Posted on Aug 31, 2010 in Featured, General News
There were many times when Gautrain kept Mr Neüsel Klee awake at night. He worried about the materials to use for that unique design of the Gautrain nose. He also worried about the bogeys, fabric for the seats, and the gold body paint.
Although it is only a model, everything had to be perfect and according to scale. “Remember, I mostly relied on photos of the Gautrain to draw up my plans. When I started building the model, the real train was not even open to the public yet,” says Mr Klee. He had spent two long months and 15 days working on the model which comprises of a driver cab and two coaches of a typical four coach train. On weekends he took a break.
“When I displayed the model of Gautrain at our church bazaar in the West Rand recently, everyone asked me where they could buy it. They really liked it,” says Mr Klee. But the model is not for sale. And neither is any of the other nine model trains in his collection. Needless to say, Mr Klee has a natural gift and a passion for building model trains. He was a train driver for 44 years and has worked on steam, diesel and electric trains. He knows them all like the back of his hand. Unlike the Gautrain, which Mr Klee has only experienced twice as a passenger.
Building the model of Gautrain required patience and Mr Klee said his finger tips were often sore from having to work with sandpaper to shape small and intricate parts of the train. He used balsa wood, also popular with model airplane enthusiasts, to build Gautrain. “You have to be very patient and extremely careful because the wood is thin. If you press to hard, the wood can easily break and you have to start all over again,” says Mr Klee.
When the model was finally completed, it had cost Mr Klee R970 to build. But it is not about money. It is about a love for trains. “I am so glad the model is finally completed. Now my husband can sleep again at night,” says Mrs Elsa Klee. But not for long, adds Mr Klee. “The bug has bitten me so hard, I have decided to build the remaining two coaches as well. Then I will have a model of a complete four coach Gautrain.”
Construction Update
- CONSTRUCTION UPDATE – JUNE AND JULY August 26, 2011A) CONSTRUCTION COMPLETION AND THE START OF PHASE 2 OPERATIONS On 02 August 2011 the second phase of the Gautrain System – the route linking Rosebank Station in Johannesburg to Hatfield Station in Tshwane – was opened for commercial service. This follows the initial launch of Gautrain services on 08 June 2010, just three days […]
