Young minds were buzzing as a child's love of trains and books collided at Port Chalmers over the weekend.
More than 210 people squeezed aboard the Children's Room Story time Train - operated by Dunedin Railways - for Saturday's trip from the city to Port Chalmers and back.
The trip was part of the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival and was a collaboration between the festival, the Children's Room of the University Book Shop and Dunedin Libraries staff.
The day began with entertainment on board the train, and, once disembarked, children were treated to performance by storytellers Tanya Batt and Kaitrin McMullan at the Port Chalmers Town Hall.
Festival trustee Phillippa Duffy, an organiser and University Book Shop manager, said the day trip was a big hit with children.
''Trains and books - it's just two things that go together,'' she said.
Dunedin mother Kristi Schlup agreed, saying the trip was a ''great'' experience for her and her daughter, Lucy (18 months).
''We came off the train and then to be able to have actors and singers and entertainers for little ones - it's why we came,'' she said.
Ms Duffy said the trip offered a chance to experience the fun of a train ride, the ''unbeatable'' West Harbour scenery and the ambience of Port Chalmers, she said.
It was also an opportunity to show children books were ''enormous fun'', and encourage them to read, ''without bashing people over the head'', she said.
Saturday's excursion, the second time the event had been run, was a sellout despite extra train carriages being added this year, she said. It could become a stand alone event, such was its popularity, she suggested.
