ALISTAIR Wilson and his mates who run the little trains at Leneva once a year might soon be doing it more often.
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On Saturday they’ll bring out their Wombat Gully steam locomotive for the first time in two years.
The old boiler has been repaired for the annual rally of the Border Steam and Oil Engine Club Rally at Jack Elliott’s farm.
Club stalwart Denys Steinhauser said yesterday he’d like to see the trains run on selected Sundays and the group was thinking about how that could be done.
The steam loco and a petrol loco draw carriages on an 18-inch (457mm) gauge railway but are just one feature of the two-day rally, though probably the most popular with children.
Older blokes like Mr Elliott, 81, love to see the steam and oil engines, from great traction engines down to small farm machines, humming and ticking over smoothly on the smell of an oil rag.
Mr Elliott has just got his 1880s portable steam engine going, a machine made in England by R. Hornsby and Sons.
“My uncle bought it at the sale in 1937 after the Hume Weir was built,’’ he said.
“It was used to run a cement mixer at the dam site and it would have been pulled by horses.’’
Usually the rally attracts about 2000 people, with adults paying $10 and children admitted free.
Down the track, Mr Elliott is looking forward to being part of the 40th annual rally next year.
On Saturday the rally opens at noon and on Sunday at 9.30am.
