Victorian Railways (VR) and South Australian Railways (SAR), circa 1959.
Layout Description
The Border District is a proto-freelanced HO scale layout that models a fourth, fictional interchange point between the South Australian Railways (SAR) and Victorian Railways (VR).
The ‘imagineered’ line links Kybybolite (near Naracoorte) on the SAR with Coleraine (near Hamilton) in Victoria to provide an additional route between Adelaide and Melbourne.
The layout in its current form has been under construction since late 2010. With operations a significant focus, regular operating sessions have been hosted since 2015 and the layout is a test bed to increasingly explore the concept of ‘immersive operation’.
Fully protoypical SAR and VR coloured-light signal systems, a representative miniature electric staff system and the use of ABLO (Adelaide Branch Line Operators) car cards and waybills are some of the features of operation. The layout seeks to recreate the grit and grime of 1959, with steam engines still holding their own on both sides of the border.
For more information about the Border District layout, including posts for each operating session, visit the blog at: https://borderdistrict.wordpress.com
Convention 2025 | Event Details
Booking Details available here soon. See below for proposed opening times
| Available | Maximum Capacity | |
| Operating Sessions? | Thursday PM Monday PM | 6 |
| Layout Tours? | Thursday AM Monday PM | 8 |
Further Information
| Layout Owner | Anthony Palmer |
| Layout Location | Wakerley |
| Layout Details | Scale: HO Operating System: NCE DCC Size: 6mx4.2m |
| Special Instructions | Access Restricted? Yes Animals? No Wheelchair Access? No |
| Additional Information | House is located at the end of a cul-de-sac – may require parking up the street and walking down (slight hill). Layout is accessed by walking up the drive, down a step and around the house, to step up again into the house. Half the layout is accessed via a duckunder – 1.2m high and 1.1m deep. A rolling chair can be used to assist with accessing duckunder if required (for layout tours, more difficult to do so during an operating session). Layout tour capacity limited to 8 people at a time. Operating sessions capacity is 6 people for each 2.5 hour operating session. |