Sep 5, 2016
Colleagues engineer a model village
WPD Engineers and colleagues Darren Berry (left) along with Ricky Duke (right) and Steve Gibbons (centre) who all worked on the model.
Three Western Power Distribution (WPD) training engineers with a mutual interest in model making, have created a model village for use as an interactive teaching aid for youngsters.
The model village includes moving items like vans and a train, and features LED flashing lights that highlight dangerous activities such as flying kites or fishing near overhead power lines. It also highlights dangers that can happen at WPD operational sites like substations and at roadworks.
It has already proved to be very popular at three of the UK’s leading agricultural shows this summer – the Royal Bath and West Show, the Royal Welsh Show, and the Royal Three Counties, Malvern. At the shows it formed part of WPD’s safety and customer awareness exhibition stand to educate youngsters about the dangers of electricity.
One of the model developers, Darren Berry, who works at WPD’s training centre at Taunton, explained: “We designed the model in such a way that it’s light enough to be moved around easily. It’s also interactive and safety related, and is an ideal teaching aid – so much so that we are now using it to help train our apprentices.
“We’re delighted it’s been such a success and really pleased with the feedback we’ve received. It’s proved to be popular with all age groups.”
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