Moonlight Creek Coal Co. Railway
Back in the early 90s, when I first became interested in model railroading, I chanced upon a layout in the British Railway Press by Chris Elliot. It was an elegant and very functional roundy-roundy in N gauge. It weighed in at 4×3 feet (not micro, but … wot the hey!) and was specifically designed by/for an English bed-sit railroad modeller.
It was the potential the layout had that was appealing. A hillside scenic divide broke the module into three distinct modelling scenes (4 if you include the tunnel through the divide); and, whilst Chris’ layout was 1960s American branchline, it could just as easily have been the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island (the Mainland).
What is it about the West Coast? Dunno, but I know I just like it.
Suffice to say, the inspiration for Paparoa and the Moonlight Creek Coal Co. Railway comes from Chris Ellis’ design; it is simply a reduction of the original roundy-roundy plan to its linear schematic. So, thanks, Mr. Ellis.
Whilst Paparoa is a fictional West Coast railhead (allows for whimsey, afterall), it is solidly based on prototypical practice (the Charming Creek Coal Mine railway and Munn’s Sawmill tramway, West Coast, New Zealand).
What follows are just some of the details (that I have to date) pertaining to the Moonlight Creek Coal Co. Railway.
