Deanna Roberts does not fit the stereotype of what a locomotive train driver normally looks like, but there was no stopping the 7-year-old at the Tauranga Model Railway Show yesterday.
Deanna went to the show at Mount Maunganui College with nan Marianne Roberts, who said the show was brilliant, particularly for offering children the chance to drive trains.
"She waited over half an hour for that. She loves it, " she said.
"As soon as she saw it she started lining up. When they said it would be half an hour, she said she would wait," Mrs Roberts said.
Despite the finely detailed miniature lands created through nine different sets, driving the trains was Deanna's favourite, Mrs Roberts said.
"She really wanted to be able to actually touch things."
Tauranga Model Railways Club chairman Ivan Hunt said the sets and models took two full days to create, with some last-minute work on one.
Mr Hunt said the chance to drive trains had been the star attraction for children.
"There was a little boy who was waiting in a queue for about an hour. He would have been 9 years old," he said.
"The good part about it is you can also see the parents itching to have a turn as well."
Mr Hunt said there were many more people this year compared with last.
"I don't know if it's because people have a bit more to spend this year but there are more people, and it's a wide range too. You get the babies and then the young married couple with children, then the grandparents with their grandchildren."