Group fundraises for cyclone relief

At a fundraising event for Cyclone Gabrielle on Saturday, Otago Model Engineering Society member...
At a fundraising event for Cyclone Gabrielle on Saturday, Otago Model Engineering Society member Jim Woods tends to a 23-year-old Isle of Man Mona model train. PHOTO: LINDA ROBERTSON
Dunedin residents have enjoyed the painstaking dedication of the city’s model engineers as they raise money to help with relief from Cyclone Gabrielle.

Otago Model Engineering Society committee member Gary Douglas said the group, which had been running since 1936, had a room of models, a room with two scale railway sets and a pond for remote control boats.

It also had an outdoors, ride-on scale model railway set and over the weekend they offered rides to the public in an effort to raise money for those hit by Cyclone Gabrielle in the North Island.

"Can you imagine if South Dunedin had that much rain?" Mr Douglas said.

The group, which was entirely volunteer driven, had decided they wanted to help out.

Over the weekend they offered free entry, while encouraging donations for the Red Cross, which was helping respond to the North Island disaster.

The model railway was 430m long and some trains were electric while others were powered by coal-fuelled steam.

It was slow going, but they were hopeful things would pick up later in the afternoon, Mr Douglas said on Saturday.

 

 

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