Friday, November 14, 2008

Out of the woodwork

Our second overseas contribution, from Mick in Darwin( we are starting to sound like talkback radio).
I've always been fascinated with railways since the days I was a little tacker and stood by the tracks and said 'choo choo' whenever a train passed, even tho it was most likely a diesel...Even tho I was born in the earthquake zone of Mt Isa, Queensland I've always been a Cantabrian, tho my old man is from Wellington and my dear old mother (she still says shes 20something) is from Rotorua.
Since I started playing with trains they got smaller and smaller to the point I built my first 4x8' N scale layout based on everywhere. I considered modelling New Zealand railways in N scale but Nn3 is tediously small. After some online researching I discovered the light at the end of the tunnel, NZ120. It combines the space saving prowess of TT with N scale track to create the perfect combination to model New Zealand railways.
I've only recently converted to the 'chosen scale' and have been planning a freelanced Canterbury Railroad layout based on the Midland Line. Tho the only place close to being the real Midland Line is Staircase, with Coalgate being on the Whitecliffs Branch, Cass is totally wrong, and the Otira Tunnel would be nowhere near long enough to represent the real hole thru a mountain. Nor did a branch to Fox Glacier ever exist.
Anyway, included is a plan of the layout, its 5m long along both sides and about as deep as I decide to make it. I've always liked New Zealand steam and the CRR would have run the Kb Class 4-8-4's plus their own Kc Class 4-8-4's. Electrics would also feature, only from Coalgate to staging after Otira. Trains would mainly be coal trains, the electrics hauling them down thru Otira and from the coal branch staging to Coalgate, where the Kb/Kc's would take over for the run thru Staircase to staging. Passenger trains would also be run, along with a short milk train and a bunch of freights.


I'm excited about getting started but the space for the layout is currently unavailable. I've decided to build the layout in modules, and one is currently under construction.

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