young37215

37017 was an early headlight fitted 37 spending the early 1980's flitting between Inverness and Eastfield depots where the former added headlights in 1982. When I bought my version of 37017 it came with working headlights although they were not very robust. One quickly stopped working and I decided to remove the other before it fell off leaving the wiring in place. I planned to reinstate the headlights but without being clear on what was required I had not got around to it. My recent wittering about headlights got me thinking and so I removed the loco bodyshell to see what had been done. As I suspected wiring had been attached to the headcode terminals and a resistor fitted. It all looks rather fiddly and I decided that I would settle for the simple option of fitting the non working jewel lamps to see how they looked. I drilled a 2mm hole to drop the bezel into and fixed it in place with a dab of superglue. My initial reaction is positive, I will run the loco like this for a while to see how I feel about the non working headlamp. At the very least I have ticked one item off of the to do list. Revised wiring of the nose end to facilitate a headlight, note part of the lighting board has been cut down to allow the wires to fit in Original wiring still in place but I chose to remove it so I could fit the jewel lamps 2mm hole drilled Bezel and jewel headlight fitted

Most of the pictorial evidence of 37014 on Flickr shows the headlight off during the daytime although there are some with it clearly on. I assume that the headlight on/off was a driver choice, the rationale behind them was improved night time visibility presumably through a switch in the cab. If it can be done simply in model form then I prefer the option of a working headlight, much as with the headcode. Not only do I like the appearance but I find it helpful when operating to be able to see the direction that the loco will travel and one day I aim to create the option of winter running where lights will be required. I will get around to dismantling my existing headlight fitted locos to see how they work. That said I do have a non working jewel styled light that might get used if the working option looks to complicated. Headlight on Headlight off

As an owner of CC I am quite comfortable with the fact that it will date over time, all tech does, because it does what I want. I went through quite an extensive process to decide what controller best met my requirements and am glad that I did. My advice to anyone looking for a new controller is do the same, be clear on what it is you are after. Importing from the USA was easy, I bought mine from Iron Planet Hobbies where DHL managed to lose the first package that was sent. The chap at Iron Planet sent a second unit within a few days which turned up in the UK less than 48 hours after despatch. All in all it was less than 10 days from purchase to getting my hands on CC. There are several sellers in the USA if you Google 'ESU Cab Control', all seem to be around the same USD price. Bare in mind that duty is payable on any import, this works out at around 20% of the purchase price and will be collected by the courier company before they deliver. https://www.ironplanethobbies.com/product/esu-50310-cabcontrol-dcc-command-staion-wifi-throttle-7a-power-supply/

I don’t use the accessories on my CC meaning I have no idea how to delete. I believe there are only a few CC users on RMWeb, I’d suggest you are more likely to get an answer on the ESU CC forum

Thanks Ian, that seems to rule out any point in asking the question of either manufacturer. I don't see why a simple LED and some form of bezel can not be used with numerous variations of each advertised for just few pence on Ebay. A small hole drilled through the front of the nose creates the location of the light and bezel. The LED is glued into the bezel and the bezel is glued into the hole in the nose. The LED is connected to the same power supply used for the directional headcode so it only illuminates in the direction of travel. The power supply should be easy enough to tap into, presumably just a couple of solder joints required and all hidden away behind the nose. To understand what is involved better I need to seperate the bodyshell and chassis from 37039 to see how it was done and measure the components used. I'll probably do the same with Accurascale's 37027 where I am sure the concept is much the same. A couple of questions arise: what is the colour of the typical 1980 SCR headlight? what voltage powers the headcode lights on a Bachmann class 37?

Based on the lack of examples either in response to my question or from my efforts at searching RMWeb it appears that nobody other than Lee Edmondson has publicised their own 1980's Scottish Region headlamp as yet. I'll certainly try both Accurascale and Bachmann to see if they do their variants as a spare part but am guessing that they will not be cheap. In addition to Accurascale's recent 37027, I already have 2 locos with headlights in 37039 and 37114. The latter was unique in that it has the headlight sat on top of the locos nose which is not what I want. I need to look more closely at 37039 where a small LED embedded in the front of the nose is what I want on 37014 and 37017. I need to measure this on 37039 but am thinking that a 2mm or 3mm LED is sat in a bezel of some description ought to be straightforward to replicate. I have always resisted taking 37039's bodyshell off of the chassis for fear of damaging the headlight but if I want to move forward it seems I'll have to bite the bullet.

I am pleased to say there are no dipped joints or crippled ends on WHL4, maybe the real railway should try PVA in its ballast! A question, has anyone found a solution or a supplier to fit WHL styled headlights? I want to add them to 37014 (pictured below) and 37017 which were early recipients of headlights.

Thanks for the counsel; much appreciated. The rail joint is around the ends of the 2 x 6' baseboards that make up the bulk of the section where I have constructed the gradient so that the rail should be level for 6'' either side of the joint/summit. The construction is such that in an extreme situation I can seperate the two boards for maintenance should the need arise. I think that because the track is not glued down yet means that it moves under load which creates the effect that it is not level seen in the pictures. I will check before glueing but am fairly confident that when glued the track either side of the joint will be level. This will all have to wait because we are now away on a short break for a few days.

Slow progress but I am getting closer to what I want. The mountain pass summit now looks close to being right, I ran trains for a while yesterday to get the feel of how they looked through the section and by the end of the day I felt comfortable with what I had built. Using 3mm strips of cork the line rises to a summit and then drops away towards Mallaig Junction Yard. I aim to glue the track down over the next few days before painting and ballasting; if that all works out OK then the mountainside will be covered in plaster cloth and the scenic work can begin. 37114 and 37014 had charge of 7B02, 0520 Mossend to Corpach seen breasting the mountain pass summit.

I am working on trying to recreate the impression of a gradient like the first picture in the mountain pass landscape. The WHL goes against all modelling rules of having a flat, level baseboard and is a lot easier to create gradients inadvertantly than it is by design. The amount of cutting and the volume of polystyrene required to create the landscape is surprisingly large. Annoyingly this is the first set of pictures that I am working off where the fencing is very evident, I might just have to include some. Progress to date, I intend raising the height of the landcape on the right between Arrochar and the mountain pass.

Actually I only need another 288! Hi Warren The underpass on the platform is Peco LK7 underpass steps. The wall that seperates the underpass from the railway (to the right of 27041 in the first picture) is Wills SSMP2212 brickwork plain bond topped with Plastruct 90682 hand rails for the railings and Auhagen coping stones which came with their viaduct 11344 but did'nt get used on it. The lower walls that enclose the underpass on both sides of the station are Wills SSMP 200 coarse stone and the underpass railings are from the Wills SS28 occupational bridge. Looking at the following two pictures reminds me that I need to weather the platform facing west and paint the underpass railings. More work!

The change in route of NE/SW trains to using the ECML to Doncaster and across to Sheffield was largely driven by the problems caused by mining subsidence old the Cudworth and Normanton route. It suited the narrative to sell it as a response to demand but the reality was the economic environment and political will meant that most decisions were cost driven and there was no cash to fund the remedial work that the old route needed. Nearly 40 years have passed and not a lot has changed!

Hi Ian Even with selective compression it's about 5m from the curve at the southern end to the point at the northern end of the station. As you say, the track layout requires by far the most space of all the intermediate stations on the line. It is also on quite a gradient from the south up to the station which then falls away as the line continues north. Trying to replicate this has been a major challenge, I hope that it will look the part when finished. Up above Arrochar the fictitious mountain pass section occupied my attention yesterday where I completed the remaining wiring of the power BUS. Fiddling with the gradient also took a while, I am taking the County March summit between Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy as my template and want a summit at the mid point of the section. My idea is that locos will struggle/thrash there way to the summit before shutting off power and rolling down the opposite side in the hope that this will provide an opportunity to get the most from the sound fitted locos. The template I am working from

Slow progress but the outstanding landscape is begining to take shape. The first activity of the day was the corner baseboard from the upper level which was wired up and returned to its position. I tried painting the rail by hand but quickly gave up as it was far too cumbersome in the knowledge that the airbrush will make light work of the task. I want to sort all of the wiring before firing up the airbrush so turned instead to the remaining insulation offcuts that will make up the landscape. Those on the western side of Arrochar that rise up were cut at a 50 degree angle and placed in situ. A little bit uniform but it should not be too challenging to introduce some irregularity whilst adding plaster cloth. With the line closed for an engineering blockade, the fiddle yard was full awaiting the line reopening. Only 11 class 37s on view today!

It was the 10th anniversary of the installation of my 3.5KW array earlier this year. So far I have generated 36MW with 2020 peaking at 3.8MW.

I managed to start the upper level section that I call the mountain pass area yesterday. I am largely starting from scratch here and needed to add droppers to the various pieces of track which always takes time. Progress was made although by the end of the day I had severed the line between Fort William and the south meaning that opportunities for running were curtailed. With the line still open, 6E46 headed by 37264 is seen on departure from Garelochead.

Spreasheet further updated following SC55015's observations and re-attached. There are still a number of blanks but given that this all relates to 40 years ago, I suspect that we will never get to 100%.

Moving on I managed to get some work done whilst watching the rain yesterday. Although a filthy day we were fortunate having seen some of the flooding and upheavel elsewhere, in getting off lightly. I glued about 2M of insulation board down and added plaster cloth to create the landscape to the immediate west of Arrochar which dried quickly allowing me to splash some 30 year old brown poster paint over it. Initial reaction is the end result looks OK although I still need to get my head around how this area will also tie into the upper level. I think what I have done is a step forward and even managed to remember to cover the track before laying the plaster cloth which meant that the track bed did not get contaminated. The first metre of landscape begins to take shape Looking north, the height will get raised in time The landscape to the southern end of the platform gets a coat of paint Looking south the profile of the mountainside begins to take shape.

Updated spreadsheet attached, @thegreenhowards is correct in that I had mixed up 9015 and 9016. I have made a a few small amendments and added a column for window beading although I am not certain as to what precisely should be recorded. It should also be noted that I have created 2 rows for 9000 and 9001 both of which appeared to undergo some form of update during their short lives. Doing this allows the reader to determine which layout is most suitable for their chosen model/era. The only additional information that I would like to have added but can find very little about is the window on the opposite of the blanked off one where variations on the Buffet/Micro Buffet can be found.

The window covers that I have seen look a simple internal affair made of laminate and screwed into the existing window frame. The 2023 picture below is of the arrangement on 9003 which I reckon is original judging by its condition and similarity to the surrounding laminate. I would guess that the cover was something that could easily be removed, the GWSR have done just that on 9000 effectively reinstating the original window arrangement. Visually the coach looks in reasonable order suggesting it is not long withdrawn and I am purely guessing but I fancy 9007 is a likely candidate following its withdrawl in late 1990.

The table is a great starting point although based upon discussion in this thread and what is required to create a BSOT, I think it could do with a few additional columns. I started to list them and then thought why not just use billywhizz's as a start and extend that. Here is what I created, most of the information comes from Longworth. I am not intending on maintaining this, if someone cleverer than me can put it somewhere it can be updated then that works for me. Edit see later in thread for updated spreadsheet

I did something similar using servos and Megapoints a while back which is close to being perfect but not quite. The system works but the plasticard top is not long enough which means that you have to be very precise in where the train stops. With the benefit of 12 months experience, I will be swapping the plasticard top (the piece that sits on top of the the track) for the top piece of a Peco uncoupler. I have a number of these sat spare and hope that the increase in length will make it easier stop a train on top of the uncoupler. The servo element works very well, I have no plans to change this element of the uncoupler.

The space is about 14m x 3m but never feels enough. I now have 3 BSOT's in operation, numbers 9000, 9001 and 9015 with 2 more BSO's acquired waiting to undergo conversion. Two are in Oban rakes with one now added into a Mallaig rake which is the first time that I have used the BSO/BSOT in one of the Mallaig rakes and it meant removing a BSK to keep the load at 4. The Oban rakes have 2 brake coaches but I did not want 2 brakes in the Mallaig rakes and longer trains will not fit at Mallaig that easily which means as usual, a compromise is required. 9015 was the first BSOT to reach Mallaig seen arriving with behind 37175 and the 0837 from Glasgow which then formed the 1610 return. Both this and 9001 have yet to be completed either internally or externally but the lure of running meant they entered service partially complete.

Only 6, I ran out of space to build more! The 6 are Garelochead, Arrochar, Ardlui, Crianlarich, Fort William and Mallaig. At this time of year the sun, when it shines, creates some interesting images at Crianlarich as well as showing off the new trees.

There are a number of bauxite and railfreight red/grey images of OAA's on Flickr from the late 70's until the mid 80's if you look hard which leads me to the view that either livery option would be representative of the period. In terms of the balance between OAA and OBA/OCA, it should be borne in mind that the number of OAA's at 100 compares with the 1000 plus OBA/OCA hence it seems reasonable for the OBA/OCA to appear more frequently. In addition to those posted by 03060 above, bauxite examples below June 1981 June 1982 October 1983 February 1985