OO/HO African profile model railway in Kenya: 01 - introduction

[John Ashworth]

Africa in the late 1960s and the '70s (I first arrived in this beautiful continent in the mid-'70s, so I caught this period). Railways were far more central to life in those days than they are now, and along with the associated river and lake transport were often the largest single employer. Steam, diesel and electric traction were all in use in various parts of the continent. Some countries had achieved independence, some were still colonies, and South Africa was still under apartheid. White, black, Arab and Indian people could be seen as railway workers, government employees and railway passengers in various parts of the continent. Many parts of Africa were experiencing liberation struggles. Emergency humanitarian relief had entered the picture, in Biafra, say, in the '60s or Ethiopia in the '70s.

All of the above is true. Now imagine a few extra parts of the great jigsaw puzzle. Imagine that African railways had been built to standard gauge (after all, who wants to scratchbuild all the model locos and rolling stock for 12 mm track gauge?) and that for this practical reason (and perhaps some imaginary political and economic reasons too) there was far greater inter-operability between the railways of different African countries, and you have the basis of my model railway concept.

She who must be obeyed has granted me the use of a 40 foot shipping container, which also contains our solar power equipment and a small back-up generator (the gennie is soon to be moved outside the container), to build a model railway which we hope will capture the feel of an African railway during that time period, without being exactly prototypically accurate. Locos and rolling stock include South African profile stuff bought in South Africa, but also locos and rolling stock which just "look right" and with a bit of repainting and modification will fit - after all, much of the real African railway equipment was built in Britain, Germany and other parts of the world. The scale is OO/HO because I use locos and rolling stock from both scales from various manufacturers - the slight difference in size is explained by the fact that different African countries might have used different loading gauges even with the same track gauge.

An interesting model railway has to have a lot of non-railway material to catch the eye and set the scene, and we intend to try to model some of the things we have seen and experienced in Africa over the last forty years - a humanitarian relief airlift, a guerilla insurgency, a shanty town, church missionaries (and a mosque, of course), tourists and backpackers, wild animals, pastoralist tribes with their cattle, a river/swamp, lots of Land Rovers, and whatever else we can think of. Jane is interested in the trees and some of the other scenic bits and pieces.

The plan is for a terminus station and loco depot along one wall for the first 4 m from the main door of the container (the wall opposite has the solar kit), feeding into a circuit around the rest of the container, ie about 7 m long and nearly 3 m wide. The layout will have two levels, with separate circuits on the higher and lower levels, connected by a spiral (if I can manage to build it!). There'll be a passing loop on each level. The lower level under the station will be a 3-road fiddle yard. I'm using analogue rather than DCC (digital cab control), because that's the era I come from and I understand old-fashioned wiring. Some of the signals will be working, but at least I will try to have them in the right places rather than being scattered at random.

So that's the challenge. The first part of the baseboard, for the station, loco depot and fiddle yard, is more or less complete and I can now begin the more interesting part, juggling track and buildings, but I can't move too quickly as I still need to cut an access door in the side of the container before I start tracklaying. Over the last two or three years I have been buying bits and pieces whenever I travel abroad (from model railway shops and online suppliers in UK, Oslo, New York, Amsterdam, Cape Town and even Bangkok) so I have most of the the stuff I need to get started. I'll try and post updates here and will welcome comments and suggestions.

I want to attach three photos - the container from the outside and inside, and a picture of the partially completed baseboard, with the boards resting loosely on the framework - but the forum is not allowing it - I'll have to adjust the forum settings, I think, and post them later.

[John Ashworth]

Photos referring to the above post, after adjusting the forum settings (one of the privileges of being a Forum Moderator!).

[John Ashworth]

Finally got a door and window cut in the side of the container, built a veranda to keep the afternoon sun off the metal wall, and moved the generator outside.

[John Ashworth]

Finished...

[John Ashworth]

Two close-ups...

[John Ashworth]

I haven't posted anything here for nearly six months, in part because I didn't do much on the railway for a while, but also because the Forum was offline for several months due to technical issues. We're gradually coming back online, and I hope to post more text and pictures soon. I've been doing a lot of work on the scenery over the last few weeks, including the desert and airstrip scene, the ash pit, and the shanty town.

[John Ashworth]

Once again a long break without posting anything, in part because we've had problems posting attachments, including photos, to the forum. But work on the railway has continued.

The shanty town has really developed and, like real life shanty towns, continues to grow haphazardly. I've installed some lighting.

The lake scene is now quite well developed, with cliffs overlooking the lake, a steamer coming in to dock at a stone jetty, hippos and crocodiles basking by the lakeside, and a dozen or so flamingos which I haven't yet fixed. The lake itself is made of old pieces of glass.

The desert airstrip and station scene is pretty well developed, still adding details - indeed the addition of details on the whole layout will continue for many years to come. There's always something more than can be added or changed. Semaphore signals are in place to protect the station, but they're not remote controlled.

I'm now concentrating on the main loco depot and the posher area of town which overlooks it, including the Catholic church and some Cape Dutch architecture. I'm waiting for a parcel to arrive from UK with a few more houses in it.

I'm also gradually developing a small industrial area as a transition between the town and the shanty town, with the coaling stage in the foreground. I'm scratch-building low-relief warehouses and have ordered a factory chimney kit and an industrial scenic backdrop. On other parts of the layout I've already mounted rural scenic backdrops from Australia, which feel more African than the European or north American backdrops. The Aussie ones are not cheap, mind you!

I've struggled with mounting points motors under the baseboard, but now I have some side-mounted points motors which I hope will be easier to fit. I've got a couple of points working manually with long wires in plastic tubing, and I plan to do one or two more like that, the ones which are nearer to the operating console but still too far to reach comfortably. I'll gradually start connecting up the colour light signals to the control console.

I've decided to have a small narrow gauge (OO9, 9 mm gauge) feeder line running into the main station, with a siding into the goods yard. It'll add a bit of variety. I've just ordered a small narrow gauge diesel loco and some other bits and pieces; again I'm, waiting for them to arrive from UK.

I've received a replacement engine for my Garratt, so one day I'll fit that and get it operating. I've also received a couple more British-pattern steam locos which have a vaguely African feel to them.

Not much progress on the main station and town, but I've decided to use MDF for the platform, nearly 2 metres long, as we've had some wardrobes fitted and there's plenty of this good quality board left over.