The new railway has been put off for another few months. There is still more work to do out the front of the house, which will require some more earth to be dug out and (dumped on the railway pile in the back yard). I am still undecided whether the track will be a large level oval, or a figure 8 that crosses over itself. But with more dirt to come, the hills will be higher!
"RSR" railway of pioneer NZ model builder Frank Roberts. Many of his other models are now held in "Te Papa", the National Museum of NZ.
Considering that this bridge was built in 1930, and has lived outside ever since, it is in surprisingly good condition.The whole bridge will be carefully cleaned and repainted in similar colours to ensure it survives many more years to come.
The name Wairapata is a fictional one, and does not relate to a specific NZ bridge.
This is dual gauge hand laid track which came from the Mt Magdala Tramway of Harold Joynt of Kakanui (North Otago). The gauges are 0 (32mm) and 1 (45mm). It is built using 0 scale brass rail on hand cut wooden sleepers fastened to steam bent wooden beams.
Harold was a fantastic craftsman and it is a shame that I only got to visit him once before his death in 2000. He had 3 railways in his back yard. One was the dual gauge 0 & 1 railway, of which some track is pictured above. Another was a Gauge 3 (62mm) which was his main interest. The last was a ground level 5" Gauge ride on railway.
Only the small dual gauge railway was track powered. Almost all of his other locos were live steam and the 1 diesel shunter he built was battery powered.
My only regret was that I didn't ask him to take more of them outside so I could photograph them, as many have now left the country.
See more of Harold's models
