Chipperton Tramway Company

30/09/2025

It was a tight finish to get Thomas ready in time….but we got there 😅. More to come on that story, but if you’re coming to the Field Days, make sure you come say hi! We’ve got the whole gang there this year - Bumble, Thomas and the future carriages for Thomas! 🐝🚂💙

03/08/2025

Wow, what a great day yesterday! Roseworthy Railway Club Inc. really know how to make a visitor feel welcomed, and were a wonderful host for their biannual interclub yesterday. The day was relaxed, and saw a variety of trains from both SA and Victorian clubs grace the rails from about 9am through to very late in the evening. Bumble ran well all day, pretty much non stop from 11am to 8pm, when the batteries finally started to go flat! A big thanks to guest drivers Caleb, David and James who gave me the opportunity to watch Bumble running around the track from the lineside, something I haven’t yet been able to do!

Interclubs are without a doubt the best part of the hobby, and I look forward to doing many more in the future! A big thanks again to Roseworthy for hosting and catering.

Please enjoy the attached spam showing some of the many trains running around the track!

13/07/2025

It was great to visit Port Pirie Minature Railway And Engineering Club Inc. for their reopening day today. The community were clearly pleased to have their trains back given the continuous streams of people coming through the gates - trains ran non-stop all day!

Check out the video in the comments for a full lap of their track - including the new northern balloon loop.

Public run days will now be held on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month - looking forward to hopefully bringing Bumble for a run some time soon!

17/04/2025

It’s been 2 years and 4 months since he last ran under his own “steam,” but today Thomas finally moved by himself again. The last two years have been a steep learning curve for me, with many mistakes made (or lessons learnt!).

ICYMI: In 2022 Thomas overheated at the Orroroo Christmas pageant. Given that he had been having starting issues as well for the entire 2022 pageant season, I made the decision to replace the engine rather than try and repair it again. Of course, it wasn’t as simple as I thought - the Chonda engine I bought as a replacement didn’t quite fit, as the oil filter fowled the steering arm. So I raised the engine, which then meant that the belt didn’t line up and kept dislodging. My Dad stepped into help at this point, modifying the steering arm so I could then lower the engine to its correct position.

A huge thank you to both my Dad and Jeremy from Yorke Peninsula Cylinder Mowers who were a huge help, particularly around correcting my mistakes. Thanks also to the Commissioner of Railways, who’s had to put up with my many tantrums and frustrations.

There’s still a few gremlins to sort before he’s back in service - but this is a huge step forward!

25/02/2025

It’s long been in the plans to build some carriages for Thomas, and over the weekend we got a head start! A couple of friends sent me a Market place ad for three carriages and a “steam loco costume” for a ride on lawn mower. A few messages later, a call out for someone to lend me a trailer (thanks Sandra and Stephen!) and we have the basis for Thomas’s new carriages!!

Their original owner had them built professionally for him to give rides to his kids and their neighbours. The kids are all grown now, and the carriages have spend a fair bit of time collecting dust in a farm shed. So there’s a bit of TLC required before they re-enter service, but I reckon it’s saved me at least the equivalent of two weeks work.

As for the engine cover, that’s been put into storage for now. I’m sure I’ll find a use for it one day!

28/12/2024

Poor Bumble has spent the last two months on the sidelines as work got busy, then Thomas was hogging the trailer for pageant season! Looking forward to getting her out again tomorrow for the Copper Coast Railway’s last run of the year!

19/10/2024

Poor Bumble has been stuck in the shed since August! Nice to be able to finally get her back out today!

TRAINS RUNNING TODAY SUNDAY 20TH OCTOBER

$3 per ride, closed in shoes required (no thongs!)

3 trains to choose from!

Last trains from 2:30pm.

27/04/2024

Happy 25th Birthday Clare Valley Model Engineers Inc.! In celebration, the club held a play day today where people were invited to bring their trains and have free run of the track without having to worry about public passenger trains. This gave Bumble a good opportunity to really stretch her legs, as well as trying out more challenging gradients than we have at the Copper Coast Railway. Pleasingly, she handled them with no problems at all, even with passengers on board! It was also wonderful to catch up with others from the South Australian model engineers community.

Thank you Clare for hosting us, and we look forward to returning soon!

21/04/2024

Finished the repairs to number 2! A new coupler pocket lowered under the frame, and a collar for the bogie pin fitted to the underside of the carriage. A quick refresh of the paint while I move on to do the same to number 1!

17/04/2024

Copper Coast Railway is closed for maintenance this month, so in between a couple of days helping out there I’ve decided to fix a couple of my “rookie mistakes” on the carriages. Sadly, one of the jobs is modifying the mounts that the bogies attach to and replacing the centre pins. The only way to get access is to strip the carriages down completely and basically start again 😅. Number 2 was first in line this morning!

31/03/2024

Happy Easter!

Wishing all our riders a very Happy Easter! 🐣🐇 Hope you have a wonderful day full of family and chocolate!

Don't forget we are running all Easter Long Weekend!

So that means we are open 10am to 3pm this beautiful Easter Sunday.

$3 per ride, EFTPOS is available, but remember covered shoes are a MUST to ride the trains.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Copper Coast Kadina Visitor Information Centre