ianathompson

After some thought I have decided to post on this website about my main layout which is the AFK. This is a large freelanced continental NG layout in 7mm scale. It is also a double and sometimes triple decked layout. All the equipment is scracthbuilt. This may or may not be of interest to readers on this forum and I already post on another site. My preferred method is to provide detailed coverage on my own website and simply to advise on these forums when the website has been updated. The layout is based upon operation, with trains running to "timetables" and wagons forwarded by consignment notes. Running sessions can last for months as it is a home layout operated purely by myself. These sessions are updated on the website as appropriate. I have enclosed a few photos here to give some idea of the flavour of the layout. P1020386 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr A goods train(formed of SG wagons on transporters) crosses the Kasatritikakamparoj, the plains area of the layout. 29 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The down morning railcar passes Lamassco, a small conditional halt, trailing the Post vans. 3-67 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The main express of the day stands at Relforka, the SG junction. Standing at the right, it is pulled by a 2-6-6-0T. The train at the left is the all stations local to Urteno which follows the express.The SG loco at the far right is on one of the connecting trains. 2-127 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The same mallet pulls a different train through the Aepto Gorge in the Altingablecautoj, the mountainous area of the layout. 123 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The line terminates in the Square at Fenditavalt. Here a three-phase electric railcar of the CFS provides a connection with the AFK, providing services into the neighbouring canton. 91 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr Far out in the Gyorsmorabu a rack branch serves Jakarutu. The train is on the moorland section above the rack. The anemometer records the windspeed. If this is too high the service is suspended. The website can be found at http://myafk.net/latest-info This is the update page showing the latest developments on the site. By clicking onto the menu the various other areas can be accessed. If there is an interest I will notify of updates on this site. Ian T

Re the last point about using metal fishplates as a hinge.as advised by Hayfield. I am interested in this suggestion. I personally moved away from this procedure in my general method of construction because I could not control the rail alignment at the hinge and this led to derailments. This was why I moved to soldering the switchblades to a solid base. I assume that the fishplates that you use are more rigid than the Peco ones that I used for code 100 track. My own approach to modelling a double slip has been to fabricate the central obtuse nose (for want of a better term, but doubtlessly I will be corrected (!)) as one piece but to solder the adjacent switch rails as outlined. I must admit that this results in a stiff set of blades which would probably not take very well to anything other than the simple rods that I use to operate points. Thanks to Regularity for the encouragement but it seems unlikely that I will be sharing too much about the AFK on this forum. That's not because of any problems with the forum but simply because I have enough on my plate posting in Narrow Gauge Modelling On Line. I only included the original post on this thread as an afterthought to posting on that forum. (In fact I did not even realise that this forum did overseas railways until this comment prompted me to look at the indices!) I suppose that I could be persuaded to notify of updates to the web site as this is how I avoid long posts on the NGM site. As anyone who has visited the site will quickly have gathered building points is simply a means to an end. The AFK is built to operate trains to a time table whilst simulating the demands placed upon it by the local (imaginary) economy. In the fullness of time I will resume posting about Auchintoul but as that layout has been moribund for some time there is not likely to be anything in the near future! Ian T

Nice to see a modern layout of one of my local stations. I will be in Ely for choral evensong at the cathedral this afternoon. Give my regards to Neil. I spent a lot of time discussing N gauge with him at shift change time at Downham before he went to Ely and I retired. Ian T (Tommo)

Notwithstanding the preceding comments, the original article was produced in response to requests on another forum about my construction methods. I simply included on this site because, as I noted, there seem to be many modellers who also express interest in this method of construction without seeming to take the plunge . I appreciate that the article has a long pre-amble that many readers probably skipped. I did point out that, "I would by no means claim to be an expert or a paragon of virtue in using good practice. Having said that the AFK has around 100 points which are expected to perform consistently without problems." Regarding replicating SG track, the method has been used on Auchintoul, my N gauge layout, about which I have very occasionally posted on this site. It had to be used here because the pre WWI GNoSR used interlaced sleepers. The AFK is a freelanced continental NG railway unlike any found in this country. Its inspirations included intensively operated lines such as the Rhaetian, the Roglasbanan in Sweden and many others which acted as quasi mainline systems. I accept that this is probably of little interest to readers of this forum. Those straying from the track construction page on the website might have noted that the AFK runs similarly intensive operating sessions underpinned by reliable operation. Be that as it may it was always intended that the article would be supplemented with a second part looking at more complex pointwork. This has now been published at http://myafk.net/complex-trackwork As a taster I have posted one photo of the layout's 'party piece' below. 005 - Copy - Copy by Ian Thompson, on Flickr Ian T

I have been asked about the methods used to construct the points on my main layout (the AFK) on another forum. I use copper clad sleepers as the basis of construction. Whilst I would definitely not claim to be an expert at constructing points there seem to be a number of people vaguely interested in the subject but who are hesitant to dip their toe into the water, . The techniques are basically the same in any gauge or scale, although I model in 7mm narrow gauge, which is effectively OO gauge. I hope that some-one may find something of interest, even if only as a subject of mirth! If some-one as ham fisted as myself can construct the things then I am sure than nearly any-one can! The site is at http://myafk.net/building-pointwork Ian T

More playing trains and little progress towards completing the oval, although a couple of minor track issues have been sorted. This selection shows a modern scenario which probably stretches the original too far but..... well it is a second/third layout and life is so much easier when you can buy such nice models over the counter rather than scratchbuild everything! decant 057 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr A class 66 pulls in to cross a Sprinter. Not sure whether to designate the near (up) platform as a bi-di and retain the loop for freight only. The footbridge has gone, rotted away like most of its contemporaries, and the station building may be replaced with a bus shelter. the loop could be worked from the box which had been demoted to a groundframe. A few GNoSR boxes still survive and all the ones that I work are pre-grouping examples. The wagon in the foreground is a German 'rolling road' wagon for lorries. If you are going to contemplate such a wild scenario you might as well go the whole hog. Spent the morning giving and taking the train staff from real 66s. They are quite impressive as they bear down upon you! decant 061 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr Meanwhile in the sidings the contract hire loco for Moray Distribution (or somesuch company, maybe Foggieloan Logistics?) waits to take the inbound wagons from the 66 and pull out an outbound raft. The repainted Ibertren hoppers are a bit crude but the other European stuff looks okay. Containers are being loaded on the siding and the vans stand on what may become Tesco's warehouse siding. You know the sort, some horrid carbunkle on the landscape. Somewhere in my extensive continental selection an 0-8-0 V65 lurks which would be ideal as a superannuated shunter. Ian T

I suppose that I had better introduce myself and Auchintoul. My main interest is continental narrow gauge railways and I have a large layout (the AFK for any-one who has run across it) upon which most of my modelling time is spent. I post about this layout regularly on another forum and also run a website for it. However, like most modellers I have always dabbled in other interests and Auchintoul is one of these. It is envisaged that I might occasionally provide info on this forum about it. Auchintoul is an N gauge model of a GNoSR station. There is no point looking for it on a map nor is there any point looking for the town itself. Those familiar with rural Banffshire might however realise that Auchintoul House is in the parish of Aberchirder, the location of the model. As I have played fast and loose with the geography and economic history of the settlement I chose not to name it Aberchirder but to use another name. I know that Foggieloan is the local nickname for the town but plumped for that of the local big house instead. I have to be honest and state that the original intention was to present a might-have-been for Gardenstown, along the coast from Banff, and a site well above the cliffs was surveyed and selected to begin construction of Easter Gamrie, named for the civil parish. I later realised that the traffic potential of a line between Fraserburgh and Macduff was too limited and sought another location. Although the layout remains unaltered (well not quite, but that is another story!) it was relocated onto a connecting line between Maud Junction and Cairnie Junction running via Turriff. This will allow more trains to run. The route has been surveyed using OS maps and Google Earth and would have been physically feasible although the gradient calculations out of the Deveron valley to Auchintoul had eventually be 'back calculated' on a gradient of 1 in 70 to avoid too steep an incline. A timetable is currently under construction for the pre WWI era. This will form the basis of a 1950s/60s/early 70s version as the original restricting infrastructure seems to have prevented too much speeding up. A rather more fanciful 2000s era upgrade is also envisaged. Enough of the supposed background, the layout is a place to play trains so here are some photos to show the (excruciatingly slow) progress to date. decant 045 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr In a 1950s view we see a Fowler tank standing alongside the incomplete goods shed with an down train for Cairnie Junction. This engine was deputising for a BR standard loco as these has not been produced by Grafar at that time. decant 047 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The same train is seen in its pre WWI format at roughly the same place. Running it into position for the photo reminded me that the footbridge still needs shimming up as the chimney took it with it! The footbridge was laboriously converted to the GNoSR style from a whitemetal NER version. The loco is a class O converted from a Union Mills model and the carriages are scratchbuilt 6 wheelers. Before anyone points out the discrepancies these models are caricatures rather than scale models. The railway's secondary importance as something occupying the study, aka library, is apparent from the background. decant 050 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr A rather cruel close up of the 'minor' box based on that at Spey Bay, although it still awaits steps. The signalman is showing the green flag to indicate that the train has been accepted by Netherdale under the warning arrangement, as provided for in the Box Instructions. Scratchbuilding in 2mm scale probably requires more accuracy than I will ever muster but giving it a go is part of the enjoyment! decant 052 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr Auchintoul station is clearly based (hopefully!) on that at Portsoy. This was roughly measured up (on my last visit to watch Highland League football) to provide a reasonably accurate model. The same version, in a mirror image, was used at Cullen and in the light of its originally intended location on a cousin of the 'Coast' line I felt that it would fit the bill. It has now moved 10 miles inland! (They are all railway books by the way.) decant 055 by Ian Thompson, on Flickr The main box (based on Tillynaught Junction) is still under construction but the whole point was to show the current pride and joy, a working Stevens drop flap signal in N. This is the red blob in the foreground. The points are scratchbuilt, with interlaced sleepers, and the track is laid at 6 foot from rail to rail rather than the widened distance produced by a well known manufacturer's products in N. The point into the distillery (right) has a co-acting single blade trap point working off the same 'lever'. Lots of blue language was required to set it up! That's it for now. I might even complete the full run (version 3) in this bout of work and hopefully the layout will not be left in suspended animation for the next year as it has been for the last one. One other point. Does any-one know what the shunting signals were called. Where I currently work they are 'dodds' but I am sure that this was not the usual GNoSR term. Ian T