ianathompson

I have actually done this with Auichintoul West box on my N gauge GNoSR layout. The modelling leaves a little to be desired, the box awaits completion and the signalman is unconnected to a control. For what it is worth the signalman and his green flag are hardly visible. He is indicating to the driver that he has been accepted by Bridge of Marnoch under the Warning Arrangement (3-5-5 as i recall). The reality is that any signalman with any brains would have told the driver this as he walked along the platform to get to the West box. The GNoSR, similar to the Highland, had boxes at each end of a loop. On the HR the block instruments were in the station building but on the GNoSR they were in the major box (Auchintoul East). Ian T

For info This thread is simply duplicating the one in Overseas Modelling. This is available here. It has been suggested that I stop posting here and simply post on the Overseas thread. As things stand it would seem that I will probably have less time for model railways in the near future due to family issues. As the website is about to close a reset has been posted on the alternative thread if you wish to read it. Any views on placing this thread into "deep storage" will be gratefully received. Ian T

RESET Introduction to the AFK It seems a bit strange to be “introducing the AFK” 13 pages into the thread but this information was contained on the now redundant website and is no longer available for consultation. There are, however, the brief summaries of each operating session posted further upthread. For the benefit of new readers (if there are any!) and as a reminder to others this is a (sadly) much abbreviated version of the history and geography of Altonia. General setting. The AFK is the Altonia Ferovojoj Komplementaj, or Complementary Railways of Altonia, to give the English translation. Altonia is a canton in Marronĝaco, the northernmost province of Thalnia, a country neighbouring fabled Ruritania and Narnia. Economically underdeveloped, immured in a 'sixties time warp and overshadowed by its more celebrated neighbours; the country was inexplicably overlooked by the great cartographers when they came to map Europe. The Thalnian language is in common use throughout the lowland areas of the province but the mountainous areas still speak various impenetrable dialects of the Marronĝacan language. Thalnian is an Esperanto based language whereas Marronĝacan is an unholy product of my imagination and the “Google Translate” results for various Icelandic, Hungarian and Basque words, or whatever else comes to mind! The province contains four cantons, three of which appear on the model. Each canton is based upon the catchment area of a river with the interfluves marking the cantonal boundaries. The Ero drains Altonia but the terminus at Fenditavalat, across the cantonal boundary, is drained by the Orbon. The railway briefly enters Rolnth canton as it climbs towards its summit. Historically the area formed the Murranaccia province of the Roman empire, an almost ungovernable possession that required two permanently stationed legions to subdue it. In Mediaeval times feuding robber barons, under the nominal control of the Aŭkeratuo, the Prince-Bishop of Fenditavalat, fought over the land and its limited resources. The harsh lawlessness combined with the upland nature of the province contrived to restrict economic development. The Prince-Bishopric was amalgamated into Thalnia, as its northernmost province, during the nineteenth century nation building process. Its isolation, coupled with the depredations of two World Wars, ensure that today it remains remote, obscure and impoverished. Thalnian railway building In common with many nineteenth century continental countries the Thalnian railway system was determined by the military and built for strategic reasons. Franchises were awarded for each region of the country and competition was forbidden. Commercial considerations were a secondary concern. Marronĝacco was served by the Ferovojo Norda (the Northern Railway). Map 1 The Marronĝaccan railway system As can be seen from Map 1 the FN crossed La Kolĉeno, the narrow isthmus of land connecting Marronĝaco to the rest of the country. After reaching Nerv it took a northern course through the province meeting the Ruritanian State Railways (SRE) on neutral territory at Alligliano, in Levitheran. A later branch was constructed across the southern part of the province running to Gascari to provide a connection with the Royal Narnian Railways (KNE) through the Dorsadela Vestamontoj, the Back of the Wardrobe Mountains. This left the cities in the mountainous provincial interior unconnected to the network. Enabling legislation devolved powers for the construction of local and regional railways to the provincial assembly. These powers were intended to stimulate local economies. Unsurprisingly, given the fractious nature of the province, agreement could not be reached and the powers were handed down to the individual cantons. Eventually the AFK and the CFS were able to provide a coherent narrow gauge through route across the province, roughly at right angles to the main lines. The southern area of the province was served by the MFR, another narrow gauge line. Map 2 The basic topography of Altonia. The sketchmap (Map 2) shows the salient features of the AFK’s route. It is a rather unlikely confection in geographical terms and has been deliberately contrived to create a good mixture of traffic. The influences of the RhetischeBahn and the Roslagsbanan can easily be detected. A connection to the sea has been thrown in for good measure and the whole line has been mapped on a series of 1:50,000 scale maps, not that they are any longer shown here. The railway is effectively divided into a lowland area and a mountainous section, to be found north of Lacono, although heights are not shown on the sketch. The railway infrastructure of the AFK. Map 3 A simplified AFK system map Map 3 shows the basic AFK system, which is briefly summarised below. The mainline runs for 69.5 kilometres from Relforka Lacono across the Helcaraxë Pass, where it reaches its summit at 723 metres, before dropping down to Fenditavalat. It also throws off a rack branch to Jakarutu and another to Eromarbordo. Relforka Lacono is the junction with the standard gauge Thalnian railways. It possesses a large marshalling yard, storage sidings, a loco shed and works. These are not modelled as they would detrimentally overwhelm the layout. The line leaves Relforka and passes Lajver before traversing the Gorge of the Ero (none of which is modelled unfortunately). Lajver is the junction for the branch to Eromarbordo, the Roman port for the province which is still commercial active. Breĉo de Glissent marks the beginning of the Kasatritikakamparoj, an agricultural district based upon the fertile silt dropped by a periglacial lake. The line traverses a glacial trough until it reaches Boursson where it leaves the valley floor to climb into Lacono. Lacono is the modern day provincial capital. The city contains the industrial Danulbo quarter which is a major source of traffic for the railway. There is a small marshalling yard (known as Gasafabrikatastrato or Gas Works Street) and a loco shed at Aspargo. After leaving Lacono the line enters the mountains and crosses Carramasco Gorge on the Akvalando viaduct before reaching Urteno. Urteno was a historically insignificant hamlet located on an alluvial fan beside the Spegulalaguno, a ribbon lake. It developed into an upmarket tourist resort that also houses the province’s main hospital, providing much traffic for the railway. It also acts as the upper terminus for local trains traversing the lower part of the canton. Upon exiting Urteno the route climbs into the Altingablecaŭtoj (the High Reaches) on the steeply graded vulpafaŭkangulo. Heavy trains require banking over this section. Ithilarak stands at the top of this bank. There is a marked transition into an upland economy based upon forestry, mining and transhumance during the summer months. Ithilarak is also the junction for Jakarutu, a remote and obscure town important for its military strategic value. The railway uses the Strub rack to climb 442 metres in a distance of 14.4 kms. The AFK proceeds to cross the cantonal boundary and enter Rolnth canton at high altitude before reaching Ospicio d’Helcaraxë, the operational summit of the line. This is a bleak snowbound area in winter but the model is shown in the “melt season”. Trains cross the Ero/Orbon interfluve into Calviero canton and descend into a Narnian enclave at Caladonno which is modelled in permanent winter. The line continues down the Orbon valley to reach Fenditavalat, known in Marronĝacan as Isuritakaharano, or “Isuri”. This city was the Roman provincial capital until it was usurped in modern times by Lacono. The CFS, a three phase electrified line, connects with the AFK in the Basabazaro, one of the city’s main squares to provide a connection to Krelm, on the Ruritanian mainline. Conclusion The basic scenario for the model has been covered, although much detail has been omitted. Hopefully I will be able to cover any relevant details as they arise. Ian T

I tend to agree with you! The only reason that I started posting in this thread was to attempt to obtain wider exposure as it would not seem that too many users go to the Overseas Models section! Mind you, not too many seem interested in this topic on here either! Before I amalgamate the threads I will give readers on this thread a chance to register any objections. Ian T

Gents. Thanks for all your supportive comments. I have not been able to find much time to respond, partly due to a family emergency. I have also been going through the protracted process of disengaging from the staging platform. As far as I can tell the website will cease operations around 21st April. It is my intention to shortly "reset" the thread by posting a much simplified background on here. Whilst most of the in depth background will be lost to the casual viewer it will be retained in my files. Ian T

Gents. Thanks for all your supportive comments. I have not been able to find much time to respond, partly due to a family emergency. I have also been going through the protracted process of disengaging from the staging platform. As far as I can tell the website will cease operations around 21st April. It is my intention to shortly "reset" the thread by posting a much simplified background on here. Whilst most of the in depth background will be lost to the casual viewer it will be retained in my files. Ian T

Web site closure imminent As per usual it has been some time since I posted here when the AFK is in remission between sessions. I have some bad news, however, in that it seems likely that the AFK website will shortly be closed after nine years of operation. All web sites have an ephemeral existence and once the site has gone the articles will disappear. Hard copy, paper based, articles have an advantage in that respect! If there is anything of interest to you on the site I suggest that you visit in the next week or so and download it. I have, of course kept back up copies of all the articles on the site. The catalyst for this change is a massive increase in hosting costs and the US holding company’s attempt to take payment on the same day as they issued an invoice, without considering that anyone might decline their services. In simple terms they want much more money than I am prepared to pay for a non-commercial site. The site had become quite complex, if not rambling. The limited software options available also meant that posting text and photos was a time consuming process. The most recent posts simply recorded operating sessions. These photo-essays had become bloated when compared to their predecessors and the last one (session 13) ran to well over 300 photos. I know that some readers enjoyed the minutiae of AFK life but I often wondered how many people read the full blown accounts rather than the brief summaries on the thread. For the moment I anticipate posting session 14 on this, and other, threads with a limit of around 50 or 60 photos. I might also consider using a reasonably priced web site as an alternative. Does anyone have any suggestions?! Ian T

Web site closure imminent As per usual it has been some time since I posted here when the AFK is in remission between sessions. I have some bad news, however, in that it seems likely that the AFK website will shortly be closed after nine years of operation. All web sites have an ephemeral existence and once the site has gone the articles will disappear. Hard copy, paper based, articles have an advantage in that respect! If there is anything of interest to you on the site I suggest that you visit in the next week or so and download it. I have, of course kept back up copies of all the articles on the site. The catalyst for this change is a massive increase in hosting costs and the US holding company’s attempt to take payment on the same day as they issued an invoice, without considering that anyone might decline their services. In simple terms they want much more money than I am prepared to pay for a non-commercial site. The site had become quite complex, if not rambling. The limited software options available also meant that posting text and photos was a time consuming process. The most recent posts simply recorded operating sessions. These photo-essays had become bloated when compared to their predecessors and the last one (session 13) ran to well over 300 photos. I know that some readers enjoyed the minutiae of AFK life but I often wondered how many people read the full blown accounts rather than the brief summaries on the thread. For the moment I anticipate posting session 14 on this, and other, threads with a limit of around 50 or 60 photos. I might also consider using a reasonably priced web site as an alternative. Does anyone have any suggestions?! Ian T

I spent some time with a soldering iron deliberately trying to achieve this effect with Wills corrugated sheets on Gilbertine Level. My results cannot match yours for subtlety and observation! Ian T

One glance at any league site on play cricket reveals this. In the Central Yorkshire League (CYL) we used to play 46 overs per side and the points were 5-0 outright win 4-1 winning/losing draw 3-3 tie You got 1 point if you batted through the 46 overs without being bowled out but the other side got your score or more . The tie was not correctly a tie as the side battting second did not have to be bowled out (I.e. it was just level scores). The CYL was folded into the Bradford League a couple of years ago. Where did the odd figure of 46 overs come from I always wondered as a child? Apparently in depth analysis of drawn games played under time rules in the fifties revealed that 92 overs was the average duration of a game. It was altered to 50 overs during the seventies. The best ssytem I played under was the now gone West Riding League which played 6-0 5-1 4-2 3-3 The 4-2 draw kept the game alive because if the side batting second scored 80% of your total they took another point off you PROVIDING that they batted all the overs out. This league played a wierd 42 overs (don't ask) with a bizarre scoreboard system! I never understood why 8 wickets did not get you a 4-2 if you had not been bowled out, but there you go! Whatever you played I do not favour the bonus points system now in vogue, particularly in Norfolk. Teams with small grounds always get an advantage. When the CYL proposed this the teams with "big" grounds, such as Batley, where I played, told the League that they woudl reduce their playing area to match some of the postage stamps built into steep hillsides! Staincliffe was so small that they would not allow sixes for many years. I once hit "six" off my gloves in an age group game played on the edge of the square! Sorry for thread drift. I could go on but this is supposed to be about model railways! Ian T

Players aren't happy to "grind it out" nowadays! When I was a kid it was drilled into me that if we couldn't win we batted out for a losing draw (1 point). Ian T

As you are doubtless well aware, Andy, especially given where you live, all the local villages had family names. Armsby and Rudkin were two Southery (?) ones. There were a number of others, as I recall, from teaching at the High School. I have heard it said that it was the coming of WWII that enlarged the gene pool of such villages. This was due to their drove roads being concreted over for the modern machinery associated with intensive farming. This allowed the more adventurous lads to get to the next village to meet their girls. Seeing some of the results in the early eighties, evolution must have started from a very low base! I cannot remember whether I told you about the Bishop of Ely visiting Southery around 1900 to preach upon the evils of in sest (NB. See edit) His carriage was stoned as it left the village! I was told this by Alan Davies the vicar! Ian T Edit: The prudish net nanny is auto editing this post to delete the correct spelling of the practice that I refer to. You all know what I mean. Perhaps the nanny and the 1900 Bishop of Ely were good friends!

The locking fitters used to come around every few years to dismantle the locking trays for cleaning and maintenance. They worked sequentially down the branch, ignoring our electrically locked panel. As a relief I usually caught all three boxes with massive holes in the floor and no locking etc. It became a standing joke with the fitters because the "residents" booked the week off when the word got out! I used to enjoy working in "degraded conditions" and it certainly helped when something went wrong for real. As an aside I was the only signalman to gain their respect for manually dismantling a frame by pulling a lever too hard! That was in the box shown on the icon. Something had gone wrong with the lock which was "a bit stiff." I got the lever out eventually but bent the ironwork at the back of the frame. Nothing that brute force and ignorance cannot deal with! Ian T

Progress on the AFK during the shut down has been slow due to the decision to develop the Gilbertine Level layout. It has not ceased entirely however and I hope to start a new operating session shortly. It was always intended that Thalnia was one of the poorer European countries and that Marronĝaco province was an obscure backwater thereof. Unfortunately the AFK’s major development coincided with the rise of the internet selling platforms and the explosion in availability of 1:43 road vehicles, such as the crane in the background. I could not resist temptation and have always felt that there was too much road traffic on the layout. One pet project, harking back to a scene that I remember from visiting Spain in the sixties, was the provision of an animal powered dustcart. The original used a couple of mules but the Lacono Corporation prefer to use oxen. The driver waits for the bins to be emptied into the back. Looking at its horns you don’t want to mess with the ox! The dust cart was made from a basket case Dinky toy. A couple of loco projects have been picked up. The CFS three-phase loco is now complete. As I have commented before, the real things, on the FS (Italian Railways), were an ugly but intriguing bunch. One of their more endearing aspects, to me at any rate, was that they always seemed to run with numerous equipment doors open. Even the cab door has got in on the act! As per usual the loco only bears a passing resemblance to any known prototype having suffered a change of chassis, the body being prised apart and the indignity of having unlikely bits added for aesthetic (?) reasons. The rechargeable battery casing on the front provides one such example. The steam is coming from the solution used to cool the resistances which control the loco. This is the other face of this ‘ravishing beauty’. The filling point for the coolant is prominent. The woman with the pram is testing the gauge of the railway tracks. The pram seems to be quite a good fit! She is probably also wondering what has happened to the access steps on the front of the loco. Someone has forgotten to fit them! Go to jail the depot and do not pass Go! The sister of the I-D-I has now been finished. There is some debate as to whether this is a I-C-2 or a 2-C-I. She is finished in a less dishevelled state than her big sister and has so far desisted from emitting large clouds of exhaust. There is time for this yet however. The fireless is a fairly simple loco. A cab roof, a driver, a couple of pipes and some weathering quickly saw it to a conclusion. Ian T

I have posted on other sites about progress on this layout but perhaps not so much on here. This is the current state of play. Having restarted work on the project by building the pumping station I decided that I might as well sketch in all the other buildings. I think that it was Iain Rice that observed that buildings were a thief of time and he, or whoever else it was, was correct. Time has also been spent fettling the track. Speeds would be low on this type of line so although it is rough and ready it has to permit good running. I am not quite there with this yet but I am progressing. The views are seen from left to right. Trains enter the scene from behind the goods shed, which is little more than a corrugated iron shed painted in the traditional Fenland black. This is well weathered, rusty and sports a hole in the roof (due to an accident with the soldering iron used to soften the corrugated sheet). As this is over the track no-one is too concerned. It is a typical “model railwayism” in that quite how goods are moved out of the shed is open to question. It awaits a set of battered doors to complete it. Behind stands the jam factory with a van at one of the loading doors. As noted last time, the building has settled in all directions. In the foreground the Norfolk CC steam roller stands next to the railway office. The factory backs onto the Primitive Methodist chapel, No 14 on the Downham circuit. The siding only just clears the chapel and the factory yard alongside it is also used for loading eggs into vans. The road runs between the chapel and the Primary school which has acquired an out building for the care taker. It is assumed that the entrance is at the rear of the building as presented. The Alco and train are standing on the grass verge, out of the road. The Alco will be painted into black when time permits and the first wagon (a Roco feldbahn example) will be painted grey. The battered WD class E was originally a fancily painted Bachmann model. There is no place for such twee offerings here, nor for carefully manicured track! The small caretaker’s extension fills most of the ambiguous empty space originally left between the school and the cottages. The two classroom school is typical of the village primaries that were common when I started my teaching career in the local comprehensive during the early eighties. Nowadays they are nearly all closed and the pupils are bussed four or five miles, from the age of 5, into large primary schools such as the one around the corner from where I live. I understand the economics but I remain to be convinced that this is progress. The bracing for the subsiding cottages will have to encroach onto Norfolk CC property. If they object the cottages could fall on the kids! I have been less than impressed with the Slater’s brickwork sheets which seem to break and splinter very easily. Their N gauge and O gauge counterparts are much easier to work with. In my usual “bull in a china shop” style the subsiding houses have been overdone. No subtlety here please! The houses will be rendered with the cracked brickwork showing through. The building seems to be sitting a little high in this photo but it is not uncommon to find fenland buildings approached by steps up to the door due to the peat shrinking as it is drained. The lean to Post Office next door is a mish-mash of various local designs, many of which, like the schools, are now sadly gone. Many survived into the nineties or the first decade of the new century before giving up the ghost. I assume that this one was made from the asbestos sheeting that was commonplace as a building material during the mid-twentieth century. The corrugated iron roof shows up where it was marked out for cutting. The post master’s house behind it is not currently glued in place as access will be needed to provide an interior as the inside is rather exposed. The wagon is a Minitrains’ Pershing wagon. Most of the stock will be ex-WD, when built, but there are already one or two American and German interlopers to add variety. The wall in the foreground stands next to the drain leading to the pump. Little progress has been made recently with the pumping station, although it has acquired a chimney. This is clad in O gauge bricks because the OO sheets simply splintered on application. I am aware that the prototypes tapered towards the top and that using a pipe results in an unrealistic shape but it will have to do. It has been suggested to me that raising the chimney base would allow for the flue to be placed above the drainage channel from the wheel. This still awaits attention. The photo also helps to show the general arrangement of the buildings in relation to one another. Reaching the right hand end of the layout we find the final grouping of buildings. The layout of the “Four Alls” was roughly taken from the Ten Mile Bank “Windmill”. The side bar is in a rather worse condition than that at the “Windmill” ever was and the decrepit porch comes from my imagination and the desire for a view block. The bar and porch will be rendered and the roofs will have to be individually tiled. The sign post will lean but not quite to the extent shown! Like the schools and the shops the “Windmill” is long gone. This trinity was the foundation of village life until twenty or thirty years ago. Some local villages have now lost all three but most seem to have kept one of them. Those retaining all three, such as Hilgay, Southery, Wimbotsham and Denver are rarities today. These four villages have all lost their football teams, however, which were a focus of village and pub social life. I kept goal on Sundays at Southery for around fifteen years or so. The Four Alls will definitely compete in the Lynn & District Division 3, even though they have to chase the cattle off their bumpy field (seen it happen) before playing. Gotobed’s garage across the car park is a generic building which will be fitted, in time, with a couple of petrol pumps. The owner has a highly localised surname to help give the layout a sense of place. I do not know the provenance of the name but I can certainly testify that Fenland was still a wild and woolly place forty or so years ago. Ian T

Progress on the AFK during the shut down has been slow due to the decision to develop the Gilbertine Level layout. It has not ceased entirely however and I hope to start a new operating session shortly. It was always intended that Thalnia was one of the poorer European countries and that Marronĝaco province was an obscure backwater thereof. Unfortunately the AFK’s major development coincided with the rise of the internet selling platforms and the explosion in availability of 1:43 road vehicles, such as the crane in the background. I could not resist temptation and have always felt that there was too much road traffic on the layout. One pet project, harking back to a scene that I remember from visiting Spain in the sixties, was the provision of an animal powered dustcart. The original used a couple of mules but the Lacono Corporation prefer to use oxen. The driver waits for the bins to be emptied into the back. Looking at its horns you don’t want to mess with the ox! The dust cart was made from a basket case Dinky toy. A couple of loco projects have been picked up. The CFS three-phase loco is now complete. As I have commented before, the real things, on the FS (Italian Railways), were an ugly but intriguing bunch. One of their more endearing aspects, to me at any rate, was that they always seemed to run with numerous equipment doors open. Even the cab door has got in on the act! As per usual the loco only bears a passing resemblance to any known prototype having suffered a change of chassis, the body being prised apart and the indignity of having unlikely bits added for aesthetic (?) reasons. The rechargeable battery casing on the front provides one such example. The steam is coming from the solution used to cool the resistances which control the loco. This is the other face of this ‘ravishing beauty’. The filling point for the coolant is prominent. The woman with the pram is testing the gauge of the railway tracks. The pram seems to be quite a good fit! She is probably also wondering what has happened to the access steps on the front of the loco. Someone has forgotten to fit them! Go to jail the depot and do not pass Go! The sister of the I-D-I has now been finished. There is some debate as to whether this is a I-C-2 or a 2-C-I. She is finished in a less dishevelled state than her big sister and has so far desisted from emitting large clouds of exhaust. There is time for this yet however. The fireless is a fairly simple loco. A cab roof, a driver, a couple of pipes and some weathering quickly saw it to a conclusion. Ian T

You are probably correct with the Midland. I had momentarily forgotten their aversion to facing points. I believe that I once read somewhere that there was only one between Settle and Carlisle! Presumably at Hellifield? Ian T

The Midland, I believe, used economical FPLs which operated the lock and blades simultaneously. There were no FPL levers as such, hence the blue colour. The "standard" arrnagement which I worked with in manual GER boxes was black for point blades and blue for FPL. The GER practice was for the FPL lever to be out of the frame when the points were locked. On some other railways I understand that the FPL lever was in the frame when providing the locking. Confidently waiting to be contradicted and put right! Ian T

Well I thought that I would keep it simple! I actually played soccer, league and union back in the day. (Oh yes! And proud of being "banned for life" from Union for having the temerity to play League at University.) As we are talking about foreign influences I am quite happy with American football, a little less so with Ausie rules, although I would still watch the latter. Ian T

As the thread title doesn't specifically refer to exhibition models I feel entitled to reply! For clarification I rarely attend exhibitions as Saturdays are for football (either code) or cricket and Sunday is for church music. Whether you like or dislike foreign layouts is a personal preference. I would expect that most people lie between the two extremes of loving them or hating them. The OP was doubtlesly aware of this when he posted and expected to initiate a vigorous debate! Like most modellers I have numerous railway interests rather than one specific theme to the exclusion of all others. I currently have a couple of British layouts on the go as well as my main layout, the AFK. The AFK will undoubtedly be viewed as heretical by most BRM modellers as it is narrow gauge, entirely freelanced and exists in an imaginary country. The railway system also connects with Narnia and Ruritania. That probably means turn away now. RIGHT NOW! I have no intention of exhibiting my handiwork so the only unpleasant comments that I receive will be via this or one other website. My chosen scenario enables me to cherry pick locomotives and stock that I like. I also modify various protoypical influences to create freelanced equipment. As in everything beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Blending these models into a credible pastiche requires some forethought and analysis. Whether I have been successful in this endeavour is open to deabte. I have certainly had fun along the way in trying to achieve this. Surely this is what model railways, a recreational relaxation, are about, rather than disparaging other people's interests? Ian T

As per usual with my minor layouts considerable time has elapsed since I last posted anything about Gilbertines’ Fen. Hand building a ”life time” layout (the AFK) tends to dominate other modelling interests, almost to their exclusion. The Gilbertine Fen set up is a “far backburner” project, well down the pecking order behind Inverness Citadel, my portable N gauge representation of the GNoSR’s attempts to reach the aforesaid city. Before looking at any physical progress on the layout it is perhaps best to visit the background once again. With the passing of time this has been reconsidered. You might remember that the initial intention was to run the line into the fen from the Wisbech & Upwell station at Outwell Basin, having been inspired by Iain Rice’s writings in MRJ. Much time was spent drawing lines upon Google Earth maps until I eventually ended up with a railway around 8½ miles long. Some of the Lincolnshire potato railways, which provide the inspiration for the line, reached and exceeded this length but I generally felt that this was rather too long for a very minor railway. There were the additional problems causing unease. The projected line lay within the catchment areas of two or three GER stations and actually crossed the course of the Lynn and Wisbech branch to reach its destination. Rather than running to Stowbridge or Magdalen Road, the obvious termini, the route opted to interchange at the cramped station of a minor tramway which itself interchanged with the GER. The other problem was the “Sixteen Foot”, or the Main Middle Level Drain to give its proper title. This is a substantial water course which would either require an expensive bridge or the council’s approval to use an existing road bridge to cross it. Similar minor railways tended to avoid such problems and, indeed, the Sand Hutton line never did reach Scrayingham, across the Derwent, as initially projected, because of the proposed bridge’s cost. The Nocton Estates Railway was also bounded by the Witham, but built a gantry over the river to serve Bardney sugar factory. Having been beguiled by Mr. Rice’s vision, not the first I expect, it was obvious that any tramway starting from Outwell Basin would not cross the drainage channel and would instead run towards Marshland. I wanted somewhere closer to Downham than that. A rethink suggested that Stow station would make a tenable starting point for my system and that the railway could run into the area today owned by Eau Brink Estates, as shown on the map. This would still pose the problem of crossing the Ouse, but not the modern Relief Channel, which was built after WWII, so an agreement with Norfolk County Council to run along the side of the road over the bridge was needed. The old OS maps suggest that there were once fewer buildings in this area than there are today so that the railway could easily run alongside the road through the western part of the village. This was deemed an acceptable compromise (otherwise there would be no railway!) I have no connection with, or knowledge of, the Estate company but it owns a large tract of land in the fen, mainly reached over private roads or awkward to drive single track dead ends. (Do not ask how I know about the latter!) Many of the farms are not named on either Google Earth or OS maps giving me a free hand with the lands of the renamed Gilbertine Level Estate. Redrawing the route, beginning at Stow station, suggested that a more credible route of 5 miles and 19 chains could be achieved, with a 1 mile 0 chains branch to West Head. The railway’s operations centre, loco sheds and general repair and storage facilities is at Holy Cross, the ‘original’ monastic centre of the order on the Level. The site of the model, as the renamed hamlet of Seas End, relies upon a warp in the time-space continuum because it is sited directly where a gate house stood upon the Lynn and Wisbech branch. This is assumed to have taken a different route in my parallel universe, crossing the Sixteen Foot further north, with its junction much nearer to Lynn than it was in actuality. The modelled ‘main’ road, across the bridge from the pumping station, roughly follows the real railway’s course. The village’s name suggests it stood on the thirteenth century coastline at the edge of the reclaimed fen. There are hamlets incorporating this suffix into their name although whether they should include an apostrophe or not is a moot point. As reclamation continued the land became prone to flooding and Syvington’s Leam was put in during the late fourteenth century to help control the waters of the Ouse. Syvington was one of the Abbots at Shouldham Abbey, the mother church of the local Gilbertines. It is all a little nebulous, I am afraid, but the real history of the area was complex with the drainage channels, such as the Ouse and Nene, often changing course and inundating the land. Contemplation, and drawing lines on maps, is easier than actually doing any modelling but eventually the model was retrieved from Hades, the resting place of my many half built models, to allow work to resume. Despite the trackwork remaining incomplete I decided to initially focus upon the pumping station at Seas End. I had initially bought a Will’s craftsman kit for an engine shed to use as a basis for this. Fortunately, during the long interregnum, I had realised my schoolboy’s error and decided that it should be replaced with a brick building rather than one of stone! A couple of replacement Airfix/Dapol engines sheds were bought and dismemberment began. During the interim I had also obtained a Faller kit for a stationary steam engine, which was earmarked to fill the space in the engine room. The large windows would have made its absence obvious. There were some problems with the design, as originally mocked up, reflecting my ignorance of the general arrangement of these pumps. Inevitably they were all similar but no two were alike. Eventually I designed my own, following the general template but experts will be able to spot my bodges. Of course, having drawn my design on the back of an envelope, there were unforeseen problems once construction began and, as with most of my modelling, alterations were made on the hoof. The basic components of the engine have been laid out on a new engine room floor, the original was too garish, as well as too large, and the boiler house is being sketched in. A large scoop wheel has been attached at the rear of the building. Sometimes these were contained within a brick extension building but I decided that mine would be housed in a wooden enclosure to emphasise the size and purpose of the wheel. I suppose that this is more of a throw back to windmill technology rather than the steam era but it just about seems plausible. This view shows the completed pump sketched in waiting for detailing to begin. One problem is that the pump has to lift out to allow access to the point behind and its microswitch hidden in the boiler house. The point rod runs under/through the building. The activator for the crossing polarities has fallen off and is lying in the Styx leam. The discharge point for the water also needs relocating from that initially cut into the bank, although the logical route for this seems to run under the chimney base. I cannot see any problem with building it into the foundations of the chimney so that is where it is likely to end up. Some one will doubtless point out the error of my ways! The chimney should also be tapered rather than parallel but I can accept this compromise. The rationale behind sketching in the pumping station was that the position of the coal bunkers could then determine the position of the delivery siding, rather than the other way round, as had initially been the case. A quick test of the layout showed that one circuit had become disconnected, one microswitch activator had fallen off, as seen in the previous photo, and that a number of points that had previously worked without problem were now playing up. I appreciate that OO9 is picky when compared to 7mm scale but how such problems occur always baffles me, especially as the layout had been stored in a warm dry room in the house. A potential problem with the kick back siding led to a wiring rearrangement which revealed that I had now inadvertently disconnected another area of track. The original wiring diagram had, as per usual, been drawn on the back of an envelope which had been thrown away. These problems were resolved before any new work commenced. This kick back siding provides an excuse for some inward bound traffic, i.e. the coal required to feed the boiler. Attempt number 1 placed the track on concrete pillars to allow for easy unloading into bunkers. Unfortunately the supports dominated the scene and, after some contemplation, they were removed. The worker provides some idea of their size. It would be difficult to release the door catches on the WD wagon from this position. The original idea was to supply coal from scratchbuilt Hudson hopper wagons but reconsideration suggested that this demanded a lot of empty mileage and specialised stock. Attempt 2 lowered the ramp and proved better from an aesthetic viewpoint. Unloading is helped by gravity and the man standing behind the wagon should be able to reach the door latches to let the coal spill out. He can also climb into the wagon, without too much difficulty, to finish unloading it. (No Safety Elf in those days!) I suppose that this raises the issue of how he gets coal from the near side of the wagon into the boiler house. You never can win can you?! In a manner similar to that of the bridge on the Sand Hutton Railway the crossing of the drainage channel is known locally as the “Forth Bridge.” That is all for now. Hopefully I should finish the trackwork this time around which will then allow smaller projects, such as the buildings to be dealt with as and when. Ian T

"Pondlife" (remember him!) rang me up one day to say that the previous train had hit a dog owner. The idiot was chasing his dog along the single line from an apparently well known illegal crrosing point. I had the pleasure of telling all the people waiting on the platform that they would not be drinking in town that Saturday night as the service was suspended. I was somewhat annoyed that, having carted dog owner to QE Hopsital, BT decided not to prosecute. A broken shoulder and near death experience was deemed suficient deterent. Ian T

Work goes on between sessions onthe AFK. I also try to give my other layouts attention but have currently been let down by a supplier. This is a photo of two well known prima donnas testing track rerpairs. A little more can be found here. Ian T

Weeks?! It takes a couple of hours in my case. And, you can see the table of the Bench of Bodge before it was tidied. I currently have four or five loco projects on the go and about 3 inches square for work room on the bench. Ian T

Yes. They are one of two "railway" sides in the League. Forres Mechanics are the other. Ian T