A toot and a whistle away from Castlecliff Beach, Whanganui, a mini train track loops the loop behind a high fence. On a 750m2 (50x15m) property, Ian Jones plays trains with groups of adults, children, and passers-by that recently included folk from the census.
“Hop on board!” Ian invites as he gets into the first wagon, from which he operates the locomotive. The train rattles around the track that loops and re-loops through eight tunnels. The central tunnel junction of four makes a kind of crossroads, so it’s never clear where we are headed.
“Basically, we just do the two loops in both directions on a trip. So, to do the eight tunnels, going through all the tunnels in both directions, you do the whole thing twice in each direction,” Ian explains.
Great views
The ride gives different views of the landscaping, depending on the angle of approach, so there is always something of interest: the spooky tunnel under a massive boxthorn; the triangular, wooden shapes of a mock truss bridge; a hoary old cactus that towers above Boxthorn Station; the boardwalk that Ian built – now floating in a sea of luxuriant – a fake water tower;
