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Latest
Updates
JULY
2010
Half
way through the year, where has the time gone? This month has been one
of bits & pieces, mainly try-ing to sort a few things out on the
site to make things flow a bit easier so you may notice a few changes.
I have finally got
From
the Workshop up
& going, this will be a page of different ideas & techniques
being applied to projects. The F chassis will be the 1st to feature
here with other little projects to follow.
Above;
2006 being test run on a sunny winters day, just a few tiny touch-ups
resulted on this otherwise trouble-free run!
Monthly
Updates are as follows, Rolling
Stock I have listed the
different forms & Countries, this section now features the
Freelance section, click on the {AFR-LOCOMOTIVES} to view the
2000 Class up-date, also
{NZR-WAGONS
& VANS} has been bought up to date.
Hope
the changes aren't to bigger problem, I am still try-ing to get use to
them!!
Until
next month when a new project will be announced, Happy modelling!
JUNE
2010
Well
this month brings us winter weather, wet & cold so nothing getting
done outside. The garden has really lost most of its colour & the
leaves from the trees are everywhere! Any way updates are
Layout
Construction
with details of the new inside loop being added, Structures
a new bridge, Links
a site promoting the 'Trains on the Plains' Ashburtons own train show.
This
month I have been busy with lots of small catch up jobs mainly
changing couplings, track work & chassis work!

Above
Left; Have converted a MDC ore hopper to NZR Chopper couplings so
the AFR Freelance locos can be rostered on the ore trains, the Garrett
was converted with the English Ten-Mille brand of Choppers. Above
Middle; A test trial of coupling, the reason for this is that the
ore hoppers are always coupled as a train so why waste good factory
couplers when a simple tounge coupling will do! (Hopefully it will
last the distance, will keep you all posted) Above Right; Well
it has finally happened F72 is in the workshop under going a chassis
rebuild, a first for us, as all scratch-built locos have been built on
a ready to run motor blocks. Work on this is progressing slowly, as
everything is a learning curve. One fall back is that it has delayed
the 2000 class completion but I assure you all that there will be
pictures of the completed unit with the commissioning of this new loco
next month!
Below;
3 of the Yj hoppers in there finished livery.

Next
month will update F72s chassis progress with some pictures, until then
keep modelling!

MAY
2010
Well
this month has see more progress on the 2000 Class in the Freelance
section, we are very happy the way
this
loco is turning out, we still have the wiring to do & which is not
my strong point!
The
Picture
Gallery has also had a
few more pics added to keep the interest up, this time looking back a
year or two to see how things have changed around the Railway.
This
month we also had our first charter, the Railway was visited by a
family from Timaru who found us on the net & arrangements were
made for a visit. The day was gloomey but that didn't matter because
as soon as the 2 kids (2 & 4yrs) saw the trains everything else
didn't seem to exsist, it was good to see that an old hobby can still
hold the attention of the younger generation. The oldest of the 2 had
earned his driving rites & was controling the trains like an old
hand so he was given a certificate stating he was an assisitant
driver, a great deal of fun was had by the both of them & that is
what we are all in the hobby for.

Above
Left; Brother & Sister enjoying there visit getting to know
there favorite character. Above Middle; Young fella earning his
drivers ticket, in charge of the GP-7 heavy freight. Above Right;
Thomas enjoying a relaxing run.
Extenstions
are starting in the shed with an extra loop going in on the main line
as a storage siding for racks of wagons & a put-on track for
visiting rolling stock, more on this next month. Also check out the Links
page for a site of interest in Preservation in the Philippines. All
the best in modelling.

APRIL
2010
Last
month saw the completion of ballesting the outside track, which is one
big job out of the way! The 2000 class also received some attention
which can be seen on the Freelance
page. The AFR for the 1st time
in its history sold one of its locomotives, it took a bit of doing but
common sense won out in the end. We bid a fond farewell to the USA
Trains Southern Pacific SD-70Mac which was the biggest loco on the
railway, but it was just to big!! It gave great service when rostered
on but the good news is it will be a regular visitor to the AFR as it
was sold to I.D.K RAIL here in Ashburton.

Above
Left; Same shot as Feb update but this time ballesting is
finished. Above Middle; Bridge No1 needed some attention on its
guide rails. Solution was to drill a hole in the bottom of the rail
& screw a self tapper in to secure, works like a charm as you can
see in the Structures
page update. Above Right; SD-70Mac hauls its last train under
AFR's ownership this loco now resides at the I.D.K Rail Depot in
Ashburton.

Above
Left; GP-30 hauls empty ore train over freshly ballested track. Above
Middle; The driver of the SD-70 must have thought he was seeing
things when Thomas was waiting on the loop! Above Right; More
was to come when Percy clattered through anouncing there arrivals at
the AFR.
One
of the last jobs for the SD-70 was to haul a track measuring train,
this was done measuring from the front headstock of the loco to the
back head stock of the caboose & see how many times the trains
length fitted around the track. The result is!!! A mainline run of
109.3metres! Until May, all the best in your modelling projects!

March
2010
Not
much to report this month as we have been busy out in the garden with
plants & removing fences so we can view the railway from our
lounge, which looks great I might add! The Freelance
page has been up dated with new happenings on the 2000 Class. And yes
ballesting is still being done on weekends with steady progress. Until
next month Happy Modelling!

February
2010
Well
January has gone & summer still hasn't showed up! So there is not
much happening outside but ballesting is still being done when weather
allows. To date the main-line is complete from the East end of the
shed to the begining of the passing loop & is looking not to bad. Below
left; The loop is being prepared for re-ballesting with the old
being removed & the base being cleaned, this is how it is sitting
at present time as we have had rain every weekend.

Above
right; Well, the designers have been using the wet weather to
there advantage & have come up with this! They have designed a
short, modern looking & pratical loco, the New 2000
Class!!!! Work will start on this project very soon & will be
posted in the Freelance
section.
This
month the Locomotives
page has been up-dated with all new photos so enjoy.
Ash-rail
has made a major decision over the last couple of weeks in the form of
modelling another 1:24 Railway. We are currently researching
locomotives & rolling stock of the PNR (Philippine National
Railway) so this should be a great project as there are only a few in
the world who are modelling this system & it would be nice to
preserve some of there items if only in model form. Here is a link to
an interesting site to give you a bit of a taste of things to come.
http://philippinerailwayhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/
Until
next month all the best in modelling..

January
2010
Well
2010 is here, I hope everyone had a great Festive season & got
plenty done on there railways. Progress on the AFR is steady-ish but
no matter how slow, it is still progress.

The
main job on the go at the moment is ballesting, this is not the first
time we have tried this but hopefully we will be more successful this
time. We are using a dry mixture of crusher dust, mortar, cement &
blk oxide, above left is the first step where a product called CE-MIX
is brushed on. This is an industrial bonding agent for giving better
adheasive strength when bonding to existing concrete. Above right the
mixture is sprinkled on & brushed to clear flange ways, below
left. The final step is to wet it using a garden sprayer, below
right.

I hope this
method will give the lasting results I am looking for, I have read
alot of articles on this but with fingers crossed & a couple of
winters under our our belts, time will tell.
Ash Rail has a
new adition to its loco fleet, it is an Aristocraft FB unit (below)
for some time now we have been thinking that a free-lance diesel is
needed for the increasing freight traffic. Now the designers have the
job to come up with a double ended unit to serve the railways needs,
we will keep you posted!
Last
of all there are some updates on the web site in the Structures
& Picture
Gallery
sections, until next month Happy Modeling!

December
2009
The
weather has been great the past couple of weekends so have been
outside doing some unfinished jobs in the garden. Above
left; At last the capping has been added to the
top of the raised garden which makes a great seat while operating
trains. Above right; Just in front of the back fence has also
had some attention with planters being added with shrubs being planted
to hide the fence in the future.
There has been a
Picture Gallery page added so the odd running day, special occasion or
visiting rolling stock can be recorded for every one to view.
Another short
video clip has been added to Youtube. Ab730 is the star this time
hauling a short goods train under No2 bridge.

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November
2009
Well all I can
say is it has been a long time since an up date & thought it
was time to make more of an effort now that family life has
settled down a bit. So here we go, we are going to try a monthly
update & post it in the first week of every month as things
are still not progrssing at a great rate of knots but should be
enough done on the railway for a few lines and a picture or 2!
Well as you can see the web site is under going a few changes with
a new address & look on the site, this is a big step for me as
I have had to learn a lot to get this far in web page
construction. A big thanks must go to Andy for puting up with my
constant questions when things don't go the way I think they
should & helping out with the
site.
Ok, we are
going to combine a couple of months in our 1st upate so here we
go, things have been happening both inside & out during winter
with major rock wall construction taking place. We decided to use
what was cheaply available, as a result we used Ruapuna bolders.
They are big grey boulders which have been doug up out of farm
paddocks over the years and stacked in piles, so they are only to
happy to get rid of them. These have been dry stacked to retain
the upper level garden, the other method being used is a bit more
time consuming with mortaring rocks in place mainly used around
the bridges & tunnels on the railway. See pics
below.
We also have a
new name running on the AFR with Ash-rail being the major hauler
taking the railway into 2010!

Above Left
& Middle; Workshop has been busy through the winter with 3
more Yj's being added to the roster. Above Right; The
Signal section has been busy as well with the inside yard being
completely wired up with all turnouts electrically operated &
isolated sections for loco storage.
The web site
will be worked on when spare time permits so be prepare for a few
more changes this month, so in the mean time Happy Modeling!!
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