I've always wanted to do this.......

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUnvVD1uKWo

 

[2door]

Let's see; Forward, reverse, throttle and brakes. That's not so hard, right?
She's so cool about it and looks like she's having fun while she's doing it.
Thanks for sharing IW.

Tom

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

When I was small Mum didn't have a drivers licence so we used to go everywhere on the train and in those days it was the trusty 'Ab' Pacifics that ran the suburban trains. I loved those big black smoky steamy oily coal smelling locomotives with their unusual Vanderbuilt tender (no other NZ steam loco class had them). I come from a railway family so I suppose folk tended to be a little indulgent when at that tender age I said I wanted to be an engine driver.
Then one year all the steam locos slowly began to disappear and were replaced by diesels. I was horrified, my desire to become an engine driver was extinguished virtually overnight (After that I said I wanted to be a vet if memory serves me correctly).
Fortunately a number of the 'Ab' Pacifics have made it into preservation so it's still possible to get my steam locomotive 'fix' at the nearest preserved branchline should the mood take me.

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

At one time I used to make large scale railway models mostly of a bush tramway flavour, but I haven't done that for quite a while now. My daughter says I should get back into doing that again as she knows very well that I'm at my happiest when I'm being creative.
Unfortunately the steam lokey was sold when I was short of money which is something I regret as I really do wish that I still had it. The side tip wagon, flatcar and others of my creations I have kept though which is really good so it wouldn't be difficult to pick up again from where I left off.
The green tank engine is mostly made from plywood and cardboard and is electrically powered with radio control. The tramway coach remains unfinished and it would be a really great place for me to restart my model making again as it is based off an actual coach that ran on a timber tramway that existed back in the 1920s not so far away from where I'm now living.

 

[silverbear]

I think that several generations of children who had a fascination and love of trains is now a thing of the past. I for one lost much interest with the disappearance of the steam locomotives. Diesel doesn't do it... ugly and stinky in my view.

By the way, if you ever have the opportunity to see a classic silent film called "The General" by Buster Keaton, do so. It takes place during America's civil war and tells the story of a confederate steam locomotive stolen by Union forces and stolen back by it's engineer, Buster Keaton. It is a wonderful film and I'm sure you would enjoy seeing these smallish trains in action. The boilers were wood fired and it is interesting seeing the controls, etc. We tend to think of the silent film era as crudely done slapstick, which this is not. It is storytelling by a master craftsman who knew how to tell a story in the language of film. He wrote the script, directed it and is the star actor. Fun to watch the trains if you grew up loving locomotives...

You are quite the skilled craftswoman, Annie!
SB

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

You are quite the skilled craftswoman, Annie!

Thanks Silverbear Many years ago I used to build locos in steel and brass & etc, but flagged that away for building in wood and layered cardboard. Once Mum came to live with me modelling in wood really came into its own because I could sit in the lounge with Mum to keep her company of an evening while she watched television. I've never cared much for the telly so I would work on my models on a tray on my lap and with the smaller bush tramway type models I was making that was ideal. Most of the wooden wagons I've built were made from planks and beams that I would saw by hand with a razor saw from kindling wood. I wanted a rough sawn appearance to the wooden pieces I was using to build my models as if the wagons were built from timber cut at the sawmill the tramway served. Building models this way plank by plank is a lot of fun

Yes, 'The General', - I remember watching that some years ago now. I forgotten about it so thankyou for reminding me SB. It's a darn good movie with some really excellent dramatic moments. I shall seek out a copy and watch it popcorn in hand

Having spent a certain amount of time around railway enthusiasts I could never understand those folk who liked diesels. As far as I can see there isn't much to like though I will grant that some of the early experimental diesel locos had a certain appeal mostly because they were rolling pieces of industrial scale Art Deco. BUT apart from them diesels are wall to wall boring
Electric locos though I do like them, - though again mostly the older ones. Here in NZ the railways have always tended to reuse anything that still has some life in it. Alright, it might be soooo rebuilt its own mother couldn't recognise it, but at heart it will be a 1920s, 1930s whatever.
On the Wellington suburban lines some of the old Otira tunnel motor electrics from the 1930s were rebuilt and painted in the latest colour scheme and put to use hauling suburban trains! Mind you before doing that the railways did give one to a railway museum and preserved line, which only makes it more strange. I think they've only just now been taken out of service, but all the same it must've made for some train spotting fun.