Garden Whistle Mar 2012 - Sandman.org.nz

The Garden Whistle - March 20126th NZ Garden Railway ConventionJanuary 2012 - ChristchurchNeil’s climax hauling an empty log train on the Tuahiwi Valley Lumber and Mining CompanyText by Glen Anthony (Christchurch)Having attended four out of the five previousGarden Railway conventions there was an expectationand ground swell growing from someattendees that they wanted to see one held inChristchurch. And so at the 2011 convention inHamilton, with my brain still shaking from themajor earthquake in Christchurch less than amonth earlier (and against the advise of some ofmy fellow Christchurch attendees), I said “OKwe’ll do the next one in Christchurch”.Luckily we had the benefit ofbeing able to cherry-pick the ideasthat worked best over the previousyears and try a couple newones of our own.The second railway visit of the weekend; the Somerset & Willard Railway.The idea that seemed to workthe best (thanks to co-operationfrom the weather) was to doaway with a central hall and interspersethe clinics and demosamongst the layout tours. I mustconfess that I stole the basic conceptfrom something that I sawwork well in Hamilton. But itbecame necessary in Christchurchfollowing successive majorearthquakes which damagedall the older, cheaper halls anddrove up demand (and price) ofthose that remained.Page 2