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; GP-30 hauls empty ore train over freshly ballested track. Above Middle; 2006 heads a train of empty hoppers down the grade over No2 bridge. Above Right; Ab730 on a special running day held for her 10th Anniversary, G43 was the back-up engine for the day as seen double heading with the Birthday Girl!

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.