I've wanted to build and run either a miniature or narrow gauge railway since I was young. The original Whistle Stop had a full-sized narrow gauge railway that was fantastic, but miniature railways also hold their own fascination. You're probably familiar with miniature railways run by a club in the local park, which are usually of either 5 inch, or 7 1/4inch gauge and are very popular.
Another railway that strongly influenced me as a child was the Currumbin Sanctuary Railway, on Queensland's Gold Coast. In those days entry to the Sanctuary was by donation, and you paid for rides. We had quite a few!! But it was just as much fun watching the train from a trackside vantage point. It was originally always a steam-hauled train, although now it is mostly diesel hauled. My brother and I were often allowed to sit on the footplate while the train was in the station. I was hooked!! I want one of these, please!!
Sometimes, quite rightly, our childhood dreams fade away. Sometimes though, they develop and grow, and that's certainly the case with my dream of building and running my own steam miniature railway. Part of the attraction of the land that we purchased for Whistlestop was it's suitability for a very interesting miniature railway. It is undulating, with lots of natural features like rocky outcrops for the line to wind around. Initially I picked what I thought would be the easiest route, but the more I looked at it I realised that it is better to pick a slightly more demanding route, as regards construction, that will be much more interesting for driver and passengers.
The largest commonly used gauge for miniature railways is 15 inches. While I really enjoy the smaller gauges like 7 1/4", there is something really exciting and special about the larger gauges- called Grand Scales- where you can sit right inside the cab of the locomotive and carriages. Surprisingly it is not that much more difficult or expensive to build a railway in 15 inch gauge, and so it was a very easy decision for me to make! A 15 inch gauge miniature railway, winding through the Aussie bushland of Whistlestop!!
This photo (above) shows how comfortably the cab of a 15 inch gauge locomotive can accomodate it's driver, and there's plenty of room for another person too.
This is another view of the same loco. It is one of these that I plan to obtain for Whistlestop.
Of course, this is another huge undertaking! Like the Trainbarn and the collection of Toy Trains, I have broken construction of the miniature railway into phases, to make construction much more manageable. Although I will enjoy running the trains very much, for me a huge amount of the fun is in the planning and construction. I doubt it will ever be 'finished'!
There will be a small station, or halt, adjacent to the Trainbarn. There is no room for sidings here, it will just be a passenger platform and Ticket Office. From this halt- called Wombat Gully- the line heads uphill, initially in quite a deep cutting towards the main station. In the other direction it continues downwhill onto a large timber trestle bridge, over a dry gully. It is this section that I call phase one- the section of line on a curve which is about 100 metres long, the platform, Ticket office, and road crossing. Even though it is so short I want to complete this section first to give the whole area around the Trainbarn a finished look- to show what is coming next, and what the miniature railway will be like.
This is a view looking from the site of Wombat Gully station to where the cutting will be, and uphill towards the main station.
So, that's a brief introduction to my hopes and plans for my miniature railway at Whistlestop. Expect to hear much more about it in future blogs!
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