Tiny Trains

" Righto kids we'll all go to Mount Gambier this time, so get your feet up, don't drag your feet and we'll be back in about five minutes all right".

Stand clear because Alex Haynes, the king of kids is coming through. This Naracoorte engineer has been tinkering with trains and tractors for years and from small beginnings he's now grown to legendary status in the State's Southeast. It may not rival the Indian Pacific but for these kids the Tiny Train is first class fun. Better watch out for crocodile and sharks.

Each weekend Alex's property about five kilometres South east of Naracoorte is swamped by any army of tiny trainspotters. And for some like Jessie provisions are a must before setting out on any long distance rail trip. She's just one of thousands who've passed through dense forest and crossed crocodile infested waters since the Tiny Train came into service nine years ago.

" I was reading in a model engineering magazine once about a little train and I thought it would be a damn good idea to make something up like that, just as a challenge more than anything. So I made one up and then I made a little track in just a little circle around in this straw paddock here and I used to put it out on Sunday afternoon sometimes". From small beginnings to a railway bridge and ultimately the Haynes Station house, complete with steam driven tractors capable of pulling several cars. "Some of the kids little ones, they cry when they get on and then they cry when you try to take them off, you know that's the funny part about it".

The Tiny Train takes in a full four hundred metres of the scenic delights of Alex Hayne's Naracoorte property. And you develop a new found respect for this man's patience when you contemplate that record breaking day in 1997 when it seemed the entire Southeast paid him a visit. It was about two years ago, I gave five hundred rides in the afternoon, a full five hundred!

The Tiny Train Park is open from ten til five on weekends and public and school holidays. For $2.50 you get to do two circuits and you don't have to be a kid to enjoy this piece of railway history, Alex's oldest passenger was a 94 year old woman. For special bookings during the week contact Alex or Marge Haynes on (08) 8762 1327.

For more information you can email tinytrains@rbm.com.au