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AFK A room sized layout that hosts intensive operating sessions.


ianathompson
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The right hand end of Eromarbordo is now finished, barring the shouting. The left hand still needs work on the station and the building occupying the corner by the quayside. People seemed to like the photos posted last time so here are some more test shots of the finished work.

 

I am also using this post as a test to share photos directly without the need to use a hosting platform so I hope it works. Fingers crossed!

 

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The indistinct buildings behind the quayside have been painted in. As at many places in lawless medieval Marronĝacco the town was protected by a castle and town walls, which can be seen in the background. The roof of the tower needs a little more attention by the look of it. A couple of vehicles will hide the gap between the baseboard and the backscene alongside the fish market. The irony of painting the wall a hardboard colour, over the sky, was not lost upon me!

 

 

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The crudely rendered leaded roof of Maria Stella Maris chapel has finally been painted in as have the background buildings. These are totally minimal and simply imply that something is there. Too much detail distracts the eye so I try to keep it simple even though the palette is too bright. The only time I have managed to restrain myself was in painting the Inverness backscene on the N gauge layout. Look there if you are interested enough. The old torn sheet of the grain loading pit has been replaced by…. yes, a new torn sheet. The old one was weighted with lead so that it dropped down once hoppers left. Unfortunately the lead was too chunky and it was common for the hoppers to drag the building with them! The new piece is smaller and thinner. The pit is usually invisible in the darkness when the upper level is there.

 

 

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The Art Deco sign on the cocoa store, with its hand carved lettering, took three shifts to fabricate and colour when I worked in signal boxes. I am not sure quite what they made of any talc that escaped my clearing up! The building itself is a simple utilitarian structure, the corrugated iron roof of which has just been painted. It, and the oil tanks, had to be removed so that the concrete industrial building alongside the quay could be painted to fill the gap. The sacks are usually hidden behind bogie vans awaiting loading.

 

I might well complete this station as the rebuild drags on… and on…. and on.

 

I suppose, also, that an article will appear in Narrow Lines in the fullness of time but they already have five in stock so don’t hold your breath!

 

Ian T

 

 

 

 

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We all have episodes like that - it is just that we don't usually admit to it.

 

I have no doubt that your ingenuity will triumph in the end.

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57 minutes ago, ian said:

I have no doubt that your ingenuity will triumph in the end.

 

More like typical Yorkshireman's bloodymindeness!

All the ripped out track has now been replaced and the four booms are in but need connecting up.

 

The Mark II version is intended to see each boom operating independently.

Unprototypical I know, but it will be better than nothing.

If all else fails they will be permanently down.

 

Ian T

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Following on from the minor disasters reported upon last time some progress has been made.

One step forward and two backwards!

I suppose that I am in the one step forward mode at the moment.

 

These posts don't seem to attract much attention without a photo so here is the attention grabber!

 

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6. The van leaves the Goat Pen beside the paper factory’s offices. The main point of this is to show that a building now hides the opening hacked into the backscene, although the hole at the bottom is a bit of a giveaway! The road surface here still needs attention. The disguise is a simple piece of artists’ board crudely painted to look like a building. There are no windows or doors etc because this is supposed to anonymously blend into the background. There should be plenty of distractions in the finished scene to draw the eye, such as the trolleybuses in the foreground, the (still to be completed) roof sign for the factory, the Art Deco car shop/garage and the chocolate factory.

 

I am still having difficulties uploading from Flickr as they seem to have changed their upload protocols.

I can remember working with computers in the seventies, when, as a Post Grad, we were assured that such minor contretemps would undoubtedly be sorted out in time!

 

Ian T

 

Edited by ianathompson
typo
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Any positive process is great.. I have been chasing a short in a loco for weeks.... tried everything then checked the wheels.. one set if on the wrong way around (as in the insulated wheel is on the "live" side of the chassis... doh!

 

Layout is coming back together nicely!

 

baz

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I am glad to report that Lacono is now back together again for the first time in six months.

A lot of minor work remains to be done, what I beleive that contractors refer to as "snagging".

 

The last rebuild report has now been published.

It takes a little while to load up.

 

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Part of the array of new signals at the northern end of Lacono.

 

 

Ian T

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A slight addendum to the progress report is now on the website.

 

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1. The cassette initially caused problems in that it regularly refused to energise. This surprised me as the fiddleyard at Bodran relies upon the same latches as this cassette and has worked well once the initial modifications were carried out. The problem was solved by inducing solder onto the one recalcitrant bolt to give a better contact. Upon running the loco to the end of the cassette for the first time it flexed like a springboard and I had visions of the fireless leaping out of the window across the aisle! Some stiffening was hastily added, along with a crude buffer stop to augment the electrical dead section at the extremity. The debris of alterations and their attendant mess is apparent in the background where Lacono station building sits upside down on top of Ithilarak. Various road vehicles have been placed there, out of the way, as well.

 

I hope to begin an operating session in the near future but there is still a lot of drudgery to be seen to before that.

 

I am still collating the back story for those that requested it. 

Don't hold your breath!

 

Edit. At least these pictures have some value.

The "steam" for the 0-6-2T mysteriously vanished and could not be found despite a thorough search.

Looking at photo 2  the hiding place became apparent.

Yes! It was hiding under the removable platform piece.

 

 

Ian T

Edited by ianathompson
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Following a considerable hiatus, to allow for infrastructure enhancement, the AFK is pleased to announce that train services have been restored.

The latest session is now available. for those who wish to go to the website.

 

Experience shows that numbers decline when there is no picture to act as "clickbait" as it is apparently called.

Given the recent changes made to Flickr I am becoming less inclined to use it as an intermediate platform for my images.

However one photograph from the dozen or so posted is shown below.

 

8-12

 

12 The Fenditavalat goods often shows a different character from the Urteno train in that  there are usually fewer SG wagons in the consist. There is only one today but the yardmaster has made the same mistake and overloaded the train. He will be on the carpet in Jasmond’s office if there are any problems but he should be okay as this locomotive in particular is a hulking bruiser quite capable of looking after itself. The train waited at Glissent for the paper train to pass and is similarly clattering through the darkness. It will stop at Sojonno to work the block instruments before hopefully getting a clear run at Boursson if the crew of the local have arrived on time. The shelf below the fascia below the loco holds the wagons “across the lake” at Karamspur whilst that further along holds wagon loads. It was always intended that another shelf would be added here and that is a possibility in the future.

 

 

For those of you who requested the "back story" work is ongoing and I hope to have it available shortly.

 

Ian T

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Es ist ein Ros entsprungen

 

It is probably a little too late in the season for advent carols but a Great and Mighty Wonder has come to pass.

(I never understood the provenance of the English translation, I have to admit, even as a kid.)

 

After much delving in obscure tomes and the collation of many little known facts, the official history and geography of the AFK has been published.

 

A number of posters professed that they enjoy reading the “back story” to other people’s layouts and requested that that of the AFK was made public.

 

Well, may I remind you of the allegedly ancient Chinese proverb/curse.

 

May you live in interesting times,

May you come to the attention of people in high places,

May you find what you are searching for.

 

We are certainly living in interesting times and you may well have found what you are looking for. Only need to come to the attention of people in high places and you have cracked it!

 

I hope that those who requested it enjoy it but, be warned, this is no flimsily prepared document that glosses over the details and it will take some time to read.

 

As I used to say in my far off teaching days, “Read, mark and inwardly digest. There will be a test on this next week!”

 

Ian T

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The operating session continues.

Another upload of photographs is available here.

 

 

8-40

 

38. Defying gravity. The controller had to be turned to the full 12 volts setting to persuade this pairing to slowly fight its way around the lake at Varden. Once they are on the straight in the gorge, as here, the power can be eased back to maintain a steady speed. The SG van is a heavy Brawa model and this is a long train containing some less than free running vehicles. The steep grade coupled with the 2 foot radius has been calculated as the equivalent of 1 in 21 on a compensated gradient. The drivers would be watching the ammeters on the prototype but the model controllers don’t have any. Rather like the prototype it’s a case of ramping the control handle up, crossing your fingers and praying! The model text books advocate avoiding such stupidity but it beats a BLT with a short straight run where the loco might get into notch 2 before disappearing and never ever meets a curve to trouble it

 

Incidentally has anyone read the Little World all the way through?

 

It would be nice to have some feedback.

 

Ian T

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1 hour ago, ianathompson said:

It would be nice to have some feedback.

 

I'm about three-quarters through and believe it all. My only reservation is the use of 'Victorian' and 'Edwardian' in the context of a central European country, but am willing to accept that as it is directed at readers in this country.

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2 hours ago, ian said:

My only reservation is the use of 'Victorian' and 'Edwardian' in the context of a central European country,

 

Thought I had edited those out!

I will have go back and write them out if.when I find them.

 

Now done. 

 

Ian T

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After a rather longer lapse than intended some more phtographs of session 8 have been published.

As per usual there is an attention grabbing photo below.

 

Click on the link for the full story!

 

8-65

 

63. The express pulls into Lacono to pick up the extra travellers for Fenditavalat. I would not normally show a picture like this but, unfortunately, the loco’s passing revealed a flaw and derailed. As was well documented Lacono underwent a rebuild to expand the layout and to attempt to straighten the warped baseboards. The warping issue only became apparent a couple of years ago but the rails ends are pushing upwards, forming a very shallow W along the length of the station. It is twenty years since the boards were built which is longer, I suppose, than many layouts survive. The metal brackets at the left have done their job in the far sidings but the mainline and near siding are still out of register. Matters are not helped by the long wheelbase diesel having RP25 flanges on the outer drivers with the middle two sets being flangeless which can result in the outer axles leaving the rails whilst the unflanged wheels are in contact.  The issue has been resolved for the time being but the track here is partly ballasted and may need work to insert some packing. I have read one or two threads on the web recently about people acquiring “classic” layouts and then having difficulty maintaining/rebuilding them. This episode causes me to sympathise with them.

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A lot more photos have just been published.

Apologies for the garish colour schemes!

 

There is an in depth consideration of how the model is really run as opposed to what happens in theory.

 

The three photos include a couple of questions which it would be nice to have answered.

 

8-72

 

70. The problems do not end there. The 0-10-0T is rated as a class II theoretically capable of taking 180 tons up the hill. It is loaded to 170 tons at the moment. The notorious “wet cutting” is waiting on the restart. If it isn’t leaves in autumn or ice in winter it is the vegetation that grows abundantly in what passes for AFK ballast. The train has ground to a halt. Remedy one, before either calling for the cavalry (the loco of the down URT-RFK goods) or giving in and dividing the train, is to for the fireman to copiously sand the rails by hand and struggle past this point at walking pace. The “sand” is the big lead weight on the cab roof. On this occasion it does the job. Just imagine the wheels spinning, an enormous plume of smoke and the cinders the size of your fist raining down alongside the track.

 

8-114

 

116. The circuits are transferred back to the local controller and the local can continue shunting. It takes the rear end of the train into the goods loop before returning the brake to the rear of the train. The loco is in the middle of the cuts, which is something that is not seen too much on British models but often seen on American layouts. It is being done here for convenience’s sake rather than deliberately. It would be interesting to know whether British legislation frowned on this practice. The two wagons behind the loco were shunted by the down local into position for the up train. This is typical of the co-operation needed between the crews and the station mistress. The stations are staffed by the wives of PW gangers, in typical continental minor railway fashion, as part of the accommodation agreement.

 

8-122

 

124. The hopper is left on platform 2, as that is the only road that the fireless loco’s driver signs for. The shunter is crossing the Karushnastrato  when the fireless appears in the Goat Pen. The fireless was placed there rather than run there from the cassette. The railcar is now ‘approaching’ and the pilot’s crew are cutting things fine. The pilot has already cleared the points needed for the move but it will have to run onto the single line to release the locking. Perhaps I am misinterpreting German practice here, but this is what would happen in Britain so it currently applies to the AFK until I find anything to the contrary. Many modellers seem to be oblivious of these niceties. I rarely attend exhibitions but I remember attempting to discuss this point with the operator of a nicely modelled railway only to be politely told to go forth and multiply because Rule 1 applied.

 

Ian T

Edited by ianathompson
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No answers to the questions, either here or elsewhere!

 

The latest batch of photos is now available.

There are about thirty of them.

 

8-156

 

157. The mixto arrives at Lacono to find the local train occupying platform 3. The idea behind the timetable revisions was to prevent this situation and put the mixto into platform 3. As the more important train it has had to stop a long way down the platform because it is held by the shunt signal to the right of the loco. It cannot pull forward because the Urteno shuttle railcar is due to enter platform 1 before the mixto departs. This creates a SPAD trap in that I have to remember to clear the shunt signal before pulling off the platform starter. I did originally consider installing a second shunt signal further along the platform but decided that it was not worth it. It will not be added now. Never mind. HQ have sent their answer to any dilemma: a man with a clipboard.

 

Ian T

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I received a reply concerning the shunt move potentially stopping in the middle of the level crossing on another website.

This pointed out that the Austrian NG employed very few frames, even at importnat locations.

I have copied my reply, partially in the hope of still receiving enlightenment, and partly to show that the AFK signalling systems do have some roots in reality, however tenuous they mey be!

 

There is quite a long look at AFK signalling practices on the website.

 

Signal boxes were a rarity on the narrow gauge, both at home and abroad. 

Only the larger Irish systems tended to use them in a British context.

 

The majority of European NG systems either did not use a frame, or employed simple fames, at wayside stations.

If they did not use a frame they relied upon hand thrown weighted levers.

The Germans, apparently, were flabbergasted after invading Yugoslavia in WWII, to find such an important (NG) system worked by such crude methods!

 

Simple frames are "provided" at wayside AFK stations, although many are  still waiting to receive them.

 

7-79

 

The above picture shows a typical wayside installation at Boursson, although it is still incomplete (and warped!).

 

In effect the loop points are worked by the levers (middle) and the signals by the winding handles (on the right).

The AFK is more sophisiticated than the standard provision in that keys are used to unlock siding points in the running line to represent a schlusselwerk system (centre).

 

Most lines of this nature operated by telephone block but the AFK uses Eingleisestrecke Bautyp C instruments as shown on the left of the set up.

These had three "flags" showing the state of the line.

Some earlier versions ran to seven "flags".

The block instruments, the keys, the levers and the signals will eventually be "locked" by a tray and route setting levers will be provided on the block instrument.

 

This is probably over the top for a small station but I envisage the AFK as having grown into a regional system more akin to the RhatischeBahn or Roslagsbanan.

In effect it is a integral NG arm of the national system.

 

Lacono (and Urteno) are conceived as having much more complex systems than the wayside stations because of their traffic levels.

Both are provided with separate signal boxes, as is the Rhaetian practice at major stations.

The Austrian NG systems would be unlikely to see much more than two trains crossing.

These AFK locations can see four or five train/shunt moves occuring simultaneously.

 

The Swiss "boxes" were upgraded to electrical systems after the war and it is assumed that the AFK followed suit but could not afford to fully electrify.

As a result the old mechanical frame, and locking, remained at Lacono but the signal levers were replaced by small "pistol grip" levers.

This was a typical feature of Bruchsal type K frames converted from a type G frame.

(Many Swisss boxes were simply a dedicated control room in the station building rather than a separate structure.)

 

8-122

 

This shunt move in the photo is therefore taking place under the authority of a colour light signal with mechanical points.

As it is on a running line I assume that the locking would not release until the loco cleared the appropriate home signal in these circumstances.

The points use (or more accuraltely are supposed to use) the trapezium actuating mechanism used by the Bavarian Railways.

The locking was integral with the operating mechanisms within the castings.

The recess for a removed casting is visible near the barriers.

(Something else to attend to along with replacing the "Bow-macs"!)

 

Most modellers would more than likely stop the move here and change the points before reversing.

This would definitely be incorrect for a properly signalled British layout because the FPLs and locking bars would not allow it

 

One of the boxes that I signed for had this unusual combination of colour lights and mechanical points.

Usually when the boxes were converted the points were given motors and the levers were, in effect, just big switch handles.

The mechanical locking was retained however, which meant that the conversion could be carried out cheaply.

 

The fun came when you had a problem in the mechanical points box and had to contact Fault Control.

I just used to tell them that they would never understand the technicalities and throw in a phrase such as "mechanical plunger".

I would ask that the local S&T, who did know about it (well, a bit), were requested to ring me.

Even the Control staff were clueless.

When I refused to take a train because the points were jammed it had to be spelled out, like talking to a four year old, as to why their railway was broken.

 

Ian T

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