A MASTER modeller has been praised for his contribution to the Bathurst Rail Museum that is opening to the public for the first time today.
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John Brown travelled back and forth to Bathurst's outskirts for three years to create a model railway of the Tarana to Bathurst line that is now a feature in the new museum.
The railway reproduction was donated to Bathurst Regional Council in 2015.
Model railway enthusiast Paul Hennessy hired Mr Brown to create the model line, which came together bit by bit at Mr Hennessy and his wife Bonny's "Clifton Park" property at Brewongle, south-east of Bathurst.
Mr Hennessy said Mr Brown, a Yorkshireman and the third generation of modellers in his family, emigrated to Australia in 1971.
Having retired from the British Army, he joined the Australian Army on his arrival.
"John says such layouts are normally constrained by limitations of space, however, at Clifton Park, in a rural setting, space was not a constraint and it was housed in a purpose-built room," Mr Hennessy said.
The scale is HO 16.5mm gauge and the configuration is a "folded dog bone", giving a continuous run through a scenic viewing area.
The layout is 60 feet by 22 feet and there is approximately 3.2 kilometres of track.
"Plans of the layout buildings, particularly of the railway stations, were built by reference to railway archives, photographs and friends' collections," Mr Hennessy said.
"To ensure reality, John also visited many of the areas shown on the layout and took photos to serve as references.
"The dirt for the roads, creeks and river beds was sourced from the specific areas."
The layout was built over three years, Mr Hennessy said.
"John would spend three weeks at a time living at Clifton Park and then one week off," he said.
"During this time, John said he became part of the extended [Hennessy] family and particularly enjoyed the weekly visits of Dick Locke."
Mr Locke, a former deputy mayor of Bathurst City Council and shire president of Turon Shire Council, has an area named after him at the rail museum, the MHC [Dick] Locke OBE Gallery, which houses the model railway.
"John had a number of subcontractors who specialised in certain areas such as the lattice bridge over the Macquarie River," Mr Hennessy said.
"John was also grateful to a number of friends and associates who had a better understanding of, for example, the electrical works.
"He was also grateful for the work undertaken by locals such as Brendon Griffin, Max Stewart, Bob Bowne and a number of other local enthusiasts.
"During the evenings when living at Clifton Park, John would scratch build infrastructure such as buildings and bridges that feature on the layout.
"John said that during construction it gave him considerable pleasure mentoring other local modellers, thus enabling them to enhance their skills, which, in turn, assisted in the completion of the layout.
"John is particularly pleased that his name is inextricably linked to that of Dick Locke as they developed a warm friendship during the time they spent together at Clifton Park."
Though the model railway recreates the line from Tarana to Bathurst, some liberties have been taken with the track layout because of space constraints.
The major features of the main line are captured, including Bathurst Railway Station and precinct; Bathurst yards; lattice bridge over the Macquarie River; and Tarana, Locksley, Brewongle, Raglan and Kelso stations.
