Neil Wood's 15" Gauge Railway (Onerahi 1988)

Further to a recent post, some photo's sent in by Darryl Palmer (whom spent a bit of time helping, in fact took these photos).

I would've been 6 years old when these photo's were taken, the more I look at the pics the more I remember..

The loco had a Hillman engine and outboard motor gearbox.

Lower Property Neil and kids, can't see the track but its there! Neil built a functional weed spraying wagon to tackle that issue a year or so later as I remember.

Just left lower property & climbing up left of the garage where it crosses the drive and meets the platform.

A very early shot of Neil & Ronald with kids heading towards loco. Note the track had a turnout & short line running into the shed on the left.

 Remember this dad? Railways Social Club trip at Okaihai Jan 1986, LE Ronald Bryant in cab. 

Engineer Ronald Bryant in cab managing the loco & holding the fireman daisy who doesn't appear to understand her role at all.

Oldest Son Aidan

The railway around the house I grew up in, Whangarei 1981 - 1999

Growing up as a child and having a 15" gauge railway around your house was what I considered "normal", having an uncle also in the same town and also having a large 15" gauge railway once again, around his house helped reinforce the norm! Although the neighbours property bare & lacking in imagination is what I considered "odd"!

So this post is highlighting "modelling" at its best, My father Ronald Bryant built by hand with the help from extended family & friends an oval of track completely surrounding the house. Behind the shed was the highest point with substantial grades, The red wagon's both had handbrakes in prototypical places that worked well & functioned like the real thing. Considering the grade, if rolling down in the wagon by itself filled with kids, we could actually lock the brakes & get it to slide along the bottom for about 2 metres before it would come to a stop.
  The track sourced from all sorts of odd places including old abandoned quarry lines around northland many years ago.

Neils 0-4-0

Dad's Climax 898

Andrew shunting

Loco #3 running over the bridge

Loco #3 heading up the east side of the house & yes, that geeky boy in glasses is me..

Shunting was typically a 2 man job, only 1 turnout but thats all ya need to get the job done. Note; Red wagon with one side down - everything worked!

Alison, the first girl born. Even gets issued with her own wagon.. & with rubber wheels. Man it could go!

All this has since been shifted to portland, where my father has done significant work on a new railway, to start the foundations are in place for a return loop & curve through a significant cutting having taken some years to finally be completed to a point where trackwork can begin. But certainly more to come soon on this venture!

A rather nice photo of 898 & the red wagon 2004 - Portland

898 - 2004 stored over a number of years in this spot amongst the ferns in an idyllic setting at portland.

Hornby O Gauge as a child.

This post goes a little bit off topic, but remains true to NZR. 

Growing up as a children us kids got to play with alot of trains! Our father built each of us a locomotive to push around the Hornby tinplate track, every school holidays we built massive railways through the entire house, of which didn't impress mother who had a hell of a time navigating through a maze of children & trains! The kitchen was lino, and we called that water.. so naturally the kitchen became a port, and the dining room another connecting port. Sometimes if we pushed our luck we would run a main trunk down the hallway with branch lines to the bedrooms! Ahh countless hours of fun & making full use of your imagination..

NZR rolling stock built on tinplate wagon chassis. 

Younger brother Andrew posing with his Garret 

Another good lineup!

This is how kids played in my day, *note the absence of playstations/tv's

The good old days!

Showing off the shipping fleet, many many hours of meccano!