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

[young37215]

22 hours ago, ISW said:

Instead of using a scalpel knife, why not use some side-cutters (Xuron or similar) to remove the surplus steps. The side-cutters will leave a much neater, and possibly flush, cut thus reducing the painful sanding process. If space precludes Xurons, then some straight nail cutters would do the job.

 

Thanks Ian 

 

Good idea, I have an old pair of side cutters with damaged blades that take the steps of much quicker and more easily than the scalpel. The curvature of the coach end prevents a completly flush cut so some sanding is still required but the net effect is a much quicker process per step. Multiplied by the 72 steps that remain to be removed and it will be quite an overall time saving. 

 

Yesterday I managed to connect all of the remaining wiring at Fort William and by the time I finished, 4 of 5 point motors had been set up and were working. The 5th was being a pain in the rear, I think I misaligned the installation and so after swearing and cursing for far too long I gave up. Hopefully today I wil be able to sort this out before testing it all works prior to reinstalling the section on the layout. 

 

There are now groups of coaches dotted around in various stages of refurbishment. First the slowly shrinking pile of coaches awaiting cleaning, renumbering and step removal

Coaches cleaned, renumbered and waiting for a coat of matt varnish 

[ISW]

1 hour ago, young37215 said:

*snip*

 

Yesterday I managed to connect all of the remaining wiring at Fort William and by the time I finished, 4 of 5 point motors had been set up and were working. The 5th was being a pain in the rear, I think I misaligned the installation and so after swearing and cursing for far too long I gave up. Hopefully today I wil be able to sort this out before testing it all works prior to reinstalling the section on the layout. 

 

*snip*

 

Rob,

 

I usually find that when that happens to me the cause is the hole in the baseboard. I have to drill the holes before the turnout is installed, so there is a potential for a slight misalignment. A quick use of the reamer drill bit fixes that problem.

 

I find installing the servo (in the MegaPoints / B&Q aluminium 'U' channel) to be straightforward. I only install a fixing screw in the 'U' channel at the rear of the servo. Then it can be easily swung from side-to-side until it's in the right position. Then I install the other 'U' channel fixing screw at the drive end of the servo. I used to mark the centreline of the 'U' channel on the underside of the baseboard to get the location, but it was always a few mm off.

 

[young37215]

Oh what fun it is aligning and wiring point motors. Using the now defunct Alurailtech brackets has proven straightforward and reliable most of the time on WHL4. With the point in situ I mark the centre point of the tie bar hole, the point is then removed and a 2mm hole drilled. The actuating wire is threaded through the baseboard from underneath and the bracket is screwed in place and then removed to allow for a larger 6mm hole to be drilled. The bracket is reattached using the same screw holes which should align the actuating wire in the correct place to pass through the tie bar. There is a little flexibility from the 0.6mm piano wire used as an actuator for less than perfect alignment and normally the job takes less time than it has for me to type out this explanation. On this occasion the problem was simply down to a poor installation.

 

After a quick resolution to the alignment problem it then took me more time than it should have to finish off the frog polarity wiring. I finally got to the stage where the 5 point motors at Fort William were all doing what they should and the directional lights were indicating the correct direction of the point on the control panel. Once again though I could have made a programme, possibly even a series, on school boy errors and how to make them.

 

I managed to run a loco around the station to test and was pleased when everything was finally up and running as I wanted. I will weather the track before returning the station to the layout and ballasting it in situ. I am still undecided about what the platform facing should be made of, Peco’s standard concrete offering is perfectly acceptable visually when weathered but it needs about 3mm of height removing to reduce it to the prototypical level. That translates to about 3 metres of cutting with a sharp craft knife which is laborious and fraught with danger both to my fingers and cutting off too much of the facing. I can’t think of an alternative and am not looking forward to the activity.

 

After dog walking duties this morning, it’s a golf day today meaning little likelihood of any serious modelling time which makes sense given how pleasant the weather continues to be. Hopefully by tomorrow I will have got a clearer picture on my head of how I will finish off the remainder of Fort William.

   

An Alurailtech bracket in situ, it is a shame that these are no longer being produced as they provide a secure base for servos

 

[young37215]

Fort William has seen the track weathered and then ballasted. I am disappointed with the outcome of the ballasting because a combination of the PVA glue and dust on the ballast has left a residue on the rails and sleepers which I think will need a further covering of paint to resolve.

 

The ballast is from Geoscenics whose brown colour has been used across the rest of the layout. I used their dirty grey n guage which looks much like that I have seen in pictures and reflects the fact that Fort William Station was less than 10 years old in my early 1980’s era. Hopefully all will be well with a little more painting.

 

 

 

[BoD]

That’s a pity.

Hopefully you will be able to redeem it.

[ISW]

Rob,

 

Were you, perhaps, at the bottom of the jar of ballast and that simply included all the dust particles? If so, then that's a lesson we all need to learn.

 

[young37215]

13 hours ago, ISW said:

Rob,

 

Were you, perhaps, at the bottom of the jar of ballast and that simply included all the dust particles? If so, then that's a lesson we all need to learn.

 

Hi Ian 

 

Good idea but it is not the answer. Geoscenics ballast is supplied in a plastic bag which I simply pour directly into the spreader. I only used about half the bag meaning I doubt that I have got the dregs. I have not experienced this with the brown ballast, I think it is just a feature of this colour.  If I use anymore of it I will rinse it before application in the hope that water cleans the dust away. I was planning to paint the 4' darker to reflect the grot and rubbish from trains standing in the station, this will just have to be a more extensive painting session than I planned.  

 

[young37215]

Less modelling at present than of late but I am still active on a couple of projects. I have removed the steps from all bar 2 coaches, 24 in total which amounts to 144 steps removed. Coach ends have all been sanded, painted and are starting to be re-formed into their rakes. The WHL timetable requires 6 rakes of stock, mine are all load 4 making them interchangeable in theory. However from the multitide of pictures that I have looked at Oban trains always appeared to have more than 1 brake coach so I have 2 in each of my Oban rakes and 1 in each of the Mallaig rakes.    

 

The last of the sanded and painted coach ends are drying

Coaches are being reformed into rakes back on the layout 

Tail lamps have been fitted at both ends of the rake 

The last 5 of the poorly weathered coaches to clean

TSO duly broken down to clean the sides, I have added a few more passengers as I have plenty left over. Do'nt want to over do it though, trains were rarely busy.

B*!t*rd screws that secure the bogie to the chassis and the chassis to the coach body are cheap rubbish and easily damaged. I really want to find replacements so that I have a stock of spares rather than having to re-use the knackered ones. Suggestions welcomed!

Bodysides of freshly cleaned coaches which will be renumbered and varnished once dry. The Replica Scotrail stickers are proving remarkably resilient and reluctant to come off.

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by young37215

[young37215]

Today I managed to apply Railtect transfers to the cleaned up coaches. The coach fleet is now all numbered once more with just a handful requiring matt varnishing to seal the new numbers. That will be the end of this mini programme of work which has proved to be more of a success than I had hoped for. The cleaned up coaches are not spotless, rather they retain pockets of dirt in areas that cleaning can not easily acesss just as is the case with carriage washers on the real railway. I am delighted with the results, a big thank you to Mr Everard Junction for his discovering how to clean up the coaches. 

I am now planning a major offensive on the painting front with varnishing, wagon and coach frames, coach roof's and Fort William station rail all scheduled for work. By doing this much work in one go I feel less aggrieved about the time it takes to clean the air brush once finished. 

 

Dirt surrounds the window frames and coach ends on BCK 21269

 

 

 

Renumbered SK 24436 waits for a coat of varnish to seal the transfers. Again the dirt around and on the windows and doors looks believable.  

[young37215]

Renumbering completed on 2 class 37's, what was 37022 has been cleaned and become 37085 in original condition complete with the RSH cantrail grill dividers. Detailing still required and a blast of matt varnish to finish. The current 37085 is looking for a new identity, probably as 37111 for no better reason than because I have 37111 transfers. I do'nt intend cleaning this loco, it was professionally weathered by Grimy Times. My intention is to remove as little weathering as possible to renumber and blend in the new number and data panel as best I can. 37192 has become 37175, replacement buffers, data panel transfers which I am waiting for from Railtec and detailing are still outstanding.

 

 

 

 

37017 requires repairs on the headcode panel and the headlight replacing. I attempted to clean the lamp optic of the headcode because the light was barely visible even on the maximum setting but despite using a cotton bud and best efforts to be careful, I managed to destroy the glazed element. I have several potential replacement panels but none fit as well as the existing panel! I am wondering if I can find a suitable glue or similar fluid that will dry opaque yet still allow light through to repair rather than replace the headlight. Any advice gratefully received

 

 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2020 by young37215

[young37215]

2 hours ago, Eddie R v2.0 said:

One thing to watch with doing 111 is that it has a smooth roof- I can’t make out from the pic whether yours has or not (mainly coz it’s no 1 end that’s nearest the camera!) 

 

 

Dam, you are correct. I had missed the roof point. My old 37085 was originally 37049 and has the rivetted roof. Choices of renumber now down to 37022 or 37037 where I have transfers to do either. 

 

 

[BoD]

Re the headlight - might you be able to punch out a circle or greaseproof or tracing paper sealed in with ‘glue and glaze’ or something similar?

[young37215]

23 hours ago, BoD said:

Re the headlight - might you be able to punch out a circle or greaseproof or tracing paper sealed in with ‘glue and glaze’ or something similar?

 

Glue & Glaze is on my radar for this although I am not sure how clear it drys. I have not given up on using one of the other headcode plates that I have either. Watch this space....

 

The platform height of Fort William station has been reduced by a good 3mm to achieve a more prototypical height. To ensure that I retained all 10 of my fingers and thumbs, I managed to do the work with a razor saw rather than a craft knife. The platform has been extended in length and the Peco concrete facing weathered which will get ballasted into place once I have re-painted the rails and fitted the platform lights.  I have not yet decided how best to represent the lower level platform to the side of platform 1 (the one next to the road). I have always assumed this to be for servicing of rolling stock although have never seen it in use. I need something about 8mm high to do this, I am currently thinking some dowling with a plasticard platform surface.

 

Finally the old 37085 will become 37022 and what is currently 37108 will become 37037 after it is cleaned up. 37108 is ex 37049 again and therefore has a rivetted roof. I have the number transfers for both of these so it should not take to long to complete the renumbering programme. I still fancy a version of 37111 but this will have to wait until I find a suitable body shell.

 

Original platform height

revised platform height

P1 and gap for services platform

 

[young37215]

No golf today due to the rain. I renumbered 37085 to 37022 and painted over the yellow axle box covers instead. Not exactly productive but it whiled away an hour or two by the time I had fitted the MU cables and screwed the body shell back together. By masking off the body so that I only disturbed the weathering on top of the old number, the area to re-weather is modest. A little dirty wash on top of the new number and I hope to be done.

 

 

 

 

[ISW]

4 hours ago, young37215 said:

*snip*

A little dirty wash on top of the new number and I hope to be done.

 

 

 

 

Clean numbers are also prototypical, and I think it looks good 'as is' without further weathering.

 

[young37215]

10 hours ago, ISW said:

Clean numbers are also prototypical, and I think it looks good 'as is' without further weathering.

 

 

A fair and valid point. To maximise the longevity of the transfers I want to seal them, maybe I will settle for a splash of matt varnish rather than try and blend the weathering. 

 

[ISW]

1 hour ago, young37215 said:

 

A fair and valid point. To maximise the longevity of the transfers I want to seal them, maybe I will settle for a splash of matt varnish rather than try and blend the weathering. 

 

 

... taking care not to 'seal in' any of the adjoining weathering; just in case.

 

I too use a matt varnish to seal in my transfers, however I've not reached the heady heights of weathering as of yet.

 

[young37215]

On 15/06/2020 at 18:42, Eddie R v2.0 said:

I spent most days in the summer either down at the station or out at my Granny’s in Taynuilt! 

 

My mothers parents lived in Bath. From their top floor I could see the main line to the east and I spent a lot of time watching the last of the western region hydraulics and the class 50,s that replaced them through binoculars.

 

Yesterday saw the airbrush get an outing. I varnished all bar 2 of the cleaned and renumbered coaches which were returned to the layout once dry. The 6 fixed formation rakes of coaches are just about completed so I could start running trains again. New 37085 was finished off and returned to the layout for operations.

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2020 by young37215

[young37215]

Today’s efforts were to finish the renumbering of 37175. Formerly 37192, loco has been cleaned, had a new nose end fitted, replacement Hornby class 50 oval buffers added as well as new number and data panel transfers. MU cables have been added but as with other locos, bufferbeam detailing will only be added once non tension lock coupling solution is in place. A little strategic weathering is still required to blend it all together together with a Matt varnish sealing of the new transfers. These can wait for the next air brush outing, the loco is back in traffic bringing the fleet up to full numbers. 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2020 by young37215

[young37215]

A quiet week with the pleasant weather resulting in more time spent outside. I want to finish off the renumbering programmes of coaches and locos so that I can run trains again should I choose. All of the coaches are now finished and back on the layout after a couple of hours with the airbrush and some hand painting. I have 2 locos left to clean and renumber but there is no urgency as they are both currently available for service. I managed to acquire a second Mk 3 sleeper which has entered service following a light weathering.

 

Renumbered BFK has had its chassis and roof lightly weathered 

Renumbered Hornby BSO received a similar treatment

The second Mk 3 sleeper after weathering

Hopefully the answer before the questions start, the reason why none of the previous coaches have their wheels. I hand painted the wheels with Railmatch sleeper grime.

A completed rake at Mallaig awaiting departure with the first southbound train of the day. 

[young37215]

I use a Megapoints network to operate servos for point and semaphore control. I like the look of Megapoints custom control panels but what I need for 6 stations and 2 fiddle yards exceeds the capacity of my bank account. I constructed a trial panel out of 3mm plywood that I had lying around and was pleasantly surprised with it to the extent that I made a second panel in exactly the same way for the upper level section. What was a trial has lasted over 3 years and has become part of the layout functioning very effectively due largely to the simplicity of the Megapoints system. When everything is finally connected I will have around 75 servos in operation.

 

I have never been happy with the pencil lines that I drew on the plywood detailing the track layout of the stations because they are too thin and not as visible as I would like. I am trialing some 3mm black tape which is much more visible but a pain in the rear to fit. I am in two minds at present, I think the tape is the way to go but I am struggling to get the necessary motivation to do all 6 stations and 2 fiddle yards

 

Fort William station marked using a pencil

Mallaig station with the pencil partially covered using tape 

 

[young37215]

A new batch of servos finally arrived from Hobbyking today which will enable me to finish point and semaphore automation.  I ordered the servos in late January but they were delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Now all I have to do is fit them….

 

I could not resist giving the air conditioned sleeper consist an outing to check everything is working as it should. It was photographed passing through Garelochead with 37175 in charge.

 

 

 

 

[ISW]

On 28/06/2020 at 19:21, young37215 said:

*snip*

 

I have never been happy with the pencil lines that I drew on the plywood detailing the track layout of the stations because they are too thin and not as visible as I would like. I am trialing some 3mm black tape which is much more visible but a pain in the rear to fit. I am in two minds at present, I think the tape is the way to go but I am struggling to get the necessary motivation to do all 6 stations and 2 fiddle yards

 

Fort William station marked using a pencil

Mallaig station with the pencil partially covered using tape 

 

Rob,

 

What you need is some of that 'old fashioned' tape; that they do seem to still sell on Ebay! It's called LetraLine. There is (was?) a French version called 'normatape'. They come of self-dispensing rolls and are flexible enough to go around curves (but not corners).

 

I have a stash of these from 1989 when I used them to 'colour up' the third-rail sectioning diagrams for Singapore MRT Phase 1/1A. The resulting framed drawings were hung on the wall of the Power Control Rooms. I wonder if they are still there?

 

LetraLine:

 

normatape:

 

Alternatively, draw up the layout in your favourite Drawing software, print it out, and apply over the panel. That's what I did on my layout, as shown in 

 

 

[young37215]

Interesting thoughts from Ian, I may well return to the suggestions if I don’t get on with the tape I have bought.

 

My main task at present is getting Fort William to a condition where I can reinstate the station on to the layout. Following the mess created previously and in the hope of avoiding a repeat, I washed the remaining ballast and was amazed by the amount of dirt I removed. It took about 10 rinses to get to a stage where the ballast looked clean enough to use.

 

The track has received a second coat of sleeper grime and looks much improved for it. The base for the service platform has been attached and ballasted in place.

 

 

I have added a plywood screen to the rear of the station on to which I will paint a backscene. 

By this evening I had managed to fit the platform lights and wire them up so that they all worked when switched on. Tomorrow I aim to glue the platform in place and ballast the residual areas with nice clean ballast. In theory all that should then remain to finish the task is a little blending of sleeper grime on the new ballast and the station can go back on to the layout.

[PaulRhB]

I’ve upgraded similar panels by laying paper over and marking all the switches and lights then scanning it and overlaying the picture with lines and text. Then I use a known dimension I’ve marked on the ‘rubbing’ to scale it, delete the picture of the rubbing layer and print it. Then you can laminate it, or just print another if it gets damaged, to protect it and cut circles around the controls / lights so they show. 
Still enjoying the thread and keep thinking I’d like to do something similar as a portable layout with three stations for my Scotty 37’s!