Bright idea to make tracks

LEONGATHA Railway Station could become a tourist attraction for the town if Ian Cole’s model railway project goes ahead.
Mr Cole, president of the Gippsland Historical Model Railway, would like to transform the disused station into a model railway similar to the one currently in the works at Bass.
“Leongatha Station will become dormant following the closure of the South Gippsland Tourist Railway. I want to acquire the station so we can use it for a model railway,” he said.
“VicTrack has given away a lot of stations in Gippsland to be transformed into other projects. I am keen to do a second model train following the one in Bass and we could operate both as sister clubs.”
The current railway model in Bass is based on the Wonthaggi train line at the turn of the 20th century. The plans for the model includes over 100m of track reflecting the landscape of the now defunct train line with overpasses, tunnels, secluded passageways, oceans, rivers, stations, villages and famous landmarks of the 20th century era.
The Bass model is looking to obtain a Hitachi train carriage to host the simulation with the tracks and interactive model placed inside. Guests would be free to roam the carriage and wander throughout a miniature landscape like a maze.
Mr Cole wants to harness new technology so people can view a live stream of the train simulator online.
“The program would go up online and people could access the interactive simulator from anywhere in the world,” he said.
“People who do not have access to Leongatha Station or live overseas could see the model with the unbelievable technology we have.”
Mr Cole is looking for expressions of interest for the project to gain traction. To get involved, head to gippslandmodeltrains.weebly.com

Track plans: Ian Cole and his dog Sasha sit outside Leongatha Railway Station which Mr Cole hopes to transform into a model railway tourist attraction.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Apr 27 2016. Filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry