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

[TheQ]

3 minutes ago, David Bell said:

I think I must be a little older than most of you. I was lucky enough to travel up and down the WHL behind class 27s numerous times from 1975 onwards. When I was not working in the buffet car I used to make my way to the end vestibule of the first coach in the train and listen to the thrash. On some railtours we included the NBR invalid saloon or the GNSR royal coach. Both have end windows so in one direction we could sit in comfortable chairs and watch the 27 bounce as it thrashed across Rannoch Moor as well as hear the awesome sound. I have also had two or three trips on the footplate of a 27 on the WHL around 1977/8. I have driven one once, light engine, under strict instructions from the driver. I was about 17 at the time. 

From the SRPS, I've been on them, but never on a railtour, only back at base, be that  Falkirk or Bo'ness.

[Max Legroom]

My first trip up the WHL started with a class 37 thrashing out of Queen Street into the tunnel with the carriage windows open and no lights. Never to be forgotten combination of darkness, noise and diesel fumes! What an introduction to the line.

[young37215]

I had several similar experiences with stereo class 40's on my Scottish Rover, one on the front and one on the rear banking. It was an awesome sound and smell thrashing up the bank out of Queen Street with 2 new engines for the price of one. At the time the BR blue era was derided as having no character but I look back at it with great affection for the variety of traction and loco hauled trains.

 

Back on WHL4, 37011 and 7V86 is seen again, this time further south at Garelochead. 

 

 

 

[Legend]

Even now I’ve never made it all the way to Fort William on a train . Made it to Rannoch where a friend constructed a house in the trees behind Rannoch Station , and I have made it to Corrour for a walk around the Loch .  I have got to Oban and back  and just last week was up in Tyndrum pottering around the Upper and Lower stations . Not using public transport at moment because of the blasted virus . My memory is of standing at the gates in Queen St , about 1979 when I started college and listening to the thrash of 27s leaving the platform and being banked up to Cowlairs . Magic 

Edited October 8, 2020 by Legend

[young37215]

On 06/10/2020 at 09:26, mallaig1983 said:

Can I just ask a little about your locos? How many does it take to operate the WTT for a day?

 

Short answer is 12 for the 1981 period I am currently running according to Loco Hauled Travel and WTT's split equally between 6 passenger and freight. I have added 2 extra diagrams for the steam service which did'nt start until 1984 and the Alcan hoppers which started as a standalone train again in 1984. I have a fleet of 20 locos comprised of class 20 (2) 27 (3) and 37 (15) to cover diagrams, failures and engineers trains. 

 

37175 is seen heading light engine south into Crianlarich where stabled for a while before collecting a rake of spoil loaded Grampus and returning north. I am not sure that this is prototypical because I do'nt know where it would discharge the spoil up the line. I suspect that in reality any WHL spoil would have been sent south for disposal around the Glasgow area. 

 

Edited October 9, 2020 by young37215

[BoD]

6 hours ago, young37215 said:

 

 I am not sure that this is prototypical .......

 

 

Rule 1.  Especially when it looks so good.

[young37215]

Another day, a few more movements around WHL4 as I combine working through a days timetable with some outstanding little items around the layout. At the end of the day I turned off the lights in the loft before the power and saw Fort William station lit up solely by its platform lights. I could'nt resist a picture. The lights will get straightened out before being glued in place.

 

37051 was on the Alcan hoppers again, I must change its diagram for the next days running.

 

[young37215]

I am a bit of a jack of all trades at the moment what with planning my next scenic work, sorting out some minor loco upgrades, correcting several self induced semaphore faults on my Megapoints network as well as running trains.  Hopefully the variety keeps me interested and motivated as the nights draw in and the temperature falls.

 

37081 brings 0700 Mallaig to Glasgow into Garelochead. On photographing the loco I realised that the boiler port was still plated over which, for a boiler fitted loco like 081 is incorrect. On a arrival at the fiddle yard 081 was taken out of service and the boiler plate was drilled out. Firstly a 2mm hole was drilled and then increased in 1mm increments up to the final 5mm hole.. A small piece of plasticard was glued to the underside of the bodyshell and painted once the glue had dried. Job done, 081 was returned to the layout.

 

 

 

[young37215]

On my 'to do' list are a number of longstanding, relatively small tasks that I keep avoiding. I am determined to sort these before moving on to the next scenic project and have managed to tick off the first task. There are currently 3 Heljan class 27's on WHL4 of which 2 are weathered and the third is 'out of the box' or ex works as I prefer to consider it. Heljan models do'nt come with a driver and I like one at each end so that there is always a driver in the leading cab. Finding suitable model drivers proved challenging, several well known ones are over sized in my opinion and also expensive. Fortunately I found Smart Models who produce 5 unpainted 3D drivers for £5.50 where a few minutes with a small paint brush produced what I wanted. 

 

2 of the locos have Loksound V4 sound chips and the 3rd a V3.5. All produce an acceptable representation of the class 27 sound although the speakers are cheap and cheerful, unsealed units offering potential for improvement at relatively low cost.  A £7.99 Road and Rails circular speaker fits under the cab roof with just a little bit of filing down of the edges. One has been added to 27041 where on tick over the improvment in sound is clearly evident. Unfortunately when changing the volume I corrupted several of the speed related CV's  resulting in an undrivable loco which awaits a visit from Doug's Lokprogrammer to re-set the CV's before returning to service.

 

A driverless 27041 is seen at Crianlarich shunting a Mermaid ballast wagons. This sort of working was typical of how the 27's found employment on the WHL once they had been displaced by the class 37's.

 

 

Smart Models drivers get a simple coat of paint 

Loco cabs are removed to fit the drivers

27's with drivers

 

 

[ISW]

1 hour ago, young37215 said:

Unfortunately when changing the volume I corrupted several of the speed related CV's  resulting in an undrivable loco which awaits a visit from Doug's Lokprogrammer to re-set the CV's before returning to service

Rob,

 

Is this something that 'can' [1] also be done with the free JMRI decoderpro software? I ask because it's this sort of 'issue' that is holding me back from going to sound chips.

 

[1] - I say 'can' as I'm aware that it would be more difficult (err, manual) in decoderpro compared to a purpose designed Lokprogrammer and software

 

Ian

[young37215]

22 hours ago, ISW said:

Rob,

 

Is this something that 'can' [1] also be done with the free JMRI decoderpro software? I ask because it's this sort of 'issue' that is holding me back from going to sound chips.

 

[1] - I say 'can' as I'm aware that it would be more difficult (err, manual) in decoderpro compared to a purpose designed Lokprogrammer and software

 

Ian

 

Hi Ian

 

Short answer is I have no idea because I do'nt use JMRI. I could re-programme 27041 using my Guagemaster Prodigy but it is easier to use the Lokprogrammer because Doug has a record of the now corrupted settings which he will re-instate. The settings were determined over a period of running to identify what gave the best running characteristics on WHL4, a custom solution if you like. Based on my experience, programming is straightforward using the Prodigy if I choose to use it and I do'nt think you should be reluctant/afraid of programming chips if you decide to go down the DCC route. Personally I would not consider DC now having grown used to DCC which I consider offers far more functionality and opportunities for running.

 

A pair of 20's collected the empty mermaids from Crianlarich and headed south towards Glasgow. The shunt out of the yard was made more convoluted because the 2 locos and full train did not fit onto the headshunt which required the rake splitting and re-joining in the station platform. 

 

 

 

Edited October 13, 2020 by young37215

[03060]

I've often wondered about what sort of issues the visibly short headshunt caused (causes) to the Crianlarich shed area sidings but I've never witnessed any movement into or out of the yard, maybe not an issue for some of the track maintenence machines that are used but I would have thought it very limiting when using a class 37 and p.way type wagons. I have photos of things like Salmons but IIRC they are always in the 'general' goods sidings at the other side of the station.   (Edit - have just looked at your photos again and realised that you are shunting into the 'general' goods sidings which I thought had a much longer headshunt.....but appreciate that you have probably had to compromise on space available.)

 

(I really must scan my slides sometime.)

Edited October 17, 2020 by 03060

[ISW]

3 hours ago, young37215 said:

I do'nt think you should be reluctant/afraid of programming chips if you decide to go down the DCC route. Personally I would not consider DC now having grown used to DCC which I consider offers far more functionality and opportunities for running.

 

Rob,

 

I already went headlong into the DCC method from day 1, even to the extent of retrofitting DCC chips to my fleet of ageing (but un-used) Lima diesel locos. I do own 1 sound-fitted loco, but it's only a Hornby chip, nothing exotic.  One of these days I'll dabble with a proper sound chip using JMRI and, hopefully, gain a bit of confidence to retrofit some of my locos with sound.

 

--------------------------------

 

Nice to see the pair of Class 20s on your layout. I initially thought 20184 was a bit far from home (Toton), but I see you cunningly renumbered it to one of the few that were transferred to Haymarket around 1976.

 

Ian

[BoD]

On 12/10/2020 at 09:47, ISW said:

Rob,

 

Is this something that 'can' [1] also be done with the free JMRI decoderpro software? 

 

Ian

I use Decoderpro with a SPROG programmer.  I use the SPROG because it allows me to work at the main computer away from the loft layout and also to control a small ‘shunting plank’ I have.  Connection method aside, one of the things I like about Decoderpro is that as soon as I install a sound decoder I use it to set up the loco in Decoderpro’ s roster and read and save all of the CV settings. It can take some time with the newer sound decoders but I know if things do go amiss, for whatever reason, I have the original set of CVs (not sounds however) to rewrite.

 

Anyway, sorry for the distraction, back to things West Highland

[ISW]

1 hour ago, BoD said:

 Connection method aside, one of the things I like about Decoderpro is that as soon as I install a sound decoder I use it to set up the loco in Decoderpro’ s roster and read and save all of the CV settings.

Agreed. I've been using decoderpro in a the same vein. Might invest in a sprog sometime ...

 

Ian

[young37215]

37081 has charge of 1Z15 0915 Edinburgh to Oban comprised of ETHEL and push pull Mk3 stock seen as it heads north through Garelochead. 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2020 by young37215

[ISW]

15 hours ago, young37215 said:

 

Rob,

 

Based on your earlier descriptions of the difficulties with access to build this part of the layout, I'm imagining you being some sort of contortionist to be able to take the photo. Well worth the effort, a pleasing photo.

 

Ian

[young37215]

20 hours ago, ISW said:

I'm imagining you being some sort of contortionist to be able to take the photo.

Not really, the stretch is around 500mm to get the angle for the picture. I like the angle, in real life the photographer would be stood on Station Road but it will be more difficult to take once the area gets scenery on it becasue, at present, the area remains open baseboard. I try to take as many pictures from similar angles to the various pictures I have of the real WHL and I have several taken of Garelochead from Station Road. 

 

Back to the trains, a weather beaten 37011 is seen leaving Crianlarich with 8B13, 1315 Sighthill to Corpach. A little later 37012 arrives with 1T45, 1245 Mallaig to Glasgow having passed 8B13 at Bridge of Orchy.

 

 

 

 

[young37215]

Most trains on WHL4 accurately reflect the operations of the early 1980's. There are however a few Rule 1 anomalies, one of which is an occassional and mythical Ayrshire coalfields day trip to Oban service utilising Sealink coaches. I have seen a 1987 picture of a WHL train at Glasgow Queen Street with a Sealink coach in the consist but other than this, I am not aware that the Sealink stock traversed the WHL. On todays occassion the usual pair of class 20's have given way to 27105 seen on its outbound journey.

 

The eagle eyed will notice that the home signal protecting the south of Crianlarich is missing because it is undergoing work to improve its reliability. 

 

 

[50002Superb]

Can you point me in the direction of the Sealink coach of GQS please?

[young37215]

7 hours ago, 50002Superb said:

Can you point me in the direction of the Sealink coach of GQS please?

 

I posted a link to a picture from Flickr in Meanach's thread a while ago. When I click on the link this morning I get an error message; I can only guess that the picture has been removed.

 

The Sealink coach was in a typical WHL rake stood in a platform awaiting departure.  Whilst unusual, I had always assumed that with Cowlairs having closed and Polmadie having assumed responsibility for rolling stock, the potential for use of Sealink liveried stock away from the Stranraer line increased. 

 

 

[young37215]

In 1981 there was a daily Glasgow to Oban freight service with an offsetting return working. The trains passed at Crianlarich where the crews changed. 37039 is seen arriving at Crianlarich with 8B20, the 1445 departure from Glasgow. The train was booked for a 30 minute stop which allowed me plenty of time to capture it from a number of different angles. The first two pictures serve as a reminder that I need to weather the platform face on the down line!

 

 

[50002Superb]

3 hours ago, young37215 said:

 

I posted a link to a picture from Flickr in Meanach's thread a while ago. When I click on the link this morning I get an error message; I can only guess that the picture has been removed.

 

The Sealink coach was in a typical WHL rake stood in a platform awaiting departure.  Whilst unusual, I had always assumed that with Cowlairs having closed and Polmadie having assumed responsibility for rolling stock, the potential for use of Sealink liveried stock away from the Stranraer line increased. 

 

 

understood. 
 

looks like this was ‘86 so a year before my time period. 

[young37215]

I found a picture of a Sealink coach on a WHL train at Glasgow. As stated in the narrative that accompanies the picture, it is probably late 1986.  

 

 

[young37215]

37085 heads 8V80, 1605 ex Oban to Glasgow comprised of empty oil tanks into Crianlarich where it passes 37039. A crew change later and 085 departs south