KNYSNA NEWS – There have been many talks over the years of bringing the iconic Outeniqua Choo Tjoe back to Knysna. Now the coastal town has one of sorts, significantly smaller, but running nevertheless.
The model train display at the Knysna Waterfront welcomes a brightly coloured new addition to the impressive diorama, which currently consists of seven tracks and a number of intricately detailed pieces depicting the greater Knysna area.
The Waterfront centre has been historically designed around the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe. It was the late owner's vision to immortalise the iconic train with the diorama, and it has garnered a positive reaction from the public with adults and children enjoying the fun historical feat as they explore the Waterfront centre.
The collaboration on the diorama between custodian Sam Althaus and the artist, Tuesday Lavoipierre, highlights the alternative lifestyle of the hippie culture and the large Rastafarian community in Knysna.
The project was inspired by a similar concept in Switzerland, an art train that did an 80-day trip around the countryside bringing art to the local areas - much like the miniature in this diorama.
Miniaturist and painter Lavoipierre received the carriages in September last year so that he could paint the hippie train.
Each carriage has a theme, with a few extra details added.
The party wagon is the one with the windows and Rasta theme on one side.
The stage coach boasts a picture of the Knysna Heads with a silver magic ship sailing into the lagoon led by a seahorse, a tribute to the beloved Knysna seahorses. The supplies carriage is a reference to the hippies back in the 60s and 70s.
"The equipment carriage has the planets in transit and a person meditating, symbolising the power of our imagination," says Lavoipierre. "And in a way these themes created themselves. It was so much fun to do and I hope there will be more trains with more themes to paint."
There are various designs on the new train that commemorate Knysna's hippie and Rastafarian communities.
Knysna has a large Rastafarian community, which is one of the key aspects of the new addition to the diorama.
There are quite a few little hidden details within the train's designs.
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