Little trains, big fun

FOR more than two decades, the Elmore Miniature Railway has delighted the young and young at heart.

Peter Willsher took over operations at the family friendly attraction four years ago, fulfilling a desire to work with locomotives – but on a smaller scale.

“It was on the wish list, but this scratches the itch quite well. I’ve always had an interest in trains, you sort of have to to be able to run something like this,” he said.

On a good day, between 100 to 150 passengers roll up to the station and Mr Willsher said school holidays always prove popular.

“A lot of people are making a trip from Bendigo, Echuca or Shepparton and a lot of people are just travelling through,” he said.

“Lots of people enjoy the ride, even if they’ve been to other miniature railways. We’ve got some bridges, nice scenery, a few things for kids and adults to spot along the way so they quite enjoy doing that.

“It’s just short of one kilometre and takes seven to eight minutes, so we don’t go too quick.

“Lots of people come off and go ‘I really enjoyed that, it’s very relaxing’. It’s not unusual for people to then go and have a second ride as well.”

Charmaine Broughill’s children Chase and Imogen hadn’t been on the miniature train for years and, while the family were on their way to Echuca for a day of fishing, decided to take a spontaneous ride last weekend.

“We happened to see that this was up and running and the kids haven’t been here since they were little, so we thought we’d give it a go again,” she said.

“They love it, it’s a little bit different which is nice, they get a different experience.”

The Elmore Miniature Railway usually runs twice a month on Saturdays. To keep up to date with session times, visit their Facebook page.