Events/Trips in 2022
WMR&ES Christmas Show
3rd & 4th December 2022.
The Wanganui Model Railway & Engineering Society decided to have another go at a Christmas model railway show since the previous year's one was cancelled by covid. This was once again held at their club rooms. Along with the club layouts, several members also brought along some of their own layouts and model engineering items for display (some were even Christmas Themed). Keegan had his Thomas HO layout at the show, and I had my Thomas N gauge layout, the Thomas Big Loader Set, my 5 Inch gauge loco and other Christmas themed trains running on the big club layouts. They had a good turn out from the public, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. WMR&ES send a big thank you to all members that helped out.
SRW Security
24th & 25th October 2022.
Steam Inc’s Ja 1271 and carriages were in town for two nights. This was a joint venture between Glenbrook Vintage Railway and Steam Inc, running the Grand North Island Steam Tour. The train came in on Monday the 24th and left on Wednesday the 26th, to head back to Wellington. SteamRail Wanganui got asked to do the security of this train over these two nights. They did up a roster and had at least 3 members there, changing over with another 3 members every 3 hours between the hours of 7pm and 7am. A big thank you to all members who helped at short notice. They appreciated your help and it’s a good fund raiser for the club.
During the security, me and the public relation officers (my dogs) had the early morning shift starting from 3am, both days.
While in Wanganui, the train did 3 trips for the Wanganui public. Two trips from Taupo Quay to East Town and return and One trip up the Westmere Bank to Kai Iwi and return on the Monday afternoon. Some of our members went for a ride on this as well.
The first 6 photos were taken by Blair J, during his stint on security. The next 2 are by Kylie J of the Ja during its public runs and the final 2 are by Ewan P, on Wednesday when the Ja left
During the security, me and the public relation officers (my dogs) had the early morning shift starting from 3am, both days.
While in Wanganui, the train did 3 trips for the Wanganui public. Two trips from Taupo Quay to East Town and return and One trip up the Westmere Bank to Kai Iwi and return on the Monday afternoon. Some of our members went for a ride on this as well.
The first 6 photos were taken by Blair J, during his stint on security. The next 2 are by Kylie J of the Ja during its public runs and the final 2 are by Ewan P, on Wednesday when the Ja left
SRW Public Open Day and Jigger Rides
23rd October 2022.
SteamRail Wanganui Inc were asked by the Whanganui Heritage Month organisers to run another Motor Trolley Rides event and Public Open day, as part of their transport themed heritage month. They decided to have our building open for viewing every Sunday morning for the month and run the trolley rides on the Sunday of Labour weekend. This was once again, well supported by the public. They gave 125 people rides during the day. The weather played ball also for them this year. Once again, a big thank you to everyone who came for a ride and of course the SRW members. We couldn’t do this event without you.
Once again, my Motor Trolley (WW6701) was used during the event and my TR was on display in the shed. Keegan also had his Lego Trolley there.
Once again, my Motor Trolley (WW6701) was used during the event and my TR was on display in the shed. Keegan also had his Lego Trolley there.
“Wanganui Model Railway Expo”
1st & 2nd October 2022.
The Wanganui Model Railway & Engineering Society held their big biennial show over this weekend. Once again held at the City College Hall.
Wow what a show and what a turn out from the public. As soon as the doors were open, we were busy all weekend. They had 16 exhibits (12 of them model train layouts) from both local members and out of town groups. Along with trade stands. On display was HO, N and O gauge layouts, Lego, Lego Technics, Tomy Thomas, Model Engineering and SRW also had a display stand. Some of the exhibitors also enjoyed a meal together on the Saturday night.
On behalf of the WMR&ES we would sincerely like to thank you all for participating in our Model Railway Expo. The event was very successful, and we've raised enough funds to keep our club active for another year. Special thanks to those who travelled from out of town at their own expense to support us. From an organizers perspective we were so pleased that everyone seemed happy with the spaces provided, and that technical gremlins stayed away for the most part. We look forward to our next one.
Keegan had his HO Thomas layout there and I had my big OO Thomas layout, my 5 Inch loco and the Kiddie ride at the event. The train kiddie ride gave 90 rides over the weekend.
Photos taken by Blair J and Mark S (including cover photo).
Wow what a show and what a turn out from the public. As soon as the doors were open, we were busy all weekend. They had 16 exhibits (12 of them model train layouts) from both local members and out of town groups. Along with trade stands. On display was HO, N and O gauge layouts, Lego, Lego Technics, Tomy Thomas, Model Engineering and SRW also had a display stand. Some of the exhibitors also enjoyed a meal together on the Saturday night.
On behalf of the WMR&ES we would sincerely like to thank you all for participating in our Model Railway Expo. The event was very successful, and we've raised enough funds to keep our club active for another year. Special thanks to those who travelled from out of town at their own expense to support us. From an organizers perspective we were so pleased that everyone seemed happy with the spaces provided, and that technical gremlins stayed away for the most part. We look forward to our next one.
Keegan had his HO Thomas layout there and I had my big OO Thomas layout, my 5 Inch loco and the Kiddie ride at the event. The train kiddie ride gave 90 rides over the weekend.
Photos taken by Blair J and Mark S (including cover photo).
Keegan and myself also made it in the River City Press newspaper the week before, advertising the upcoming show.
WMR&ES Public Open-Day
3rd September 2022
Keegan and I both had items on display again at the Wanganui Model Railway & Engineering Society public open day. Keegan had his Island of Sodor layout, and I had the Tomy Thomas Big Loader Set and my NZR Railcar and Da on-work train to run on the club's big HO/OO layout. This was another enjoyable day had by both the public and members.
Bull's Model Train Show 2022
9th & 10th July 2022
Keegan and myself were once again involved with the Bulls Model Railway Show. This event was held over 2 days and was a fund raiser for the local Bull's Scouts. There were layouts from Wanganui, Levin and locally from Bulls. There was also 2 trade stalls selling models etc. The Bulls Scouts also ran a sausage sizzle and a cake stall to help with fund raising. Keegan took along his Thomas Branch line HO/OO layout, but instead of running Thomas and his friends he ran his New Zealand trains for a change. I of course took along my big HO/OO Island of Sodor layout. Because of Covid, this was the first time my big layout had been to a show since April 2021. I had done a number of changes and additions since its last outing. It now has over 120 different Thomas characters on it. Both layouts were well received by the public and it was a very enjoyable weekend. A big thank you to Alan Giles and the other show organisers for inviting us once again and we look forward to attending the next one.
All photos apart from the first one were taken by myself. The first photo was take by the District Monitor newspaper reporter Rohan Gower.
You can see videos of Keegan's and my layouts running on YouTube, just look up Keegan's Layout at the Bulls Show or the Bull's Scouts, Model Railway Show on the Buzzz's Railway World YouTube site or search for the flowershow guy (John Whittaker) YouTube video called - The Model Train Show 2022 Bulls NZ .
All photos apart from the first one were taken by myself. The first photo was take by the District Monitor newspaper reporter Rohan Gower.
You can see videos of Keegan's and my layouts running on YouTube, just look up Keegan's Layout at the Bulls Show or the Bull's Scouts, Model Railway Show on the Buzzz's Railway World YouTube site or search for the flowershow guy (John Whittaker) YouTube video called - The Model Train Show 2022 Bulls NZ .
We made it in the local Newspaper (The District Monitor).
SteamRail Wanganui Inc
Public Open-Day & Motor Trolley (Jigger) Rides.
5th June 2022.
Keegan, Lloryian, the dogs and myself were (as always) involved with the SRW Public Open-day and rides on the Sunday of Queens Birthday Weekend. My Motor Trolley was there as a back up if the club needed it and my TR loco was also on display in the shed. This was again well attended by the public, with a few new members joining up as well. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves which was good. Photos by Ewan Pound.
As part of the promotion of our up coming event. Some of the team from SRW (including myself) made it into the River City Press newspaper on the 2nd of June, We had a front page feature, which included a bit of history on SRW, our current projects and member ship drive. This included advertising the up coming public open-day and rides on the 5th of June.
P Nth Model Engineering Club, Members Fun day
1st May 2022
The P Nth Model Engineering Club have continued to operate members only fun days once a month over the last six months, due to on-going Covid restrictions. However, with the easing of these restrictions they are looking at opening to the public again in June. Keegan JJ and I took my 5 Inch Hercules diesel loco and rides trolley along to their latest members fun day. This was a treat for Keegan, as he had been at my place all week due to school holidays and still hasn’t cleaned Aunty Lloryians kitchen floor with a toothbrush (it’s worth a shot). He had been a big help to me as I cleared out our old shed ready for removal. So, we had decided to make his last day a fun day. After having a few runs on my loco Keegan got offered a drive of the Beaver Lumber Co. steam loco (named “Tasha”). This was his first ever drive of a steam loco. This was quickly followed by a drive on the other steam loco operating. A Loco based on a NZR W class tank loco. Keegan had a grin from ear to ear. We finished off the day with a few more runs on my loco as the others packed away theirs. A big thank you to the owners of the locos that gave Keegan a go and to the club for another enjoyable afternoon. We look forward to the next one.
Wanganui Model Railway & Engineering Society
Members Running Night
28th April 2022.
The WMR&ES hold a members running night every last Thursday of the month. Keegan and myself attend the April night with a few of our trains. I took along my Daa loco plus cement wagons, my Stevens's Rocket loco (now converted to the Thomas the Tank Engine character name Stephen) and Keegan took along his Da's and Daisy the railcar from Thomas the Tank Engine. These photos show some of the great work being done by the WMR&ES members on their Thursday construction nights.
Waitara Railway Visit
25th April 2022
On ANZAC day Ewan P and myself, with Keegan JJ coming along for the ride too. Shot up to the Waitara group on SRW business trip. To talk to them (mainly John C) about the two groups safety cases. After SRW’s last NZTA audit we had one noncompliance we needed to sort out. We decided to see how another group had covered the area of concern.
When we first arrived, we had a bit of look around, to see the latest progress the Waitara group had done, since our last visit. We viewed the Waitotara Station building (ex-stored at Waverley for many years) which is now on site on new piles waiting for restoration. We had a look over John C’s new Price loco number 222 (ex KiwiRail TR 1026) and a look at the groups recently restored Bagnall loco (ex-Portland Cement).
We then headed into the station building to sort out the paperwork issues before John surprised us and took us for a ride down to Waitara township and back in his new loco. We hadn’t planned to do any train riding that day, but John obviously wanted to show off his new toy. We then headed for home.
It’s great to see another loco saved, but there is a lot of work needed on it. We wish John all the best with the future restoration of Price 222. Its great like-minded groups can work together. A big thank you to John and the Waitara team for allowing this to happen.
When we first arrived, we had a bit of look around, to see the latest progress the Waitara group had done, since our last visit. We viewed the Waitotara Station building (ex-stored at Waverley for many years) which is now on site on new piles waiting for restoration. We had a look over John C’s new Price loco number 222 (ex KiwiRail TR 1026) and a look at the groups recently restored Bagnall loco (ex-Portland Cement).
We then headed into the station building to sort out the paperwork issues before John surprised us and took us for a ride down to Waitara township and back in his new loco. We hadn’t planned to do any train riding that day, but John obviously wanted to show off his new toy. We then headed for home.
It’s great to see another loco saved, but there is a lot of work needed on it. We wish John all the best with the future restoration of Price 222. Its great like-minded groups can work together. A big thank you to John and the Waitara team for allowing this to happen.
Wanganui Model Railway & Engineering Society Public Open day.
23rd April 2022.
Because of changing Covid levels the WMR&ES decided to have a long overdue public open day. Doors opened from 1pm and they were busy all day. They had club layouts plus a few members layouts on display. Keegan had his OO Thomas and I had my N gauge Thomas layouts on display, as well as some trains running on the bigger layouts. The public seemed to enjoy all the layouts we had on offer.
SRW Motor Trolley Rides and Open Days.
January 22nd - 24th, 2022: Wellington Anniversary Weekend (Wanganui Vintage Weekend)
After plenty of work organising this weekend, it basically didn’t happen. SteamRail Wanganui was not coming under the Vintage Weekend umbrella this year but had planned to still do their thing. The Vintage weekend ended up getting cancelled altogether, due to Covid restrictions. Because of this SRW decided to still do their open day and Trolley rides but only on the Monday.
SRW had everything planned and ready to go the day before, when the Government announced we were moving into the red Traffic light due to the Omicron (Covid) outbreak, that night. After a quick talk to all members involved, they all decided our best option was to cancel their next day’s open day. There were are few upset people on Facebook when SRW cancelled but their members, families and the public’s well being comes first. When riding a trolley there is no way we can keep the required social distance, even if we kept the public in their family bubbles, it would mean the SRW trolley drivers would be entering all the bubbles. Without having Eftpos they also could not offer contactless payment for rides etc. They will look at another date to do our public open day and rides.
However, all was not lost. Due to SRW still having the block of line with KiwiRail and all members involved were already in each other’s bubbles; SRW decide to have a members training and fun day instead on the Monday. This gave SRW the opportunity to finish off the training they started back in October. The Trollies (including my one - WW 6701) got a good work out during the day. A fun day was had by all. Trevor F’s car was also a hot topic for a while on the day too.
SRW had everything planned and ready to go the day before, when the Government announced we were moving into the red Traffic light due to the Omicron (Covid) outbreak, that night. After a quick talk to all members involved, they all decided our best option was to cancel their next day’s open day. There were are few upset people on Facebook when SRW cancelled but their members, families and the public’s well being comes first. When riding a trolley there is no way we can keep the required social distance, even if we kept the public in their family bubbles, it would mean the SRW trolley drivers would be entering all the bubbles. Without having Eftpos they also could not offer contactless payment for rides etc. They will look at another date to do our public open day and rides.
However, all was not lost. Due to SRW still having the block of line with KiwiRail and all members involved were already in each other’s bubbles; SRW decide to have a members training and fun day instead on the Monday. This gave SRW the opportunity to finish off the training they started back in October. The Trollies (including my one - WW 6701) got a good work out during the day. A fun day was had by all. Trevor F’s car was also a hot topic for a while on the day too.