Thursday 19 July 2012

Cream Shed Update...

All,

After a few frustrating hours of machining & re-machining the Cream Shed is nearly complete.  The roof went on tonight, doors are installed & all that is left is the corner trims.  All week, for some reason, my brain wasn't registering what my eyes were seeing from the vernier calipers & the old measure twice cut once was not working well... Anyway we are nearly there.

We had a win here during the week...After being frustrated many times trying to order our timber supplies through a local agent...with patchy results...we have now been accepted by Northeastern Lumber as a direct dealer...So to maximise the potential & cost savings we have placed a rather substantial order of most of the range & will not only utilise it ourself for manufacturing...but will offer the range to the public direct & more importantly interested model clubs,  at what we anticipate will be more than competitive pricing.  We will be importing items that are not generally available here off the shelf...i will update when the shipment arrives.

We are also in the process of approaching another few overseas suppliers, who's items we also would like to incorporate in our kits & attempt to gain their acceptance as well.  We are not trying to tread on anyone's toes....but if the local agents won't hold stocks then we must catch & kill our own. We need to get these kits moving...   

I have spent a few nights flicking through the library here trying to locate pictures of cream sheds in service & if possible the elusive colour piccy.  It is surprising just how few photos seem to exist & while i admit i have only scratched the surface i can only find one in colour so far & that is of the shed at Narellan.  This photo is on page 40 of the Train Hobby range of Country Railway Stations NSW Part 1.  The photo is a great period shot & very evocative. As an aside there is located elsewhere in the shot a rather interesting looking timber ramp for loading rail wagons...Hmmmm more modelling fodder..... Anyway back to the cream shed.  What is curious in the shot is the colour of both the cream shed & the station building proper.  Maybe it is factual, aging of the shot or just the reproduction but the photo shows a faded mustard / yellow colour & i would appreciate if anyone can clarify this through other photos or memory.  Another curiosity of the cream shed in the shot is that the interior walls seem to be fully lined & one can only assume that this was common...or that the shed is being utilised for some other purpose... I certainly await some educating in this department.

BTW...There is a website that i found that is dedicated to cream sheds in Queensland & is a credit to the site owner...well worth a look & if anybody is interested i will post the link....I have not got it on this computer.

A couple of piccys of the shed...





    

3 comments:

  1. Rod,there is a photo of the up cream shed at Gunning on the stations past web site,not sure if this helps but it is worth a look.Booly

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  2. Booly, All

    Thanks for the info...your clue has now made the situation more confusing. I have now located pics of around 10 or so cream sheds.

    The majority of them are either on the North or South Coast or around Narellan etc. This would be natural as the location of these sheds would correspond with dairy farming areas.

    Most of the sheds that i have seen have been the ventilated variety & i have uncovered a shot of the exact style of the one i have modelled at Bangalow on the North Coast. This one even has the station name sign located above the door... A nice touch.

    The shot i uncovered of the Narellan shed shows that the internal walls at least were insulated with some sort of sheet material...maybe masonite & the shot you have led me to is indeed a fully enclosed shed with no ventilation at all.

    I am starting to form a theory, which may well be absolutely wrong, but....Is it that the sheds at inland locations that endure frequent harsh frosts & cooler weather have no need to be ventilated & further if they were ventilated the contents may well freeze & the sheds in temperate climates near the coast are better ventilated in an attempt to keep the contents fresher.

    Or is it that some ventilated type sheds that have no further use as dairy product storage, have over the years been converted to fully enclosed and their use changed....Like Gunning???....Or is the caption wrong & the shed at Gunning an "Out Of" variety & not a cream shed

    Some may well find this discussion as boring as bat shit...but i would be keen to find the reasoning for the differences.

    Thanks Again Booly

    Rod

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  3. Hey Rod,
    Can't seem to find the link to your shop on EBay. Could you please send me the link.
    iphemist@dodo.com.au
    Cheers
    Ian

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