NZ Garden Railway Convention.

Tawa New Zealand

The Convention was the second of what we hope will continue to be an annual event on the garden railway scene in NZ. As with the first, this Convention was organised by the fledgling Wellington Garden Railway Group to foster the growing interest in garden railways both in the Wellington region and nationally. This year’s event was based in the comfortable surroundings of the Tawa Rugby Club social hall.

Saturday got underway with the usual period of registration and greetings before setting into the clinic and workshop sessions. First up; Peter Lucas, from Australia, gave a thought provoking clinic on the setting up of a garden railway cottage industry, before the local lads presented their workshops. On offer were workshops on constructing scale crib and stone retaining walls, loco maintenance, fitting decoders and other internal surgery, Massoth Navigator use under MTSIII, Picaxe and other clever electronics, E-Z Air point activators, scratch building wagons, and lastly myself prattling on about garden railway construction.

While all this was going on trains circulated round a generous loop of track occupying one end of the hall, a nice selection of models where on display, a few dollars where exchanged around the sales table and Peter Lucas also had a wee stand for his economical sound units.

That pretty much took us through to lunch, fully catered on site, before the 35 or so attendees embarked on the afternoon round of visits to 4 railways in the Tawa basin, naturally our usual warm sunny autumn weather. Okay the warm and sunny part is true.

Brian Russell’s Linden Railway is one the oldest railways in the area and now runs the newest technology with multiple trains and point operation under the MTSIII/Massoth Navigator DCC control. Chris Drowley’s Chester Railway shows how, with clever planting and a lot of digging a busy railway can be fitted into a steep sloping section. The H&M Garden Railway offered the chance to view trains in the cool shade of mature trees for those who made it up our long steep drive. All three of these railways having been developed and matured from there showing last year. The fourth railway, and new for 2008 was Brian Cashmore’s railway which bristles with scratch built structures including his clever crib walls.

After all that railway viewing it was time to settle back into the chairs at the hall for a quiet predinner drink and listen the one of our local Nurserymen talk on suitable garden railway plants and their care. Then my personal highlight, Peter Lucas gave a presentation on the construction of his live steam Coffee Pot Railcar, true inspiration. A scrummy dinner followed with the usual banter and socialising.

Blimey and that was only the first day!
 

Sunday dawned a more typical autumn day, but still perfectly good weather for the three railways on show. Dan Hughes Morpork Railway which has achieved the challenging task of merging a railway into Ruth’s Japanese themed garden. It also has a lovely indoor section with a scratchbuilt loco shed. Morning tea was taken whilst visiting Gavin Sowry’s Taita Gorge Railway, one of our other oldest railways. Much conversation centred on how far we felt his planned extension should go. Sunday’s final railway was David Allen’s Brown’s Bay Railway, which has been built since the Allen’s moved to Whitby from the railways previous home last year. His railway being a fine example of how an “old fashion” DC control railway can work well.

Then it was the back to the hall once more for a spot of lunch and a general chat including possible locations for the next NZ Garden Railway Convention to be held over the second weekend of March 2009. Auckland or Masterton were proposed but it will be a few months before the location is confirmed.

As part of the organising group is not for me to rave about the weekend but I present this report more as a record of the event and to thank those that attended for there help to make it a rewarding weekend for myself and the fellow organisers.

More pictures can be found in the Forum topic http://www.gscalemad.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=12411

John Robinson