Hi from New Zealand

[dunnyrail]

Thank you so much for the warm welcomes everyone

Yes 'Kotanga' is a wonderfully fun name that sounds like it could actually be a proper Maori place name, but isn't. I have been tempted in the past to have a woodworking factory that makes wooden coathangers on my Kotanga layouts, but I guess that could be labouring the joke a little too much.


Koma, I love your battery operated trainset wagons and loco. And the rolling stock has those wonderful narrow gauge tramway bogies that are so hard to find on battery trainsets here in NZ There's nothing wrong with cheap and I've had a lot of fun with those large scale plastic trainsets. My health isn't good so I don't leave the house much these days, but I can well remember going on garden railway visits when I was still involved with belonging to a club and taking my 'New Bright' trains along with me. People would smile and shake their heads, but when it rained and everyone would be running around rescuing their expensive electronic locos my New Bright stuff just kept on running what ever the weather.
Some of my NB locos had an air pump whistle mech which was quite loud and sounded really good too.

I have one of these which I think is the nicest of the New Bright locos. I have the 'Pioneer' version with gaudy brightwork too, but I don't like that one so much.

I had one of the Newbtight Red gaudy ones some Years back, even did a review of it for the old Tom Cooper Garden Railways Mag. I found it to be a good if bouncy runner due to the poor quality wheels. Always stayed on the track, just had an odd gait to it. Certainly it would run and run till the batteries gave out. Sold on some years back and I guess if loved will still be giving good service.
JonD

 

[korm kormsen]

...

I have one of these which I think is the nicest of the New Bright locos. I have the 'Pioneer' version with gaudy brightwork too, but I don't like that one so much.

in 1992, from one of these i made a (very crude) dummy to be pushed by a LGB tender

 

[David1226]

Swamp Hen...... in Maori, that would be Pukeko.

Now, the Pukeko is a hardy breed of poultry. Here's the recipie an old fellow gave me.

First, catch your hen. (Somehow, I don't think that line was entirely original).

Pluck it, gut it, and chuck it in a pot with an axe head. Bring to the boil.
Keep boiling until the axe head is soft.
Then, chuck away the Pukeko, and eat the axe head.

So, you would end up with a pukeko in your puku....

With our Grandchildren living in the US, I am often asked if the eldest has an American accent yet. The answer is that he still has a predominantly English accent (that sounds quite posh at times) the odd word has a distinctly American twang, and with his Mum being a Kiwi, some words are pure New Zealand in their delivery. All in all, a real mixture. He always refers to his stomach as his puku and has a story book all about a pukeko. My son wears a green stone Maori axe head around his neck at all times.

David

 

[Kotanga Girl]

So, you would end up with a pukeko in your puku....

Only if you have good teeth and strong jaw muscles David
I much prefer seeing them running around with their feathers on truth be told

Wearing a pounamu (greenstone) does pretty much mark one out as having Kiwi connections. Pounamu should only be worn if it has been given to you as a gift which makes it rather special. I have one my sister gave me over a decade ago and I haven't taken it off since the day she gave it to me.

 

[David1226]

Wearing a pounamu (greenstone) does pretty much mark one out as having Kiwi connections. Pounamu should only be worn if it has been given to you as a gift which makes it rather special

Yes, it was given to my son by his Kiwi Mother-in-Law, which I guess makes it special.

David