Mr McDonagh has donated his much-loved treasure to the Gunnedah Rural Museum, so people can continue to enjoy what they so well remember.

Since the loss of his house to fire in August last year, the railway has remained in the front yard.

Mr McDonagh said the track was not as damaged as originally thought, and only a third of the trains were destroyed.

Mr McDonagh said it was a “difficult decision” to remove the railway but he was comforted by the years of happiness it brought to others.

“I had the consolation of knowing it brought pleasure,” he said.

Museum volunteers dismantled the railway and its miniature contents last week and have plans to build a display in the front yard of their grounds.

“I’m very proud to hand over [the railway] to the loving care of the museum,” Mr McDonagh said.

“I ask the people of Gunnedah to support the museum with assistance to build it both financially and with time.”

Mr McDonagh originally constructed the railway at the suggestion of his wife during Australia’s bicentennial celebrations in 1988. Later, the model grew to include two linked scale model towns with a range of houses and stores.

The miniature railway has been a popular visiting point for locals and tourists from all over Australia, the USA and the UK.

“A lot of people travelling between Melbourne and Brisbane have diverted to see it and the same with people travelling on the New England highway,” he said.

“I met happy, nice, lovely people all the time.”

Some of Mr McDonagh’s “fondest memories” involved the children from GS Kidd Memorial School and Gunnedah Challenge Community Services. 

“I think my favourite memory was not so long ago when a 13-year-old autistic boy was standing out there watching the trains and suddenly called out, ‘Stop them! Stop them!’ I rushed over to him and asked, ‘What’s wrong?’ He said, ‘There’s no driver in that one’.”

Mr McDonagh said the boy’s carer then explained that they had watched The Runaway Train the night before and he was concerned that the train would go out of control.

Many people have sent tributes to Mr McDonagh  over the years, expressing their appreciation for sharing the display with the community and his work in maintaining it. School children also drew pictures of trains and wrote letters of thanks for the wonderful time they had visiting the trains.

“I’ve watched three generations of Gunnedah families coming to it,” he said.

“I’m going to miss that.”