Aliwal North SAR Model Train Layout. HO scale, Micro Layout. (135 photographs in this compilation)

This is my very first, small table top South African Railways HO scale layout at my home in Aliwal North, Republic of South Africa. It is 100% functional and complete.

Depicting the Aliwal North Railway Station, a small industrial area and farming community in Aliwal North, with charm and innocence, reminiscent of days and decades past.

Introduction:

Constructing model railway tracks, is a hobby that transcends generations and encourages people to nurture a wide range of skills as problem solvers.
First and foremost, you need to let your imagination lead the way!!
Then you can begin by,
(1) Researching the different railways and trains, and of course
(2) a great deal of skill goes into the Planning.
(3) Woodworking skills are required to lay the track and then
(4) Electrical / Electronic skills to successfully install all the wiring.
(5) You improve your Artistic and Modelling skills as you proceed with the build.

"People think that they're toys, but it does take a great deal of skill. They're anything but toys these days."

Planning:

Google image.

"Through The Clouds Photography"

By courtesy: Drone photograph by
"Through The Clouds Photography"
(look them up on Facebook)

The towering 55 m high Silos and Mill of
the actual Bokomo (SASKO) Grain Facility
are visible, in the centre on the horizon in
this beautiful current picture of Aliwal North.
January 25, 2017

I have modelled only the Silos, the Mill
and some smaller obvious detail of this
facility due to space constraints on
my layout.
I have endeavoured to model the top
right hand section of this photograph.
(HO scale - era 1972)

Aerial views of my Aliwal North SAR Layout.

Departing from the Aliwal North railway station, in a clockwise direction at the rear of the layout. The branch line continues behind the large Bokomo grain facility, passes the parachute water tank at the back, leaving the left hand automatic reverse loop A with two temporary branch line turnouts for storage of rolling stock, to the right and rear of the layout in the one corner of the room, follows a right hand curve through a cutting with a farmhouse on the hill behind and crosses the R58 road by means of a subway.

Automatic Reverse Loop A
Escom Distribution Depot
(left), the Municipal Power Station /
Workshop (centre) and the
Aliwal North Railway Station
(background).

The Engen Bulk Fuel Depot (centre)
and the Aliwal North Railway Station
(background).

The Bokomo grain facility.

The Bokomo Parking area with the
reverse loop switch on the right.
Parachute water tank at the back.

The reverse loop switch on the
left with the two branch lines,
currently used for the storage
of rolling stock.

Automated reversing loop.
The two branch lines are currently
used for storage of rolling stock.

The R58 to Burgersdorp is crossing

the railway line.

Farm "Heuningkrantz" (on the left)

An informal housing settlement
on either side of the subway

From here the single track splits into the right hand automatic reverse loop B around the farm area of “Alomfraai”, an imaginary piece of the layout representing the farm on which my wife grew up during the late fifties, through the sixties and early seventies.

This is the mid point of the 12 meter long branch line, and passing in front of the farmhouse with a Merino sheep pasture to the left.

The loop rounds the farm with some Jersey cattle in pastures on the right, with a cattle dock and some Persian sheep in the open field on the front of the layout.

Here the railway line vanishes for a short while behind the farm house, shed and a Climax windmill. Some pine trees are camouflaging the right hand corner of the layout.

Emerging on the left behind the shed in this loop, there is a General Store to the right hand side of the gravel road and a temporary road works site against the photo quality backdrop on the left of this gravel road. This site has a small corrugated iron temporary cabin, the “LTA Site Office” with ample parking space for construction vehicles.

A Cessna 172K Skyhawk flying over

the LTA Roadworks Site and

farm "Alomfraai".

Automatic Reverse Loop B
The farm area "Alomfraai"

Continuing on in our direction of travel towards the left of the layout, the line passes an informal housing settlement on either side of the subway. Emerging from the subway the train travels in the opposite direction on the single track branch line. Once again the line carries on to re entering the left hand loop behind the large Bokomo grain facility with its 2 track shunting yard, this time round continuing forward to the left behind the Mobil bulk fuel depot situated at the the front of the layout with a single track shunting yard, passing the front of the Aliwal North Municipal Power Station and Workshop, Escom Distribution Yard with two level crossings on the opposite end from where we departed.

In this return loop, following the left hand loop on the left hand side of Escom and to stop at the Aliwal North Railway Station.

The town of Aliwal North has a small station building with one passing loop and a parachute water tank behind the grain facility. Pride of the place is the 55 cm high grain silos and lighted mill. In the back behind Escom and the Municipal workshop are also two railway workers houses to add to the flavour of the layout.

More closeup pictures of my Aliwal North SAR Layout.

The repainted Jouef
Industrial Diesel
at Bokomo.
(Spray painted with
Tamiya Dull Red)

A Cessna 172K Skyhawk in full flight.
The prop revs at 2400 to 2700 rpm.
(An opaque plastic disc creates the
impression of a spinning propeller)

HISTORY: The Cessna 172 Skyhawk

The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is a four-seat, single engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company. First flown in 1955, more Cessna 172s have been built than any other aircraft. Measured by its longevity and popularity, the Cessna 172 is the most successful aircraft in history. Cessna delivered the first production models in 1956. As of 2015, Cessna, and its partners, had built more than 43,000 planes. The Skyhawk's main competitors have been the Beechcraft Musketeer and Grumman AA-5 series (neither currently in production), the Piper Cherokee, and, more recently, the Diamond DA40. The 1969 172K Skyhawk had a redesigned tailfin cap and reshaped rear windows. Optional long-range 52 US Gallons (197 Liters) wing fuel tanks were offered. The rear windows were slightly enlarged by 16 square inches (103 cm2). The 1969 model sold for US$12,500 for the 172 and US$13,995 for the Skyhawk, with 1,170 units made. The 1970 model was still called the 172K, but sported fiberglass, downward-shaped, conical wing tips. Fully articulated seats were offered as well. Production in 1970 was 759 units.

More closeup pictures of my Aliwal North SAR Layout.

A Vintage Caterpillar Diesel No 12
Motor Grader at work at the
LTA Roadworks Site.

A Mercedes Benz 2628, 6 x 6
Tipper Truck at LTA.

The LTA Roadworks Site.

A new consignment ROCLA precast
concrete pipes have just arrived here,
three different lengths and
diameters - all ready for installation
in the New Year -
"ROCLA our difference is concrete"

A Scratch built Donkey Cart.

My Dalmatian is keeping a watchful eye.

A true roadworks site with lots of
detail; temporary road signs, bitumen
drums, old tyres, traffic cones, lots
of rusted scrap metal parts and
reinforcing mesh.

An Unofficial Two Track Narrow
Dirt Road Railway Crossing, with
a Scratch built Donkey Cart
in the background.

Created an Unofficial Two Track
Narrow Dirt Road Railway Crossing.
(A typical SA rural scene)

A shanty next to the railway line.
A child is rolling an old tyre...
(A typical SA rural scene)

A child is rolling a tyre in Africa.
(A typical SA rural scene)

Spotted a Hells Angels Motorcyclist
on the bridge - another Train Spotter
Foamer, or is he Railfanning?

Spotted a Hells Angels Motorcyclist

on the bridge - another Train Spotter

Foamer, or is he Railfanning?

A SAR U13 Abnormal Load Wagon with
a Caterpillar load.

Hanomag wheel loader
and MB Econoliner.

The newly renovated Aliwal North
Mobil Bulk Fuel Depot.

Made and fitted the cage ladder and
safety railings to the vertical fuel
storage tank.

Made and fitted the cage ladder and
safety railings to this vertical fuel
storage tank.

I have added this 3D interior to this
little garage / warehouse / workshop
(whatever you'd like to call it),
at the Mobil Fuel Depot.

Upgrading progress at Aliwal North
Mobil Bulk Fuel Depot - Added
the Fuel plumbing and fill hoses.

Upgrading progress at Aliwal North
Mobil Bulk Fuel Depot - Made
and fitted the Fuel plumbing
and fill hoses.

Safety first; busy with the fitment
of new scratch built handrails on
the walkway of the bulk fuel
storage tanks.

Used 0.9 mm hard copper wire
for the handrails and soldered
all the joints.

The inbound 08:00 Passenger train
arrives on time. Rumbling from
right to left behind the New
Mobil Bulk Fuel Depot on it's
way to Aliwal North Station
Platform 1.

Escom staff lending a hand at
Aliwal North Municipal
Power Station,
trying to restore the mains to
Aliwal North Town, after their
14 hour and 20 minute planned
maintenance break in
distribution today.

Closeup Layout pictures taken with improved

Layout Lighting Configuration...

Tractor tracks...

A Climax windmill

Reflection.

Merino sheep.

Ford and Chevy pickups
with loads...

Grass tufts...

New Ferguson TE Tractors...

A scratch built 2 furrow plough.

Tractor tracks.

How "cool" is it to have your own
2500L on ground Mobil Diesel
Storage Tank on the farm.
Every farm in this area, had at least
one of those during the seventies.

The Mobil Fuel Tanker arrived on
"Alomfraai" and is about to refill
the new 2500L on Ground
Diesel Storage Tank.

Farm yard activity.

Jersey oxen.

Temporary LTA Site Office.

Farm Heuningkrantz.

Farm House at Heuningkrantz.

New pole railings...

Assembled and painted
the motorcycle kits.

Boom at Bokomo entrance.

Feeling pretty chuffed with myself;
I made my very first palm tree and
placed it at the entrance of Bokomo,
now I can make some more.

Steam era of the South African Railways
~~ 1970 ~~

Industrial and farming areas surrounding
the Bokomo Mill and Silos.

A 1947 motorcycle
with a sidecar tanker.

A scratch built SAR Gang Hut and Shovels:
There are no "official" drawings for this
structure as it was built by railway gangs
for various uses along the South African
Railway lines.
The structure was movable along the
railway line during rail maintenance
activities. It had many uses, from storage,
temporary kitchens etc. It had 1001 uses.

Weathered the SAR Gang Hut.

Finer detail includes spades, real
wooden sleepers, rusted train wheels,
rusted bogie side frames, stacked
rails and a rusted 44 gallon drum.

Escom Distribution Site.

Municipal Electrical Power Station.

Municipal Workshop.

The Bokomo grain facility.

Bokomo Foods (Bolandse Kooperatiewe Molenaars) was originally established in 1922 by seven Western Cape farmers, and has developed into a key player across numerous categories in the South African food industry over the last several decades. Their wide range of bountiful brands have been household favourites for decades, and they have become synonymous with breakfast cereals – where they strive to continually pioneer innovation and create excitement.

Bokomo also has a base in the United Kingdom as well as an alliance with Sanitarium, an Australian food manufacturer.

Over the years, Bokomo broke into the baking and dessert market, acquiring Moir's, South Africa's largest range of baking products. More recently, they also acquired Kwality Biscuits, the manufacturer of products such as Romantic Dreams, Munch-A-Lot, Centre Court and Vinta.

Many Bokomo products are endorsed by the Heart Foundation of South Africa.

A sneak peek: The last load
before shutting down for the
Christmas holidays.

A Walthers Fire Escape. Made and
fitted eight Extractor Fan Canopies.

A Walthers Fire Escape. Made and
fitted eight extractor fan canopies.

A scratch built Crawler Chain Hoist
on an H-beam

A Crawler Chain Hoist on an H-beam
with Operator detail.

A section of the layout that
hardly draws any attention.
The Bokomo grain facility with its
two track shunting yard between
the silos and the mill.
The conveyor between the Silo
Elevator and the Mill...
with plenty of advertising
billboards. [WEET-BIX since 1930]

The Bokomo grain facility with its
two track shunting yard between
the silos and the mill.
Various kitbashed and detailed
road vehicles and SAR livery
rolling stock.

Tracks laid in "Stormwater Runoff
Permeable Interlocking Concrete
Paving"

"Stormwater Runoff Permeable
Interlocking Concrete Paving"
texture

SAR FZL-1 Grain Wagons.

Weathered "Stormwater Runoff
Permeable Interlocking Concrete
Paving" - my own
"paint colour wash technique" with
Earth Brown Acrylic Matte.

Ordinary cars for the working class.

Feeling silly tonight - I messed around in

Photoshop - showing off my Toyota MR2.

Need some more activity in this area.

Construction activity at Aliwal North
Bokomo. A Forklift at work.

Construction activity at Aliwal North
Bokomo. A Telkom Technician on
the ladder, a Casual Painter painting
a steel structure and the Master
Builder on the far right.

Construction activity at Aliwal North
Bokomo. A Casual Painter painting a
steel structure, a heap of timber off
cuts, a drum for water, a tool case
and four stacked motorcar tyres.

Stray cows on the R58, slowing down
the traffic.

Stray cows on the R58, slowing down

the traffic.

Opel Blitz

Peterbilt 389

LTA Construction Vehicles,
the red Ford tipper has a
broken windscreen.

SAR FZL-1 Grain Wagon and
V-8 Guards Van

A reworked SAR BAL-J Wagon

SAR Coaches.

The Aliwal North Railway Station building.

One huge 45' Maersk Sealand scratch
built container made its appearance
today on a modified SAR SML-J
flat wagon.
Now to find a crane to unload this beast
or to offload the contents manually.

New brake wheels and shunter steps
fitted on both sides of this modified
SML-J flat wagon.

Kitbashed the OO scale SML-J flat wagon.
It was too long, the extra height and width
is not a major issue.

A reworked SCL Double Deck car
carrier loaded with eight motorcars.

A kitbashed Frateschi Pennsylvania
Locomotive

to resemble a SAR Class 8x 2:8:0
(Digitally enhanced smoke and
water effects)

A kitbashed Frateschi Pennsylvania
Locomotive

to resemble a SAR Class 8x 2:8:0
(Digitally enhanced smoke effect)

A Precision Miniatures SAR Class 6J 4:6:0
Locomotive.
(Die cast White Metal frame and body with
Brass Etched detailed parts. HO scale,
16,5 mm gauge on code 100 Atlas
FlexTrack.)
(Digitally enhanced smoke effect)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This layout is constructed in a room of 14.76 square meters that was originally my kids bedroom next to our main bedroom. This carpeted space was utilised as my study / office space before construction on the layout was begun in October 2012. (My suggestion to anyone planning a layout room would be to lay light coloured ceramic tiles or wooden strip floor. It would be less of a dust trap and easier to clean).

New CFL and LED lighting was installed. Apart from the power saving, the colour temperature of the new light is very close to daylight. One wall has a large glass window, with the advantage of a view over our sunny backyard and garden.

The track plan was planned with Aliwal North Railway Station and Industrial area in mind. Visited Google Maps and photographed the area. The track design philosophy was to create a single track branch line, and to capture the flavour of the Eastern Cape with lots of fine detail. During design it was uppermost that the resulting terrain must look believable. I made some errors which are understandable and what will be avoided on my next Layout.

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Most of the structures are scratch built to represent truly South African architecture. In some instances commercial kits have been used, but have been extensively modified to appear South African.

The era modelled depicts the early seventies, and all rolling stock and vehicles etc reflect that.

The layout features full lighting for night time operations.

The layout is controlled by my custom built Smilodon Dual DC Model Train controller, divided into 3 power blocks. All the track power to the other six shunting yards and rolling stock storage branch lines are separately fed through toggle switches mounted on a little switchboard on the side of the layout.
Turnout control is done from a push button control panel on a five meter multi core cable, all turnouts are motorised via my custom built (capacitor discharge unit) AND-02.
The Automatic Reverse Loop control is done by Reed Switch sensing and thus triggering my custom built RLTS-1 printed circuit boards to ensure continuous flawless running of trains through the double reverse loops. This route was decided in the interests of simplicity of wiring, and because the philosophy of the layout was that it should be operated prototypically.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Due to the fact that I am relatively new in the modelling business, although I did a tremendous amount of research before I started purchasing my rolling stock, material and accessories in order to build my very first layout, I still made 4 basic errors!

1. My baseboard is mounted on top of four cabinets that hinder the access to the under baseboard wiring and point motors, at the very least, it is modular and can be dismantled into three separate sections, a definite plus point.
2. The curvature is a bit too small (Lima specs) - I misinterpreted the info as per NMRA website, the larger SAR locomotives should not be able to negotiate the current curves, well those larger locomotives were never present in actual life on this branch line, as modelled here, another plus point. (Fortunately, I don't own any large locomotives)
3. The backdrop scenery skyline is too low, complicating photography,

4. I should have airbrushed or spray painted the ties / sleepers before I laid the tracks. Had to hand paint it afterwards, but the work was fascinating and the results amazing.

The pros:
This track was purposely built, mainly for developing and for testing the performance of my Return / Reverse Loop Toggle Switch, Point Motor Energiser printed circuit boards and also my Smilodon range of DC model Train Controllers.
It worked so well that I decided to keep it and added the scenery / landscape. As luck would have it, I modelled a specific area from the beginning and was able to finish it as a Layout. The current rolling stock operates perfectly on this layout, trains run flawlessly through the automatic reverse loops. I am happy!

The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. (Ecclesiastes 7:8 - The Holy Bible - New International Version)

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Albe Grobbelaar - "Staalbrug naby die Agtste Reverse, op die plaas Lynndale, seker sowat 10 km vanaf Barkly-Oos" - A steel bridge in close proximity of the Eighth Reverse, on the farm Lynndale, about 10 km from the town Barkley East, Eastern Cape, RSA. [110 km from Aliwal North]