Highlandman Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 (edited) For those that did not get to see the layout here is a short days trainspotting at Portchullin. http://youtu.be/3sfFC2CTrzo Edited April 15, 2014 by Highlandman 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 Good to talk to you too Mudmagnet (never did ask the origins of your name though!?). After York, I am at the Great Centrals Modelling and Engineering Exhibition. This is on 20 - 22 June and will be spread down the whole length of the GCR. Whilst £15 entry might seem pricey; given that it gives you a all line permit I reckon it has to be a big bargain! Details here - they have 50 layouts listed; that is a big list and I think it will need the three days to see them all! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Andy Kirkham Posted April 19, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 19, 2014 I saw Portchullin at Trainwest last week. I think it would go without saying that the detail and accuracy of the modelling are unsurpassed by anything else I've seen, but for me there were some extra qualities that made it more than usually captivating. During my years living in Glasgow I made a fair number of Munro-bagging expeditions and when I looked at the terrain on the layout I could almost sense the feel of it under my boots - the squelch of the marsh and the iron-hard solidity of the rock. Of course there was that vital impression that the landscape had been there long before the railway had been carved through it, and there is something powerful about the way the line curves outwards, somehow projecting itself towards the viewer. It may be due to that convex curve that, from whichever angle I looked, the layout presented a well-composed view. It suggested the feeling you occasionally get when out photographing real trains; you climb a hill and discover an unobstructed view of the line laid out below, and realise that a classic shot is there for the taking. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold bcnPete Posted April 19, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 19, 2014 For those that did not get to see the layout here is a short days trainspotting Thanks for this - lovely vid capturing one of my 'must see' layouts now am back in the UK. Very Very inspirational Mark...you gotta love those mixed train formations... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben04uk Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 It captures the remoteness of the Scottish Highliands perfectly but I would love to see a Highland Omnibus and a van unloading the post and mail to go to some other Highland destination that doesn't have a railhead plus some Hurley platform barrows on the platform! However, it probably proves that less is more as you could go for a couple of hours in these sorts of places without seeing a soul. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoffers Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 This layout certainly ticks all the right boxes for me and apart from it being a tremendous layout, the guy who I assume owns Portchullin comes across as a genuinely nice bloke with time to speak to people - other exhibitors should take note!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERS Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 I spent half an hour or so in fronts of the layout yesterday and despite one or two running problems, it really does capture the rugged and lonely atmosphere of the Skye road. It took me back over 30 years to the Spring of 1982 and my first visit to the line, re-enacting Michael Palins first Great Railway Journey from Kings Cross to the Kyle. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Wonderful, wonderful layout, wish I had had more time to observe the coming & goings! I did notice the sound locos on here were really nicely tuned down, unlike the racket from the neighbouring layout, sadly! I couldn't get to hear the sheep!! Baa! Cheers, John E. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdjr78 Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I've seen the layout on the Yorkshow on sunday. For me it was the best layout of the show. The soundloco's made the picture complete. Regards, Werner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Market65 Posted April 21, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 21, 2014 Great video of Portchullin, which I saw at York on Saturday. I like this layout very much. It captures the atmosphere of this area of Scotland so perfectly. All the best Market65 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaymzHatstand Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 I very much enjoyed my Scottish excursion at York! Certainly the most atmospheric layout of the show for me. The scenery was just right, not too over powering to detract from the railway, but looked like it had been there first. The weathered stock was also very nice, no uniformity in levels of dirt really helped convey the illusion of realism! Hopefully I'll get to see the layout again in the future! Well done on a cracking bit of modelling! Cheers J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davefrk Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 So Mark, Have you been able to get your heid out the door after reading all the glowing reports? To be honest, it is a truly beautiful railway, well observed and importantly for me - well run, no F1 starts or brick wall stops, just as it should be, others please note.... All the best, Dave Franks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted April 27, 2014 Author Share Posted April 27, 2014 Thanks for the feedback guys. We do try and keep the sounds under control; after all, you the viewer as a scale 200 feet away at least and the sounds should reflect this in my view. Actually we had some problems on the Saturday as we were located in an area with a very low ceiling and this reflected the sound, making it rather louder than we wished. so much adjusting later (it is cv 63 if anyone was questing for this) and we had things sorted out for our area. The next show is in a marquee, so I suspect we will need to adjust them up for this one. Actually, I have been toying with the idea of background sounds, so Alleygheny1600 might get his wish. I have managed to locate a website that has 30+ different downloadable sheep bleats - and they think us railway modellers are a bit screwy in the head..............!! The layout's next outing will be on 20 - 22 June at the Great Central Railways Modelling Event. Details can be found here - www.gcrailway.co.uk/modelevent. We will be at Quorn & woodhouse I believe and it is another three-dayer, so I expect to be pretty tired again at the end of it! The ticket is £15, which is only a little more than Warley but you do get an all day line pass; so I reckon it is a bit of a bargain! Hopefully see some of you there? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 Portchullin will be out this weekend at the Croydon MRS's show. Details here: http://www.croydonmrs.org.uk/WhatOn/exhibition.html Say hello if you are passing - you won't miss us we are right at the front! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Portchullin Tatty Posted January 21, 2016 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 21, 2016 (edited) A quiet moment at Portchullin.............. Although it may be that there is a train in the yard as the shunt signal is off…… I suspect it will be one of the class 24s? Portchullin is just back from a trip to the St Alban’s show and its next outing will be in Telford, for the Diesel & Electric Show on the 20-21 February. With thanks to David Brandredth and Tim Venton for the cracking photo. Now my fav of the layout! Edited January 22, 2016 by Portchullin Tatty 26 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted January 22, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 22, 2016 Picture says it all Mark - superb! Good to catch up last weekend. My photos no where near as good as this one, will have to wait until we see you in Barnstaple in the summer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clearwater Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Very much enjoyed seeing the layout last weekend at St. Albans. My son and I both liked it David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share Posted January 22, 2016 Good to catch up last weekend. My photos no where near as good as this one, will have to wait until we see you in Barnstaple in the summer. As hinted, Barnstaple will also be on the itinerary for the year, at the end of July http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/104891-barnstaple-model-railway-exhibition-sat-30th-july-2016/ 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted January 22, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 22, 2016 (edited) Thanks for the feedback guys. We do try and keep the sounds under control; after all, you the viewer as a scale 200 feet away at least and the sounds should reflect this in my view. Actually we had some problems on the Saturday as we were located in an area with a very low ceiling and this reflected the sound, making it rather louder than we wished. so much adjusting later (it is cv 63 if anyone was questing for this) and we had things sorted out for our area. The next show is in a marquee, so I suspect we will need to adjust them up for this one. Actually, I have been toying with the idea of background sounds, so Alleygheny1600 might get his wish. I have managed to locate a website that has 30+ different downloadable sheep bleats - and they think us railway modellers are a bit screwy in the head..............!! I've seen your layout a few times, though not at any of your recent outings. Looking forward to seeing it again at Barnstaple. It's probably my favourite blue diesel layout of all time. I love the atmosphere, the authentic operation and (IMHO) the best use of sound yet on an exhibition layout. Keep doing what you are doing, you get more right than most. Careful with the sheep sounds, though - I was next to a layout at a show some years back that had them on a tape loop. If you think it's easy to overdo loco sound................. It was a baaaad experience (sorry) Regards John Edited January 22, 2016 by Dunsignalling Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted July 29, 2016 Author Share Posted July 29, 2016 Don’t worry, it is not as dramatic as all that, I have not burnt it or anything……………………oh hang on a minute, I have – well a bit of it anyway! One of Portchullin’s quaint little foibles was it did occassionally like to derail trains as they left the fiddleyards; especially the fiddle yard representing Kyle. There were various reasons for this; including some proper cr*p woodwork on my part, the hand shunting that occurred every time a train was turned around, the effects on thermal expansion that was not catered for and, something that I had not seen until recently, a bit of a dogleg at the baseboard joint. Add to this the rather Heath Robinson approach to the legs for the fiddle yard boards, electrical connections and facia support and it was fundementally a b*ggers muddle. So something had to be done and, a mere 8 years after the layout’s first exhibition, it now has! So with lots of thanks to Tim and Julian at the Electric Loft Ladder Company again, we have a new fiddle yard at the Kyle end and redesigned legs at the Inverness end. The design adopted is an adaptation of the sector plate that was in use before but with a refinement that it uses cassettes for the locations that the loco arrives and departs at. The idea being that these are both storage points at the end of the fiddle yard roads but also the means to move/turn the locos ready for their next duty. This is a development of the system used by Simon Bendall on his layout Elcot Road, but with a rotating sector plate rather than a traverser. Other halfway novel ideas are the use of the tray below the traverser as a storage tray for stock (and maybe tea!) and the projection of the sector plate beyond the end of the fixed board to make the ensemble smaller to transport. The facia also folds up rather niftily as well – photos of this will follow once I have taken them! So the old fiddle yard has been consigned to history and literally went up in a puff of smoke (Tim and Julian have a big furnace to heat their factory). The new fiddle yard has not yet been tested but will very shortly get its chance to prove if it is a good’n. Portchullin will be out at the Barnstaple MRC’s show in Bear Street, Barnstaple – you can find details here. If you are in North Devon at the weekend, stop by and say hello on Saturday? 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 I am hoping to get to Barnstaple again tomorrow afternoon, if I do I will certainly say hello as Portchullin was, for me, the star of the show when I saw it at Trainwest in 2014, cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted July 29, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 29, 2016 Tragically I can't get to Barnstaple tomorrow.....Grrr Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 (edited) Excellent news, Mark! That'll make life much easier from the operation front (ie: not having to watch the whole train pass without falling off!). Looking forward to my next outing with it..... Dare I ask if any changes have been made to the Inverness one? Edited July 29, 2016 by Tim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted July 31, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 31, 2016 (edited) I really enjoyed seeing this at Barnstaple yesterday, excellent modelling and the sound effects just made the whole scene come together - Sulzer growl, lovely! Spent a good while soaking up the atmosphere and definitely would have stayed there longer if my schedule had allowed. Thanks for keeping me (and a good number of others) entertained Edited July 31, 2016 by Ramblin Rich 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portchullin Tatty Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 Dare I ask if any changes have been made to the Inverness one? New legs only, so at least we have got rid of the rickerty things I had made!! Oh, and I don't have to pack timber as packing pieces! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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