Plenty aboard for Masterton model train show

Wairarapa Railway Modellers put on "all the bells and whistles" for their biennial show at the Masterton Town Hall at the weekend.

Modellers president Peter Murray said there were about 40 model layouts and four trade stands that had come from as far as Auckland, Tauranga and New Plymouth for the Wairarapa Building Society Model Train Show that ran Saturday and yesterday.

He said hundreds of showgoers had piled through the town hall doors at the weekend to view the five scales of model train systems on show.

The systems ranged from a Legoland layout to a Wairarapa Garden Railway Group layout that dominated most of the town hall stage.

Stands at the show included one that showcased model train construction and a debut exhibit featuring laser-controlled points.

Mr Murray said the stands displayed some of the latest advances in model railway technology.

Also at the show for the first time were layouts from Whanganui modellers Allan and Fay Giles and the minutely detailed Kerosene Creek display belonging to club member Grant Morrell that had so far taken a trio of successive modellers more than 25 years to create.

Exhibitors ranged from a 12-year-old schoolboy to the husband-and-wife duo to a mother-and-son team.

Mr Murray said there were up to about 40 modellers of all ages in the Wairarapa club.

He added that the turnout for the show this year had been easily on a par with the large number through the doors at the 2011 event.

"It's been a big crowd and one of the biggest shows we've had. We had all the bells and whistles this year and a lot of people came through and really seemed to enjoy what we put on for them."