Dbr1295

Two preserved NZR Da class locos in their original red livery. Da 1410 at the head of an excursion to Murupara during a stop a Te Puke. The second loco, Dc 4790, still in service at the time, is a rebuilt Da. Da 1429 at Te Rapa during the period it was leased by Transrail due to a shortage of motive power in the mid 2000's. Cheers, Les

Very nice Andy. Cheers, Les

Hi All, A few pictures of 5819 shunting the wagons from its train and making up the outbound service. Those who are sharp eyed may notice that the signal box now has a roof, though it still has to be completed and painted. I finally got around to finishing the interior. I fabricated up a lever frame, furniture, tablet machines etc from bits of plastic. It doesn't stand up to close observation, but viewed in the gloom through the windows doesn't look too bad. Cheers, Les

Thanks Mikkel, I think you give me a little too much credit though. No thought was given to the colour of the passenger apart from what I thought would be worn at that period! I do admit though, that I prefer to use varying shades of limited colours, especially within the railway boundary. Plus I try to avoid too many bright colours. Cheers, Les

A selection of New Zealand Tranzrail blue from the 2000's. Dc4421 & Dx5108 heading onto the East Coast main trunk at Frankton Junction Jan 2001 with a Mission Bush to Mount Maunganui steel coil service. Ef 30192 Frankton Junction, not sure of the date. This was the only one of the Ef class to receive the Tranzrail blue colour scheme. Dx 5143 on a Mission Bush to Te Rapa goods at Ngaruawahia Jan 2008. Cheers, Les

Hello all, Went into the train room yesterday with the intention of doing some work, but ended up playing trains and taking photos. For those that are interested, here is a picture of the traverser. Pretty straight forward, a sheet of MDF running in some aluminum angle. Some floor vinyl has been fixed to the bottom to give it some slide. Alignment is achieved by brass tube soldered to one rail with a sliding pin to securely locate. One rail has power connected, and the electrical connection to the other is when the location pin is in place. Very agricultural but simple and reliable. There's a sheet of MDF fixed to the underneath of the framework and this acts as a shelf to store stock on. The traverser travels over top. A view down the lane. Not much has changed since we last looked down here, still filling the pot holes. Cheers, Les

Hi Andy, I especially like the second picture in the last set of the Cl24 & train. The way its leaning into the curve and the angle the photo's taken from. Very much like photos of the real railway. Looking really good. Cheers, Les

NZR Ja1271 with an excursion south of Hamilton April 2009. Consist mainly made up of Pullman green cars. Cheers, Les

Is this close enough? Dx 5304. The NZR Dx class introduced in 1972 & 1976 are based on the General Electric U26C which is I believe the narrow gauge version of the GE U23C. Lets keep up the nautical theme. Cheer, Les

Restored Urc cement wagon at the Glenbrook Vintage Railway , 2001. Cheers, Les

Level crossings I have plenty of. Here's a small selection from NZ. Dc 4790 and Dft 7335 with an empty coal train arriving at Huntly East mine January 2010. This is the same train in my post yesterday. Unfortunately the mine itself has since closed. Dft 7173 and Dl 9423 sitting in the loop at Te Puna waiting for a westbound train to pass. February 2016 Dft 7010 and Dft 7158 with a coal train on the Rotowaro branch January 2003 Cheers, Les

Some contributions from me of NZ. Wellington commuter service at Paraparaumu. April 2001. Dc 4260 on a Mission Bush to Hangitiki lime empties, following state highway 1 north of Huntly. January 2010. Dc 4790 & Dft 7335 accelerating out of Huntly on a Kimihia to Mission Bush coal service January 2010. Cheers, Les

Kiwirail Dl 9481 with a Mount Maunganui to Kinleith service February 2016. Crossing the Wairoa river at Te Puna on the East Coast main trunk, New Zealand. Cheers, Les

A few taken in thick drizzle. Scanned from prints so excuse the quality. Glenbrook Vintage Railways 25th anniversary weekend back in 2002. The GVR is just south of Auckland NZ. Wa480 & Y542 Auckland bound Geyserland Express railcar passing a Tauranga bound metroport train behind Dft7077. Morrinsville May 2001. Dc 4150 with the Farewell Express excursion to Rotorua passing through the old Mamaku station site February 2002. Apart from the generator van behind the loco, the coaches are rebuilt ex BR Mk 2's on 3'6" bogies. Cheers, Les

Looking good Andy. Look forward to seeing how it pans out. Cheers, Les

Here's some from New Zealand. A Dbr on the Hautapu Industrial branch A Dc & Dft on a coal train for the Mission Bush steel works at Huntly Cheers, Les

The fireman has one last look back to see if all is OK, before 4573 sets off back down the branch with a loaded stone train. Got to make sure those tension locks are secure! Cheers, Les

Thanks Kevin, Very kind words. My goal is to achieve the look of a branch towards the end of its time, with life just plodding along until the axe falls. It makes me happy if hopefully people get that impression from the pictures of the layout. Cheers, Les

Our passenger didn't have to wait too long. The auto-train draws to a halt at the platform. Doesn't look like anyone is getting off today.

Thanks, Andy. Yes, we'll see you there.

Sole passenger waiting for the mid morning service from Wyd Junction.

Finally the last photos from last weekends shoot. 7754 is seen departing Wydgate with its solitary coach, and no passengers. Hopefully there will be some passengers further along the branch, otherwise it wasn't worth the crew getting out of bed so early. And this is what it would have looked like if we could have had access to a drone in 1955. Cheers, Les

Hi Andy, thanks for the comment about atmosphere. Being over here and never been to the west of England in the 1950's, it's kind of nice if you and others think I've captured that. Inspiration being mainly from pictures in books and magazines. The book I referenced most has been one called Great Western Branch Line Album by Ian Krause, which I picked up in a second book shop in Hamilton. It's got some great photos that have influenced me hugely in what I'm trying to achieve. Still lots to do though, certainly I think I need more plant and tree growth, it looks a little bit too manicured at the moment. Will see you the Hamilton show, are you exhibiting? Cheers, Les

Here's a few more pictures of 7754 as it comes off shed and waddles it's way to couple up to the coach waiting in the platform. Thanks for looking in, Cheers, Les.

Thanks for the feedback Grahame. It's taken me a long time to learn it, but I think for me simplicity is the key, especially in a small space. Cheers, Les