Crinan

[Signaller69]

A bit more progress with the extension; another coat of varnish "water" applied with slight ripples induced, at least another couple of coats needed yet. Also surface profile and road "Tarmac" surfaces applied using another sand/PVA/acrylic paint mulch smoothed with a wide brush (Macbraynes B.E.T. bus testing the surface!), and the station forecourt paving (Scribed card) and platform extension made (the forecourt slopes in 2 planes so was a PITA). Also a small test area of grass applied on the Locks, this needs to look neat as it always seems in photos to be regularly mown.

 

I need to set it up with the layout again so I can add the short platform extension track across the board join and check alignments etc.

[D1072]

Re. Post 150, Wickhams trolley stabling: was it ScR practice to manhandle them off a siding and keep them out of the way on a short section of track at right angles?   I think the SDR have this arrangement in the goods yard north of Staverton station.   Not any good if you want to run it though!   Would the turntable road point have been under the bridge?   It looks like there is room.   You could have just enough track for the trolley and then some rail-less sleepers.   Instead of a buffer stop, an upside down sleeper on top of the end of the rails.

[Alister_G]

That water is superb, I honestly thought the second picture was the real thing at first glance, the apparent depth, and the reflections, are brilliant.

 

Al.

[Signaller69]

Re. Post 150, Wickhams trolley stabling: was it ScR practice to manhandle them off a siding and keep them out of the way on a short section of track at right angles? I think the SDR have this arrangement in the goods yard north of Staverton station. Not any good if you want to run it though! Would the turntable road point have been under the bridge? It looks like there is room. You could have just enough track for the trolley and then some rail-less sleepers. Instead of a buffer stop, an upside down sleeper on top of the end of the rails.

Thanks for the comments, I'm not sure whether Wickhams Trolleys were manhandled 90 degrees in or out of dedicated sheds on the West Highland lines (as happened in other areas), but it would seem likely they could have, but as you say the bigger problem I have is finding siding space for it to stand. The Y point I am looking at changing leads into another point under the bridge which forms the crossover to the main line and there is insufficient clearance to put a 3 way in there, so any changes would have to be confined to the Y point area. I like the truncated siding idea with a sleeper over the end; as an aside, when the Mallaig line was first dieselised, initially the Mallaig shed road was lifted and just one siding retained leading onto the turntable, although any track beyond the turntable was also removed and no bufferstop of any sort provided!

 

Cheers,

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

That water is superb, I honestly thought the second picture was the real thing at first glance, the apparent depth, and the reflections, are brilliant.

 

Al.

Thanks Al, I'm aiming at a calm day with just slight ripples, any reflections are an added bonus!

 

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

Road markings have now been added using white transfer film cut into strips. . .

[Signaller69]

Managed to call at the Club this afternoon and do a test fit of the extension, thankfully all lines up more or less as it should; the station area will have new viewing angles opened up and hopefully the road layout context is more obvious! Roads on the main part of the layout will be modified so they mate across the board join more convincingly.

[McRuss]

Hello Martyn,

 

may I aks what you have used to create the road surface?

 

Markus

[Signaller69]

Hello Martyn,

 

may I aks what you have used to create the road surface?

 

Markus

Hi Markus, it is a mix of sand, PVA and acrylic paint mixed in an old yogurt pot with a few drops of water added, to a fairly thick consistency, splodged roughly into place with a cheap brush and then smoothed over by a 2" decorating brush.

 

I have tried using water colours but this doesn't colour the sand as well as acrylics.

 

When dry, gloss varnish was applied before using sealed white transfer film (or yellow for no parking areas) cut into strips to do the markings. Matt acrylic varnish was then brushed over the whole surface.

 

HTH,

Martyn.

[Jaggzuk]

Wow what a layout! Just discovered your layout after your post on "How realistic are your models? Photo challenge."

 

I am really impressed with the whole layout, the detail, weathering, camios, the nice subtle colours, and your photo;no 20 story angle of views!

 

Shall follow with great interest.

 

Oh and the second photo on post 151, is so life like with the water!!

 

Paul

[Module00]

A nice and realistic picture ! 

your layout is very nice. Very good work. 

[Signaller69]

Wow what a layout! Just discovered your layout after your post on "How realistic are your models? Photo challenge."

 

I am really impressed with the whole layout, the detail, weathering, camios, the nice subtle colours, and your photo;no 20 story angle of views!

 

Shall follow with great interest.

 

Oh and the second photo on post 151, is so life like with the water!!

 

Paul

Thanks Paul, your comments are much appreciated.

 

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

The first recorded visit of a Class 37 to Crinan occurred today, D6728 arrived on 4S46 Block grain working from Doncaster, before visiting the fuel point. It later headed back with a very light 4E47 empties. The resident photographer was lucky to get a few snaps in poor light.

 

 

The reality is that this test run would have taken place a couple of weeks ago, however the 37 was declared a failure from the off, due to one of the bogie cardan shafts being out of its universal joint, so it didn't even leave the fiddle yard under its own power! This time the run was thankfully succesful, the loco runs very smoothly, though a little noisy. A little grease will hopefully cure this.

[luckymucklebackit]

Martyn - (Pedant hat firmly in position) - Can I just point out that you should inform NCL that the fork lift truck they are using might be illegal for the period  Legislation was introduced in 1969 requiring all new trucks must be fitted with an overhead guard capable of protecting the driver from any falling load.  (I worked in the forklift industry for a while)

 

 

Jim

[Signaller69]

Martyn - (Pedant hat firmly in position) - Can I just point out that you should inform NCL that the fork lift truck they are using might be illegal for the period Legislation was introduced in 1969 requiring all new trucks must be fitted with an overhead guard capable of protecting the driver from any falling load. (I worked in the forklift industry for a while)

 

 

Jim

Thanks Jim,

The Depot Manager will be dismissed immediately while the Fork lift is made compliant!

 

Hadn't realised such laws had been around so long if I'm honest, thanks for pointing it out.

 

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

With progress on the extension board progressing I'm currently deciding how best to terminate the short platform extension. By which I mean the style of buffer stop and the wall between station and the NCL Depot access road as seen here:

Regarding the buffer stop I'm thinking a rail built one, but would something more substantial be more appropriate? I had originally thought of sharply curving (disused) rails across the road (ie level crossing) as if to a pier (this situation existed at Kyle, though not from the platform line), in which case a "recently added" rail built one would be perfect, but there simply isn't space to make it look plausible (the radius of the curve would make 1st radius set track look like a straight line in comparison!) As the layout is set c.1970 modern types of buffer stop are right out of course!

 

As for the wall, I have a pack of the same Ratio arched retaining walls used along the canopy, however this would to a large degree hide the Station Building and forecourt and create unwanted shadows. A cut down version perhaps? Or a plainer, low wall or even just a fence or something totally different? Any train in that platform is largely hidden by the retaining wall already, but a loco poking out at this end might make a good photo opportunity. . . And part of the reasoning for building the extension is to make the Station frontage visible after all. . . !

 

Any prototype inspired suggestion welcome! :-)

[Shadow]

With progress on the extension board progressing I'm currently deciding how best to terminate the short platform extension. By which I mean the style of buffer stop and the wall between station and the NCL Depot access road as seen here:

IMG_20170615_154033.jpg

Regarding the buffer stop I'm thinking a rail built one, but would something more substantial be more appropriate? I had originally thought of sharply curving (disused) rails across the road (ie level crossing) as if to a pier (this situation existed at Kyle, though not from the platform line), in which case a "recently added" rail built one would be perfect, but there simply isn't space to make it look plausible (the radius of the curve would make 1st radius set track look like a straight line in comparison!) As the layout is set c.1970 modern types of buffer stop are right out of course!

As for the wall, I have a pack of the same Ratio arched retaining walls used along the canopy, however this would to a large degree hide the Station Building and forecourt and create unwanted shadows. A cut down version perhaps? Or a plainer, low wall or even just a fence or something totally different? Any train in that platform is largely hidden by the retaining wall already, but a loco poking out at this end might make a good photo opportunity. . . And part of the reasoning for building the extension is to make the Station frontage visible after all. . . !

Any prototype inspired suggestion welcome! :-)

My question would be "Why is the arched retaining wall there for in the first place?"

 

Would the overall roof have come all the way down the side of the station building? If it had ended flush with the back then you could reduce the wall by about two arches. This would then open up the platform end for viewing. Put a low stone wall from this new end along side the track.

[Signaller69]

My question would be "Why is the arched retaining wall there for in the first place?"

 

Would the overall roof have come all the way down the side of the station building? If it had ended flush with the back then you could reduce the wall by about two arches. This would then open up the platform end for viewing. Put a low stone wall from this new end along side the track.

Thanks for your comments, food for thought indeed.

 

Being pretty much a mirror copy of the arrangement at Mallaig the wall supports the roof girders, which was a fairly common arrangement, and ends at the station building, presumably this also kept the Atlantic weather from damaging the canopy and off the passengers; I used the Ratio kits as they were convenient at the time but they could be replaced with a more bespoke scratchbuilt wall without too much trouble, in which case the section at the side of the building could possibly be cut back a little to end where the canopy ends as you say (or the canopy extended to match the wall), with a lower wall extending to the buffer stop.

 

Thanks,

Martyn.

 

Edit to add, extending the canopy is out as it would obscure the building more. As far as I can tell there was no canopy at the side of Mallaig either.

Edited June 30, 2017 by Signaller69

[The Ghost of IKB]

Not sure of the history of your line, but lanarkshire models do some nice white metal buffer stops for caledonian and north british railways as well as for br and the big four. I used them and would recommend them,and theyre a class product.

[Signaller69]

Not sure of the history of your line, but lanarkshire models do some nice white metal buffer stops for caledonian and north british railways as well as for br and the big four. I used them and would recommend them,and theyre a class product.

Many thanks for the suggestion, as for the history of the line, well I've been vague about that as I'm still working on it! As depending which I go with, it either left the NB West Highland line at Arrochar & Tarbet (a somewhat difficult and graded route to put it mildly), or the Caledonian Oban line at Loch Awe (much easier but rather long in terms of time taken to get to Glasgow)! All that is certain is that the Engineers were Simpson & Wilson, with Robert MacAlpine & Sons being the contractors once the Mallaig Extension was completed in 1901. . . Hence the similarity in railway buildings to the Mallaig line.

 

Whisper it, but existing buffer stops presently are Peco (assumes BR replaced the originals at some point, or thats my excuse at least!)

 

I have seen the Lanarkshire ones and they are very nice so I will add to the list of possibilities!

[McRuss]

Hello Martyn,

 

for the short platform extension I would use some kind of fence.

 

Markus

[Signaller69]

Hello Martyn,

 

for the short platform extension I would use some kind of fence.

 

Markus

Thanks for the suggestion Markus.

[Bustered]

Hi, ratio concrete fencing? Love the layout by the way, a masterpiece.

 

Best wishes

Nige

[D1072]

Three things:

Road Markings:  You've gone to lengths to include everything!  I have a suggestion for improving the "FERRY" sign.   Most words painted on roads for drivers to read have to be elongated so they appear normal to the drivers eye.  I reckon it is about a factor of 4.  

One way of making an elongated font could be to print out the word, scan it into powerpoint, then stretch the image in one direction.   The problem will be matching the tarmac.

Have you had experience with printing your own waterslide transfers?   I've seen an advert but not investigated.

 

As for that 37, would it have worked all the way from Doncaster, or is it a Scottish one working from Motherwell or Haymarket?

 

The buffer stop - Kingswear; the platform ends in ramp leading down to the roadway to the lower Dartmouth ferry, which is at right angles immediately at the bottom of the ramp.   A rail built buffer stop is positioned close to end of ramp.   What's at Kyle of Lochalsh?  I've not seen any photos of the loch end of the station.   There is a lot of regional variation in buffer stops which are rarely modelled (for instance there are several in the midlands with no vertical rails).

 

Best wishes,

Paul

[Signaller69]

Hi, ratio concrete fencing? Love the layout by the way, a masterpiece.

 

Best wishes

Nige

Thanks Nige.

 

Stone is the local building material of choice in the area so I think a wall would have to be of this, with fencing generally of wood or cast iron railings. Mass concrete however was widely used in viaducts, bridges etc by the supposed contractors, Robert McAlpine & Sons so it may not be too implausible to have concrete walls, but I've never seen any examples of concrete fencing/walling erected by them, so far. . .

 

Cheers,

Martyn.