I have spent a lot of time planning WHL 4 of late which has whetted my appetite for some operations. Quite literally I dusted off WHL3 and managed to have something of an operating session. The levels of dirt still on the track meant that I had a number of stalls and power disruptions but as the pictures are silent and static, you cannot tell from the following:
37027 at Garelochead with northbound sleeper 37014 reverses 8D10 out of Mallaig Junction yard to join the main line 20184 trundl
The lack of updates of late have been due to a number of factors, one of which has been the construction of a usable space in my loft to where I will relocate my modelling. I had intended to do so gradually over the winter months but, upon my return to WHL3, I find that the dust and grime caused by the building work has had a seriously detrimental effect on electrical performance. This means I either spend a sizeable amount of time on cleaning track and rolling stock or I bite the bullet and re-
Power issues at Fort William resolved. These appear to have been caused by inadequate sized BUS wire where increasing capacity from 16/02 to 32/02 wire cured the problem although it was a painful and time consuming learning experience.
Much has been justifiably written about the scenic splendour of the WHL. Trying to capture this in model form with limited space is an impossible challenge although with a little thought it is possible to create the illusion of the line and the vast open space
There are 5 scenic sections on WHL 3, 4 of which are the station areas. The station platforms are simple scratch built representations and not scale sized replicas. As I have learnt and gained more experience each station in chronological order of construction has improved in quality. Fort William and Ardlui were the last two built and are closer in terms of track orientation and visual appearance. Garelochead and Bridge of Orchy are much less so in both respects, essentially they comprise simpl
I have now completed Fort William station with the addition of the canopy. It is scratch built using plasticard and plastruct materials. I am rather pleased with the results, doubly so as this is the first serious attempt I have made at scratch building anything.
On the downside, the Fort William station section is suffering with electrical problems on the power BUS and point motor alignment. What is doubly frustrating is that I tested all power and point motors on the workbench before retur
There are a host of reasons why I model in general and the west highlands in particular. One of these is an attempt to recreate images in my mind of a period in my past where I have fond memories of sitting in a mark 1 coach watching the world go by in what seemed a timeless and carefree period of my life. Doing so in a 13 foot by 11 foot room carries obvious challenges although reference to videos and pictures found in books and on the internet help jog my memory. Essentially incorporating thes
Like buses, you wait for days for a post and then several turn up together! An enjoyable days operations resulted in the following pictures:
Tamper sits in the sidings at Garelochead as 8B05, the 14.55 Mossend to Oban passes 37039 at Garelochead with 8B05 37039 departs Garelochead Class 20’s sit idly at Mallaig Junction Yard awaiting their next turn of duty 37085 at Ardlui with 7D12, 12.30 Corpach to Mossend 37014 arrives at Ardlui with 7B20, 13.50 Mossend to Corpach 37191 at Bridge of
Significant progress made with Fort William station and the backscene at long last. This finalises the major development of WHL 3 leaving me only with the typical ongoing activity of additional detailing. The pictures below show the various stages of development comprising:
· Track and platform weathered · Several additional droppers added to the power BUS · Wooden platform edges replaced with Peco ones. · Station detailing added, the canopies covering the first part of the platform remain u
Although the class 37’s had taken over day to day operations on the West Highland line by the early 1980's, class 27's still put in appearances when there were class 37 shortages. The harsh winter of 1981/2 meant that a number of 37's required extended works attention for a wide range of frost damage resulting in an increase in outings for both 20's and 27's. Below are a series of pictures showing examples of such workings on WHL3. Note 27105’s appearance having been released from its Glasgow to
After a number of days spent primarily on development work, some running seemed in order. Apart from reminding myself that running is an important part of what I enjoy about modelling, it enables me to further test and prove the enhanced power BUS. Frustratingly I have found that the more power droppers I install, the more I seem to need! It may be that the lack of running means that both track and loco wheels are in need of a good clean but I am still disappointed by the number of power drops a
Mojo has been low in recent weeks resulting in little time being spent on WHL 3. Consequently only modest progress has been made with developing the remaining Lochaber scenic area. Father in laws recent visit helped me resolve a soldering iron problem, a £60 outlay later means wallet feeling lighter but I do have a new and more powerful iron. This has helped tremendously with the soldering of the droppers to the track for connection to the power BUS and I am seeing the results of the BUS with be
Slow progress of late but several, steady steps taken with the planned developments of Lochaber region as follows:
walls all painted blue
first effort at mountainous backscene for Mallaig Junction yard created which has significant room for improvement!
Mallaig junction yard scenic section largely completed. I am contemplating adding working lights to the yard as the area in general is poorly lit.
Further work delayed by an impending Xmas holiday to Lapland. All being well I aim to
My next task is to finish the upper section comprising Mallaig junction yard and Fort William station. A major part of this will be creating a backscene running along the three walls that frame the upper section to create an impression of the Nevis mountain range that overlooks Lochaber. In addition I want to complete the scenic part of Mallaig junction including the oil terminal siding and update/improve Fort William station.
The first step will be the backscene where options appear twofold:
Although much of the development of WHL has been off the cuff, I did start with a simple track plan designed to achieve my main aims for the layout. Whilst my overriding concept of 4 stations joined by hidden passing points remained intact, the plan evolved as I laid the track and found the myriad of obstacles that represent the challenge of building a model of 160 plus miles of railway line in a room 13' by 11' to what the layout comprises today. I attach copies of the current design in plan fo
The short circuit has finally cured itself. I may have had some influence in this because I decided to switch each of my 35 motorised points to see if one was causing the problem. It appears it was because after this the short circuit disappeared although I have no idea which point caused the problem!
Having researched the various gurus views on RM Web, I decided to follow (to some extent at least) what appears to be best practice for improved power stability. I duly purchased four 10m reels
Bl**dy short circuit is proving difficult to find. I have ripped up several areas of unballasted track and disconnected virtually all power; still it prevails. Net result is I will take the opportunity to start from scratch with the power BUS in the hope that this addresses both the short circuit and dead/low power areas. Consequence is little immediate likelihood of further operations; the title of my post yesterday obviously tempted fate too much. In an effort to calm my temper I have made exi
After a summer lay off and an initial burst of activity on locomotive detailing, my day to day operation of WHL 3 is picking up. It is at this time of year that all of the summer gremlins appear, spiders webs get noticed and the amount of dirt that accumulates on the track as it lays idle becomes evident. Therefore I have the usual track cleaning to look forward to which is currently in progress. Historically I have employed the time old Peco abrasive rubber but having read numerous posts on RMW
Hi
37108 (originally Bachmann 37049) and 37191 (originally Bachmann 37254) have been detailed. Both are fitted with Bachmann sound in V3.5 Loksound chips which is blasted out through base reflex speakers hidden in the fuel tanks. In my view the Bachmann sound is the weakest around especially in terms of driveability where, despite my having tweaked the CV's in an effort to improve matters, a loco regularly takes 10 seconds to rev down despite the loco having drawn to a halt!
Work complet
Hi
The second of my class 37 fleet, 37014 is now detailed:
Loco originally Bachmann's 37034, further re-numbered from 37039 to 37014
Bachmann MU and Vacum pipes added
Hornby class 50 air pipes added
0.8 mm loop coupling replaces tension locks
Dummy Smiths chain link coupling added
Base reflex speaker added by Merlin DCC
The photos show that a little weathering to match the loco will blend in the pipes which I had missed with my naked eye. Nevertheless the net result so
Hi
I have just completed the detailing on the first of my class 37 fleet. Changes applied comprise:
Originally 37251 as produced by Bachmann, loco further renumbered from 37190 to 37192
Bachmann MU cable, 3 link coupling and vacuum brake applied
Hornby class 50 air brake pipes applied
0.8 mm brass loop coupling applied
Blanked off boiler plate on the roof drilled out to reflect 192 when steam heat boiler was operational.
The process was relatively straightforward although
Hi
The fleet of locos currently operating on WHL 3 comprises:
2 Bachmann class 20
3 Heljan class 27
11 Bachmann class 37's
Bachmann OWB and Plasser
The fleet enables me to run the entire WHL WTT plus one or two additional services as required. All have DCC sound except the OWB and Plasser which are DCC fitted. The sound comprises a range from the usual suspects all on Loksound decoders. Most of the fleet is weathered although a couple of 'ex works' locos can be seen. Locos have be
Hi
Ever since I started building West Highland line based layouts, I have been determined to install semaphore signalling. I am not sufficiently confident or competent to build signal kits and so on previous versions I used a handful of old Hornby standard signals on the basis that something was better than nothing. However I always lusted after more realistic signals but have always been reluctant to buy the MSE kits that do this because I could not do them justice. My efforts with the Rati
Hi
I previously blogged developments on my West Highland layout which can be found under my old user name of Young3721. The revised user name harmonises RM Web with my Ebay account so as to reduce the number of user names my aging memory has to contend with! For those that cannot be bothered to look this up or have forgotten, my layout comprises 4 stations on the WHL. The stations are representations of the actuals rather than scale sized models and are linked by a series of hidden sidings a
