West Highland Line V4, a 1980's West Highland Line layout

[young37215]

I spend quite a lot of time in researching the WHL in an effort to model as prototypically as I can. The www has opened up numerous opportunities to access information despite the fact that I live over 400 miles from the line. I also enjoy looking at the variety of photgraphs on Flickr although the exponential growth of material created by digital cameras means that it can be challenging to filter out that which is outside of my era. 

 

Today I learnt that the bridge I am modelling has the name Glenbruar Viaduct. I knew that the second bridge across the river Fillan was known as the Fillan Viaduct, but until I stumbled on an article on the Crianlarich Hotel's website about the history of Crianlarich, I was blissfully ignorant of the Glenbruar Viaduct. The reason I was on the Crianlarich Hotel website was because I am searching for pictures of the hotel as it was in the early 1980's, particularly the area that is next to the rail bridge carrying the Oban line spur over the A82. I have plenty of pictures that show the front of the hotel but have not been able to get anything showing a panorama of the bridge area. Can anyone help?

 

The Glenbruar Viaduct on WHL4

 

 

Print showing approximate location of the Crianlarich Hotel, I want pictures showing the area to the left of this.  

 

 

Train from Oban approaches Crianlarich station, the rearmost coach is about where the A82 road bridge is located

 

 

 

 

 

[young37215]

Crianlarich village grows a little further with my focus on the rear area. The area behind the viaduct has been raised by 18mm using a combination of polystyrene and sculptamold. I have made a first effort at painting the Hotel onto the backscene and whilst it needs more work, it is starting to create the impression I want. The area around the C&O line has been largely completed and the park area surrounding the war memorial has had its first attempt. I have the filler to complete the viaduct pillars which will allow the completion of the scenery to the front of the village area. 

 

It is a shame that the war memorial figure is not wearing a kilt in line with the real memorial but I cannot find a better option. I feel slightly less bad given it's a Scottish model having come from Harburn Hobbies. I also need to find a suitable house/bungalow to go in the area between viaduct and hotel but cannot find anything that provides a suitable copy of the real thing and the garden needs a 150mm high copper beech tree, such a distinct feature to go next to the viaduct. I want to see the tree in the flesh before buying, hopefully I can get one at Warley in a few weeks time.

 

 

37178 crosses the Glenbruar Viaduct with the evening sleeper to London

 

 

 

The C&O line needs ballasting but the surrounding area is largely complete

 

 

The Crianlarich Hotel viewed from under the Glenbruar Viaduct

 

Edited October 22, 2019 by young37215

[young37215]

Assistance sought, I want to find a ready made model house that is something like the one in Ernie Brack's picture below (and shown with Ernie's kind permission). I have looked around, particularly at continental models in HO but have not got close to anything that I like. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2019 by young37215

[meanach]

On 22/10/2019 at 12:38, young37215 said:

Crianlarich village grows a little further with my focus on the rear area. The area behind the viaduct has been raised by 18mm using a combination of polystyrene and sculptamold. I have made a first effort at painting the Hotel onto the backscene and whilst it needs more work, it is starting to create the impression I want. The area around the C&O line has been largely completed and the park area surrounding the war memorial has had its first attempt. I have the filler to complete the viaduct pillars which will allow the completion of the scenery to the front of the village area. 

 

It is a shame that the war memorial figure is not wearing a kilt in line with the real memorial but I cannot find a better option. I feel slightly less bad given it's a Scottish model having come from Harburn Hobbies. I also need to find a suitable house/bungalow to go in the area between viaduct and hotel but cannot find anything that provides a suitable copy of the real thing and the garden needs a 150mm high copper beech tree, such a distinct feature to go next to the viaduct. I want to see the tree in the flesh before buying, hopefully I can get one at Warley in a few weeks time.

 

 

37178 crosses the Glenbruar Viaduct with the evening sleeper to London

 

 

 

The C&O line needs ballasting but the surrounding area is largely complete

 

 

The Crianlarich Hotel viewed from under the Glenbruar Viaduct

 

It’s looking spot on ! If I had the space this is just the sort of project I’d have undertaken . As for the statue , I’ve a feeling Langley models do (or did) metal figures in kilts .

[Irishswissernie]

21 hours ago, young37215 said:

Assistance sought, I want to find a ready made model house that is something like the one in Ernie Brack's picture below (and shown with Ernie's kind permission). I have looked around, particularly at continental models in HO but have not got close to anything that I like. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

 

 

 

It doesn't help you finding a model of the house although I think Bachmann do a Lynton & Barnstaple Woody Bay station model which looks very similar. The house by the viaduct is to the same design as this building perched on a hill

overlooking the C&O west of the village and its name is/was something like Allt Chaorain House hotel. Rodger the Hotel owner in 1988 told me that his property was built by the original owner as his 'Country House and the house by the viaduct was his 'Town House' The country house had been extended at a later date (possibly by Rodger) following the same style. Over 30 years since I've been there now!

 

Ernie

[Irishswissernie]

I don't think these 2 are on flickr but it might help with the area rear of the hotel etc

 

Ernie

[young37215]

Bachmann's Woody Bay is the best option I can find for the house and as a result of a succesful Ebay bid, one has been duly added. I am not sure of its exact final position which will be determined by the copper beech tree when it arrives. 

 

 

37178 arrives and departs Crianlarich with 1B08 for Oban

37085 has the road with 1B10, the 0837 Glasgow to Mallaig

37192 and 20045 double head 8D10 for Mossend. I am not a great fan of double heading although the 37 + 20 combination produces good sound.

 

[young37215]

I am curretly working on completing the remaining area of Strathfillan which largely comprises the Genbruar Viaduct where my attempts to replicate the staining on the stonework of the pillars that support the bridge deck have yet to deliver what I want. Once this is achieved I can secure the bridge and lay the remaining basket liner.  

 

A few more pictures of Saturday's running, 37012 awaits departure from Crianlarich with the down sleeper

37022 arrives and departs Crianlarich with the first train from Oban

 

37178 heads for Oban with the first train from Glasgow 

37 and 20 combination arrive at Crianlarich

 

 

 

[Legend]

Really great layout . I've just caught up with the thread . I cant help with 1980s pictures but I am staying close to Crianlarich in a few weeks time if you need some contemporary pics .

[young37215]

21 hours ago, Legend said:

Really great layout . I've just caught up with the thread . I cant help with 1980s pictures but I am staying close to Crianlarich in a few weeks time if you need some contemporary pics .

 

Thank you for the kind comments. The digital age means that there are plenty of pictures available of the current/recent past so thank you for the offer, but unless you discover a time machine that gets back to the early 80's, I have no specific requirements. A recent favourite of mine is the attached link to the Crianlarich Hotel's website which includes a drone flight over Crianlarich; it's  shame that we did not have drones in the 1980's!.

 

https://crianlarich-hotel.co.uk/ 

 

 

[young37215]

And so onwards with the Glenbruar Viaduct and surrounding area. The viaduct pillars have been weathered and are secured in place, they need a little more attention but now create the feel I have been seeking. There is a little fettling of the track required which will then be glued to the bridge deck and ballasted. Infact it looks like a 'glueing' sort of a day as later on I will be securing as much of the basket liner as I can. 

 

The small park surrounding the war memorial is complete

 

 

weathered viaduct pillars

 

 

basket liner cut and placed in situ

 

 

 

The area nears completion

 

the old Callendar and Oban line, the house wall needs to be moved back a bit to allow for where the old double track formation would have run

 

[young37215]

WHL4 is not intended to be a scale sized model, rather a representation of the lines and stations on the WHL. I use a lot of photographs as a reference and frequently refer back to the pictures to check my progress. Ernie Brack's Flickr site is an invaluable source of 1980's reference material and I thank Ernie again for allowing me to use his pictures as comparables.  As Crianlarich station and its surrounding area is nearing completion, a few comparable shots are shown:

 

37 and ETHEL approach Crianlarich

 

 

37 draws a northbound service into the platform

 

 

 

PRA's departure (I have not worked out how to create a mist as yet!)

 

 

37178 slumbers in the goods yard

 

 

Oban train departure

 

 

Edited November 7, 2019 by young37215

[young37215]

After several days of faffing around by yesterday evening I felt sufficiently happy with the viaduct pillars to secure them in place enabling the ballasting and glueing of the track to the bridge deck. This morning I lifted the weights to find the track looking OK but the glue had not dried fully. Much to my wife's delight I turned the heating on in the hope that this would finish off the drying process. After a few hours I was able to get sufficiently confident to start running trains although I am airing on the side of caution and have introduced an engineers block for the next 24 hours to alow the glue to harden off. 

 

Having got this far I feel 95% complete with Crianlarich. Whilst there are a number of detailing points to finish off fully, I am knackered by the amount of emotional energy that the viaduct has taken and so in addition to running some trains, I feel the need to focus on another part of WHL4 for a while.  

 

 Pillars and basket liner screwed and glued

Track ballasted and glued

Track weighted down to allow the glue to dry, I did not want it lifting having spent so long carefully ballasting!

The view first thing this morning, looks OK so far

 

The C&O spur has also been ballasted and glued

View of the viaduct from the eastern side looking back towards Crianlarich station

 

 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2019 by young37215

[Dougjuk]

Well its looking good Rob, cannot wait until we get to see it up close.

 

Doug

[young37215]

The engineering block seems to have worked. The PVA has hardened off and the threat of the rail join in the middle of the bridge deck lifting has been cured by cleaning out ballast that had got under the fishplate and 24 hours gentle persuasion from a clamp. Trains are now running again.

 

37012 crosses Glenbruar viaduct and stalls (the lack of a headcode light gives this away) due to the rail having lifted. 

37012 crosses the viaduct safely with full electrical continuity restored

37012 awaits departure from Crianlarich with 1T45, 1245 Mallaig to Glasgow

The C&O line serves as useful storage

37192 has the road with 7B20, 1350 Mossend to Corpach

37192 departs Crianlarich

37192 crosses the Glenbruar Viaduct

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2019 by young37215

[meanach]

On 08/11/2019 at 19:48, Dougjuk said:

Well its looking good Rob, cannot wait until we get to see it up close.

 

Doug

Yeh too right ! For me the most exciting layout on here .

[young37215]

The last few days have been a combination of running trains and attempting to complete the eastern portal of Crianlarich station underpass. The underpass has been completed with the walls glued in place and an LED fitted to provide light. The adjoining embankments will get built up over the next few days. 

 

I am frustrated at my inability to print out the blue 'Crianlarich Upper' signs which were such a distinctive feature of the station entrance and signal box. For some unknown reason beyond my technical capabilities I can not get the signs to print as I want despite having created them in MS Word. Hopefully a nights sleep will see the problem resolve itself.

 

20045 whistles across the Glenbruar viaduct and stops awaiting the road.

 37014 departs Crianlarich with the 1636 Glasgow to Mallaig

Watching the paint dry on the underpass walls 

Walls fitted and glued, the wing walls will follow once the glue is dry. This is crying out for the Crianlarich Upper sign!

Edited November 12, 2019 by young37215

[BoD]

Stunning photos when compared to the prototype.

An inspiration and I really should be getting on with mine.

[millerhillboy]

The colours you've used on those viaduct pillars are spot on to my eye, it may have drained you but its been worthwhile the bridge looks superb.

[ruggedpeak]

The train on bridge shots are fab

[young37215]

I am grateful for the kind and positive comments above. Again with thanks to Ernie Brack, a few more comparable pictures of Crianlarich

 

The goods yard viewed from the A82

 

 

 

 

Track and service car rests next to the old engine shed. More junk required me thinks

 

 

Oban arrival which highlights that I need a few pipes around the base of the water tower

 

 

Glenbruar viaduct pillars. I do'nt have the space to insert the church

 

 

 

Fort William bound freight crosses the Glenbruar Viaduct

 

 

 

 

[young37215]

The Crianlarich station underpass has been occupying my time over the last few days. Given its location it is a focal point for the layout and as such I want to do it justice. In an effort to get closer to reality, I removed the old Wills Coarse Stone wing walls which were too tall and installed shorter ones which left a fiddly gap of an embankment to fill. I tried using just plaster cloth on top of polystyrene but was not happy with the result, enter Sculptamould. Once mixed up I find this easy to use and it covers a multitude of sins and mistakes. 

 

 Starting point, rough layout of the underpass and car park

 

Plaster bandage does not deliver the finish I want

 

Sculptamoulded!

I mixed too much Sculptamould so used the surplus to tidy up the lay by on the other side of the station

Once painted, it looks much improved. I will weather the stonework and add scenic material once paint and Sculptamould have fully dried out

37085 draws the evening sleeper over the underpass

 

37178 awaits departure from Crianlarich with the evening Glasgow to Oban train. Must fill the gap between the brick and stonework

 

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2019 by young37215

[young37215]

Spent too much time yesterday reviewing Heaton Lodge on RMWeb and now have a massive inadequacy complex. I thought at 45' in length WHL4 was quite large but having seen Heaton Lodge, I am blown away by both the size and quality of the model.

 

A few pictures of the current days operations, it is late in the day and the evening services are passing through Crianlarich. 

 

Observation car on the rear of the evening Oban to Glasgow service

37026 awaits departure with the evening Oban to Glasgow train

37049 draws a Corpach to Mossend freighs the viaduct as it approaches Crianlarich

37085 brings the London bound sleeper across the Genbruar Viaduct and crosses the junction on the approach to the station

 

37085 arrives Crianlarich

37085 and sleeping cars viewed from the goods yard

 

 

 

[young37215]

Yesterday saw a little more progress with the underpass area having scenic material added, the Wills coarse stone was weathered and the fencing around the cottage got finished. I also managed a little more running time which breaks up the concentration needed to complete some of the fiddly scenic work. It is surprising how long it takes to run an entire days working timetable even with only 4 of the 6 stations I hope to end up with. I estimate it takes between 4 and 5 hours. Yesterdays trains were those from the late evening with the full WTT having taken several days to complete.

 

A friend commented on my current frenzied modelling activity which I told him was largely attributable to the weather and the fact that I had been unable to get on the golf course since mid September. It's Warley this weekend which I always find acts as a stimulant and I aim keep up my current focus so that I finish Crianlarich as soon as possible. Hopefully this will act as the catalyst to moving to the next scenic section which I plan to be Arrochar.

 

Last train of the day, the empty Alcan hoppers return to Blyth with 37108

A late evening test run for 37401 looking fresh from its recent overhaul and ETH conversion

The 1st of 3 pages of the WTT which if not followed can lead to congestion and bottlenecks

27032 arrives at Crianlarich and crosses the underpass with empty Grampus wagons

 

The largely complete entrance to the underpass, it just needs the Crianlarich Upper sign adding

[young37215]

Yesterday was mostly a running day with just a few fiddly and relatively small scenic detailing jobs completed.  Further weathering of the stonework includes the western side of the underpass which is rather difficult to access as it involves leaning across the station. 

 

 37192 arrives Crianlarich with the Fort William bound sleeper

37011 follows the sleeper north with 7B02, 0520 Mossend to Mallaig Junction Yard. The picture is a useful way of checking on the weathering because there is no way that I could view this physically. 

37011 sneaks past the trees and onto the Glenbruar Viaduct. Here the picture is less helpful because it shows that I have left a small area of the baseboard visible at the join of the bridge deck and baseboard. Hopefully I can glue a small piece of stonework to cover this over.

37178 arrives at Crianlarich with the first train from Oban. The haulage bashing move was to catch this train at Tyndrum Lower having done the sleeper to Tyndrum Upper. If the sleeper was on time and you were quick, there was the Little Chef cooked breakfast option whilst walking between the 2 stations.