Penwood Miniature Railway
I still remember riding miniature trains as a little kid. Even though it was probably 40 years ago and I have no idea where it was, the simple joys are often the ones that stay with you. I’ve recently moved to a new area and when looking around for kids activities over the weekend the Penwood Miniature Railway caught my eye so I thought we might check it out as a family. We arrived just as the sun broke out from behind the rainclouds and as we approached the station we were greeted by this magnificent specimen.
This is a miniaturised replica of the 9 Mile Sniper Steam Train and it’s in tip top shape. As you get close to it the smell of coal and steam gives you a whiff of an age long past. I’m sure the history and technology behind this beautiful train would be totally lost on the little kids (like mine) who just wanted to take it for a ride, but for the old boys and girls who volunteer their time to run the railway I am quite sure there is a lot of pride and love for this little engine. Sure enough we were soon all aboard and my little girls (who normally won’t sit still) started waving and squealing in delight as we chugged through the picturesque surrounds.
I originally thought that we might only take 1 or 2 rides for our modest $5 entry before the kids got bored, but there was soon another train on the tracks. The 4971 above is powered by a petrol engine and while maybe not quite as historically significant it is a powerful little locomotive that was pulling 4 passenger carriages plus a guard carriage at the back. Sure enough we gave that a ride too and even when it was loaded up with passengers it still got a pretty decent speed up.
There was a few families there but those two trains would have easily kept everyone entertained but the organisers brought out another. The 7003 electric train was pulling another 2 carriages and made sure there was nobody waiting in line. My little girls just couldn’t get enough. I lost count of the number of times we went around the tracks but they never got bored of it and were happy waving and smiling at complete strangers all morning. It turned out to be a very cruisy and chilled out morning for this old dad and I’m very grateful for the volunteers who generously gave up their Sunday morning – plus countless other hours I’m sure – for what could only be passion for a hobby that I hope gives them as much joy as the kids (and old dads) who get to ride them around the tracks. Keep up the great work Penwood!
Very cool brother. I really dig trains, theres a railroad museum not to far from me its really cool.
Cheers. I never really appreciated how much character some of the old trains have. I might have to see what else is around....
Awesome way to spend family time😀
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Indeed. We will be going back :)
Que bueno tu experiencia en conjunto con tu familia
Where is this? I've never heard of it. You should tag it to steemitworldmap!
How do I do that? Well I'm glad you asked.
Go to http://steemitworldmap.com and search for your location, click on code (down the bottom) and add a short description. It will then generate the code you need to copy and paste into your post (not the comments) to have it show up. You'll get an autoresponse (can take up to 20 mins) if you've done it correctly.
Ashamedly, I did think about steemitworld map as I was posting it but was being lazy. I've done as you suggested now though so hopefully I didn't screw it up.
Thanks for keeping me on track choo.
Hey, @buggedout.
Those engines all look like they've been well cared for. I wonder if they could do, or actually would be used, for anything other than carting families around the grounds. As in, some other type of hauling or work. I guess the track would have to be smaller too, so probably not. It just seems like it would be cool if they used it for actual freight train type of things when they're not giving out rides.
I can see you all having lots of fun and since little kids love doing things over and over and over again, I can see them totally enthralled.
Our family had a similar trip while touring the Dole plantation on Oahu. Nothing spectacular, really, and the engine was larger (but not full-size), but it was nice to just take a 15-minute ride through the grounds. This was three years ago, so the boys were in their mid-twenties and married. Not quite the same experience as little girls, but close. Okay. Not really. :)
I think they're purely for fun. The track work is the big limiter here. I'm sure there could be other applications but it would require some micro-economics to be in play. Usually profitability of any venture is related to economies of scale - in other words - bigger is better :)
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Hiya, @livinguktaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made the Honorable mentions list in today's Travel Digest #505.
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Thanks for the heads up and the honorable mention :)