Middleton Model Railway & Cwmglyn farmhouse Cheese, Eketahuna 4994, Tararua District, New Zealand
One of the largest Model Railways in New Zealand. Middleton is an imaginary town in the English East Midlands and is modelled in OO scale. The town is served by two main stations (Exchange and Central) built by competing companies. A third station (Belgrave Road) is a large terminus. From Middleton, lines run to Eastwich by two alternative routes. There are also branch lines to Banbury and Langton.
The layout was started in 1979 in England, shipped to New Zealand in 1983 and moved to its present location in 1996. It is housed in a purpose-built shed measuring 16m by 10m The layout contains over 300m of track and over 227 points. There are several kilometres of wiring underneath! Layout features include a marshalling yard, several engine sheds, harbour and a quarry. Still to be built are a power station and ironstone mine.
The layout is displayed with trains representing a specific decade between the 1950’s and the 1990’s Each decade is shown for a few months and then the layout stock, road vehicles and some scenic features are changed to the next decade. After the 90’s has been shown the sequence starts again from the 50’s So on repeat visits there will almost certainly be different trains to see on the layout. See our “News” section for the latest information on the decade being shown.
Epic New Zealand Culture & Adventure Route © Monika Newbound
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