Serving Golden Service

One of the things I remember as a child are Australian brands that are no longer seen one of these is Golden Fleece. Golden Fleece was a brand of petrol with service station dotted along the major highways and small country towns. I always yearned to stop there to get food: a hamburger, fish and chips or a pie before the spread of the American Fast Food giants. 

I wanted to model this brand on my layout by including a Golden Fleece Oil siding. 

Starting point

Many of the oil sidings have now been decommissioned and demolished. However, whilst at the Canberra Railway Museum in Fyshwick a couple of years I noticed the old Shell Oil terminal whilst riding on the Diesel railcar. After the visit to the museum, I was able to locate the address where it was an took additional photos through the closed gates.

Above: Photo of the Shell terminal rail siding at Fyshwick (Taken 27 July 2014)

Modelling Options

I had a corner area of my layout that was going to be the site of the oil siding. I searched the internet for a number of options for a depot that would be suitable and found the Walthers Interstate Fuel and Oil Depot.  

Above: Kit opened and ready to build

Measuring the site

I made a number of changes to not only ensure that the kit could fit in the space but to Australianise it.  I made the depot building as a low relief and removed the roof to not look like a quonset hut. Various tries were made to determine how it could fit in the space. 

Above: Oil depot area to be modelled

The tanks were also painted and weathered to give it a used look and coloured white as in the prototype. 

Adding Scenery

The final touches to give it some realism was to make Golden Fleece decals for the tanks, adding a concrete slab, appropriate warning signage, adding trees and then used the LJ model factory fencing which are no longer produced. 

For the first time I purchased one of the Haskell Australian backdrops to give the area more depth. Although I did feel it gave a too much a rural feeling.

Another view of the oil siding with the low relief shed and appropriate Golden Fleece livery vehicles which were built separately.