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

[young37215]

22 hours ago, mallaig1983 said:

Do you know where one might be able to acquire the 'Halfords' headlights? 

 

No which is irritating because I have a loco that I want to add a headlight to. There is a thread with examples and some helpful information but no outright answer to who or where lights can be acquired. 

 

37264 complete with incorrect WR name boards had charge of 7V86, 0707 Mallaig Junction Yard to Sighthill which is seen at Crianlarich as it crosses 37081 on 1B10.

 

 

[mallaig1983]

Interesting thread regarding the lamps. Interesting to note there is a suggestion they are from Morris Marina's. Unipart must have wondered why their Glasgow branch were always out of stock. I always assumed that they were a Halfords or Ring bumper mounted spotlight type like I had fitted on my Cortina in 88 

Casting my mind back to my 12 year old self and basing my research of the time on pieces in Dad's Rail Enthusiast magazine I noted that Eastfield started to introduce the lights at the same time they discovered white paint and realised a stripe would look nice on the lower bodyside. IF as it seemed to me at the time and a theory I've stuck with since that this was the case and bearing in mind that such adornments appeared late spring / early summer 83 I'm thinking that I'll only need them fitted to the Accurascale examples on order so by luck I think I may have got away with it. Really happy to be corrected on these points though.

 

Andy

[young37215]

On 15/12/2020 at 07:47, 03060 said:

 

For a long time now I've had my Farish N gauge model with split, Black headcode boxes and original bufferbeam cowling earmarked to become 37 039 with terrier motif as seen in Tom Noble's Mallaig Extension book dated 28th May 1985 thinking that it must have been in this condition for quite a while ..... only to come across a photo last night taken of it on Aug 16th 1984 with Yellow headcode boxes ! (Freight Only vol.3.....last page.)   

 

37039 has always been a favourite of mine being one of the first split box 37's I had for haulage. On Monday 30th July 1979 as a March based loco I had 039 from Edinburgh Waverley to Carstairs on the 1835 to Birmingham comprised of air conditioned stock. This was my first day haulage bashing in Scotland on an amazing 7 day Freedom of Scotland rover.   

 

37 039 transferred to Eastfield in June 1981 in original condition with buffer beam skirts and cross eyed domino headcodes. The headcode boxes were plated over sometime in early 1982 with headlight and white stripe added in Spring 1983. The white stripe lasted just over 12 months and was gone by May 1984. By November 1984 the headcode plates were painted black.  As far as I can see 039's last works visit prior to transfer to Scotland was late 1978 at Doncaster which may well explain why she retained the skirts for as long as she did. She caught fire at Ardlui whilst on a freight in June 1985 where the damage repair required a works visit. Off to Crewe, she was refurbished as 37504 and reallocated away from Eastfield.

 

My version on WHL4 was an Ebay purchase from several years ago where the attraction of getting a version of 039 was enhanced by the fact that the previous owner had added a headlight.  It should have the domino headcodes swapped for plated ones but I have never got around to making the change, maybe I will one day. Ian's version of the loco covers a period of the best part of 12 months which is about as long a period without a change as 039 had during its spell as an Eastfield loco. 

 

 

   

 

 

[03060]

Thanks for the very thorough, informative post Rob, I think that you've just endeared 37 039 to me even more than the Tom Noble photo already had. Great stuff. 

 

Regards,

Ian.

[young37215]

21 hours ago, mallaig1983 said:

IF as it seemed to me at the time and a theory I've stuck with since that this was the case and bearing in mind that such adornments appeared late spring / early summer 83 I'm thinking that I'll only need them fitted to the Accurascale examples on order so by luck I think I may have got away with it. Really happy to be corrected on these points though.

 

One of my reference guides is a March 2006 article from Rail Express Modeller entitled a 'Modellers guide to SCR loco hauled trains' which takes a similar view to the timing of the emergence of Eastfield locos with headlights. It would be interesting to learn why Eastfield suddenly started to add headlights, I wonder if if was the transfer of headlight fitted 37017 in early 1983 from Inverness which prompted the wider introduction?   

 

Plenty of running at present in between which I managed to ballast the track between the fiddle yard and Garelochead yesterday. 37108 is seen arriving at Crianlarich with 1T24, 07.00 Mallaig to Glasgow.

 

[young37215]

37051 arrives at Mallaig with 1B07. The signal box from Dawson Hall and bracket signal from Stephen Freeman have arrived. Now I can finish the scenic area at the station throat and automate the signals which are the two maim outstanding tasks. This will mean lifting the section back onto the workbench which is a necessary evil, at least allows me the opportunity to replace a servo cable that I sawed through whilst adjusting the size of the baseboard.

 

 

[mallaig1983]

Looking really good Rob. The signal box is great. I love the view in the last photo, everything in it that should be in it. An unmistakable scene and very nicely done too. 

[young37215]

37264 and 7V86 continue their southbound journey through Garelochead

 

[WolfofBadenoch]

On 15/12/2020 at 09:13, mallaig1983 said:

Do you know where one might be able to acquire the 'Halfords' headlights? 

 

http://www.leeslocos.co.uk/index.html 

 

The above website was doing the headlights around the time the limited edition 37114 from Mickleover came out, either send your loco to them, or just get the lights sent to you and fit yourself. There are photos in the OO gauge Class 37 gallery.

 

There was also an article in Model Rail a few years ago about making your own - March 2012. If i remember correctly i think this was non-working but i don't think it would be too hard to construct working ones.

 

I've always been put off as i've never managed to remove the nose end off the loco! Everytime i tried i felt something was about to snap that shouldn't!!

[young37215]

20 hours ago, WolfofBadenoch said:

I've always been put off as i've never managed to remove the nose end off the loco! Everytime i tried i felt something was about to snap that shouldn't!!

 

In my experience the dam nose ends fall off at the first opportunity on most of the Bachmann 37's. This helps if you want to change the ends but otherwise can be a pain when the loco is actually running! On virtually all Bachmann 37's there are 4 lugs located inside the nose end that fit into the main bodyshell which are prone to breaking and need care if you are attempting to remove the nose end from one of the few properly glued locos. If you have a lose nose end, a little glue on the lugs should hold it in place. The issue with fitting lights and the reason I would sub contract the job to someone more skilled than me is the lighting board inside the nose end needs to come out to access the rear side of the nose end. I have never seen how this works and no great desire to find out. I feel confident that someone who has undertaken the task a few times will make a better job of it than I would.

 

I was tempted to post a 'No Sunday Service' on the thread this morning in line with the actual table 227 from 1981.  In the end I chose not to, instead 37014 is seen at Crianlarich with 6S56 0712 from Blyth Docks to Fort William carrying bulk alumina for the smelter. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2020 by young37215

[ISW]

2 hours ago, young37215 said:

I was tempted to post a 'No Sunday Service' on the thread this morning in line with the actual table 227 from 1981.

Rob,

 

Same in the 1976 Passenger Timetable, Table 227, which cost me all of 75p back then.

 

Ian

[young37215]

20 hours ago, ISW said:

Same in the 1976 Passenger Timetable, Table 227, which cost me all of 75p back then.

 

It was the mid 80's before Sunday trains first appeared. It seems strange today that this was the case, just another example of how society changes over time. A friend and his then girlfriend did a west highland road tour in the early 80's and had lots of hassle when attempting to book accomodation. Everywhere required them to be married to book a double room so they ended up having to pretend to be married. 40 years later they are still happily married. 

 

In hindsight perhaps yesterdays post would have been more appropriate had it been an engineers working because my hazy memories of the 1980's were that most engineering work took place on weekends. 20034 which will get renumbered at some stage to a Scottish loco, probably 20085, arrives at Crianlarich with ballast empties. 

 

 

[young37215]

37017 returning to service following repair of the lens on the left hand headcode panel. I damaged the old lens in an effort to clean it because the headcode light was almost invisible. After trying to use alternative panels as a replacement and failing to get one to fit, I tried Glue and Glaze on the damaged lens. This created a far better outcome than I had anticipated and with the addition of a little white paint, I am pleased with the result. The pictures make the light of the repaired panel look much brighter than it appears in reality. I might try a little more weathering on the lens but overall I am delighted with the outcome. I just need to replace the failed headlight now which is less urgent and does not stop the loco being used. 

 

Damaged loco

 

37017 arrives at Garelochead with 1B15, 1823 Glasgow to Oban.

 

Edited December 22, 2020 by young37215

[young37215]

37081 with 1B10 0837 Glasgow to Mallaig. Seen awaiting departure from Fort William and then arriving at Mallaig before running round and returning south with 1T56 1610 Mallaig to Glasgow which adds London bound sleeping cars at Fort William.

 

 

[young37215]

I am currently working on the scenic area of about 2.5m in length between the main fiddle yard and the Southern end of Garelochead station which sits below Mallaig. My original plan was to blend the rocky area to the seaward side of Mallaig down to a rock faced cutting through which the lower level line to Garelochead runs. The idea being that the rock effectively functions as scenery for both sections. Having diverted the line that links between the upper and lower sections I am having to rethink how this works. My intention is to enclose the link line with removable plywood sections covered in moulded rocks that will sit on a frame allowing access to the link line for the inevitable derailments. 

 

I also want to cut out some of the flat baseboard and replace it with a baseboard approximately 100mm lower leaving the running line to Garelochead on a ledge creating the impression of running through a narrow gap in the landscape on a mountainside. I think I have an answer but will only find out how it functions once I have built the framework.

 

View looking away from the fiddle yard towards Garelochead

View of Southern end of Garelochead with 37033 heading 8B20, 1415 Sighthill to Corpach towards the station. The area to the centre of the picture is the baseboard that will be lowered.

37033 arrives at Garelochead

 

Edited December 24, 2020 by young37215

[03060]

I do like your scenic Garelochhead section, Rob and look forward to seeing it progress out onto the ledge.

 

Seasons greetings, Rob and to all who avidly follow this thread.

 

Best wishes,

Ian.

[young37215]

I finally managed to work out how to add text to a picture! 

 

 

[BoD]

And the same to you, Rob.

[David Bell]

Merry Christmas to you too Rob, and to all following this thread.

Cheers

David

[37Oban]

Nollaig chridheil!

 

Roja

[young37215]

Back to work and play. Operations are nearing the end of the day and the afternoon ,1324  to be precise, Fort William to Glasgow (Sighthill) freight 7D19 headed by 37085 arrives at Crianlarich. The crews change over with northbound 37264 on 8B13,  the 1315 Glasgow to Corpach.  In between running the trains I have started the preparations for the Garelochead south scenic section. 

 

 

[young37215]

I have started work on the scenic section to the south of Garelochead where the first action was to increase the fiddle yard freight sidings from 2 to 3 by using a 3 way point. The sidings provide storage for wagons not in use which facilitates changes in train consists and the 50% increase in siding capacity recognises my inability to stop buying wagons! The end of the sidings is enclosed in a plywood box because they run onto the scenic section. The start of the scenic area will be a cutting which means that the plywood box works as the framework for the rock faces of the cutting. More rock is required so it’s back out with the Woodland Scenics moulds and the mixing of more casting plaster.

 

I have also started a wheel cleaning programme. In the 10 years or so that my current fleet has been built up, I have rarely cleaned any wheels other than on locos which was very evident when I started work. First up were the Heljan Dogfish which were one of my earliest purchases where the wheels were filthy. After several minutes being hand pushed back anf forward on a cloth loaded with Dapol’s track cleaning fluid, the cloth was filthy and the wheels had a nice clean shine on them. So far I have cleaned around 60% of the wagon fleet and have run out of track cleaning fluid. I have a bottle of IPA which should do a similar job meaning I have no excuse for not completing the wagon fleet in the next few days. I am not looking forward to the coaching stock but will worry about that once the wagon fleet is completed.

 

Old siding arrangement had limited capacity

New siding arrangment

Boxed siding section, rock mould will be glued to the vertical wall and scenery material addded to the roof

The removable roof for the inevitable derailments

 

In between the wheel cleaning 37012 had charge of 7D13, 1520 Corpach to Mossend which included PRA wagons. Fortunately these are still as new and don't need the wheels cleaning . They run so much better with the additional weight added.

 

Edited December 28, 2020 by young37215

[ISW]

5 hours ago, young37215 said:

The removable roof for the inevitable derailments

Rob,

 

What are your plans for 'bufferstops' on those hidden tracks? I'd have thought that you'd need some form of soft 'cushioning' effect to alleviate (at least partially) derailments caused by being too ambitious with the shunting!

 

Ian

[young37215]

17 hours ago, ISW said:

Rob,

 

What are your plans for 'bufferstops' on those hidden tracks? I'd have thought that you'd need some form of soft 'cushioning' effect to alleviate (at least partially) derailments caused by being too ambitious with the shunting!

 

Ian

 

Whilst hydraulic buffer stops might be sensible, I am quite happy with my cheap and cheerful Hornby one. The plywood is securely screwed down so the real risk is to the rolling stock where, touches wood, I have not trashed anything so far. Fortunately the red button on my Guagemaster Prodigy solves most late braking situations!

 

The valley I want to create to the side of the approach to Garelochead is constrained by the framework that is under the flat basebaord. Ideally I would cut the existing baseboard out and create a new base 100mm lower. Annoyingly this would mean significant changes to the trestle framework which at this time I am not happy about making. Poor planning really but I did not think of this 4 years agi when I was constructing the basebaord and supports. I am attempting using polystyrene in an effort to create a similar effect but have not got to anything I like as yet. All very irritating, I took this out on the remaining wagon wheels which have now all been cleaned and by finishing the operational days running. 

 

37017 is seen again at Crianlarich with 1B16, the last Glasgow to Oban service of the day.

 

 

 

[Dougjuk]

Great work Rob, looking forward to our being able to have a running day in 2021.

 

Have a Happy new Year will speak over weekend.

 

Doug