(The following story by Nadine Armstrong appeared on the Hants Journal website on July 26.)
WINDSOR — What inspires a bunch of grown men to ride around on miniature trains? One thing: the look of wonderment on a child’s face.
And for members of the Atlantic Model Engineering Society, riding the rails with children is one of the best ways to share their passion. Society president Brian Garner, a former marine electrician from England, said creating the Trecothic Creek and Windsor Railway was a labour of love that paid homage to years of creative tooling.
“Members love their trains and we make these working models, but we figured it would look a little silly riding them around on our own,” Garner said. So a decade ago, after having their plan to create a miniature railway quashed by Halifax council, the society approached the Town of Windsor about setting up a non-profit rail ride for children. It was approved in no time. “Windsor was all for it and provided us land to build the tracks,” Garner said
Since then a lot of hard work by members and generous visitor donations has enabled the rail line to develop into a top-notch family and tourist destination. But the real benefit is the sneak peak it gives children of all ages into engineering history.
Garner said he’ll never forget one young passenger who identified easily they type of train he was riding; a British class 40 diesel locomotive. “This young boy about 20 months old was inspecting the engine so intently and then said to his mom, ‘dirty diesel’,”.
Apparently Mom credited the popular Thomas the Tank Engine children’s show for that particular insight.
Built to scale
Building a one-eighth scale steam and/or coal engine is a lengthy process and an ambition to which Garner says members are committed. The society itself builds all manner of stationary engines as well and the trains at Trecothic Rail are the result of years of labour in basements and workshops to create the perfect working replica.
Member Brady Rhodinizer is pretty proud of his model of the Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson, a coal-burning engine that pulled the royal train during the 1930s Royal Canadian tour. “The King and Queen of England rode through Canada on this and the King reportedly said at the time it was a ‘royal ride’.”
The Bridgewater resident commits every second Sunday during the rail season to assisting with rides, maintaining the site and pampering his beloved engine. “I love it; it’s what we do here and people come in droves to see these engines.”
Sam Neatby feeds his locomotive fix there as well. This U.K. native who worked on the railways in South Wales and is now a student at Nova Scotia Community College Kingstec campus said, “I just do it because I love it.”
He adds there’s something special about running and maintaining the engines. “You have to be very careful they don’t become overheated,” Neatby said, as he added additional coal and water during station standby.
When guests arrive they’re greeted first by member Earl Brown, whose friendly face and ticket booth grace the entrance to the park-like setting. Brown, a former machinist by trade, has been a member of the society for the past 10 years and loves to watch children enjoy the ride. “The kids get a big bang out of it,” he said.
As for his take on the society’s contribution, “what can I say? Men and machines always go together. We’re just like kids ourselves wishing for that train set on Christmas morning.”
Smooth ride for locomotive fans
So far Garner says the experience has been a pretty smooth ride. Starting out with a small piece of property and above ground lines has evolved into a few kilometers of first-rate rails, station and picnic grounds. “It cost us over five grand to build the station,” Garner said, even though they used mainly recycled scraps, “but in only three months we made the money back.”
There’s no fee to ride and spend the day and every penny in the donation box goes back into maintaining the site. All the same, Garner said he has been surprised with the monetary support they’ve received. “We’ve found more than one 50 in the bucket at the end of the day” and he reports there were even a few hundred dollar bills discovered.
Garner said since the park has been spruced up a bit they’ve been inundated by families, schools and tourists. “It’s really looking quite spiffy now since we decided to tart things up a bit, and the ladies insisted we plant some flowers.” And when they needed more space, “the Town just let us have it. Go through the fence even, so we could expand,” Garner said.
He says not all society members are train fanatics. “We’re just a group that loves to build things.” As well, they come from a variety of backgrounds. “Some are former machinists and engineers, but we also have a retired surgeon as a member. It takes all kinds.”
Currently, they’re working on a tunnel that should thrill rail-travelers and they have recently signed a new dollar per year contract with the town. “I think we must have some kind of pull with them. They called us last year and asked that we be open during the pumpkin festival. We said, sure.”
The station will be open this year during both the Pumpkin and Sam Slick festivals. During the May through August season, if you see the sign it’s open. “We’re here every Wednesday working on the site but give rides every second Sunday,” Garner said.
Look for the train sign in the Windsor Industrial park or log on to ca.geocities.com for more information on the club and its activities.