One of the great things about living in a small town is finding little things that are cool.
Since coming to the area, I think more people should visit the power house and the miniature railway here at Yanco.
The old buildings are fantastic to see from the outside and contain an extensive collection of memorabilia from the area.
Being as remote as it is, Yanco needed it's own power station and this one was built in 1913 to supply power to the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area and the Leeton Butter Factory. It's close to the railway line to allow for easy coal delivery and close to water to run condensers. It had a second-hand 75kW generator which powered 6.5km of lines suspended on flexible steel poles, the first of their kind in Australia. After extension in 1937, the building was decommissioned in 1957 when the Snowy Hydro scheme supplied hydro-electric power to the region.
There is also a miniature railway on the site which is great for a geokid's day out. The railway is run by a volunteer association, with trains running on 1km of track through the grounds of the powerhouse. Plans are afoot to extend the track out to 2.5km with tunnels and bridges. I can't wait. Geokids and geodads are looking forward to it.
There is no need to go inside the gates, the cache can be found without disturbing the local caretaker. If you'd like more information about the site, the sign has some important information.