crunchie48

Aye that would have been Will. A very clever guy. His Timber Ps will also be very worth waiting for. I'll post some photos of the moguls when they're ready. My biggest problem is lining. I am no use at it.

I would like to bring the Invernevis story up to date. I purchased the layout from David in January of last year after he had advertised in on Facebook. I'd followed this thread from the start and had the article from the Railway Modeller. I'd admired the layout greatly and think I'd bought it within minutes of it being advertised. I've had a long interest in the West Highland and around 20 years of being involved with rail services on the line. My plan for the layout was to take it from the period David had modelled back to the mid 1950s to mid 1960s. This allows me to run my fleet of steam and early diesels. To this end I've made a few modifications. I approached Pop Up Designs who had just completed work on a 4mm Fort William Station and Canopy for commission. I asked if Iain could scale them down to N gauge. I had no plans for replacing the station building as David's slightly smaller building works extremely well. I have replaced the Ratio canopies with P.U.D.'s. These have been built using 1.5mm ply for the structure and 0.8mm ply for the glazing elements. I have decided not to glaze the canopies and the comments from those who have seen it have been extremely favourable. Some more work is needed on the cross girders as I had to narrow the overall width to allow them to fit. The ply ones will be replaced by etches. The hi viz shunter has gone and been replaced by a suitable member of staff from the period. The Brutes have also disappeared. I have added an extension to the fiddle yard to give a bit of operational flexibility. The layout made its Scottish debut at the Rainbow Railways N Gauge exhibition in Linlithgow in April. It ran like a dream, save for the points for platform 3 which didn't want to change when operated directly but did when operating platform 2 then 3. Some investigation work to be done before the Falkirk and Paisley shows which it has been invited to. I am planning to extend the platforms at the station end to allow full length West Highland steam services but retaining the character of the original layout. Fort William had a very distinct bracket signal controlling the departure of trains. Mark Seward was commissioned to build this and the associated post and this will be fitted soon replacing the Ratio round post signals. Rolling stock is a challenge for the West Highland in that period, there being no K1s, K2/2s or K4s available in any form and some very specific coaching stock too. 3D printing has been my go to. The genius that is Rudi Newman of Newman Miniatures was approach a few years ago to design advanced scratch aids and we have been working to fill that gap. To that end the K1, K2/2 and K4s are now available on Shapeways on his site. These fit the superb Farish N Class chassis. On top of that the J37 has been produced (for the C Class) and the D34 Glen in both wingplate and shorn guises for a modified Farish 2P chassis. The chassis needed to be remotored to lower the profile. One of Sven's kits at Tramfabriek doing the trick. Tiny Underground have done a beautiful J36 for the C Class chassis and I have 2 that will be done as 65300 and 65313. The rest of the steam stock is provided by either Farish Black 5s and B1s or Dapol B1s, all renumbered to locos that were regulars on the line. One, 61140 will be sporting the Self Weighing Tender. Rudi has just completed a little commission to allow a Dapol B1 to be modified. Renumbering and weathering was carried out by Rob Elliot and he's made a superb job. Especially of the unique to the line 76001 which is a weathering masterpiece. I've been assisting Will Jayne at Beacon Models on a little labour of love. The class 29. Last year he did its wee brother, the 22 and I prevailed on him to stretch the body and do the bigger loco. This runs on a modified Tomytec chassis and made an appearance at Linlithgow. It walked away with 10 coaches on the Renfrewshire club layout and could have easily handled more. Its not available to buy (yet). Coaching stock is a mix of Farish and Dapol. Most of which has now been weathered by Rob Elliot. As I mentioned the West Highland had an interesting range of coaching stock. The Beavertails in both forms are from 3D prints from Recreation21 as was the ex GCR Inspection saloon SC970113. I have a wish to get the Gresley brake composite sleeper and buffets that ran on the line done but drawings are extremely difficult to find. There were only 3 of each built after all. There is also a 3rd class Met Camm Pullman with the number painted out. This represents the one used on the line during possessions in the mid 60s onwards alongside a 12 wheel ex LMS sleeper. Operations and formations have been gleaned from a variety of sources. Thanks go to Jim Archibald who used to work in the station box and he sent me a very detailed set of movements. The formations are from the rolling stock diagrams for the line. They make for interesting reading. A friend of mine/s late father was the District Manager for the area and his notes have been invaluable as has bouncing various things off John McGregor, Graham Maxtone (now retired from Banavie) and John McNab, who used to work in the the coaching stock department at Cowlairs. After this the next plan coming together in mind is to build Garelochhead. I had thought about Bridge of Orchy but the excellent Gary Hinson is doing that.

Hello Jeremy, do you still have these drawings? I understand that the top of the box was the same as Fort William Station, Glen Douglas and Fort William Junction. Many thanks in advance Tom

I have had a bash at doing the same cut and shut with a Dapol N gauge Group standard chassis and had an ok result. I made a boob with the body though and cut it in the middle to shorten in. Next time I'll use the same method you have with doing it from the rear.

It’s a fantastic layout David. If it ever wants rehoming I’d happily export it North of the Border. All the best. Tom

Is the J36 from a kit?

Hi, Have been following this thread with interest. 2 comments for you. I'm fairly certain its the September issue of Rail Express which has general arrangement drawings of the Drax Biomass wagons. Someone told me that the bogies are already available and under another type of wagon (the carkind escapes me). Also I may have some info for the Ecofret which you may find useful. I've got a contact there who I think could be willing to assist too. Cheers TC