young37215

As others have said, you could spend a lot of time and effort on painting track and sleepers and many do to great effect. You say that you are new to modelling, I suggest that you will have plenty of other challenges ahead and will not get far if all you do is spend time on weathering your track. I would go for a simple, cheap and cheerful solution which will improve the appearance of your track in a short space of time. Firstly I personally I find enamel paint adheres to the rails better than acyrilic meaning it lasts for longer. I recommend that you buy a cheap can of a matt enamel brown paint and spray a single section of track covering the rails and sleepers. Allow the paint to dry and clean the paint from the railhead. I use a Peco track rubber for this and vacum the residue the abrasive rubber creates to leave a shiny surface on the railhead (essential if you want you trains to pick up electricity!). Compare this to the untreated track; I expect you will see a significant improvment in appearance. If you are happy with the appearance go ahead and treat as much of your track as you want. In the event that you want to add tonal variation to the track at a later date you can, it is easy to do so at any stage. I am not suggesting this will be the perfect solution but for modest effort and outlay you will have significantly improved the appearance of your track.

I reckon the first air cons to appear on the NE/SW route were on the Edinburgh Plymouth diagram in the late 70's followed by the Newcastle Bristol diagram. Everything else remained steam/dual heat Mk1's and early Mk2's until the 80's, in some cases this was the case until they were replaced by HST's.

I think you will find tht most modellers have spells where their motivation and focus drops for no obvious or apparent reason. I am very conscious of this which is one of a number of reasons I enjoy my summer sabaticals when I am largely away from my layout. Once the nights start to draw in and the days cool down, I usually find that I am drawn back to the layout with batteries recharged as it were. Everyone is different but I think we can all allow ourselves some time off from modelling without any concern. I suspect that something will click and you will find yourself consumed once more by Burton. For what it is worth my room 101 is building up scenery using polystyrene; I worry constantly about getting it perfect which is so unnecessary. I know this to be the case but it does'nt stop me gettting agitated about it. Perhaps my colour blindness helps but I spray sleeper grime onto track without a second thought for how it looks.

A little pottering and some planning have occupied the last few days, the planning relates to deciding what to do next and the pottering saw 27105 shuffle it’s empty rail train into Crianlarich.

The first post on page 14 of the thread explains how and why the coaching stock fleet is formed as it is including the sources of information that underpinned my selections. If I was starting over I would have one or two less SK's with TSO's in their place but otherwise I think I have a fair reflection of the coaches seen on the WHL in the early 80's.

Legoman's WH sound project can be quite feisty if driven aggressively in the style of so many Scottish region drivers. With judicious use of the Drivelock function you can get entertaining departures with wheels slipping and engine cutouts at low speeds. I must get around to a video of an Earth Mover fitted loco departing Crianlarich heading south to imitate the wheel slip I have seen in several videos on the rising gradient

Hi Andy Thanks for the positive comments. WHL4 is something of a journey which I am enjoying even though most activities seem to take much longer than I had expected. The layout proved to be something of a lifesaver during the various lockdowns where working on the layout and recording developments on RMWeb gave me contact with the outside world as well as creating a diary of the layouts evolution. In terms of the sound in the class 37 fleet I have most producers represented as the summary in the picture below shows. I have no allegiance to ESU as such despite the proliferation of their chips and the Cab Control system. CC was the best controller option I could find for what I wanted and overall I have been pleased with it despite the irritations relating to starting power. I simply have never got around to buying a Zimo chip although I have several of their speakers where in my opinion, upgrading the speaker is the best enhancement that can be made to a sound chipped loco. The Earth Mover 2’s are excellent but expensive because of the need to mill 00 gauge loco chassis to fit the speaker. My current speaker of choice based upon a personal comparative cost/benefit is the Zimo double dumbo, LS 40x22x09 which at £18 delivers perhaps 75% the EM2 at 20% of the cost and fits a Bachmann class 37 without any modification. I have not used any DCC Concepts products although I have been tempted. Their voltage meter would be high on my list of potential purchases although I don’t intend doing anything on this front at present. This is largely because Cab Control has been less of a problem following the power BUS extension in the fiddle yard since when CC starts power on the first or second attempt. With autumn appearing well under way, my days on the golf course are receding and thoughts are returning to the next steps in the development of WHL4. Hopefully I will have something to report on this front in the coming weeks.

You have one up on me as 27051, formerly 27107 was one of 2 ex 27/1 push pull locos I didn’t manage to have for haulage. I recently bought a Flangeway Salmon wagon. I decided that I would go for the incorrect short version on the basis that I was not certain of how the longer length would perform on 3rd radius curves. I paid the full rrp which includes Flangeway sending me the revised body once available so I can make a choice at a later date. I now need to create and paint some rail panels to create a load for the Salmon. 27105 is seen with a short engineers train heading south on the approach to Crianlarich.

Hi Andy Clearly I was wrong, it is pretty evident that 051 lost her skirts and glass domino headcode earlier than 1984. I suspect that my comment reflected the Class 37 Loco Group page for 051 where there is a picture ostensibly dated April 1984 showing her in original condition. Typically I use Flickr and the Class 37 Loco Group records for reference but Flickr shows 051 with plated headcode from as early as Spring 1982. Interestingly a picture on the Class 37 website dated May 1982 shows 051 with plated headcode, a freshly painted front, worn bodyside paint and bufferbeam skirts indicating to me that the headcode change had been done on the cheap somewhere, presumably Eastfield. By October 1982 Flickr shows that the skirts had gone. If you have more pictures of your WHL trip I am sure that we would love to see them, whether you post them seperately or on this thread is down to you. Limited operations on WHL4 at present, a few hours of running earlier today had 37085 with the lunchtime Oban to Glasgow service pictured arriving at Crianlarich.

Not quite sure what you mean by 'boards on the side' but Railtec do a range of grain wagon transfers covering numbers, data panels and the BRT signs on the ends of the wagon.

The Dawson Hall partnership is history. Ed Hall is one half of the former partnership and was still doing commission work when I last spoke to him in early 2021. Ed is a great character but a little bit old fashioned with little on line presence; I'll send you his phone number if you want to contact him.

An unexpected running day spent trialling the 1983 WTT and revised Mallaig Junction fiddle Yard arrangements all worked well. So far the revised Mallaig Junction Yard loops are delivering what I had hoped for. We only managed about 25% of the days operations but everything worked as planned; fingers crossed that this continues. 37022 heads 8D10 at Crianlarich where is passes northbound 37026 on 1B10 Mallaig Junction Yard seen with various trains passing through.

Hi Ian I decided a long time ago that fiddle yards work most effectively where there are run round loops so that shunting is kept to a minimum. The loops at Mallaig Junction Yard had already proved they deliver what I need to run a timetable, the increase in their length is purely about capacity. If what you plan doing is more like Fort William or Glasgow Queen Street stations where a different loco can simply drop on the back of rolling stock then the requirement for a loop is much reduced. On WHL 3 the main fiddle yard was underneath a scenic section. I had no major problems with this arrangement but much prefer my current set up where the fiddle yards are open and easily accessible even though this has meant I have lost space that could have scenic stuff on it. If you have a hidden fiddle yard then I recommend you install lighting; I did and it made life a lot easier.

Revised track layout completed and full length freight trains now fit comfortably in all 3 extended loops. On paper this should make running the WTT easier but I need to try it in practice before I can be sure. Once I am comfortable this works I will connect the new track to the BUS and motorise the points but for now I rely on the fishplates to deliver power.

Compared to some WHL modellers (you know who you are!) I am doing very little at present. We did have a day of running trains last week which reinforced an operational concern that has been occupying my thoughts for some time with Mallaig Junction Yard fiddle yard not working as it needs to when running to timetable. The problem is that the run round loops are not long enough to hold typical length freight trains of 8 or so wagons resulting in trains fouling points and blocking off access to other loops. The 5 road fiddle yard needs changing to function more effectively; the before and after plan below shows visually what I intend doing. 3 shortish sidings will be removed and replaced by extending the existing run round loops. The net effect should be a 100% increase in the length of the 3 extended loops creating greater flexibility and comfortably allowing 10 wagon trains plus loco into each loop. A further bonus will be the removal of 2 sets of points and less shunting both of which should reduce derailment potential. A 3 way point has been purchased and will be installed over the next few days. Sidings lifted and revised track placed in position prior to cutting it to fit and wiring up

According to my copy of 1H80, there were 11 departures from Euston in the evening which I am pretty certain included sleeping car accomodation and that excludes the ECML trains that started from Kings X! The subject of sleepers warrants a thread of its own, Euston passengers had a choice of destinations namely Inverness, Fort William, Perth, Glasgow, Stranraer, Barrow, Liverpool, Manchester and Holyhead and the list excludes intermediate stops. Rationalisation and the coming of the Mk3 sleepers transformed decimated the sleeper landscape during the mid 1980's long before Easyjet and Ryanair appeared on the scene.

In 1980 the FW portion comprised of both sleeping cars and seating coaches was hung on the back of the Royal Highlander, 2150 Ex Euston Inverness and detached at Mossend. For 1983 the portion had transferred to the 2100 Ex Euston which divided at Carlisle with portions for Inverness/FW and Stranraer. Again the FW portion was detached at Mossend and tripped to Glasgow Queen Street where it formed part of the first Glasgow to Mallaig service. Mark 1 sleepers were replaced by Mark 3's in October 1983.

Hi Ian I was vaguely aware of Revolutions new range but due to my limited knowledge of historic engineering of the WHL I had not given them too much thought or consideration for WHL4. Engineering wagons on the WHL is an interesting but little covered subject and other than those of ballast carrying wagons I have seen very few pictures of engineering vehicles that might have been used for carrying rail. Upstream on this thread there is a picture of an OBA in use for carrying rail, beyond this I have only seen a couple of pictures of Salmon wagons in sidings. A quick search of Flickr returned the picture below, I am not sure what the wagon is? The wider subject of track and track replacement on the WHL is equally unknown to me and an area I would like to develop more knowledge of. I think that the WHL was mostly jointed flat bottom rail on wooden sleepers during my 1980 -85 time window. It appears that concrete sleepers began to appear in the 1980's but I have no idea when CWR started to appear.The June 1983 picture below clearly shows jointed rail on wooden sleepers at Crianlarich. A few concrete sleepers started to appear in the mid 1980's presumably as a result of replacement of life expired wooden ones. Bridge of Orchy 1985 for example Ardlui 1985

Whilst the chemicals were undoubtedly more toxic that those used to day, the changes of livery reflected the various changes of ownership that took place over time. There is an excellent piece on weedkilling trains in the 70's and 80's on the RCTS website

Having removed the lugs from 3 more grain wagons, a 7 wagon consist comprised respectively of 1 'out of the box' wagon then 1 with lugs removed ran successfully ran for 20 minutes around the lower loop without problems. The lower loop includes the reverse curve at Crianlarich indicating that my derailment issue has been resolved. The route of the problem appears to have been a combination of the non pivoting couplings and the lightweight model (Bachmann's grain wagon weighs 57g compared with a 90g VDA or the 77g Lima grain wagon) which meant that the radius of reverse 3rd radius curves could not be traversed without the couplings either lifting the wagon off of the track or locking as described by 37Oban above. The larger Bachmann couplings did not make any difference because the tension lock hook remains in a fixed position despite having a larger area in which it could move. My thanks to those who have suggested potential solutions, had one of the grain wagons not previously had its lugs removed I would have not been quite so keen to start hacking at the lugs. As it was I had a 'test' wagon which showed that removing the lugs was one effective way to solve the problem. I know the Bachmann grain wagon is an old design but its failings are disappointing for something with a £35 rrp and when most modern wagons have NEM couplings attached to bogies which pivot. I have bought a couple of 'ready to run' models of late (Heljan's ETHEL, Bachmann's grain wagon) that were not 'ready to run'. An indication that manufacturers have taken their eye off of the ball perhaps? Consist pictured at the same point as yesterdays, the pivot of the couplings means the buffers no longer contact each other Bachmann coupling with 2 end lugs removed now pivots 37012 with load 8 consist on test passes through the reverse curve at Crianlarich and heads north

The larger Bachmann couplings arrived for the alumina wagons but did’nt resolve the buffer lock problem. The non pivoting couplings continue to cause the buffers to lock when transitioning into curves causing derailments. Whilst chaging couplings I discovered that one of the wagons already had the couplings end lugs cut off; the previous owner appears to have encountered similar problems to me. Under trial with the pivoting coupling wagon as the middle of a 3 wagon consist, all 3 wagons passed through the curves without derailing. I repeated the test on several occasions and am satisfied that this scenario works. I need to create a consist where every 2nd wagon has the couplings lugs removed which means removing the lugs from 3 more wagons: not ideal but if it works then so be it. At least I can use the original factory fitted, weathered couplings. Larger Bachmann couplings compared against the factory fitted ones Buffers still lock even on large radius curves and with larger couplings fitted

Another thumbs up for this bookazine. The series is a great source of reference material and the modelling content is very informative.

It is of interest, I have wanted to add one of the Flangeway Salmon's to the WHL4 fleet for a while and whilst in was fairly inevitable that Salmon's had been up the WHL, this provides hard evidence and the cranes are an added bonus. Key's latest bookazine arrived yesterday. I have not had much of a read as yet but it looks very good. I am particularly interested in the section on Cranes and Relayers which has some stuff about Cowans Sheldon cranes which are the only ones I have seen on the WHL. Although the era covered is at the end of my 1980-85 window it looks like another excellent piece of reference material. I will have a more extensive read of the whole bookazine over the next few days. I managed to find my copy although the article on ballast is silent on where the pink/brown comes from. I have in my mind that this was contained in an article somewhere but I cannot recall where or when this was. I have a large container filled with WHL articles covering many years, this looks like an opportunity to review some of these in the hope that I can find the ballast origins information.

Most interesting, I have the excellent bookazine but had not noticed the Trout at Crianlarich. This has cheered me up no end as I have a Trout in my rake of Heljan Dogfish and had always believed that ths was out of place on the WHL. Now I know better and can justify keeping the Trout. My order for engineers wagons vol 2 direct from Key was placed at the weekend; their recent spate of publications are all first class information and the reference material is very useful. I dont think the reference to Irvine on the Trout sheds any more on the orgins of the WHL ballast, I suspect this was just the depot/base for the wagon. Several years ago ModelRail did an article on WHL ballast to coincide with the ModelRail Scotland. Try as I might, I cannot find the copy of the magazine which I am fairly sure included reference to a quarry where the pink/brown ballast came from. I shall keep looking for this in my pile of old magazines.

I am aware that it is possible to replace the Lima couplings and install NEM styled ones although I have no experience of doing this. A friend gave me some of the NEM replacements to try a while back but I have not got around to fitting them. The Lima grain wagons have served me well and with a little work I am sure they can be further improved, Railtec do transfers that would add detail and the couplings can be upgraded as people have identified. There is no one specific reason for my change to the Bachmann grain wagons, it was a combination of factors that led me to the decision to upgrade. The more I am thinking about it, the more I coming to the conclusion that I will run 2 rakes, 1 Lima and 1 Bachmann which will enable the running of up and down trains passing on the WHL as per the 1984 WTT. I just have to figure out if I have the siding capacity to store another 8 wagons!