Model Train Exhibition

Bernard, Rowena, Sophie and Elanor went to the model train show yesterday. Bern's doing a 'guest post' about it.

Bernard says:

I went with three of our girls. While we were there Elanor and I stuck together while Rowena and Sophie went off to look at things themselves. There were all sorts of exhibits there. Most of the layouts were from model rail clubs from around the place (mostly Southern half of the North Island), but there were also exhibits from people selling gear, and a few individuals (who were probably selling gear on the side).

Not everything was trains, either. One group had a road loop that they had a bus and couple of trucks driving around (see photo). It looked very effective and we had to stop and ask how they did it. Apparently there is a wire underneath the road, which is magnetised, and the vehicles follow the magnetic path. Another exhibit had trolley-bus wires and trolley buses following the wires around (although this lacked the magic quality of the wire under the road).

There was also a group who are trying to revive the old fell engine route to Wairarapa. They explained to us how the engines work, and had a model of the special track they use and the mechanism for holding on to the track.

But what I found most interesting was the guy who makes models of very early train engines. He had a model of George Stevenson's early engine, and others from the 1820s to 1860s. One particularly interesting engine was an experimental model that operated on compressed air. It had been intended to be particularly fast, but in practice it did not work out that way, and had limited range to boot.