Ravensbourne resident Jarrod Hodson’s train-filled yard is the result of a Covid passion project that grew larger than anyone expected.
Six months ago, he had one locomotive cab, two lines of track, two jiggers, a passenger bridge to his door and a coal line in the making.
More tracks now cover the front yard, and another large locomotive cab has been brought in after being spotted by some KiwiRail employees sitting in a Waimate paddock.
Mr Hodson said they had just mentioned the cab in passing, and that was all they really knew.
"That night, I went on a big search on all the Facebook pages in Waimate and probably within two or three hours I had a contact number for someone who knew about the cab."
The cab was in a paddock with the Bushtown Waimate Heritage Group which, after many meetings, decided the locomotive cab would be better off, and reach more people in Mr Hodson’s care.
"Originally it was an English Electric, which came over in about the ’50s and they ran throughout New Zealand until the late ’70s and early ’80s where they rebuilt the cabs."
The locomotive cabs were originally sent to the West Coast to be rebuilt then transported by truck to Hillside Workshops in South Dunedin.
Only three of this specific model remain, one of which Mr Hodson now has sitting in his yard.
Having restored the front of the cab, Mr Hodson now plans to recreate the engine shed that would have been part of the original.
He has all the panels, and it is now just a matter of time until his yard is transformed — again.
"I’m always looking for something else — it's really nice to have the finished product, but for me, the actual process of chasing it, getting it, rebuilding it, especially where there's a lot of hurdles involved in that, is the fun part."
