WELLINGTON GROUP GOES LOCO

[Gavin Sowry]

The owner of Loco, the display layout at Otaki, was off on holiday, so he arranged for the Wellington Group to run the facility for the day. First up, is the inaugrual run of Phil Smith's newly acquired passenger train.

....and no show is complete without Johnny.

Thirsty work, relief for the boys... Dave Allen provded motive power, and supply wagons, for Gavin and Tina's beer train.

 

[whatlep]

Lovely pictures. Blue sky too!

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Blue sky too!

8| Only comes in that colour over here

In due course, JR will publish photos of some 'shady' characters (as well as the usual high quality train shots).

 

[Richie]

Lovely photo's fantastic looking line

 

[garrymartin]

The pond/railway combination is stunning :admire::love:

 

[JRinTawa]

Okay then, seems I best show you the pictures Gavin has promised!
As Gav said, David and Simone, owners of Loco Miniature Railway and Gardens www.loco.co.nz were away for the day, and as the Wellington Garden Railway Group, principally through work done by member Chris Drowley, has had several working days and successful running days at Loco David and Simone asked us to run the railway for the day. We entertained the paying public and the WGRG get a donation to group funds for the trouble - a good deal in my book :thumpup:

So here's Chris and Phil setting up some trains watched by a few members of the public. There are lots more people picnicing on the lawns beyond the railway.

Lots of little eyes watching every move :-

All the trains we ran were our own, Loco's trains remained in the train shed for the day.
The generous grounds allow for some good long distance shoots, though with the number of public on the day it was lucky to avoid legs in this shot.

 

[JRinTawa]

Gavin (left) and fellow WGRG member David Allen in deep discussion. Perhaps about some of the track that need fettling or more like the joys of having such a long runs, way beyond a normal home railway. (300-400m we reckon.)

Wayne Haste sharing a few laughs with a member of the public....

...but do you think I could have a garden railway too? "Yes sir you can" says Wayne.

 

[JRinTawa]

The leafy entry to Loco where Brian Cashmore (at the table in the background Chris) manned the gate all day as the public rolled in.

Phil Smith (left) and the man responsible for the day Chris Drowley (right) discuss the merits of the simple speed controller for battery powered trains Chris has sorted for Phil.

Though Aristocraft Revolution control with a seperate sound unit was in Chris's UP loco meant this train was popular with kids of all ages.

There really were lots of punters, lucky we had lots of trains to entertain them.

 

[JRinTawa]

And here's Brian Cashmore our jovial gateman having given the entry briefing to yet more punters. We open at 11am, closed at 4pm and people were still turning up just before closing time! Perhaps the news had got around that the WGRG was there Hmm more likely it was the warm sun and clear blue sky :bigsmile

Little trains (David Allen's) look even littler in a big garden.

Speaking of little, there were lots of well behaved little kids, and attentive parents (well done punters).

 

[JRinTawa]

A train would come along....

...and once the kids figured out where they headed....

....a following they would go

 

[JRinTawa]

A nice thing to was watching parents engaging with theire kids pointing out things around the railway and photographing their kids alongside our trains

"Go that way, it goes around this side of the lake first then see it will go over there!"

So 5 hours of multiple train operation, talking to the public about our great hobby, breathing fresh air and sun on our back, what a tough way to spend a day :admire:
Thanks to David and Simone for giving the WGRG the chance to run there business for them, the six WGRG members that worked the day throughly enjoyed themselves. And from what we could gauge the public seemed to appreciate the busy schedule we ran.
If you're ever passing north of Otaki (that's just over and hour north of Wellington, do call in to Loco Miniature Railway and Gardens, the railway is good, and if it's a normal Sunday, David cooks the best pizzas you find on his wood fired oven (Luckily we didn't try and cook pizza )

If you'd like to see more pictures from Loco there are some form our December 2012 visit here http://www.gscalecentral.net/Loco-Miniature-Railway-Visit-Dec-2012-m248394 < Link To Loco Miniature Railway Visit Dec 2012 and our first visit in April
Video=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCpVsMJ3iLw

 

[Alpineandy]

Stunning setting for a railway...............thanks for the pics

 

[owlpool]

trains, sunshine and shorts
lovely
roll on our 2 days this "summer"

 

[Shawn]

Wow what an amazing looking railroad. Everything looks perfect from the structures to the plants.