Am_Fet's mind wanders again....
I had the grave misfortune the other week to be in the same room as a TV. And rather than playing an enthralling test match between us and the mother country, it was assaulting us with one of those inane cooking shows that relies more on camera angles and incidental music to build tension. I mean, honestly, its cooking....and to quote Hamish Rutherford, "Its not like we're saving babies".
But I digress....the reason this came to mind was the contestants on said show were told to play the "Last Supper" game. Its your last meal, and you can have anything you want, served wherever you want, and with whoever you want to be with.
So lets play the train geeks version; The "Last Layout", as it were.
You've got an army of skilled artisans, as big a space as you need and an unlimited budget. So what do you do? NZ, or somewhere else? Nz120 or 9mm? The whole of the NIMT or a bucolic branch? Modern or Historic?
And even more importantly, unlike the poor contestants we wont expect you to actually build it for the judges to say foul things about.
Herr Druff is knee deep in Paekok in Nz120, but would he be seduced by 1:24th scale GWR Broad Gauge? Will KiwiBonds go back to his love of American N and model the entire area around Mojave and Bakersfield in scale? And would my brain explode with the pressure of choosing between all the different ideas in my head, leaving me a mere husk of a man weeping gently in a corner (of a very large, empty space)?
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9 comments:
Seddonville Branch from Westport wharves to Mokihinui bins in NZ120. More realsitic option - Best bits of the line condensed into a Warehouse in 1:48 scale. Including Conns creek and a working replica of the Denniston Incline.
Now let me see. I can still visualize now looking over a low wall into a garden in a street in Blenheim as a very young lad. It was a miniature wonderland, but with no trains. Well there were windmills and waterwheels,tiny homes lit up and all sorts of other animation and colour.So I would have to create something similar outside, but with G scale trains running through mountain gorges and over high bridges,etc,etc. We also have an old bush tramway on the property(whats left of it) and i would need a railway like the coromandel potters setup to collect my firewood and admire the view at the end of the bluff.Not much really!
1. Tehachapi N
2. Staircase to Otira NZ 120
3. Greymouth station+ riverside to Rewanui in S
Thanks Ev, I expect them all to be built by the time I get back
I await directions to the warehouse youve bought to accomodate all these....
In no particular order (OK maybe South to North). All in NZ120.
1)Southland branch lines 1950's. Short branch line trains with old locos wandering through the roling hills.
2) West coast 1950's-60's based around Greymouth but also covering the line to Ross and the branches to Rapahoe, Rewanui and Roa.
3) Wellington suburban modeled so that trains from teh 50's and 80's could be run (but not at the same time). Operation would be interesting. could be given a Suburban train drive so they could view the layout.
4) Auckland suburban. Again plenty of trains. No idea about which period.
I have trouble narrowing down to a specific place or era in NZ, but it would have to be big (either 9mm or 1:24th) to capture the physics of a moving train, and the layout would have to be big enough that a group of people could replicate most of the operational jobs that a railway has to offer. To be able to drive a train out to a crossing station for a crew change before coming back, although a mundane part of real life, would actually be quite neat in model form.
What I would narrow it down to would be:
1. 1950's West Coast before the arrival of the Ab and J's (Uc, Ub, Wa, Q wagons etc)
2. 1966 Glen Afton with the transition from the Bb's to the Db's with industrial locos thrown in for good measure and lots of colliery lines
3. 2009 Milk Route from Eastown to Whareroa with multi coloured locos and lots of milk tanks
4. 1980's Otago with the new Df's surplanting the Dg and Dj class....and Di's!
Dont ask me what I'd chose though....
Hang on Kiwibonds .no 1 on your list should be a sad looking DG Project in the South Island.
Its interesting almost everyone has a West Coast route high on their list. Staircase to Otira would make a great route and allows for such a wide range of locos and wagons to be run as most of the line didnt change much till the longer coal trains started running meaning you could almost run stuff from the 1930's through to the 80's (at different times) without it looking too out of place.
The full length of the Wellington - Longburn line, as operated by W&MR Co., 1907.
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