ianathompson

Inverness Citadel: The theory A somewhat sketchy background was given to the Inverness "might have been" in the last posting. Hopefully this posting will fill in the details for those few interested, although given its length I am sure that most of you will have lost the will to live before reaching the end! Without delving too deeply into the minutiae of mid Victorian Railway politics the Great North of Scotland Railway was the in simple terms the first railway in the area that it was named for. That this eventually proved to be a grandiloquent name for a relatively minor railway was more down to the antics and attitudes of its early directors than anything else. The initial intention of the railway was to link Aberdeen and Inverness but, as has been well documented, the good people of Inverness grew impatient with the Aberdeen based company, formed their own company and built directly southwards to Perth thereby side stepping their rivals. As the initial route of the Highland Railway took it through Forres it was a simple matter to throw off a branch to Keith which was as far as the GNSR had reached by this stage. Having been thwarted in their initial ambitions the GNSR continually attempted to extend their system towards Inverness but, with the exception of the circuitous route between Keith and Elgin, and the resulting acrimony regarding the exchange point, they were rebuffed by the Highland. Many of the expansion attempts were based upon supporting proposed branch lines north of Inverness as an excuse to secure running powers over the Highland's route. In my alternative universe I have assumed that the (imaginarily extended) 1891 proposal for an Garve and Ullapool branch became reality. The Highland built these branches but the GNSR was left with the orphaned remnant of a line into Inverness. This was completed in 1895. Five minutes drawing lines onto Google Earth produced a line paralleling the Highland's route. A recent trip to watch Cove Rangers (to complete the full set of Highland League grounds) and a trip into Inverness on the train proved that this was reasonably viable in physical terms, although the Auchintoul route was interesting to view on the ground! Inv Cit 031 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The detailed proposal is shown on the adjacent map. The new line branches off the old mainline to the south of Elgin and runs into Elgin Boroughbrae (so recently renamed that the Tippex wasn't dry!) sited to the south of the Highland station. As the second railway in the town the GNSR was "expected" to add a suffix to the station names to avoid confusion, (although it appears not to actually have done this at Elgin). As the football ground rejoices in the name of Borough Briggs the morphologically challenged engineers decided that the slight slope downwards from the Borough centre gave them the excuse of using "Brae". At least Quiniesbrae at Auchintoul actually is a slope (and not half!) The provision of a chord from the Coast line and the Lossiemouth branch rendered the old station redundant although it still serves as a much reduced transfer point for goods traffic. There is, of course, no need to any longer walk along the exchange platform to catch a Highland connection to Inverness. The new line ran roughly a mile or two south of the Highland's route pausing at Forres Picthill and Nairn West End. The suffixes were devised with the help of Wikipedia, although its reliability is often open to debate! There is apparently a large stone covered in Pictish runes at Forres and the West End of Nairn was a noted area of Victorian villa development. Inverness remained a small compact town before WWI with a population of about 20,000 (presumably, extrapolating from Wikipedia) with plenty of open space to the east of the town. The bucolic backdrops are clearly apparent in photographs of the Highland facilities looking eastwards towards the Moray Firth. The lack of population in this area was also cited as one reason for Citadel FC's demise in 1935. The GNSR crossed the Highland's mainline at Culloden and built a yard at Seafield which served as the loco depot and exchange point for traffic with the Highland. It then re-crossed the older company's line near Raigmore to run into its terminus at Inverness Citadel. The station was named for the short lived citadel established by Cromwell's troops in the 1650s following the Civil War as a base to dominate the Highland clans. Citadel football team had been playing at Shore Street since the 1880s and so the GNSR built their station alongside the ground, a short walk from the town centre, roughly where the oil terminal stands today. Harbour Road was built after WWII but I have assumed that the railway's arrival meant that it was built much earlier and slightly to the north of its present route, with station fronting on to it. The working arrangements for the line are subject to some speculation. As presented the route diagram indicates eleven stations between Inverness and Nairn. Any-one familiar with the area will appreciate that this is mostly open agricultural land almost devoid of settlement. Culloden, Croy and Cawdor are actual villages which would merit a station (and Culloden had one on the later direct Highland mainline) but I have assumed that the GNSR instituted a suburban service similar to that operated at Aberdeen in the early years of the twentieth century. Although Aberdeen was a much larger city the GNSR had become an innovative forward looking company by 1900 so it seems reasonable to suggest that they might have attempted to drum up some traffic with a more intensive service out to Nairn. I envisage the settlements (some of which don't actually exist) to have grown moderately rather than massively, allowing the service to be maintained by one or two locos and sets of carriages. This is my cover story for the Dapol M7 that I intend to convert to a GNSR class R. I have already had one unsuccessful bite at this cherry but have determined on another attempt. In any case it might also provide an incentive to attempt to create a Cravens class 105 dmu as well. Inv Cit 030 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The station layout, as shown by the sketched box diagram, is laid out with an arrival and a departure platform, although by BR days this distinction was no longer quite so applicable. A siding parallel to the platforms serves the goods shed. This is based on the physical layout at Elgin, although the signal box diagram for Elgin East shows that it was accessed from the yard by hand points. I had originally intended that this road would be provided with a platform face and used by parcels traffic which would make sense given the close proximity of the backscene/football ground perimeter. The semi redundant nature of the departure platform suggests that the vans dealing with parcels and Post Office traffic could easily stand at the bufferstop end of the platform. The goods shed could then be supplemented by a loading bank. The signalled part of the layout is relatively small as it is assumed that a six lever groundframe controls the inner part of the arrival platform and that most of the points in the yard are hand worked. Freight traffic is limited by the length of the loop road to about ten wagons but this disadvantage provides an excuse for a frequent service. It is assumed that all freights are trip workings from Seafield Yard with shunting being done by the loco. The cramped nature of the model layout, somewhat at odds with the expansive layout that could have been provided in reality requires these trains to partially reverse into the yard to run round, accounting for the unconventional layout and working methods. The real life football ground was noted for its malodorous nature due to the neighbouring slaughter house and tannery as well as the raw winds nipping in from the Firth. These have translated into a meat packing warehouse and a flour mill on the layout. The as yet undesignated kick back siding could serve a tannery as well. Other traffics include coal and a shunting stick extension into the port that would provide an excuse for fish traffic, timber and petroleum. One area of conjecture is the nature of the station buildings that would have been provided. My first inclination was to provide a quite substantial building based upon stone ones at Elgin (GNS), as a sort of 'Elgin-lite'. Recent reflection suggests that the railway's very late arrival would have been marked by a much more modest establishment. The Highland was the main player in town and the GNS was the usurper with little real prospect of making inroads into their hegemony. My latest inclination is to provide a small wooden structure which could have been cheaply provided with the possibility of a more substantial rebuild if traffic exceeded expectations. The terminus at Balmoral, the starting point for the royal trains, was similarly constructed of wood (and has just been rebuilt following a disastrous fire) so what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. The Balmoral example was parallel with the platform however and the layout demands one perpendicular to the platforms. Cannon Street on the Hull & Barnsley provides an example of my intentions as it was another was another minor terminus similarly built of wood in a backstreets location. (I understand that the Hull & Barnsley had originally intended to extend the line to a much grander terminus near the city centre). I am sure that there were many other similar secondary termini throughout the country. That might seem to be a lot of flummery for a small shunting plank but if you are going to model 'might have beens' it is best to have at least a flimsy take on an alternative reality, if only to salve your conscience. Ian T

Thanks for the editing advice. Hope to visit the area of the model in the near future. Ian T

Inverness Citadel I have given up trying to change the topic's title. Perhaps some-one could enlighten me as to how you do this? Anyway as a serial builder of unfinished layouts an idea occurred for another GNSR layout. Although work continues with Auchuintoul and the AFK I am likely to be spending more time with my elderly mother at my sister's home in the Cotswolds. All well and good but obviously there is no model railway there. Enter Inverness Citadel: a small fold up layout designed (?) to be a self contained easily portable layout (well that's the plan). 16 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr 017 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The two photos give a general idea of what is planned, although it bears little resemblance to any prototypical design and basically amounts to cram as much track in as you can to sustain interest. Hopefully this idea will make some progress eventually. The rationale is that the GNSR finally beat the Highland Railway's blocking tactics and reached Inverness via Forres Picthill and Nairn West End. In the early twentieth century there was plenty of space for expansion to the east of the city although today this area (out towards ICT's ground) is a badlands of industrial units, fast food joints, by passes and all the ugly paraphanalia of modern settlements. For any residents of Inverness the layout is located just off Shore Street where the Cromwell's citadel was located. It can be pinpointed by the fact that Citadel FC's stand will stand roughly where the red pen is. Citadel did not of course go bust in 1935 but still play on in the Highland League in my alternative reality. Regards Ian T

Not having made notes, but having used the service from Ely to Birmingham in the eighties, I remember them as Mk Is. There were usually five or six of them hauled by a class 31 or a class 25 as I remember. Ian T

The operating language is English so that I and any-one else who works the AFK can understand it! A few technical terms have been left in the Thalnian (Esperanto) as it does not seem right to change them. The loop is always referred to as the PFT and the home signal as the ES for instance. They translate as pasaflankatrako and enirasignalo respectively. Ian T

I have spent quite a bit of time "paper modelling" recently, i.e. putting off unpalatable things such as digging holes in baseboards! One result has been the appearance of a definitive "AFK Instructions for Working" running to forty odd pages. 48 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr This hefty book contains the working procedures for operating sessions. Not many modellers go to such lengths but the AFK is rather large and I felt that it was time to formalise common practices. It has also allowed me to rationalise a few nebulous areas as well. There are now four pages of instructions for working the (non existent) German style block instruments. 49 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr There have been one or two practical implications as well. The smaller engines often work snow plough trains but Instruction TW 11 states: "All locomotives working north of Ithilarak must be fitted with snow ploughs during the winter months." A couple of the shunters often called for these duties have been retro fitted. Ian T

Just a few notes to show that the AFK is not moribund. The N gauge GNSR layout has taken a lot more work to get it to a reasonable operable state than was initially anticipated. Hopefully the current heavy labour on this layout has been finished for the time being, but I do not hold my breath. Work on the snow scene is currently stalled but should begin again shortly. The locos have received some attention but are far from complete. They are shown here with a few comments. 43 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The Kitson Meyer stands over the loco old pit at Fenditavalat. (This is on the list of things to do as it now needs removing.) The chimney seems to have taken a bash so that will have to be looked at. 42 (2) by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The 0-8-0 in its basic form, although the valve gear needs dirtying. I worry about how much lead has had to be inserted into the tender to enable it to pull reasonable loads. A road test will be carried out before the next session to check the performance. 44 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The 0-8-8-0T skulks ( or should it be sulks) in front of the old shed. It looks impressive but, even after remotoring and much tinkering its performances still leave something to be desired. 45 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The basics of the 2-10-2T are finished and the German style chimney extension shows up well. 46 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The upper part of the line is signalled with an extremely unlikely combination of pre-WWI examples. The original intention was that these would be French but German influence has crept in at Ithilarak. The up distant is based on a Bavarian Railways prototype. These fold back at 45 degrees, presenting an intriguing challenge to model. This is the "langsam fahrt" position of caution. 47 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The "fahrt frei" or clear position gave a positive indication unlike the standard German distant and French signals which turned end on to the driver. The operating wires could probably stand a little tidying! Work on this and other signals is held up awaiting the arrival of nuts and bolts in the same BA configurations! The Caladonno forirasignalo can then be built and the trackside snow completed. Ian T

Re post 6 Do you have this book? Could you send me the pictures?!? I have these books but I would have thought that posting the diagrams would probably breach copyright. The books are quite easy to get hold of and three are currently listed on e-Bay; two at sensible prices and one at a stupid asking price. The track plans in the book are fairly crude undimensioned sketches and do not really show any more (if as much) information as the maps. If you let me have an e-mail address I can forward them if you want them. Ian T

The Lough Swilly railway, E.M.Patterson, David & Charles 1964 and subsequent editions shows sketches of Fahan Pier on p112 and Carndonagh on p114. I would emphasise that these are sketches rather than scale diagrams but they show the track layouts and buildings. Published photos of both stations are rare, given the early closure of the branch beyond Buncrana but the L&LSR by J.I.C.Boyd, Bradford Barton shows Fahan on p73. From memory, having traced the branch on Google Earth some years ago, the station buildings at Carndonagh survive fairly much as built. Ian T

I have wondered about whether to 'provide' a bike or not! From what I can recollect of Nairn's arrangements, having crossed the bridge on the way to watching County play, they were about 200 yards apart. I certainly saw a bike in use at Brora back in the day when I went to watch Rangers play but the boxes appeared to be further apart there. Some GNSR boxes seem to have been quite close together, such as at Spey Bay, which Google Earth suggests were about 180 yards apart. The signaller had a third port of call on the Highland however as the block instruments were in the station building with both boxes effectively being glorified ground frames. In typical GNSR pattern the Auchintoul West box contains the instruments whereas Auchuintoul East is effectively a groundframe. Incidentally I understand that the GNSR frequently did not provide name boards at it's boxes.Is this correct? Ian T

Operating Conundrums Auchintoul has reverted to "semi moribund" status since the last post but a recent visit by Andy Greening saw it briefly spring to life, in BR fifties/sixties mode. You will have to forgive the preponderance of R-T-R items taken straight from the box. This resulted in an interesting session that threw up some operational wrinkles and questions which might be of interest to readers interested in prototypical operation. To recap, Andy is a current NetworkRail signalman and I spent the last 16 years of my working career as a relief signaller. It might be an N gauge railway but it has to operate like the real railway;~ within the Regulations! We were attempting to run part of a provisional timetable, albeit that I was aware that there were some problems with this before we started. I suspected that the proposed timetable would need a major redrafting and it will certainly be adjusted in the light of experience, but the session gave an enlightening insight into the problems faced every day on the steam worked railway reliant simply upon the omnibus telephone, line of sight handsignals and the Tyers No 6 token instrument. The basic timings used in the scenario were Up goods arr 07.29 Keith-Maud Jct to shunt distillery only Down passenger arr 07.49 Maud Jct-Cairnie Jct dep 07.51 Up passenger 08.17 Keith-Maud Jct dep 08.19 Down fish (express) pass 08.42 Fraserburgh-Glasgow Up goods dep 08.55 The moves were carried out under the Regulations for Train Signalling and Signalmen's General Instructions 1960 edition (no gender equality back then!) This played out as follows. 1 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr 1. At 07.45 the up goods stands in the up platform as the first down passenger of the day heads towards Cairnie Junction and Keith (with an unrepainted LNER coach on the rear).. Although 15 minutes have elapsed between the goods train's arrival and the passenger no work could be done during the interval because this train works the distillery (*) which is trailing to the goods train. The traffic for this is marshalled at the front of the train and comprises the six vehicles in front of the brown hopper. Unless the signalman runs down the platform to take the Netherdale-Auchintoul tablet from the passenger train driver, an unlikely event, whilst giving him the one for the Auchintoul-Dens Park section, there will be a further slight delay. * various names are contemplated for the distillery such as Foggieloan, Strathdeveron or simply Auchintoul. Any preferences anyone? Have a sip of a nice single whilst you ruminate. 2 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr 2. The down passenger has departed and the Netherdale-Auchintoul token is back in the machine. The up goods needs to pull forward to "cross the road". The signalman is in Auchintoul's major box so he gives Netherdale the 5-2 "release token" bell code under Regulation 7(d) and takes a token out of the machine. He will have to walk along the platform to the minor box at the Netherdale end of the platform to reverse the points whilst giving the token to the driver as he passes. Would he pull the slot on the starter given that this was a shunting move (always assuming that he had released the slot in the major box)? Would the shunt move clear the home or would it stop, as here, just clear of the detection bar? Having reached a clear understanding with the driver that he is about to make a shunt move the signalman authorises it onto the single line, (preferably by a yellow flag if I was doing it, given the recalcitrance of some drivers). In this case the train has pulled forward and cleared the locking bar, as shown, although it is still missing here. In all probability the home would be beyond the bridge on the prototype, but it will not be on the model. If it did not clear the home would the guard give the driver a hand signal having seen a flag from the signalman authorising it to set back? 3 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr 3. The back half of the train has been left in the down platform and the loco and distillery wagons have run onto the main line again before setting back into the up road. The signalman leaves the points reversed in the minor box, pulls the slot on the up starter (for the soon to arrive up passenger) and walks back along the platform to the major box. Here he reverses the points into the distillery siding and pulls the Stevens drop flap "dodd" before replacing the token into the Netherdale-Auchintoul machine and sending 2-5 "token replaced" to Netherdale. In all probability a "knock and drop" 1 beat would replace the prescribed sixrteen beats, unless a Signalling Inspector was present! As this is a regular occurrence I originally assumed that he gave 1-1 "answer the phone" to Dens Park to inform him that he could take the up passenger. This version of the Regs does not authorise this bell code, however, so I presume that he calls Dens Park on the omnibus using the special ring code. I also assume that he replies to the subsequent 3-1 request with 3-5-5 to indicate that he is taking the train under the warning arrangement. This would have to be authorised under the Box Instructions. In these circumstances the train would the approach Auchintoul at extreme caution expecting to find the home signal at danger. The observant will note that a big click-clock has beamed down from the AFK (upstairs) which shows that each move takes three minutes, a fairly leisurely interval, but this is a bucolic backwater. 4 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr 4. The up passenger eventually arrives to find that the shunting is blocking the mainline. You will notice that the clock, that tyrant ever watching over the shoulder of our signalman, shows that the train is now late. At least in this era he will not have TDA on the phone squawking about a one minute delay! The passenger is held until this is in the clear and the home signal can be cleared. The 4MT tank is now locked into the sidings as any movement beyond the sidings' gate would be derailed by the single blade trap point. 5 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr 5. With the up local passenger standing in the platform, well clear of the distillery siding points, does the 4MT resume shunting? This would be a well rehearsed move performed on a daily basis and the driver would presumably be aware that the passenger train was standing in the platform, despite his intellectually challenged status as a driver (all bets are off!). Our consensus of opinion is that, dodgy as it may seem, if this is a regular occurrence the move might well take place on a hand signal from the box, without the siding signal being cleared. Once again a clear understanding would have to be reached with the driver. I worked with a laid back boss like this. "It's OK so long as nothing goes wrong, in which case I don't want to know!" 6 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr 6. The passenger train has gone and the section signal has been put back to normal by the lever operating the slot in the main box. The distillery shunting has been completed, with the picked up wagons now attached to the loco. These leave the siding and proceed towards the up section signal. Regulation 7 (a) allows the signalman to put a shunt into a section behind a train going away from the station. This is one of the few occasions when the driver can legally enter a section without the tablet. The section signal is locked with the block instruments and cannot be cleared again, necessitating the move to be authorised by a handsignal. As the points into the distillery need to be put normal behind the move this handsignal would presumably be given from the major box as the signalman begins another trek to the minor box. Auchintoul can expect to be asked to take a down through fish express from Netherdale as soon as the passenger train clears the section. Assuming that he has authorised the shunt move past the up section signal, as described above, Reg 7 (a) stipulates the he must give the 3-3 "blocking back" bell code when he receives the 2-1 "train out of section". This Regulation is written on the assumption that the signalman is always present when on duty but of course he has to walk between two boxes at Auchintoul, with the instruments being placed in the major box. We come to a grey area here. I suspect that many signalmen would develop 'temporary deafness' and would not answer the 1 beat "call attention" pleading that they were out of the box when it was received. It is important to remember here that part of the up goods is currently standing in the down platform (photo 3) and that a shunt cannot enter the Netherdale-Auchintoul section when a train is coming towards Auchintoul. I presume that this 'deafness' was even more acute if there was a delay in the shunting and the move had not even left the distillery when the 1 bell was received. I suppose that in extreme circumstances the express could be taken. It would then be stopped at the home signal and handsignalled through the station on the down line if necessary, but this really would be a last resort. Today all is running smoothly and the signalman walks to the minor box, replaces the levers operating the signal slots and puts the points normal before handsignalling the shunt back onto its train. Whilst doing this he also operates the slot on the home signal before once more walking back to the major box. At his point he 'hears' the block bell, or more probably rings Netherdale on the omnibus phone. 7b by Ian Thompson, on Flickr 7.By courtesy of a low flying drone (I'm sure that these were around at the time, what with flying saucers etc) we can observe that the up goods is now reformed but that it is standing in the down platform. The signalman takes the fish train from Netherdale but we now come to another grey area. Would he send 5-2 to Dens Park to get a release for a token covering the shunt move to put the up goods onto the up road? The Regulations state that he should. This would then require sending 2-5 when the move was in the clear and replacing the token into the machine before sending 1-3-1 to release a token for the fish train. This would be "a right palaver". I suspect that he would more likely give Dens Park 1-3-1, place a reminder appliance over the home signal slot and the section signal levers, check and recheck that the points were across, and then authorise the shunt move to go into the Auchintoul-Dens Park section with a handsignal. This also raises a question about how assiduously shunt moves were recorded in the TRB and how closely the timings were audited! Any ideas anyone? 8 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr 8. As this is a propelling move we can surmise that the driver will hopefully appreciate that he is not going too far away rather than accelerating the train, particularly as there is a steep falling gradient beyond the bridge! If the driver is not careful he could have a runaway or snatch a coupling out. All rather nerve racking as it is an unauthorised move and could result in a Form 1 (Please explain.......) The section signal, just behind the loco (or it will be eventually) cannot be cleared for this move because it will lock the points. Once the move is clear of the detection bar it would have to be replaced to release them but if it had been cleared it would need releasing from Dens Park block instrument again before it could be cleared once more. This could be achieved by sending 3-5 "cancelling" and replacing the token before sending 1-3-1 again but would be self defeating as an exercise in avoiding work. Having made sure that the reminder appliances are on the relevant levers our corner-cutting signalman gives the driver a yellow flag to proceed. 9 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr 9. The loco propels the train beyond the home signal, (which will be placed near where the loco stands), in preparation for running into the up platform. The main point of this photo is to show that the locking bar and FPLs have been vestigially modelled at this, the south end of the layout The distillery sidings are to the right.. The co-acting home signal would be cleared to authorise the move. The adjacent 'dodd' will indicate that the road is set into the goods yard. 10 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr 10. With the shunt move now in the up platform the points are reversed once again, the reminder appliances are removed and the signals are cleared. Finally the fish train passes. I would almost say "barrels through" but there is no Manson tablet catcher which necessitates a reduction in speed from the through train to carry out the token exchange. In any case BR timings in the sixties were not too different from those on the pre WWI GNSR as they were restricted by the infrastructure provided in the first instance. In retrospect I suspect that I misread the timetable but I might go so far as to incorporate the need to 'cross the road' in the finished article. A recent article in Model Railroader made the point that the professionals faced these difficult and demanding situations every day and developed tried and trusted routines to deal with them. It is more difficult for modellers, who only run their layouts occasionally, to develop the same routines. I have never carried out shunting with loose coupled trains, neither have I operated a Tyers No 6 instrument. With this in mind it would be interesting to receive the insights of any forum members who did perform these activities regularly (or still do on preserved railways). If nothing else it shows how much fun can be had with a simple layout in the right conditions. Ian T

Nice layout that captures the atmosphere of the area but don't get too much into having everything square and vertical. They are not around here! Telegraph poles lean in all directions and even the railway's equipment, such as the catenary masts of the Ely-King's Lynn line follow suit. When I worked down the line I was told that they had moved so far that the contact wire had shifted so that it was on the curved edge of the pan in places! Cracked and subsiding buildings are quite common as well. I always thought it would be good fun to model one or two of the structures in Nordelph, just down the road from Outwell. Ian T

It has been a little while since I last posted about Auchintoul. On the physical side of things the landscape and backscenes have been roughed in to provide a foundation for the more detailed work which will follow. Some troubleshooting was needed with the fiddle yard pointwork, as expected, but this now seems to function properly. A basic timetable has been prepared and initially tested, although more work is needed before it can be considered complete Here is a selection of views illustrating the latest progress. a15 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The Maud Junction to Cairnie Junction passenger runs into Auchintoul over the Chirder Water viaduct as it approaches Auchintoul. a13 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr A mid sixties view of the train standing in the station with BR maroon stock. The footbridge must be the last GNSR survivor as most succumbed to rot during the LNER period. a14 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The 'traditional' helicopter shot shows the general arrangement of the station with the town on the hillside above it to the left. The paper markers indicate the possible positions of a cattle mart and various warehouses against the backscene. a17 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr In a pre WWI shot a class O pulls the local goods past the crossing keepers house on the back side of the layout. a16 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr This is a wider view of the train with the distinctive GNSR brake in the foreground. The 6 wheeled van is a NBR vehicle. The train is mostly composed of opens as was the usual practice in this era. The backscene is supposed to present the more threatening skies of Autumn. The layout will probably be left in this state for some time to come as work must progress on the main (room sized) 7mm NG layout. Hopefully the slightly more complete state of this layout should encourage rather more usage than was the case during the last interregnum. Ian T

Neil Nice to hear that you are recovering. I did email you in hospital but was not sure that you received it. Best wishes, Tommo

The Banffshire & Buchan. Preamble It has been well over a year since Auchintoul first appeared on this particular website and so far the thread has followed a well trodden path, so why vary from this?! The first couple of posts were along the lines of, "Hello, here I am, this is my layout." We have probably moved on to the, "Here is the rationale" part. I must admit that I have aired some mildly critical views about the lazier desultory histories and geographies presented to justify model railways. ("Must try harder boy/girl" I used to write in my long gone teaching days!) Some of those views made it into print in Narrow Lines, the journal of the 7mm NGA, and one even made the hallowed letters page of the Model Railway Journal, gently rebuffing, or so I thought (!) one of the great and good of the hobby. The opprobrium received on this website made me review that latter perception. Perhaps I ought to post as "Pompous Ass" in future! Anyhow here we go! The location Whenever I taught geography (as opposed to the preferred options of soccer/rugby/cricket) I used to select the 'Transport' option on the GCSE courses as far as practicable. This involved some minor legerdemain with statistics, mathematically analysing transport networks. (Nothing too demanding as compared to attempting to teach Stats to undergraduates when I was a PG.) The GNSR was a classic example of a 'tree' with minimal interconnectivity. My model, I therefore decided, would 'infill' part of this network and provide an alternative east-west route which would statistically massively improve the GNSR. The first choice was to base a layout between Banff and Fraserburgh, a line which was partially applied for by the GNSR as a branch to Rosehearty. Even allowing for the physical problems of discerning a route beyond the latter village into the Gardenstown area I quickly realised that the traffic prospects would be extremely limited. Option two, therefore, was to select a site with more prospective through traffic to augment the basic diet. A quick cast around suggested that a line between Cairnie Junction, Turriff and Maud Junction would kill many birds with one stone. It would directly connect the Buchan ports of Fraserburgh and Peterhead with the west and open up the intervening countryside, which was good agricultural land. In the process Aberchirder would receive a railway rather than relying upon buses from Huntly and agricultural output would be stimulated. Vallance (The Great North of Scotland Railway, David & Charles 1965, p120) records that the Maud-Turriff section was actually proposed as the West Buchan Railway but that WWI intervened. In my alternative universe the line was built and extended beyond Turriff to become a secondary through route. With the site thus selected and the town renamed after the local 'Big House', to allow for pragmatic deviations from reality, I surveyed the proposed route. Banff & Buchan by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The line has been plotted on Google Earth as shown. I will spare you the machinations but the gradients for the Banffshire & Buchan were calculated (using pencil and paper, no electronic calculators here) to eventually give a feasible route which is shown on the map. The line leaves the GNSR mainline between Huntly and Cairnie Junction near Rothiemay station, which has been renamed Ruthven, and takes a circuitous route to Turriff. The orange markers indicate passing stations. The only one at a significant settlement west of Turriff is at Auchintoul. The adjacent loops are provided to split the adjoining sections which would otherwise be too long for sensible operation. That at Netherdale is necessary because it lies at the foot of a long stretch of a 1 in 70 whilst Denspark is almost literally in the middle of nowhere. King Edward, on the Macduff branch, was similarly sited to split the section, although the LNER quickly dispensed with it. The yellow markers indicate stations without a loop. The GNSR seemed to be quite lavish in the provision of such establishments in places where traffic prospects would, on the face of it, appear to have been slim. The layout includes Mains of Kirton, the building of which will be based upon that at King Edward. auchin 3 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The railway's location in relation to Aberchirder is shown on the Google Earth photo. The town was laid out on a grid plan during the eighteenth century so it was a simple matter to extend the grid "when the railway arrived". The station is shown by the yellow marker and Station Street, at its junction with a continuation of School Street is shown in blue. A footpath connects the road with the station, passing alongside the Rest & Be Thankful which is a cryptic comment upon the early services provided by the GNSR. The train service. The typical British branch line saw only three or four passenger trains each way per day, contrary to what could be believed from a casual glance at many models, supplemented by the local goods. This of course is not an enticing prospect for a modeller keen on operation but the layout is supposed to provide a bucolic counterpoint to running a quasi mainline NG system. (The AFK, about which I occasionally post in the Overseas Modelling section of the forum.) On a through line such as the Banff & Buchan a couple of additional goods might or might not run and that would be it for the day. Passenger trains were split and joined at Maud Junction to provide services to Peterhead and Fraserburgh. The B&B combines an additional portion from these trains to provide a direct service to Keith via Turriff and Cairnie Junction. The model One thing that irks me about model railway design is the almost unthinking subservience to the cult of the fiddle yard. Obviously one would have to be an idiot not to appreciate the opportunities afforded by such devices but I do question whether they should be allowed to dominate model designs to the extent that they seem to. In many instances a small station is fed by a monstrous fiddle yard three or four times as big as the scenicked area. Having reduced their significance on my main layout (and written at length about it on my website) I decided to similarly downplay the N gauge layout's fiddle yard. Having paid good money for the baseboards and the room in which they sit I did not want to see trains hiding in a limboland of bare plywood. One cost of fiddleyards is that modellers unthinkingly concentrate upon stations rather than the railway in the countryside therefore the back side of the layout has been developed as a line through a rural scene, which will hopefully materialise as Banffshire in Autumn. The fiddleyard has been squeezed into an emaciated footprint between the two scenes. Trains reverse in or out as required, and if they cannot do this successfully, over sharply curved points, they have no place on the finished layout. I append some pictures of the layout under test, now that the trackwork, if not the wiring, is complete, along with a few observations. For the time being these are sixties BR trains as there is insufficient stock from other periods to run a timetable as yet. A1 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr A couple of trains lined up in the central fiddleyard which fits behind the backscenes. A2 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr Another view of the GA showing Auchintoul on the left the fiddleyard in the middle and the run through the countryside at the right with Mains of Kirton at the bottom right. A3 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr Some provision has been made for getting all the wheels of the N gauge locos onto the track in the narrow space! A straight piece is available beside the wheel cleaner where the backscenes curve apart. The untidy wiring in the yard is obvious. It is out of sight and easily accessible. A4 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The train reverses out onto the sharp curve before entering the scenic section. If it enters the main station this is not important as I am on the other side of the layout and cannot see it. The trace of the old set track curve is apparent. This had to be removed because the modern N gauge locos demand an 11 inch minimum radius. A5 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The down Fraserburgh-Keith train eases into Mains of Kirton. A6 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr A Morris Minor waits at a wayside crossing for the train to go by. The crossing keeper's house is in the background. A7 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The train is held at the down home which is the clearing point for its Keith-Fraserburgh counterpart. The parsimonious GNSR rarely used outer homes. The home is slotted and the lever is reversed in the minor box. The signal is yet to be built and in reality it would most likely be on the other side of the bridge, yet another model railwayism! The quite distinctive bridge design is based on photos that I have taken of GNSR prototypes. A8 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr With the down train held at the clearing point the 2MT runs into Auchintoul under a typical GNSR girder bridge beside the distillery. The locking mechanism and the detection bar are already in place at the business end of the point, which is interlaced, as were many which survived until closure. A9 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The up train pulls to a halt opposite the station buildings, having handed the token over to the signalman. The platform is very low, in contrast to many models (another pet hate!) and portable steps will be required for any passengers wishing to board A10 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The track has deliberately been placed at a scale six foot between the platforms. One by product is that it increases the apparent length of the platforms when compared to the usual spacing used on models. This is often too wide due to the geometry of a well known track brand but there is still space for the (working) shunt signal in the foreground. The signalman pulls the lever on the down home which releases the slot and clears it before the Keith-Fraserburgh train runs into the platform. It has already been taken by Denspark so the section signal is off. It will be quite a trek to get the token before replacing it in the machine and getting a release from Netherdale for the up train and he must not forget to replace the home's lever, which puts the home back, and pull the slot for the section signal. A11 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr First in, last out. Having got the token from Denspark the signaller walks the length of the up platform and gives it to the engine crew before crossing to the minor box (behind the loco). He replaces the home lever into the frame, normalises the FPL, reverses the points, reverses the FPL again (not necessarily essential (depending upon the locking) but good practice anyway) and clears the section signal. Hopefully he has released the slot from the major box otherwise it will obstinately remain "on" necessitating a walk back to the main box and another trip to the minor box to normalise the levers after the train has left! Here, the "wee trainnie" is on its way. A12 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The sixties were more lenient times than the current railway's working environment so after all that palaver he might wander up to the Rest & Be Thankful in Station Street for a quick half. Good job that there are so few trains! This is an area of Auchintoul still known as 'The Quiniesbrae' after the fishwives who sold the products of the two ports from their creels to the town's inhabitants. They gathered here to catch the return trains at the end of the day. From the modelling point of view I suppose that it is still "Could do better!" Ian T

As the Mexican railways often bought equipment from US manufacturers the short answer would be yes. Whether the US model manufacturers actually produce any R-T-R models in Mexican liveries might be a different issue but I am sure that it would be a simple case of repainting and using appropriate 'decals'. Any-one interested in modelling South American or Central American railways (as opposed to Mexican railways which are in North America) could do worse than look at the products of Frateschi, the Brazilian model manufacturer. Ian T

Loose shunting - the loco propels the wagon(s) and one or a raft is uncoupled on the move to run on their own into a particular siding. Double shunting - similar to loose shunting but more than one wagon/raft of wagons is uncoupled while on the move to go to more than one siding with points being changed between each raft. Fly shunting - the loco hauls the wagons and is uncoupled on the move going in one direction at the points while the now uncoupled wagon(s) go in a different direction at those points. A rather dangerous practice which needed considerable skill both in uncoupling the wagon(s) at just the right speed and moment in order to give them sufficient impetus once the loco had been uncoupled, and in changing the points at just the right time. Ideally best done with the initial snatch of couplings as the loco starts but that won't usually give the wagons sufficient impetus to get rolling very far. Thanks for that. Loose shunting was what I meant! Ian t

Best of luck with the exhibition on Saturday Neil. I'm afraid I cannot get unless it really persists down because cricket starts at 12.00. Ian T

I would not disagree that some layouts do shunt too slowly but there were safety aspects to the activity. Having handed up and taken the train staff from class 66s with a loaded train behind them I was well aware of the bulk of the real thing at close quarters. I can assure you that self preservation was a thought uppermost in my mind as a signalman. You did not want to be anywhere nearby if anything went wrong! As I have just observed on my website, in an article that covers shunting, amongst other things, it was the cause of many deaths and crippling injuries to railwaymen. With regard to getting on with it and bashing things around I suspect that you are referring to fly shunting. Whilst the bulk of the prototype vehicles allowed this technique most models are too small to allow it. I suspect also that it was also mainly carried out where specialist brakemen were employed rather than in local goods yards. Ian T

The final articles about the operation of the layout have now been placed upon the web. They can be found at http://myafk.net/latest-info Work on the layout has been stopped for some time as other interests take precedence. It will doubtlessly restart sometime in the future! Ian T

Would not have thought that any sighting committee would accept the driver's view of the "Dodd" by the platform. Have you thought about putting it on a short pole? This isn't intended as a carping criticism but as a possible solution. Although every-one calls them ground signals every Handbook that I was issued with before retirement called them "position light signals" and stated 'these .... are normally positioned at ground level' My italics. Hope that this helps. Ian T

Should have gone to the 'Rest & Be Thankful' afterwards Andy like most train crews probably did! Still thinking about putting an auction market in by the cattle pens. Tommo

A little more progress has been made. All the points and locos now seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet at any rate. The basic landforms have been sketched in and backscenes erected. I have one question which I would like to have answered if possible. Did the GNoS serve private coal merchants in its yards? This is not quite as daft a question as it sounds. As I understand it a lot of coal came into the area by coastal shipping but what about the towns away from the coast? I have looked at as many period photos as I can without being able to definitely find an answer. In BR days things had changes and 12T opens were quite common. operations 002 - Copy by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The distillery takes PO wagons from the Fife coalfield as this was the closest to Auchintoul. operations 005 - Copy by Ian Thompson, on Flickr Class O number 10 pushes the wagons up the steep incline to the Foggieloan distillery. The Union Mills mechanism is not as smootha s the modern Farish offerings but it has more guts. A standard 4MT tank doesn't want to know with 3 mineral wagons! operations 008 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The land forms were sketched in when a blob of white glue landed smack on the tiebar of the point on the bridge. This glued up solid despite efforts to wipe the glue away. Larger replacemant parts had to be manufactured to get it working again. Ones that I could see! operations 010 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The position of the point on the bridge. operations 012 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The whole layout. Auchintoul on the left. Mains of |Kirton at bottom right and fiddle yard in the middle (or it will be if I ever get round to it. My antipathy to fiddle yards has been expressed elsewhere. Look forward to being enlightened about the POs. Ian T

Re car floats. I thought they had all gone, but no! Trains February edition covered the last one still serving New York and stated that it was expanding again. Nice little yard at 65th Street which is easy to see on Google Earth. Ian T

Erm yes! I am currently taking a sabbatical from the AFK and developing my GNoSR N gauge layout. This can be found under the Aberlour tag in Layout Topics. I've always been fascinated by the area since watching Highland League football there in the seventies and seeing the line into Macduff.. Ian T