver and blue
There is a possibility of producing a varnished timber scheme too.
The “R” Class: Drawings
for the standard version are complete. We are still working on the West
Coast Railway version with the twin funnels and other modifications made
when R 711 and R 766 were put into service by WCR. Once these variations
are complete tooling on this project will commence. On the subject
of numbers, the Victorian Railways used cast iron number boards and we
intend re-producing etched number boards to attach to each locomotive.
We will probably produce ten models with the numbers attached and it would
be a simple matter to etch a full set of numbers and supply them with un-numbered
models so that a purchaser can apply what ever number they wish to their
own model. We are looking at adopting a similar approach with name
boards and the like whereby we supply a full set of etched boards with
the model which can then be individualised by the modeller. We will discuss
which name boards, etc, that we might do in a future newsletter to generate
some feedback.
Feedback: We are getting plenty of feedback and comments mostly by email which we appreciate very much. I try to answer all correspondence and emails as quickly as possible but inevitable some replies are delayed. My apologies for this but there are only so many hours in each day, so hang on and you will get an answer.
Number of yet to be answered emails as at 1/06/06…………..577
Please Note: Due to the popularity
of our web site we have had to migrate to a larger server. This required
us to establish a domain name which is www.eurekamodels.com.au
Next Issue due out around the end of July
might contain some or all of the following:
Email Addresses If you receive a paper copy of this issue
but would prefer to receive an email copy or just read it on the web site
please email Ron at: eureka.m@bigpond.net.au
so
that we can put you on our email notification system. You'll get
the latest Eureka Times faster and we can use the money saved
on printing and paper to produce more models!
Postage and delivery We have postage and delivery arrangements
with Australia Post which will allow us to offer postage, Receipted Delivery
and Insurance anywhere in Australia for a flat $10-
Ron Cunningham EUREKA
MODELS
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