Asmara Loco Shed

Starting with the simplest building I could find, this layout will measure 150x35cm. The main line enters the board from the top right. The layout provides the shed, turntable and an uncoupling ramp. As the Eritrean trains are typically short the whole train fits in the top line so this layout should provide an effective way to turn the locomotive.

The following photographs were collected from the internet, all right of the original photographers are acknowledged.

Front Elevation showing water / oil tanks

Interior showing roof detail

Turntable, showing hand crank

Breda 0-4-0 on Turntable

Using the google earth image and several photographs from the internet an elevation was drawn, the length of the shed has been reduced to accommodate one locomotive. The roof section towards the front of the building has an interesting detail allowing more light in and a way for the smoke to escape. The proportions were adjusted to allow clearance for the loco on the rails, and as in the future I plan to build the mallet locomotive, that has been taken into account.

Asmara Loco Shed (bottom right) The yellow line is 20 m long, turntable can be seen as well as the watee / oil tanks.

The real railway is narrow gauge; I have chosen to use standard 00 gauge to allow as much standard rolling stock and parts of them to be used.

A partial mock-up was constructed to check track geometry and clearances with the shed, Hornby locomotives from the junk box at my local hobby store stood for the Breda 0-4-0 and the 0-4-4-0 Mallet. A piece of Peco flexitrack allowed for the odd bend before the turntable. The mock-up was built using 5mm foam-core and cardboard.

Now that I am satisfied that the geometry works the final board will be built. The first task is to construct the turntable. The plan is to create the gantry from laser cut plywood and the turning motor to be a stepper motor, I have considered an RC servo but the backlash is a little worrying. Since I have access to a large laser cutter, the main shed will be cut from plywood with the roof and brick accents cut from textured plastic stock. I decided to model the whole project as it was built in the 30’s so the pristine look will not look out of place.

Eritrea Railway Model

Following Santa’s train set this Christmas I have decided to build a proper layout.

For first my first attempt at a layout I decided to satisfy several interests and combine few skills. My minimum requirements were: Steam locomotives, Art Deco architecture, scenery combining hills and water, historically interesting, cable car, limited space, unique layout and present a research challenge.

Two scenarios satisfied these conditions;

1. Rosh HaNikra in Israel (my original homeland, on the Haifa, Beirut, Tripoli (HBT) train line and home to the steepest cable car, albeit on two different eras).

2. Eritrea Railway in the late 30s.

The HBT line was easier to model as the locos are available off the shelf, the architecture is limited and a realistic model would be too big. The Eritrea model is more esoteric, could not find locos, the history is very interesting and the line is still active with steam trains today.

So the decision was made to go with the Eritrea model, knowing full well the locos will have to be built/kit bashed and research will be difficult. The aim is to model as much as possible the Asmara to Massawa line when it was built under Italian Eritrea omitting any Fascist symbols, concentrating on architectures, period vehicles and the African context.

As space is limited I have to be selective and creative in my representations. Based on the limited resources the aim is to represent the following:

1.      Asmara loco shed

2.      Asmara city

3.      Viaduct Asmara-Massawa line

4.      Asmara-Massawa cableway

5.      Massawa docs and some city architecture

6.      Locos; Breda 0-4-0  & Ansaldo 0-4-4-0 442 Mallet

7.      Fiat Littorina and unnamed (ex-Somalia) railcars

I have chosen 00 Gauge as I live in the UK, so locos and kits as donors for kit bashing are plentiful.