I've been looking round to see if I could find any pictures of the old Dunedin Nz120 Modular layout. I've managed to contact some of the group who were also involved with this, and got a very pleasant surprise. Some of the modules from the old layout have survived and are being incorporated into a new layout for exhibitions. Today Barry Stodart sent me some pictures which gave me quite a thrill (Cheer's for that).
It appears that My railway station model has survived 15 years and is still in use.
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Dunedin station on the left, Wingatui on the right. The end modules have been built to fit (ie not the original ones), and the layout is 12' by 6'
This is the road side of the station that hardly anyone saw, but I'm still glad I put the effort into it. Old bus depot on the right with hand painted signs. At the far left can be seen the original base for the Otago excursion train trust being a grounded Z wagon painted yellow.
The actual track layout and the bit everyone saw. The 2 middle tracks were for wagon storage and the running lines each had a passing loop to store 7' long trains. The north end over bridge can just be seen at the top of the picture. So much of this is now completely altered, with everything on the right hand side demolished.
The footbridge was made from some old bits of rail soldered together. The materials I used for the stations construction have been discussed before.
Wingatui Junction. This was built by Barry, and I always really liked it. The station building was beautifully made, and the track layout was simple but very effective (both visually and practically).These pictures brought back a lot of good memories from a period a long time ago when I was a young lad with hair.
4 comments:
Seeing Wingatui again really takes me back...the BEST day I have ever had at an exhibition was at Dunedin in 1987 operating on the large Nz120 layout. The job I took the most pleasure from was "Station Master, Wingatui"....which involved stopping any train that was getting to close to the one in front (using isolating blocks...rather jerky stops/starts!) and putting slow trains into the loop to be passed. I only had control of the points and the isolating sections, but I found it so much more rewarding than driving as there were decisions to be made in real time. Tie into that a rudimentary "tablet" system using the "bell" sounds on 2 intercom units ("Are you ready for the next train?")...And it was this experience that cemented my belief that "Sometimes driving isnt the best job".
well, definitly forgiven for on post yesterday and definatly beets ower old chch photos.
From someone who never saw the layout in the flesh: bleedin nice. Nicely designed, nicely built and nicely preserved.
Wot, no Josephine?!!
Neat stuff - must give you the warm fuzzies to see your old station building again.
:)
AH
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