Over the weekend, the community of Muttama celebrated the 140th anniversary of the opening of the Cootamundra-Muttama railway, with a family fun day featuring miniature model railway layouts on display, market stalls, a kid’s jumping castle, a colouring-in competition and other train themed activities.
Miniature model railway layouts were on display from Muttama, Coolac, Jindalee, Ladysmith and Wattamondara, and visitors enjoyed discussing the history of the rail line as well as reading about the history of the railway.
The family-oriented event also featured displays from the Wagga Wagga Society of Model Engineers and the Cootamundra & District Machinery Restoration Society.
The Muttama Hall Committee said they were thrilled with the event and the turnout.
“It was a great weekend. We made about $1500 from our raffle and haven’t yet counted the funds raised from our BBQ, so we can estimate we had a couple hundred people come through the doors over the course of the weekend,” they said.
“It was yet another great display of community spirit, and by all reports everyone enjoyed viewing the miniature models and the history displays. A huge thank you to the railway modellers who took the time to bring and showcase these local displays and thank you to everyone who attended.”
Peter Beyer from the George’s River Model Railway Club is the builder of the Muttama layout and brought it to display over the weekend to showcase its history, as well as the technique and process behind the build.
Peter chose the Muttama railway because it was a challenge and it took him about four years to build. It was also a unique configuration and not common.
“Muttama was an experiment. I was looking for something different, a rail yard that was different and simple to do. Muttama is a nice area and a good part of the world, but also instead of doing something common, where yard configurations and structures have a standard and are pretty much basically all the same, this one was different.”
Emily Flint
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.
