I still have my boat. Mountain Rose. My dad bought it for me in the early 90s from VnA Waterfront. She's been sitting gathering dust for decades. I got her out today and showed my kids how it works. We had such an awesome time Matt.... How can I get more of these boats?
Mountain Rose is my favourite. It's one of the 3 Rose Boats that I got from my grandpa when I was a kid. Unfortunately I can't help with where to find more Rose Boats. As I recall the last few boats were produced over a decade ago. I'm sure used boats are sold occasionally...you would need to keep an eye on toy auctions etc.
Greetings from Bergvliet. Thinking back to 2013, I was actually there, at Fishhoek beach, sitting with my dad on one of the benches in front of the lifesaving club when the train passed through on route to Simons Town and I got a wiff of the coal smoke after the chuffing sound from 3655 faded away as it disappeared along the catwalk. Great memories! I have yet to do the Simons Town trip but I did the one to Elgin with Ceres Rail last year.
Steve Thomas I don't know yet Steve. Probably will still be a while as I don't have a space for the layout at the moment. So for now, my plan is just to build a baseboard and lay the tracks but not to proceed with scenery, because the baseboard needs to be able to be stored away in between operating sessions.
As much as I hope 3450 runs again some day, I don't think it is a practical proposition for AR, at least not the way things are at the moment. Smaller locos suit our operations much better. If we were able to run to somewhere like Worcester, and had lots of coaches then maybe it would become practical. But with our rake of five coaches and the light rails that we run on, the 24 Class (or a loco of similar size) is the ideal locomotive for us.
Alan, the good news is that this locomotive has been returned to steam and is running regularly. See my other RU-vid videos for footage of 879 in action.
WOW! What a GREAT piece of historical footage Matt!! Wonderful!! Enjoyed ever single minute of it and hope you get many more shots of this 16DA - she is absolutely GORGEOUS!
Ha Ha Ha!! That is funny - now you can tell he must be really happy - I guess being on the only newly restored, operating pacific in SA will do that to you!
