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young37215

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Everything posted by young37215

  1. Having reinstated the track it seemed a good idea and a good excuse to do some test running and I am pleased to report that everything still works as it should. I will glue and ballast the remaining track in the mountaneous section later today in the hope it dries out overnight. Elsewhere 37112 was captured arriving at Ardlui with the 07.00 Mallaig to Glasgow service where it passes 37111 and its engineers train. Wishing everyone a happy christmas and a peaceful new year.
  2. You are assuming that the yellow is painted on top of green. If it is then using cotton buds gently apply IPA or enamel paint thinners on to the yellow area which with repeated rubbing should result in the yellow slowly come away. You will go through a number of buds to remove the paint and need to be careful so as to avoid removing the green as well. With patience and care you should be able to remove the yellow paint.
  3. Progress after several stressful days spent flapping over how to fit the mountain scenery together in addition to allowing large quantities of glue to set. 4 of 6 of the sections are complete from a landscaping perspective with the remaining two in the middle still under construction. I have returned the upper level sections to the layout and managed to join the track together once more. The track on the middle section has been weathered but is not yet ballasted meaning that apart from a short section of track on the approach to Fort WIlliam, I have now completed all of the planned track weathering on WHL4. In theory I have now broken the back of the current landscape work and should be able to complete this in the coming days. Looking south from Mallaig Junction fiddle yard, the lower level on the left will be joined to the upper level using plaster cloth once I have cut the insulation to the profile I require. Middle upper section removed for track weathering Middle section restored and insulation cut roughly to form the base of the landscape
  4. Doh, why did'nt I think of that? It appears to do the job, time will tell how effectively once it has set.
  5. A question that I meant to raise in my earlier post. The 50 degree gradient on the mountainside means that it is challenging to get the scenic material to stay in place even though it is laid on a layer of PVA. Woodland Scenics recommend their scenic cement but I find this disturbs the material when being sprayed on because it is not fine enough, I need something that produces a fine mist that setlles on top of the materials and holds them in place. I am thinking about trying a cheap matt varnish to mist over, before I do has anyone found an effective way of securing scenic material on similar gradients?
  6. The above 1985 picture shows 2 of the class 37's transferred in from the WR for conversion to 37/4. The amount of dirt on the locos shows that heavy weathering was commonplace for anything that ran on the WHL! More work on the baseboard sees it close to being completed, the remaining work can be done with it back in situ on the layout. I want to add a few low level bushes to blend in the rocky outcrops and the removable lid needs tweaking but good progress. Once the various paint and glue has dried I should be able to return the baseboard to the layout.
  7. By the end of yesterday I had a first coat of paint on the mountain pass baseboard scenery. Once this and the Sculptamold have dried I can start with some detail work, I hope the baseboard will be ready to return to the layout in a day or two. 37012 threads its way north with 1B10, 0837 Glasgow to Mallaig.
  8. Progress with the mountain pass baseboard seems slow but it is a chunky area. By the end of yesterday I had laid around 75% of the plaster cloth and most of the areas requiring filler had been Sculptamolded. Gradient profile looks fine Guaging of the cutting Track covered so that plaster cloth and Sculptamold can be laid
  9. Nice video Alain. A minor technical point that you might want to consider is for your 1980's era of liveries I do not think you need a brake van on most of your freight trains. If the wagons are all braked, by the 1980's no brake van was usually required with the Guard normally travelling in the rear cab of the loco. Others will no doubt be able add to this and explain the situation in more detail. On WHL4 I only have brake vans on trains where they include wagons that might not have brakes such as engineering trains.
  10. Whilst most of the train movements on WHL4 correspond with the WTT, one Rule 1 additional service is an early morning Fort William to Mallaig and return trip for the steam stock. Diesel hauled of course, the 08.45 departure returns from Mallaig at 11.00 and neatly avoids having the steam stock sat around doing nothing for most of the day. 37049 is seen at Mallaig with the outbound 2B13 and the return working 2B20.
  11. I was a little concerned that the black headcode panels were incorrect for 37011 but managed to find a 1985 picture that reassures me they are fine. I might change them to yellow ones at some stage because 37011 ran for most of the early 1980's as per @Alcanman's picture. Snow ploughs are another longstanding issue, I will find a way to add them along with other bufferbeam detailing at some stage but for now I am content that the revised 37011 is good to go as is. Yesterday was all glueing and cuttting again with some rock mold casting thrown in for good measure. Baseboard starting point, the track on the right is the Alcan Aluminium works siding which will be hidden. Gradient of about 1:100 created using 3mm cork. Track weathered, ballasted and glued. The Alcan siding will be hidden but for access purposes I have created a 'removable scenic lid'
  12. I like the picture of 37027 arriving at Crianlarich, it's not an angle that I have used for photographing arrivals and I am always looking for inspiration with new angles. In between chopping and glueing polystyrene for the ongoing landscape work, I finally sorted out the headcode lights on 37111. The problem was the wiring that powers the headcode lighting was fouling the bodyshell which appeared to be in the correct place but moved when the bodyshell was placed on the chassis. The solution was rather than dropping the bodyshell onto the chassis as I would normally do, I dropped the chassis onto the bodyshell which reduced the potential for the wiring to move. Net result is 37111 is now fully functional although it still needs weathering. At least I got to tick one item off of the long list of 'to do's'. Having cleaned some of the weathering off of 37011 and fitted new nose ends with cut down cowling, I used the chassis from 37114 to create 37011 as it was in the mid 1980's prior to its 1987 accident and subsequent withdrawl. I am missing the headlight which the SDEG advise 37011 acquired in 1982 whilst on loan to Inverness; my current thinking is to add another jewel in the same way as I did on 37017. At last, working headcode lights at both ends Revised 37011 bodyshell awaits a new chassis I added a second driver to the chassis from 37114, I like to see a driver in the cab of a loco. 37011 on new chassis with working headcode lights
  13. With the addition of 4 OAA's I am now struggling for siding/storage space, the last thing I need is to add to the wagon fleet! I have lifted 1 of the 2, 6' upper level baseboards onto my workbench to start on the scenery which again severs the running line. This is the board that links directly to the Mallaig Junction fiddle yard, the top right one in the diagram above. I managed to weather the track and start ballasting yesterday, the mountaneous landscape is causing me a few issues and progress was slow as a result. A few last minute movements were recorded before the line was closed, 37027 is pictured arriving at Crianlarich en route to Oban with 1T32.
  14. 37039 was one of my better Ebay purchases coming ready weathered and with the working headlamp. The weathering is excellent but questionable on the WHL where faded locos are rare in my experience of scrolling through Flickr. Filthy dirty, battered or rusty paintwork yes, faded paintwork no. Someone suggested this was due to a lack of washing facilities at Eastfield which makes sense as my understanding of fading is that it is a function of regular washing of old paintwork. Whatever the reasons I like 37039 as it is and it will not be changing anytime soon. Having got into operations once again I continued with running trains yesterday. 37111 was called into action to move some rail up the line for the engineering department and is seen arriving at Garelochead.
  15. The area under development is the last of the 'open space' on WHL4. It is a sizeable area hence my splitting it into 6 for the purposes of my working on it, if I can complete the landscape by the end of the month/year I will be happy and greatly relieved. Having spent time without the ability to use the layout, it seemed about time to run some trains. 37039 has been battered back to life by fitters and is seen heading north with 7B02 at Ardlui. Included in the consist is one of Rapidos rather nice and new OAA's; for now I have left this in pristine condition under the premise that it has recently been released from works following overhaul and repainting into Speedlink red and grey.
  16. The bodyshell is the 'new' bit, the nose ends and chassis were previously part of 37011 (ex Bachmann version 32-781) where the headcode lights worked fine. They still work, whatever my problem it is preventing the bodyshell sitting in its correct position on the chassis with the result the power tabs at one end are not making proper contact with the supply on the chassis. Resolve the problem and I expect the headcode lights will work just fine. By the end of yesterday I had painted the new plaster cloth which should dry overnight. There is still a small gap between the upper and lower boards which would be easy to fill with Sculptamould but I am hesitant about doing so because I had hoped to find a way to keep the boards seperate so that they could be accessed in need. Another item for the 'still pondering' list, I dont have to commit to anything until I start dressing the area. With this work I have completed the landscape in 3 of the 6 sections, hopefully another weeks effort will see the landscape work finished. Insulation board cut to form the landscape Plaster cloth added and then painted Looking north The landscape by section, 50% done feels like progress. The remaining 50% feels like hard work!
  17. I managed to get 37111's bodyshell and chassis seperated but still cannot work out what the issue is. I removed both bulkheads in the expectation that the body should then sit correctly on the chasis but it did'nt! Having spent more time on this than I planned I gave up and will return to the problem another day. I also worked out that the point and semaphore direction shown on the MC2 unit does have a relationship with the position of the accessory. If the accessory is in the opposite position to that indicated on the MC2 the first button push only changes the accessory icon to reflect the correct position, it does not trigger any movement in the actual accessory. A second button push then operates the accessory and changes the accessory icon position to reflect the movement. It is slightly clumsy but at least it shows I should be reasonably safe relying on the MC2 accessory control indcation. That was enough of the 'butterfly' modelling for one day and I cracked on with the planned landscape work. More plaster cloth was added to the lower level below the corner baseboard ( the bottom left section on my diagram above) and by the end of the day the landscape of the section was just about complete. The area needs painting and dressing but I feel happier having completed the heavy lifting. 37043 with ETHEL 1 had a run round as well for testing purposes and was captured in picture at several points around the line.
  18. I think the problem with 37111 is the internal cab bulkheads. I say think because yesterday neither Doug or I could get the bodyshell off of the chassis, it is clearly caught on something and that appears to be the bulkhead. This would make sense, if the bulkhead is not in the correct place it will foul the roof and stop the bodyshell dropping fully on to the chassis. All I need to do is work out how to release the bodyshell and I should be able to reposition the bulkheads. Doug also kindly hand delivered my 4 OAA's which he had collected from Derails. At first glance these look excellent, they will get weathered over the coming days before joining the rolling stock fleet. The corner board has been returned to the layout and the track reconnected. The adjoining landscape on the lower level has been covered in plaster cloth which should be dry enough to work on today. As I have mentioned previously the amount of work to complete the remaining landscape is substantial and to make it feel more manageable, I have split the area into 6 sections and will work on one section at a time. The 3 upper level sections will be completed first because I have to lean across the lower level to access them. It is probably easier explained using a diagram, the corner board is top left in the picture.
  19. My 4 OAA's arrived this morning. First appearances are that we have an excellent model weighing in at a beefy 77g compared with the 54g of a Bachmann OBA, a near 50% more weight which should help minimise derailments. I shall get mine weathered over the next few days and look forward to giving them a good run once the wheels have been cleaned up. Nice work Rapido; thank you.
  20. Thanks for the suggestion but the bodyshell of 37111 is definitely on the correct way round. With glues and paints drying and a layout that is effectively out of use I have been finding other ways to spend my modelling time. I recently decided to try using the accessory function on my ESU Cab Control system for the operation of the servo driven points and semaphores using Megapoints networked servo controllers. Megapoints has worked well for me in the 6 or so years I have been running it on my 14m x 3m layout using a home built control panel. What I increasingly find is I operate from the vicinity of the control panel so as to be able to change points and signals. This was not my original plan where I envisaged moving around the layout to view trains from different angles. The way in which I am operating means that I see the same views day after day creating the risk of familiarity potentially leading to, heaven forbid, boredom. To enable operation from all around the layout I added the Megapoints DCC module to their network which connects to Cab Control. I set up the points and semaphores for 4 stations on the MC 2 wireless hand held controller. The set up is not that user friendly but I eventually worked it out and have got quicker with experience. I now have the ability to operate from all around the layout which has considerably increased the playability. For the modest £34 cost of the Megapoints DCC module I have got a great upgrade albeit with a couple of anomalies that detract from its use. The accessory set up is registered on the MC2 memory wheras the loco register is captured on the Cab Control ICU memory. This means that I will need to set up and maintain accessories on both of the MC2 units I have compared with locos which only need setting up once on either of the MC2's. It is a pain but not a big deal and likely a one off activity because I don't see changes taking place very often. When a button is toggled the point/semaphore icon moves as appropriate for the accessory which is great if the set up matches the direction of the accessory. So far as I can find there is no way of determining or changing this which means a 50/50 chance that the icon shows the correct direction Garelochead set up on the MC2 handset, a press of the button operates the designated accessory.
  21. I have looked for any obvious obstuctions like wiring without success so far, it is iritating. I am sure the issue is a minor one that will get resolved in time. Further progress with the corner baseboard which is now nearing completion. A few areas need tidying up but these can be completed in situ and the board is now ready for a return to the layout. When it does I will need to keep my focus on the current development and not start playing trains again!
  22. Despite my best efforts I cannot get the bodyshell to sit correctly on 37111 which means that I cannot get all of the body retaining screws to tighten. The headcode lights do not work at one end because the missing retaining screws mean that electrical contacts are not aligned. I gave the loco a run partly to see how it looked and partly as a test. It looks and ran fine but something is not quite as it should be. I'll return to this another day once the paint has hardened, probably when I weather the loco. Having got my teeth into the mountain pass landscape I want to move this forward as far as I can. 37111 heads 7D13 into Crianlarich
  23. Not sure of you found your answer so here is my attempt. Go into Edit mode, then select 'add an accessory' which will bring up the list of the existing accessories. Hold down on screen on the relevant accessory for a second or two, this causes a delete dustbin to appear in the top right corner of the MC2 screen.
  24. I need some of these and some of his windscreen wipers for several of my 37's. Looking on the Shawplan website I see DP45-09LW which are described as L shaped lamp brackets; do you recall if these are what you bought? Likewise with windscreen wipers where there is the choice of medium and large sizes; do you know which fits the older style Bachmann 37?
  25. The corner board of the mountain pass (the upper level) is currently getting its landscape and scenery. The curve cuts through a rocky cutting before starting the climb towards the summit. The mountainside is plaster cloth painted with green emulsion on top of polystyrene and insulation board off cuts. Sculptamold fills in the gaps and the landscape will get dressed with scenic materials once it is dry. I could not resist putting the glazing back in 37111 and reinstating the chassis. A minor problem has arisen in that the bodyshell does not fit perfectly on the chassis because the bodyshell lugs are not aligning up as they should making it difficult to replace the screws. This only became clear when running 37111 where the headcode refused to light up at one end. I need to check this over, I know the headcode works, to the best of my knowledge all second generation Bachmann 37's should have interchangeable chassis and bodyshell meaning that is probably something simple I have got wrong.
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