Model Railway Layouts
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HO/OO MODEL RAILWAY We commenced construction of the front room layout in April 1990. This layout was in operation by June 1990 for display to the public on our first open days. The track gauge (distance between inside edges of the rails) is 16.5 mm. The majority of model trains on display are made to the international scale referred to as “HO” which is a scale of 3.5 mm on the model to 1 foot on the prototype, or as a ratio, 1:87.1. Some models on display are of British prototypes and are to the scale known as “OO” which is 4 mm to 1 foot or a ratio of 1:76.2. Although the front room layout was operating for the June 1990 long weekend it was far from the current state you now see. The scenery at that time consisted of Hessian stapled between the track roadbed to fill in where ultimately the plaster scenery is today. The front layout has three independent loops that permit at least three trains to be under independent control all the time. Additions and minor modifications to the layout have been made to improve the operation and provide additional storage tracks for the excess of trains we have in the club and the many member’s own trains. Construction of the second layout in the back room commenced in 1992. The second layout has four independent loops. Seven trains on seven independent circuits may be in operation at any one time on the total layout with over 200 m of mainline track. This figure excludes the passing loops and terminus tracks. More than 20 complete trains are available for operation.
Digital Command Control (DCC). This modern method of controlling trains (and a host of other things too) has been installed on several parts of the AMRA HO layout. The system adopted by our club is the Lenz Digital Plus System. The concept behind this method of control is in the form of a very small electronic decoder not a lot bigger than a postage stamp, which fits into a locomotive or other appliance you desire to be controlled by this method. A special hand controller is used to first program the decoder to a unique loco address (a simple 2 or 4 digit number) that tells the system that it has a loco on its system. Signals are sent to the decoder by the controller and things like turning lights on or off, making the loco move exactly like the real thing, running two trains on the same piece of track independently of each other, control points, are some of the things we can do with DCC. When you next visit the clubrooms ask for a demonstration, you will not believe your eyes. THOMAS THE TANK
ENGINE & FRIENDS MODEL RAILWAY
N SCALE MODEL
RAILWAY N scale model railways are broadly recognized as being half the size of HO scale. What it means in reality is that a lot more model railway can be had in much less space than would be needed for HO scale. While the trains (and structures) in N scale may be half the size of HO, the performance of the N scale trains often outperforms its bigger brother. The length of train per locomotive is often considerably longer by comparison. This is quite spectacular as you might imagine. Is the cost half that of HO? Unfortunately not, the prices are on a par with the larger models! At the Albany Model Railway Associations club rooms, a new transportable N scale model railway has been constructed. It was successfully exhibited for the first time at the AMRA Model Railway Exhibition in Perth 2007. The layout was designed to be transportable. Below is an overall shot of the layout
The club members have successfully exhibited the N Scale model railway and promote the hobby at various shows and functions in WA. Below are a few more shots of the layout "in action"
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