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West Highland Line Early 1960s


Geoff Endacott
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In order to appeal to modellers of the diesel and steam eras, we have decided that our new club layout will, for the time being at least, be set in the steam to green diesel changeover period. It is based on the West Highland line, which prompts the question, what should we run?

 

We are looking for information about any trains, both locomotives and rolling stock, which could reasonably be seen on the West Highland during the early 1960s.

 

With thanks.

 

Geoff Endacott

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A very few personal observations from Fort William in August 1962. The only locomotives I remember seeing hauling trains were BRCW Type 2s. There were a few steam engines dead in Fort William shed - 4F 44255 (not officially withdrawn till the end of December 1962), Stanier 5 44975, K1s 62011/12 and J36s 65300/13. 

 

If you an image search on Google for place and year e.g "Fort William 1960" or "Mallaig 1961", you will get quite a few pictures of trains, though usually just the loco. Following some of those pictures can get you into other sites. Railscot has pictures on the shed and at the original station.

 

From a quick look at pictures brought up by searches as described above, other steam locos you might consider include K1/1, K2, K4, B1, Standard 5 4-6-0 and Standard 4 2-6-0.

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A very few personal observations from Fort William in August 1962. The only locomotives I remember seeing hauling trains were BRCW Type 2s. There were a few steam engines dead in Fort William shed - 4F 44255 (not officially withdrawn till the end of December 1962), Stanier 5 44975, K1s 62011/12 and J36s 65300/13. 

 

If you an image search on Google for place and year e.g "Fort William 1960" or "Mallaig 1961", you will get quite a few pictures of trains, though usually just the loco. Following some of those pictures can get you into other sites. Railscot has pictures on the shed and at the original station.

 

From a quick look at pictures brought up by searches as described above, other steam locos you might consider include K1/1, K2, K4, B1, Standard 5 4-6-0 and Standard 4 2-6-0.

To which list you could add the Peppercorn K1 and Stanier Black 5, and, if you model the section below Arrochar, the push-pull fitted C15.

 

Jim

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"The West Highland" do you mean the Glasgow to Ft William or the Mallaig extension as the extension was more likely to see 2-6-0s and the Glasgow line 4-6-0s by the 1960s.   The 4-6-0s were a bit too "Big in the wheel" for the Mallaig line (still are comparing the way a Black 5 struggles out of Glenfinnan where the K1 eases away effortlessly...) but their speed came into its own along the Clyde coast when they had to keep out of the way of the Suburban trains. 

J36s were used as Ft William Pilots and I think they dumped the 4F there to get it as far from Eastfield as they could, did it have a snow plough? 

I think steam ended in Ft William in 1962.

Ft William is a great subject for a model whether old or new stations

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You need On West Highland Lines by Robert Robotham and Steam Colour Portfolio Scottish Region Vols 1 and 2 published by BLP. There was also a useful Railway World special published some years ago: "The West Highland Lines" by Neil Caplan. 

 

Re locos, before there was dieselisation (1962?) there was Black-Five-isation, which seems to have happened in 1959 (at the end of the summer timetable?). That earlier change spelt the end for most of the indigenous LNER types such as K4s, K1/1 and K2s (and possibly J37s too, though few people photographed freight so it's hard to say). The exception was the aforementioned J36s, which remained as station pilot and trip loco at FW. 

 

Basically, if you choose diesels you sacrifice a lot of interesting steam loco classes (everything but Black 5s, Standard 5s, B1s [EDIT and K1s] and a J36, a 4MT 2-6-0 and a 4F) (and yes the 4F had a snowplough and tender canopy). That seems a large price to pay to be able to run 3 or 4 diesel classes - one of which (the class 27) is a poor model, two of which are reasonable to very good (class 08 and class 20), and one of which (class 21/29) means a long slog from the ancient Hornby base, or a long wait for Dapol. 

 

However, if you chose pre-Black 5 steam, you'd have to kit-build: the K2 is available from LRM, basic Glen and J36 from PDK, and the ex-DMR J37 possibly from [EDIT: Pheonix ] Precision if you're lucky. Hornby do the K1, but the Dave Bradwell kit is superior. DMR used to do the K1/1 - not sure if Precision are re-introducing it (or anything else, for that matter). 

Edited by Daddyman
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The West Highland and Highland lines don't seem to lend themselves to the popular "transition era". Dieselisation happened very quickly and en masse. As a contrast, on the Scottish north east coast branch lines such as Peterhead and Fraserburgh and Banff, you can happily run a mixture of steam and diesel from about 1959 to 1965. The variety in diesel types was much greater, including Claytons, NBLs and what became Class 06, 08, 20, 24, 25s and 26.

 

Fraserburgh in particular has always struck me as an excellent subject for a (large) model

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I think we can be somewhat flexible about the date and location.

 

Late 1950s to early 1960s would seem to give us scope to run a variety of steam classes alongside a few diesels.

 

As for location, the shed on the layout is based on Fort William, so we could justify Mallaig locomotives alongside those which ran further south.

 

Thanks again for the help so far.

 

Geoff Endacott

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Very informative Daddyman but I disagree about the Class 27 model being poor (I assume you are referring to the Heljan model). What is it that makes you say that?

It's true that it's good enough for most people. Also true that the cab windscreen area flaws seem less pronounced in the green-and-white livery than on the models with full yellow ends.

 

The flaws of the Heljan 26 and 27 have been well documented and rather than take the thread off-topic, I'd refer you to the Rail Express review from when they first came out. Also, I can't actually remember all the errors, and don't have one to hand that I can check. 

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Having searched through a lot of photos,and following the suggestions on here, I think a balanced West Highland roster circa 1960 should comprise:


 


Ex-LMS Black Five (several) and 2P.


 


Ex-LNER B1, K1, K2 and probably J36.


 


BR Standard 4 2-6-2T and Standard 5 4-6-0.


 


BRCW Type 2 and NBL Type 2 diesels.


 


Met Cam, Cravens and Swindon Cross Country DMUs.


 


The problem now will be how to get hold of them all.


 


Geoff Endacott


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Bear in mind the DMU's were very rare north of Crainlarich, and the Std 4 tank was really a former C&O/Caley machine, again rare north of Crainlarich. A Std 4 2-6-0 could be included as the odd one worked the Extension, J36's lasted until the end as Fort William pilots, a Brush Type2 spent some time at Fort William on trials and, of course, don't forget Std 6 Clan Cameron used first as a test and then again on a railtour.

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The Cravens DMUs were first used in 1959 on Sunday excursions to the Highlands which probably means we can justify them.

 

D5511 could also give us another diesel, as could an EE Type 1.

 

72001 Clan Cameron is another possibility.

 

Geoff Endacott

Edited by Geoff Endacott
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Having searched through a lot of photos,and following the suggestions on here, I think a balanced West Highland roster circa 1960 should comprise:

 

...

 

Ex-LMS 2P.

 

... 

 

BR Standard 4 2-6-2T 

 

...

 

Geoff, I'm very surprised to see those on a list of West Highland locos. (I presume the tank should be a 2-6-4T). Can you remember the photos that they appeared in and include links?

 

There is a complication with lists of Fort William engines - it shows up on the "BR Database" site, for one. Shed codes 63B and 65J were both allocated at different times to both Stirling and Fort William. So a list of '65J' locos can contain engines that were allocated to both Stirling and Fort William - the same applies to '63B' lists. That means engines that were only ever allocated to Stirling may seem to have been allocated at some time to Fort William, where that is not true. I think, if you've been working off allocation lists and not pictures, that this is how the 2P and Standard 4 tank appear as having been allocated to Fort William - they were actually only ever Stirling engines.

Edited by pH
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Solved (I think.) All the locos listed as 2P are all actually ex-Caledonian 439 Class 2P 0-4-4 Tanks.

 

The photos of the BR Standard 4 Tanks are here; http://brsteam.livejournal.com/377.html .

 

Geoff Endacott

The 439s only worked on the ex-Caledonian lines in the West Highlands of Scotland, not the West Highland Line proper. Ditto the Standard 4 2-6-4s - they simply didn't have the coal capacity to get to Fort William, though one was famously once sent from Stirling (?) to Oban, loaded to the gunwales with coal; can't remember if it made it or not. 

 

55263 and 55360 both worked the Ballachulish branch for a good while. 

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Solved (I think.) All the locos listed as 2P are all actually ex-Caledonian 439 Class 2P 0-4-4 Tanks.

 

The photos of the BR Standard 4 Tanks are here; http://brsteam.livejournal.com/377.html .

 

Geoff Endacott

Geoff, as Daddyman has said, the Caley tanks and Standard 4 tanks only worked on ex-Caledonian lines in the West Highlands, not on the ex-NBR West Highland line itself.

 

Thank you for that link to the photos of Standard 4 tanks in Scotland. I'd not seen any of those pictures before.

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My comment on this subject in 'Modelling Questions, Help & Tips' :

 

The thing I have noticed on layouts and RTR steam locos is that many have the wrong size and font on their cab side numbers on ex-LMS and BR Standard locos based at Scottish sheds.  The BR cab side numbers on Standard and ex LMS steam locos were 8" high, but this depended on which ex-LMS workshops they were repaired in.  The odd man out was St. Rollox workshops in Glasgow and when repainting was required, cab side numbers were 10" high and thicker.  They were the same height as ER loco cab side numbers but thicker.  St. Rollox carried out most of the heavy repairs to Scottish based LMR locos but the largest were 4-6-0s (Black Fives, Jubilees, etc) but not any Royal Scots which were repaired at Crewe together with the Duchesses, Britannias, Clans, 8Fs and ex-WD locos (90xxx).   Naturally the border was at Carlisle on the WCML, all Kingmoor shed locos (1.5 miles north of the station) except those noted above were repaired at St. Rollox and all Upperby shed locos (0.5 mile south of the station) were repaired at Crewe.  Living in the Midlands during my train spotting days in the 1950s, we all used to jump for joy when we saw any ex-LMS or Standard loco with large cab side numbers indicating a rare visitor from Scotland, normally from 68A Kingmoor (12A after 1957)!  I think the other Scottish workshops which repaired LMR locos (Inverurie and Inverness) repainted cab side numbers the standard size.  The only model loco from Hornby or Bachmann I have seen with the correct size St. Rollox style large cab side numbers are a Hornby Black Five released a couple of years ago and Bachmann's 2-6-4 Standard Tank number 80002 allocated to 66A Polmadie.  Also, I have not seen any Scottish based ex-LMS BR era layouts with any Black Fives, Crabs or Standard locos with large cab side numbers.  I have seen numerous photos of ex-LMS locos and Standards in Scotland during the BR era and most of them had the large cab side numbers.

 

ER and ex-LNER locos based in the ScR each had their own sizes and font but no matter whether they were repaired at Darlngton, Doncaster or Cowlairs in Glasgow, they all had the same size/font cab side numbers.  But as usual, Swindon was the other odd man out (surprise, surprise!) when it came to painting cab side numbers.  The cab side numbers on new or repaired Standard steam locos built there between 1951 and 1960 were a different font, shorter and thicker than the standard BR LMR and other region cab side numbers.  They were similar to the letter font on green diesels.

 

Geoff,

 

I have never seen a a Scottish BR based steam layout where most of the ex-LMS locos have 10" cab side numbers (as opposed to the standard BR 8" numbers) painted on after overhaul at St. Rollox works.  I am sure your proposed layout's ex-LMS & standard locos will be numbered correctly! 

 

Peter

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We have made a start.

 

The first three locos will be B1 61243 SIR HAROLD MITCHELL (Hornby), K1 62031 (Hornby) and K1 62034 (Hornby).

 

The first kit to be attempted will probably be the PDK kit for the Holmes J36. Can anyone suggest a suitable chassis?

 

Thanks.

 

Geoff Endacott

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We have made a start.

 

The first three locos will be B1 61243 SIR HAROLD MITCHELL (Hornby), K1 62031 (Hornby) and K1 62034 (Hornby).

 

The first kit to be attempted will probably be the PDK kit for the Holmes J36. Can anyone suggest a suitable chassis?

 

Thanks.

 

Geoff Endacott

Yes, sort of: 

http://www.nbr4mm.co.uk/locochassis/9203.php

I say "sort of" because the chassis is made for the whitemetal Gem thing, so is too short for the brass kit which has a thinner drag beam and buffer beam. When you get to building I'll let you know how much I added to the chassis at each end (it was a different amount front and rear if I recall). Another potential problem with the kit is that the holes for the driving wheels are etched too big for standard bearings. This will not be an issue if you spring. Yet another issue is if you model a loco with fluted rods, the ones supplied in the kit look to my eye too shallow, though the preserved Maude's scale at 1.6mm, compared to the 1.5mm of the kit. Even so, they don't convince me and I had to scratch around a bit to find a Hawick one with plain rods, in addition to the tender cab and snowplough that I wanted to model. But I believe at least one of FW's kept plain rods to the end. 

 

However, I'm very reliably informed that an RTR J36 - or at least the announcement of one - is imminent... 

 

Choose your base model for 62034 carefully: it kept the patch on top of the firebox until at least 1961 (I believe Hornby have done this variant) and had an early totem until at least the same date, and possibly until the end - see Hugh Ballantyne, Scottish Steam in Colour. 62052, another regular, also kept the firebox patch until withdrawal but had a late totem - see Donald Peddie, Scottish Railways: Two Decades of Transition. I don't recall any pics of 62031, sorry - though you are of course right that it was FW-allocated. 

Edited by Daddyman
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