Playing trains at display
Tauranga Model Railway Club has been working hard for a year to bring new layouts to life at their upcoming model train exhibition.
Tauranga Model Railway Club Train Exhibition is in its 27th year.
This show has been a long time in the making— layouts can be very intricate and take months to build, says show organiser Rob Thomson.
One of the layoutswill be a reconstruction of a Southern England seaside wharf. Another is a coalmine completewith surface and mining layer, an English scenery layout and a wild west theme. There will be 13 layouts in total, some coming from outside Tauranga.
One of the bigger layouts is the Katikati Railway Station.
“I don’t think there’s any layout like this in New Zealand,” says member Andy Ralph. “It’s a combined layout with two different kinds of railway scenes.”
The Katikati Railway Station opened in 1928 and closed in 1978. One scene is the train station carrying the Taneatua Express which travels to an English scene. Much research goes into every replica, Andy says.
The intricate scene from the 1950-60s includes the Uretara stream, the station, yard and good shed, state highway two bridge and countryside leading to Katikati.
Acore group of seven have been working on the layout (the English scene is unfinished and will be worked on in 2019). The work includes scenery, props, woodwork and electrics.
There will be a “drive a train” layout where children and adults can have a go driving trains.
The advancement of technology and digital has been a real gamechanger for model trains,
They are looking for new members to pass on their skills.
“We’re hoping to spend time with peoplewho want to learn— we can teach people all this, welding, laying tracks, woodworking. Model trains have taken a real step forward now, you can control up to six locomotives from the one handpiece.”
If you are interested in joining the club, call Rob on 027 236 6570.