HUB Sets at Port Botany:

Eureka's sources at Port Botany report seeing our container lifted from the Zhen He this morning and placed in the "lift and X-ray" area. 
The container is expected to be released on Sunday night into the custody of our cargo management section who will un-pack the container and delivery half of the contents to the Eureka main offices on  Monday afternoon. The remaining half will be delivered on Thursday.

Latest News on the HUB Sets:

Advice from the Zhen He is that the ship is currently off the coast of NSW and is expected to arrive in Port Botany tomorrow (Thursday) at 13:00.
Eureka's container will be lifted from the ship and transferred to our cargo clearer by Monday the 24th.
Half of the shipment is expected to be delivered to Eureka on Monday afternoon with the remainder being delivered on Thursday the 27th.
Full scale distribution will commence on the 27th of December.
 

HUB Sets on the Move:

Latest word from the factory is that the HUB shipment left the factory today (5th), travelled 80 kms along the expressway by truck to the cargo consolidator in Hong Kong. Here the shipment will be packed into a container and placed  adjacent to the container terminal wharf ready for loading onto the "Zhen He" when it arrives from Shang-Hai in the next few days.

  Latest Dispatches from MV "Zhen He"

Eureka's source on-board the "Zhen He" has advised that the vessel sailed from Shang-hai at 3.00 pm (local time) today and is currently in the East China Sea heading south. Sea conditions are good and the vessel is making 14.1 knots. Upon arrival in Hong Kong the vessel will load further cargo destined for Australia including a container of HUB sets.
More news as further reports are received from our source.

More on the HUB sets:

 
PFH Power car in light Indian Red.

FH in Tuscan and Russet




And for those who want to know these things, the five car set box measures 385 x 300 x 55 mm.

 

HUB Update:

The "Zhen He" in Port Phillip Bay.

             The factory has advised that Motor Vessel "Zhen He" will leave Hong Kong on the 10th of December with a container load of HUB sets bound for Port Botany where it is expected to arrive on the 20th of December, 2012. Allowing for the usual 3/4 days to clear customs the cargo of HUB sets should be delivered to Eureka on Christmas Eve.
             Distribution will commence immediately and should be complete by the end of January.
             Samples from the production run have been received and photographs are currently being taken for posting on this blog site. 

HUB Update:

 

 

The factory has advised that production of the HUB sets is expected to be completed on the 25th of November, 2012. This would suggest that the shipment should leave Hong Kong around the last day of November and arrive in Port Botany around the 10th of December. Posting out should get underway around the 15th of December and be completed by the 15th of January. 



K Class all dressed up and getting ready to go.

The K class sample which was test run at the Caulfield exhibition has now been checked and given a coat of paint.
It has also under-gone further extensive running and the factory has been advised of a couple of minor changes required. Sound files are being collected now so that when the final engineering sample which incorporates all corrections is available the sound installation process can be carried out by QSI. The sound has to be synchronised to the running characteristics of the motor and this can only be done once the final running sample is available.
The whole process is proceeding ahead of time at the moment and is on target for delivery in the second half of 2013 around Caulfield exhibition time.

K Class Engineering Sample on Running Trials at Caulfield:

The K class engineering sample arrived from the factory the day Eureka left for the Caulfield exhibition. This did not allow time for even a quick coat of paint so running trials had to be undertaken naked. The locomotive spent several hours running on the "Kilmore East" layout where by all reports it did not miss a beat. The rest of the weekend the sample was on public display.
The sample has now gone for serious measurement and checking after which it will receive a coat of paint and undergo more running and load tests.
A complete model incorporating any corrections and including sound is expected by the end of 2012 and the factory has been advised that the target delivery date is third quarter, 2013.

K Class Progress - News from the Factory.

The factory advised yesterday (Monday) that they had forwarded by air an engineering sample of the K class. An engineering sample is a fully running model.  We had hoped to be able to put a photo of the model up on this blog but it is likely that the sample will not arrive until tomorrow (Wednesday). As we are heading off to the Caulfield Exhibition on Thursday photos will be available until well after we return next week.
However, the sample will be on display at the Caulfield exhibition. Those who are interested should drop by the Eureka stand for a look.

BSVs - The Post Out Continues 

Our BSVs passed through Customs on Thursday the 2nd of August and the post out of orders commenced immediately. As of today 60% of orders have been posted out and it is expected that the mail out will be complete by next Tuesday the 14th of August.
Demand for the BSV 3-packs has been brisk and it is expected that the weathered models will be out of stock by this coming weekend.
Reasonable stocks of black BSVs and blue NSSFs remain.

LATEST SHIPPING NEWS

MV Teng He is due to depart the Pearl River Delta on Monday, 9th of July, 2012. It is expected to berth at Port Botany on the 19th of July and its cargo should clear customs by the 25th.

                                  The Teng He (Hopefully it will not be taking this route to Port Botany)

Amongst theTeng He's cargo will be Eureka Models' Bogie Sheep Vans (BSV). Distribution of the BSVs should start on the 30th of July and is expected to be completed in about four weeks.



Eureka's BSV

 

STOCK WAGONS BY THE SCORE.

Distribution of the BCW is now almost complete with the last 20 or so orders to be posted this week.

Assembly of the BSV is underway with the factory expecting to despatch the production run in the last week of June. This would suggest Customs clearance at Port Botany in the second week of July.

Tian Qing He sails Monday.

MV Tian Qing He is due to depart Hong Kong for Port Botany on Monday 23 April. 2012. On board will be our BCWs.
The Tian Qing He is due to arrive at Port Botany on 3 May, 2012 and allowing a couple of days to clear customs we expect to start distribution on our return from the Brisbane Exhibition on the 10th of May. Distribution is expected to be complete by the end of May.

The Tian Qing He on a recent visit to Sydney.

 

BCW - Latest from the factory.

The factory has advised that production of the BCW will be finished on the 12th of April. The shipment should therefore clear Port Botany sometime in the first week of May. I expect to start distribution when I return from the Brisbane exhibition which should see distribution completed by the end of May. 

The BSV - I might have to keep most of these for Werris Creek.

Painted samples of our BSV are now finished and the associated art-work has been forwarded to the factory. There is one minor omission in the samples in that the black version will come with buffers.
The factory shoud be able to provide a delivery date shortly.

Click on the image to enlarge especially the blue version.

Bogie Sheep Van Progress

Tooling for the BSV is complete and full engineering samples are expected before the end of March.
This would suggest a June delivery date.

Major Breaking News

               Apparently anything that happens at the Eureka offices is of such importance and general interest that it warrants immediate publication. In light of this, attached is a photo of a box sample received today from China to be used in the BCW and BSV projects. The sample has already been approved and at this stage the factory is saying that we will receive the BCW in mid- April.
               It was proposed to post this breaking news earlier today but it was decided to hold it over until this afternoon so as not to over-shadow the events which took place this morning in the National Capital.

R Class Movements

                                   An unidentified R ctests the grade at the head of a set of Auscsion E cars.


Arrived today from QSI - a sound equipped R class.  This will undergo evaluation and some tweeking before approval. Once approval is given the sound files will be burned into the QSI chips before the chips are released  to the factory for installation in R class units currently being assembled.