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Dounreay - A Far North Terminus in H0


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Whilst waiting for the building kits and scenic details for Nove Mesto to arrive from the Czech Republic, rather than twiddle my thumbs my thoughts turned to the next project in the ongoing 'Lack' series of micro layouts, all based on using an Ikea 110cm x 26cm LACK floating shelf as the main baseboard.

 

This will be a Far North, former Highland Railway terminus, an amalgamation of Wick and Thurso and stealing a good portion of inspiration from Ken Gibbon's lovely little Port Pennan micro.

 

The premise is that an additional branch came off the Thurso line, retained initially to serve Coastal Command's RAF Dounreay, which was later used by the MoD and UKAEA to site nuclear power plant testing facilities for both military (Naval) and civilian use, hence it's survival to at least the late-1960s/early-1970s, when the layout is set.

A simple, single platform terminus with passing loop and siding, a short overall roof at the stops end, with short trains (loco +2 coaches) for facility staff and locals, plus coal and van traffic, possibly fish. While I might yet include flask traffic, I doubt that would use the stations' run-round, so Flatrol MJs are merely a very low-priority option at this stage. Maroon and blue/grey Mk1s will be hauled by grubby NBL and BRCW Type 2s.

Track will be Peco Code 75, medium radius points (4 in total) with an off-scene fiddle stick/sector plate. Simplicity is the key, so the usual wire-in-tube point control and my battery-powered controller and lighting. Simple folding supports will raise it off the table it will be exhibited on.

 

And to round it all off, this will be modeled in H0 scale (3.5mm:ft on 16.5mm track).

 

Don't expect too much progress until the summer, though locos and stock are being acquired/modified now, with plenty of reference to the British 1:87 Scale Society's website and egroup, where an archive of their Satellite magazine can be found.

 

2 Lima Mk1 BSKs have already been cut and shut into a TSO and BG while a Lima 33 and Playcraft 21 are stripped down and awaiting narrowing to scale width.

 

 

Edited by CloggyDog
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The more people who use HO to model British, the better. Just remember that in the space of 7 wagons in Oo, you can fit 8 wagons in HO. That was one of the arguments used back in the 30s for HO over OO. Good to see a British HO layout in RM this month, just a pity it was not clearly marked as such.

The difficult part with British HO is finding suitable chassis, in particular steam locos, but even squeezing in a mototor bogie into a diesel can be difficult. I know some are waiting , with interest for the new Bachmann J72, as wheelbase is ideal for HO, and hopefully motor will be positioned in a place that is OK for HO locos.

 

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Cheers folks, I am having a lot of fun with H0.

Latest project off the bench is a diagram 1/445 Tube wagon. I'd picked up an assortment of Playcraft wagon chassis very cheap on fleapit - the longest of which was spot-on for wheelbase and length over headstock. Quite a few 1/445s received heavy duty w-irons and roller bearings from the late-60s onward, which saves buggering about with the chassis. 

Body is scratch built in plasticard, microstrip and a some modded 4mm items.
 

 

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A bogie-bolster C will follow, solebars, headstocks and body from Evergreen 3.2mm channel

Edited by CloggyDog
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Some proper progress at last. 

 

Over the weekend I prepped the Lack shelf, glued the 2mm eva foam trackbed down, then the track fixed in place (Gorilla wood glue... it ain't coming up again!) with the 2 wire-in-tube point rods carefully aligned and affixed *before* the track went down.

 

Track all tested and okay, so now looking at the main structures - platform, overall roof, road overbridge, Highland Railway wooden goods shed and platform-mounted signal cabin. Oh... And the disused loading Dock. 

 

I've cut the basic parts for the roof (Slaters embossed sheets of coarse stone and corrugated iron and some Evergreen 'car siding' planking) will need a couple more sheets of the stone, on order and should arrive within the next week.

 

I've also been working on some stock, adapting some long Oop kits for resin casting, 2 types of 16 tonner, an SR 12t van, a Lima BR 12t van modified with GW ends. Once a new batch of plasticine arrives next week, I'll create the 2-part moulds for these and do some test casts. 

 

 

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All the platform surfaces are now down and the station overall roof is started. The next stage is prime all the stone walling and make a start on ballasting. 

 

The wee HR signal cabin is complete, scratchbuilt in Evergreen car siding and microstrip, plus a Slaters corrugated roof. 

 

I've also set up a couple of wagon bodies (2 different 16t mins and  GW van) ready to take 2-part moulds for quantity resin casting. 

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Some more progress. 

 

Track is ballasted and weathered, the ply display box is affixed around the Lack and the station's overall roof has been constructed. 

 

Need to do the backscene next, then all the small scenic detailing. 

 

 

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Progress has been a tad slow (work has been busy and modelling mojo generally lacking)  but I have now painted the overall roof, scratchbuilt some bufferstops from rail offcuts, fixed the signal cabin in place and made a start on the yard bothy.

 

Next up will be some greenery, need some weeds around the disused loading dock and front siding generally, plus some p-way detritus (sleepers, rail, etc).

 

Some more rolling stock is also progressing, another pair of Lima BSKs cut n shut into a BG and RMB, and a BCK is next on the list, though there may be some interesting developments afoot in this regard... 

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A little more progress to report, a set of scratchbuilt platform lamps, signage and the backscene now in place. 

 

The lamps used the Chris Nevard method, a length of 3mm bamboo rod, a nail and some plastic tube. 

 

The backscene used a panorama taken from Google Street View, played around with in MS Paint and printed across 6 landscape A4 sheets which were pritted together and trimmed to shape. 

 

 

 

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Dounreay backscene.jpg

Edited by CloggyDog
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A year on and not much has been done on the layout itself. I'm looking at ways of installing lights under the removable station roof and building of rolling stock continues with a handful of TTAs being bodged from Jouef and Lima parts and Lima 12t vans being modded to give me more van variety (BR ply-sided, Vanwide, LMS) and shortened to make shockvans. 

 

There has also (finally) been some progress on the motive power front, with a 3D-printed class 24/1 body, tanks and bogie sideframes arriving, courtesy of Lenny at Lincoln Locos scaling up his 3mm version. 

 

I'll need to make the necessary changes to turn it into a c1970 IS-allocated machine (tablet recesses, sealed beam headlights, ScR boiler blanking plate, etc) and motorise it - I've a 31mm Tenshodo SPUD or I may try and get hold of a Roco DB V90/BR290 to scavenge the mech. 

 

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Edited by CloggyDog
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20 hours ago, sulzer71 said:

Where could I find said books please?

 

You'll need to join the BR Coaching Stock egroup on groups.io: https://brcoachingstock.groups.io/g/main/topics

 

A pinned post on the group contains a list of links to a whole bunch of the Regional CWBs on Google Drive - the ScR list contains most years from 1952-1983 in pdf format to download/save

 

Edited by CloggyDog
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I decided that Dounreay needed some more parcels stock and inspired by a couple of photos of them on the FNoS, have scratchbuilt a couple of SR PMVs. 

 

The evenly-planked one has the main structure from Evergreen #4067 (40-thou O gauge car siding) which is a faff-free way to 6" planking in H0. 

 

The later plywood sided one is plain 40-thou plasticard, but with uneven planked doors from the Evergreen 4067, with the extra lines scribed in for the pairs of 3" planks.

 

Next job on these is to add all the angle irons from microstrip, form and add the rooves, vents and chalkboards. 

 

These will ride on streched Jouef chassis, a happy by-product of some previously cut 'n' shut TTA chassis. 

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Edited by CloggyDog
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All of the microstrip... All. Of. It.

68 pieces per body so far, (Evergreen 15 thou x 30- or 40-thou strip) plus 16 x 1mm lengths of 0.5mm microrod for the hinges and there's still a bit more strip to add once the chassis are attached.

I've trialled a method for the side vents, adapted/reshaped some I beam, as that's what I had to hand, though I think L angle would be easier to rework for the rest. The chalkboards I'll do on the Silhouette, as i need 16 in total.

For the rooves, I thinking to make them up from long strip 'planks', filled and filed to shape (much like the prototype)

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With a show outing approaching (the Kenavon show in east Reading, mid-Feb) I thought I'd best crack on with enough stock to run a service. 

 

So a selection of my reworked Lima Mk1s have been painted, glazed, decalled (thank you RailTec!) and I've worked out a way of making scale-length BR1 bogies to go under them. 

 

I'd already made a set of master sideframes from cutting & shutting the Playcraft shorty BR1, but wasn't happy with the Worsley etched inners (rescaled from their TT3, I think, which means an odd/non-standard axle length) 

 

I'd already decided on using 12mm OO disc wheelsets as being close enough for 3'6" coach discs in H0. 

 

Having proved the concept with the trailing bogie on my Lincoln Locos 24/1, I've gone with a layered 80 thou plasticard inside-bearing core to which my cast resin sideframes can be attached. As Dounreay's passenger rakes are at most load 3, the friction inherent in the design shouldn't be an issue. 

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