38 - 40 Riddoch St
Penola, South Australia
Phone: 08 87372247
Down in the Limestone Coast of South Australia there is a village called Penola.
Within this village there is a magical & colourful Kingdom called PENOLARAYA.
It is Australia’s ONLY large scale ‘FANTASY’ model railway layout & since the laying of additional track outside in the Water Garden Kingdom, Penolaraya has become the LARGEST ‘G ‘ scale model railway layout in South Australia.,this has been established by the numerous model railway enthusiasts who have visited the Kingdom from around Australia & overseas since its opening on Dec. 5th. 2009.
Penolaraya has as its Governing Council, MERLIN the WIZARD, SIR GRAHAM the KNIGHT, PRINCESS ROSE, COUNT DRACULA, SIR TOPHAM HATT & ELFIN the SORCERER’S APPRENTICE (The Kingdom’s pussy cat).
Upon entering, you immediately find yourself in a LARGE building, half of which is Princess Rose’s Tearoom & the other being the indoor Kingdom of the ‘fantasy’ model railway itself.
The Kingdom is dominated by 2 main castles; the 4 metre high
MERLIN’S CASTLE & SCHOOL OF WIZARDRY
The Kingdom is dominated by 2 main castles; the 4 metre high
MERLIN’S CASTLE & SCHOOL OF WIZARDRY
& the 6 metres long by 4 metre high up to its clock tower, HOTEL DRACULA. Merlin’s Castle has numerous towers & turrets, while Hotel Dracula has 9 rooms, each containing a different visual theme. Although both castles are on opposite sides of the main building, they are joined by a ‘point to point’ track whereby a locomotive can be seen starting in one of the castles, then it slowly travels right around the building travelling through different dioramas until it ends up in the other castle. From here after a short stop, it travels back again.......
Sir Graham the Knight began drawing ’lumps’ of floating rock with castles on them when he was back in late primary school. Throughout his artistic life, ‘fantasy’ & ‘science fiction’ have always been the favourite themes for his art works. On Dec.4th. 09, he resigned from being an art / design teacher after 37 years in the classroom. So when he was given the opportunity to join Merlin, in what was to become the Kingdom of Penolaraya, they decided that the visual theme was going to be ‘FANTASY’.
Castles of varying sizes are the main design for the buildings in the Kingdom, with trains from the 4 main scales of model railroading ’G ‘, ‘HO ‘, ‘N ‘ & ‘Z ‘meandering around & through them.
Sir Graham the Knight began drawing ’lumps’ of floating rock with castles on them when he was back in late primary school. Throughout his artistic life, ‘fantasy’ & ‘science fiction’ have always been the favourite themes for his art works. On Dec.4th. 09, he resigned from being an art / design teacher after 37 years in the classroom. So when he was given the opportunity to join Merlin, in what was to become the Kingdom of Penolaraya, they decided that the visual theme was going to be ‘FANTASY’.
Castles of varying sizes are the main design for the buildings in the Kingdom, with trains from the 4 main scales of model railroading ’G ‘, ‘HO ‘, ‘N ‘ & ‘Z ‘meandering around & through them.
KINGDOM of WATERVILLE.
This is a large indoor pond, where under the water there are ‘normal’ looking houses, in which some of the Penolarayaians choose to live. King Neptune resides over this Kingdom. He can be seen sitting in his garden, while nearby his private train waits patiently at the station. Water flowing into Waterville comes from two large waterfalls situated on either side of the building.
Within the main’ fantasy’ train building, visitors can view
The
The
WILLY WONKA’S WONDERLAND
is a large very colourful fantasy layout where visitors can become train engineers & drive their own ‘HO ’locomotives around on the 3 separate tracks. It is hands on fun for everyone.
is a large very colourful fantasy layout where visitors can become train engineers & drive their own ‘HO ’locomotives around on the 3 separate tracks. It is hands on fun for everyone.
ROSE’S TEAROOM invites visitors to the Kingdom to sit & relax within the brightly coloured walls. Expresso coffees & other assorted drinks are served along with the freshly baked scones, cake & biscuits. The Tearoom even has its own popcorn machine for those with a taste for something a little different? The Tearoom, which was once the Old Penola Kindergarten, can hold up to 70 people.
PLEASE NOTE THAT VISITORS CAN COME INTO THE TEAROOM FOR REFRESHMENTS WITHOUT PAYING TO GO OUT INTO THE FANTASY TRAIN KINGDOM.
Why not have a COFFEE TO GO?
Why not have a COFFEE TO GO?
Venturing outside into the WATER GARDEN KINGDOM, the visitor can view more large castles, wonder around to the large rotunda, sit & listen to the sounds of water cascading over waterfalls, running down creeks into a large crystal clear pond. On the bottom of the pond there are sunken ships, this area is known as THE ‘BERMUDA TRIANGLE’. The Kingdom has as its back drop, an 1860’s cottage known as ‘GLENGARRY’ built by Alexander Cameron, a founding father in Penola’s history.
This outdoor Kingdom is home to the gnomes, dwarfs, fairies, Barbie, Ken and their friends.
This outdoor Kingdom is home to the gnomes, dwarfs, fairies, Barbie, Ken and their friends.
'G’ scale trains that are designed to operate indoors or in the garden in all types of weather will be as soon as possible, running out here. So while listening & watching the water flow, visitors will be able to see trains meandering around the garden as well. Because of Penolaraya’s ‘magic’, the GRASS IS ALWAYS GREEN out in the WATER GARDEN KINGDOM.
Merlin the Wizard up on his castle Balcony
Your hosts: Sir Graham the Knight & Princess Rose
Count Dracula welcomes you to his cocktail party!
Merlin's Castle & School of Wizardry
The floating "Waterville" sign
Willy Wonka stands up on the WONDERLAND balcony, overlooking the "Fantasy" HO layout below where visitors to the Kingdom can drive their own locomotives. {An interactive layout}
The 3 dimensional logo for Rose s Tearoom
The ICE makes its way past a group of "train spotting" gnomes
Looking down on the water kingdom with its three railway tracks
Hangin Loose from a cable car
Mr Manning s Tiny Train House
Elfin, the fantasy cat
Princess Rose in her "award winning" ROSE WOOD GARDEN