Railway buffs on the right track

While many of his peers spent the school holidays racking up hours on computer games or surfing the internet, Sam Dewers was machining bearings and tinkering with a steam engine.

The 15-year-old Geraldton Senior College student visited the home of his grandfather Lewis Roffey most days during the holidays to help him work on his scale model of a Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) G-Class steam engine.

Sam is just one among a family of train and engine enthusiasts.

Three generations of men in his family get their kicks out of restoring, maintaining and running miniature trains and engines.

The teenager said working on steam engines alongside his brothers, father and grandfather had given him an insight into different trades skills such as machinists, boilermakers and electricians.

“I’ve learnt a lot and it’s fun and enjoyable to learn new things,” Sam said.

“I found out a better idea of what I want to do when I grow up. I’d like to get an apprenticeship in something.”

Mr Roffey is a founding member of the Batavia Coast Miniature Railways Society, which opens to the public on the first Sunday of every month at Spalding Park.

The retired boilermaker said youngsters could hone engineering, management and organisation skills from being involved with the club.

Scotty Dewers, 12, shares his grandfather’s enthusiasm for working on miniature train engines.

He said he had been taught how to use steam wisely, which in turn helped him in other areas of his life.

“Dad, Grandad, Mum, everyone teaches us respect, wisdom and responsibility, because the steam engines are not safe if you don’t operate them right,” Scotty said.

“That helps me with school work. If you aren’t responsible, your teacher won’t trust you. You want to be respected, you have to respect them.”

Mr Roffey’s 30-year-old miniature train, which was built by Perth train enthusiast Phil Gibbons, is a fully functioning replica of a G-Class 2-6-0 steam engine with its own tender.

The actual train on which it is modelled on is thought to have been scrapped.

WAGR phased out the use of the G-Class locomotives in the 1950s and 1960s.