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Layout
Construction
This page has
now been split into
Inside
Layout Construction
and
Outside
Layout construction
pages.
The above
plan gives you a rough layout idea of the route the trains take
with the shed being the main point of operation. The shed on the
North side has a 10m passing loop on the main line branching off
to a yard on the south side. There are tunnel portals at the West
& East ends heading out into the garden, the East end has a
level run over a wooden truss bridge (No1) to a single span steel
girder bridge (No2) then we hit a 2% grade down to a 4 span steel
girder bridge (No3) & at the end of this the grade increases
to 3% until we pass under No2 bridge where we level out. We are
now heading West passing over the concrete path & entering
another passing loop outside, then we head out of the loop &
up another 2% grade until we enter the West end tunnel portal of
the shed.
Above Left
& Middle; American muscle at work just crossing No3 bridge
easing onto the 2% grade. Above Left; Same train throttling
up for the 3% grade, passing a switcher on banking duties (if
required) sitting in the loop.
The main line
is wired up for single & dual train running track power, we
run 20volts @ 3.5amp with lap-top power supplies supplying the
East & West sections but with a flick of a switch we can go to
20volts @ 5amp for double heading or long trains when on single
running or just the East section when dual running with a bigger
power supply doing the work!! Single is great when working on the
railway or operating on your own & having a train running
around. Dual takes a bit more thinking with a remote in each hand
with trains running loop to loop where they can pass,
but 2 people we can travel loop to loop & swap trains or
sections resulting in a lot of fun!
As with most
garden railways we learn as we go along & by our mistakes but
there is always progress in one form or another. The AFR now has
its final track bed down so we can concentrate on other projects
slowly progressing in many ways.
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