west highland Mallaig and the Road To The Isles

[mallaig1983]

12 hours ago, young37215 said:

Looking good. Are you representing the rising gradient leaving the station? One thing amongst many that I have become focused on with WHL4 is trying to replicate the gradients at stations which has resulted in large quantities of 3mm cork being inserted at various points under baseboards. It is a fiddly, pain in the arse piece of work but I think it makes a huge difference in getting the right 'feel' for a station. 

Thank you. Yes I intend to represent the gradient on leaving the station. I have laid the board flat but I will be laying the track on a rising trackbed once I've worked out how to do it and how steep to make the gradient. I don't want to exaggerate it. I was umming and ahhing yesterday while laying the board. Decided to lay it level and work it out later. I'll re read that section of your thread to see how you did it.

[mallaig1983]

On 25/03/2020 at 16:55, Dunmar said:

Hi Andy,

Not been on here in a while, but just been reading through your post and it brought back memories of when I was building Kinlochewe- seen elsewhere on this site. I based the track plan and surrounding area on Mallaig in the 1970's / 1980's. It may be of some use to you. Will follow your posts with interest!

Bill.

I'll check it out. Thanks 

[mallaig1983]

10 hours ago, Tim Hall said:

Should have been staying there this week, with a trip on the Jacobite, but obviously we're not. I have got a couple of photos over the years which might be nearly almost interesting.

 

19th July 1985   37049

7th September 1988  37410

 

Thanks Tim, great photos. Always appreciated and very thoughtful of you. I'm sorry you're trip has been hijacked by the pestilence. My trip there late May is looking very unlikely too. Next year hey..

[mallaig1983]

Track laying has started in earnest today. Some tangible progress but slow. I'm using the fantastic Peco Bullhead track which to me looks really nice. However the rail joiners are tiny. Really tiny. It's a tweezers and a magnifying glass job but the effort is really worth it. I've needed a lot of patience. The dropper for the 'unifrog' has been soldered and dropped through a hole and the hole for the Cobalt actuating wire was drilled before laying the point. Also I drilled a hole for the uncoupling electromagnet before laying the Flexi over it. Lessons learned from last time. Tomorrow I'm going to fit the point motor and wire up. Will get some power to the track and test that section. If it all works nicely then I'll confidently get on with the rest of the track laying. 

Couple of photos to show where I'm at.

Andy

[mallaig1983]

On 25/03/2020 at 16:55, Dunmar said:

Hi Andy,

Not been on here in a while, but just been reading through your post and it brought back memories of when I was building Kinlochewe- seen elsewhere on this site. I based the track plan and surrounding area on Mallaig in the 1970's / 1980's. It may be of some use to you. Will follow your posts with interest!

Bill.

I'll check it out. Thanks 

[mallaig1983]

And here showing the detail of the rail joiners / fishplates.

[Tim Hall]

35 minutes ago, mallaig1983 said:

Thanks Tim, great photos. Always appreciated and very thoughtful of you. I'm sorry you're trip has been hijacked by the pestilence. My trip there late May is looking very unlikely too. Next year hey..

Indeed, we are almost certainly going next year, back to the same house where we stayed in Aug 18, with views of trains leaving Mallaig below us: 

 

 

[mallaig1983]

28 minutes ago, Tim Hall said:

Indeed, we are almost certainly going next year, back to the same house where we stayed in Aug 18, with views of trains leaving Mallaig below us: 

 

 

Thanks Tim. Really enjoyed watching that. Cracking spot you were staying in. Can see why you were going back there. I stayed a but further up the road once just beyond the high school. We also stayed at the former station master's house in Morar a couple of times. Lovely sitting outside at 22:45 with a dram waiting for the last train of the day to call. Also being disturbed by it first thing in the morning.

Thanks again.

 

Andy

On 25/03/2020 at 16:55, Dunmar said:

 

 

[Tim Hall]

We were just down the hill from the High School. Morar is stunning, stayed a night in a B and B there in 1996 (now a Thai restaurant) and had the obligatory walk on the beach then and in 2018.

 

I look forward to seeing your layout developing, and hope that you get back up there soon. 

[03060]

Still can't believe that 'They' were allowed to build a bypass over what was the most beautiful bay in the World that I've ever seen, still love the walk down the beach ....but it's not what it was, criminal in my opinion ! 

[mallaig1983]

28 minutes ago, 03060 said:

Still can't believe that 'They' were allowed to build a bypass over what was the most beautiful bay in the World that I've ever seen, still love the walk down the beach ....but it's not what it was, criminal in my opinion ! 

An absolutely stunning beach to enjoy a sunset with a golden glow behind the Isle of Rum which is a dramatic island.

[mallaig1983]

14 hours ago, mallaig1983 said:

I'll check it out. Thanks 

Ah yes, I know your layout. I remember talking to you at Warley a few years ago. Great layout. You've set the bar dauntingly high.

Andy

[Crisis Rail]

Any updates?

 

Following.

 

Ian

[Tim Hall]

Nothing to do with railways, but....

[mallaig1983]

10 hours ago, Crisis Rail said:

Any updates?

 

Following.

 

Ian

Slow and frustrating progress. Trying to run before I can walk. Cobalt point motor issue. Is it my wiring or is the motor a duff. We'll see but today I had to just walk away. Did manage to run a nice and noisy 37 up and down a bit tho. Stay chooooned.

[Dunmar]

On 14/04/2020 at 10:56, mallaig1983 said:

Ah yes, I know your layout. I remember talking to you at Warley a few years ago. Great layout. You've set the bar dauntingly high.

Andy

Ah! Yes Warley, what a mad weekend that was!

Will watch how you get on with the Peco bullhead as I intend to use it for my next layout. I used C+L finescale for Glenfinnan and that was fiddly enough. Have posted a couple of pics of the oil terminal I came up with, purely fictional, but functional. Will you be building the signal box?

Bill.

[mallaig1983]

Thanks for the photos. I'm really looking forward to the scenery side of my build. Yes I will be modelling the signal box. Someone has very kindly sent me the plans they drew up for it. More track laying has been completed this weekend and I have resolved the point motor issue. The DPDT switches that I bought seem to blow the motors. I thought I had followed the instructions to the letter. For the next point I used an old tortoise motor with one of my old switches that I wired up myself back in the day. Worked perfectly. So I replaced the now broken motor on the point I installed on Tuesday with another Cobalt but this time I used one of my switches. Result! Worked perfectly. I have buggered two cobalts but I have a few tortoises so I will use two of those to replace them. I must order more cable tho. Originally I was going to lay the track and then fit point motors and do the wiring and test but it seems the way I'm doing it is to build a section, fit the point motor, wire and test. Im really loving the'unifrog' on the Peco bullhead points too. I'm wiring the frog with a dropper in case I ever need to use it but so far I've managed without. A sound fitted loco on speed step 1 crawls over the points with no stalling or break of sound. Well done Peco 

[mallaig1983]

On 17/04/2020 at 15:03, Dunmar said:

Ah! Yes Warley, what a mad weekend that was!

Will watch how you get on with the Peco bullhead as I intend to use it for my next layout. I used C+L finescale for Glenfinnan and that was fiddly enough. Have posted a couple of pics of the oil terminal I came up with, purely fictional, but functional. Will you be building the signal box?

Bill.

Bill do you have a link to your Glenfinnan layout? I plan on building that on the other side of the attic. Should add playability when folks come to play trains.

[Dunmar]

25 minutes ago, mallaig1983 said:

Bill do you have a link to your Glenfinnan layout? I plan on building that on the other side of the attic. Should add playability when folks come to play trains.

Hi Andy,

If you search for Glenfinnan under topics it should appear. I also have a Facebook page, again search for Glenfinnan exhibition layout.

Bill.

[mallaig1983]

Thanks Bill

[Damo666]

Did you see Channel 5 tonight (Sunday 19th April)?

Britain's Most Scenic Railway Journey: Minute by Minute.

It was Ben Nevis to Port Mallaig.

https://www.channel5.com/show/britains-most-scenic-railway-journey-minute-by-minute/

 

[young37215]

The programme is well worth a watch, the line looks even better in HD.

 

At 1 hour 10 minutes just after the Beasdale bank summit there is ongoing Pway work taking place. I was concerned to see that they had not got the correct ballast, what they are laying is a much lighter, grey colour than the traditional pink/brown. You would think that Network Rail would pay more attention to detail!  

[mallaig1983]

2 hours ago, young37215 said:

The programme is well worth a watch, the line looks even better in HD.

 

At 1 hour 10 minutes just after the Beasdale bank summit there is ongoing Pway work taking place. I was concerned to see that they had not got the correct ballast, what they are laying is a much lighter, grey colour than the traditional pink/brown. You would think that Network Rail would pay more attention to detail!  

Lol. I noticed that too. Absolutely perfect bit of drone filming at the end will help me hugely with gauging and siting of features and buildings. Really enjoyable program.

[03060]

On 20/04/2020 at 06:50, young37215 said:

The programme is well worth a watch, the line looks even better in HD.

 

At 1 hour 10 minutes just after the Beasdale bank summit there is ongoing Pway work taking place. I was concerned to see that they had not got the correct ballast, what they are laying is a much lighter, grey colour than the traditional pink/brown. You would think that Network Rail would pay more attention to detail!  

 

I've also recently picked up on how much the 'classic pink' WHL ballast fades and weathers whilst (yet again) studying the line searching for ideas on the Southern stretch of the line between Garelochhead and Rannoch snow shed. I've spent several happy hours recently watching and rewatching my 'Drivers Eye View' and 'Heavy Metal' dvd's which were filmed in 1993 and 2001 respectively where the ballast appears distinctively brown for large parts except for patches where newly laid.

 

This has altered my perception of how I intended to model it, there is a photo on the rear cover of the Video 125 'DIV' dvd that illustrates this, I had intended to just use lightened red ballast throughout as I once owned (acquired) an N gauge American layout which I intended to Caledonianise as it used this to good effect throughout. I've added the Channel 5 programme to tonights viewing as I totlly missed it ....along with a new (to me) Telerail dvd that has just arrived today heavily featuring Eastfield Depot in the late 80's.

 

Regards,

Ian.

[03060]

I should add for the sake of this topic that my Video 125 Steam to Mallaig dvd is also watched on a regular basis ! 

Edited April 22, 2020 by 03060