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Monday 12 September 2011

ol' "Dolly Varden"...an On30 layout


Hi again,
Still just getting a few things established and adding some colour around here.  Thought I should also add a bit of a feature on the most recent exhibition layout that I built (along with John Hunter).  "Dolly Varden" was our joint effort in building an exhibition layout, on a subject we both had a fair passion for, and building it in a way to be a memorable model.  We both shared similar modelling styles, beliefs and interpretations, and often exhibit together anyway.  We both wanted to put our hands and hearts into a bigger project, and "Dolly" was the result of that.  It started of as a bit of a chat, and turned into a monster that took roughly 2 years to build.  We had a great time exhibiting her, and it was very well received by the viewers at exhibitions.  We were pround to have the layout feature in both Narrow Gauge Downunder magazine, as well as the Logging Mining & Industrial Annual, by Westlake Publishing. 

When we were done with showing Dolly (we always knew she would only go on tour for around 18 months, since we prefer to keep building new things, plus would rather display new creative efforts, rather than the same tired old layout year after year...), she "retired" to Florida, to sit beside the Sundance Central, as part of the museum that Dave Revelia was establishing.  There were several months of emails, crating up, and finally packing into a shiping container, so that the layout could make the 6 week journey by sea to the other side of the world.

Before she left our shores, I made this short video of the layout in action at one of our local model railway exhibitions. 

And here's a few pics of the layout before she was packed and shipped...









Cheers,
Dan

2 comments:

  1. Good to see Mr. Hunter doing an honest day's work. LOL! Very nice write-up. Would love to see in person some day in Dave's Museum. Just saw the Sundance Central for the first time. Also, the Muskrat Ramble was at this year's US National Narrow Guage Convention. If the Dolley Varden is just half as good as the 'Ramble, it's an AMAZING piece of modeling. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Thanks for that. We do feel quite honoured to have our layout in the company of Sundance Central, and now Muskrat Ramble, in its new Florida home. In a way, it almost seems quite fitting that "Muskrat" and "Dolly" should come together again like that, since they both made their debut at the same Australian Narrow Gauge Convention up in Sydney, back in 2009.

    Cheers,
    Dan

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