west highland Mallaig and the Road To The Isles

[Alcanman]

24 minutes ago, mallaig1983 said:

Oh that’s fantastic. Welcome to the club. WHL4 is an inspiration to me too so something of a domino effect going on. Where is your new layout based on? Is this the thread that you have recently started? Good luck with it and keep us posted.

Yes, you've found it - Craiglang is my new layout.

[slow8dirty]

6 hours ago, Alcanman said:

Thanks. Thought I should try and redeem myself by showing that I can correctly identify stations on the WHL. Here is 37172 starting away from Taynuilt with the tanks from Oban

As a great man once said "All the right notes, not necessarily in the right order". Cracking pics tho.

[mallaig1983]

And it’s prompted tonight’s viewing pleasure too. I’m off down the Kyle line courtesy of video 125 onboard an very handsome 37262. 
 

Today I ended up having a look at the space Glenfinnan will require. Now that I had a board in front of me at layout height the draw of placing track and coaches was too great. Just to get a feel for it really and I’m happy to report that it will fit and I think look rather good. I think I will model Glenfinnan on a showery day as I really love moody west highland atmosphere. If anyone has mastered how to make 4mm scale mist please don’t be shy!
Bill when you’re next calling in these parts I’d be really interested to know how much space your station took up?

 

Excited by the prospect of noisey tractors growling up the road to the isles I moved on to see what could be done with Fort William. It seems that the 2 and a half ft width is perfectly adequate and the length will give a decent representation but at a cost. The railway modellers dictionary starts at the letter ‘C’ and the first word is ‘Compromise’. Do I make the platform a bit shorter or do I make the station throat off scene? I have 320cm to play with, I really can’t have any more as the squeeze between the end of the station and the fiddle yard would be annoyingly tight. I think I will go with a little bit of both. Slightly shorter platform, bring the points slightly closer to it and sacrifice a bit of the approach. As this was all done on the floor I can’t really get a meaningful feel for it until a flat baseboard is built and mounted on my favoured kitchen units but it was really interesting to start to get a feel of what can be achieved. 
 

I then extended the running line on to the new boards. I need to get some points and more track before I can call it a fiddle yard but it did double the length of the run and then the world lost me. Testing testing testing was the order for the rest of the day. Well really this is what it’s all about isn’t it?

 

Enclosed is a rather crude mock up of how Glenfinnan will eventually look. 
 

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by mallaig1983

[young37215]

All looks like a lot of fun at present, planning can be a rewarding and stimulating activity. A track plan will be interesting viewing and will also help to provide you with feedback and suggestions on the location of your controller.

[mallaig1983]

I will have to get something drawn up. It won’t be any fancy computer generated effort though so nobody get to excited please. I do agree that these things are always interesting to look at and are usually the first thing I look for myself when reading a layout article in a magazine. 

[mallaig1983]

Here is the promised track plan. Roughly sketched on a piece of mount board by a failing marker pen. The solid lines show the track on the scenic sections and the broken lines show the off scene sections. It’s definitely not to scale and Fort William track plan is far from confirmed but it should back up the photographic description posted a couple of days ago. As a gauge to size Mallaig is 428cm long, Glenfinnan will be 320cm (ish) and Fort William will be 320cm, plus any amount that I can pinch from above the stairway. 
 

 

[Alcanman]

I love the simplicity of your track plan which should allow straightforward end to end operations. Look forward to seeing your progress.

 

I couldn't resist attaching this photo of 37264 at a busy, rainy Fort William in August 1984, my first sighting of a 37 in LL Blue. 37264 also turned up at Oban during the same week with 'Ethel 2' on a 'West Highland Tours' special.

 

 

[mallaig1983]

Is the Oban photo the one on the WHL4 thread? 
I will have a model of 37264 eventually for when I dip my toe into 1984. I believe it was the first Eastfield 37 to receive large logo livery and I remember a photo of it in one of the magazines at the time crossing Rannoch viaduct. I believe it was painted in the May. 
On my way back from my summer in Scotland in 2019 I called in at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway for a day and was blessed to have 26038 haulage but on arrival at Grosmont 37264 was under test on shed. She later came down to the station and was shuffling about. It was the last day of a 3 month trip and I thought at the time it couldn’t have been more fitting.

 

Im grateful that you keep digging out these gems to share with us.

Thank you.

[mallaig1983]

1 hour ago, Alcanman said:

I love the simplicity of your track plan which should allow straightforward end to end operations. Look forward to seeing your progress.

 

I couldn't resist attaching this photo of 37264 at a busy, rainy Fort William in August 1984, my first sighting of a 37 in LL Blue. 37264 also turned up at Oban during the same week with 'Ethel 2' on a 'West Highland Tours' special.

 

 

Just taken a proper look at the photograph zooming in and I see that the observation car is in the train. Rather fitting really as I’ve just been running it and shunting it at Mallaig. It’ll be a nice feature of the completed layout.

 

Yes the track plan is fairly simple but still lots of operating fun to be had. I think running a days timetable will be absorbing and has the potential for operating sessions with friends. 

[Alcanman]

2 hours ago, mallaig1983 said:

Is the Oban photo the one on the WHL4 thread? 
I will have a model of 37264 eventually for when I dip my toe into 1984. I believe it was the first Eastfield 37 to receive large logo livery and I remember a photo of it in one of the magazines at the time crossing Rannoch viaduct. I believe it was painted in the May. 
On my way back from my summer in Scotland in 2019 I called in at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway for a day and was blessed to have 26038 haulage but on arrival at Grosmont 37264 was under test on shed. She later came down to the station and was shuffling about. It was the last day of a 3 month trip and I thought at the time it couldn’t have been more fitting.

 

Im grateful that you keep digging out these gems to share with us.

Thank you.

Here is the photo of 37264 at Oban with Ethel 2 in tow, which I may have posted on the WHL4 thread. Looking through my photos, I've discovered another one of 37264 at Oban on a regular passenger train during the same week. Many years later I was able to catch up with 37264 at a KWVR diesel gala. I've also discovered more class 37 WHL photos which I will scan and post from time to time. 

Edited April 8, 2021 by Alcanman

[mallaig1983]

Please do. There’s definitely an appetite for them. That’s another wonderful shot.

[6990WitherslackHall]

I am correct in thinking that 37264 is now preserved on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway?

[mallaig1983]

You are indeed correct young man. I saw it there a couple of years ago. I didn't have it for haulage but I was more than happy enjoying class 26 thrash. We got held at the signal at the bottom of the bank outside Grosmont shed. She stalled at the first attempt to restart but what followed was ten minutes of absolute hellfire as we climbed the bank from a standing start. Awesome 

 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by mallaig1983

[mallaig1983]

Of course in my head I was on the Kyle line in 83 

[BoD]

What on earth is that on the bottom right bracket?

[mallaig1983]

Some sort of Grosmont diesel group adornment I assume 

[mallaig1983]

They can be forgiven tho because they've done a lovely job of the weathering. 

[BoD]

3 minutes ago, mallaig1983 said:

Some sort of Grosmont diesel group adornment I assume 

That’s a relief.  For a moment there I thought it was a spanner and a piston.=

[young37215]

14 hours ago, mallaig1983 said:

Here is the promised track plan. Roughly sketched on a piece of mount board by a failing marker pen. The solid lines show the track on the scenic sections and the broken lines show the off scene sections. It’s definitely not to scale and Fort William track plan is far from confirmed but it should back up the photographic description posted a couple of days ago. As a gauge to size Mallaig is 428cm long, Glenfinnan will be 320cm (ish) and Fort William will be 320cm, plus any amount that I can pinch from above the stairway. 
 

 

 

I wonder Andy if you would be better off scaling back the length of your trains?. Although load 6 was typical, shorter trains were commonplace on the extension as you know and I think shorter trains would make quite a difference to what you can do. My personal view is that once a model gets beyond 4/5 coaches in length it actually looks less realistic and I am very comfortable running load 4 for most WHL4 services. I have tried load 5 for the 2 Oban rakes but felt this was detrimental to how trains looked. Shortening trains also increases space for running so that you are not not simply shuffling lengthy trains between stations with little opportunity to actually see and hear locos under power. Purely my personal thoughts but, as you said elsewhere, everything we do is a compromise to one degree or another.

 

I think you have sufficient space for Fort William. The baseboard for my version is 270 cm in length to the tip of the first point, the platform is 190 cm and comfortably holds load 6 plus loco which is sufficient for the sleeper. Other station platforms on WHL4 are about 160 cm in length. A rake of 4 coaches totals 110 cm, with loco a train is under 140 cm which fit easily in the stations. If you shorten your rakes I additionally suspect you will also be able to fit a holding space, mini fiddle yard type arrangement between Glenfinnan and Fort William thus allowing trains to wait between movements. Even more radical would be to have the fiddle yard underneath Glenfinnan which would increase both the scenic potential and storage space at the same time and introduce the opportunity for gradients for additional operational interest! 

 

In terms of power and on the assumption your power BUS runs underneath the track, I would be looking to connect the controller fairly centrally, either end of your fiddle yard looks about right, and not too close to the radiator. My old Prodigy powered a much larger BUS from a similar central point with ease.  

 

Apologies for the length of my ramblings which I attribute to a of lack of sleep caused by my back complaining about its reintroduction to golf in the last 10 days. Hopefully these provide some food for thought in your planning.

 

[mallaig1983]

Not at all Rob, your ‘ramblings’ are more than welcome here. Lots of really interesting points raised and food for thought. Particular thanks are due for sharing the measurements of your Fort William. Can you run round the load 6 sleeper train? I know you state that it fits in the platform but I wonder if it needs a second loco to release? In my 1983 timetable the loco does run round and takes the rear coaches on to Mallaig. My sleeper set is currently load 7 but I now realise that I need to reduce this to 6, no big deal there.  
Thank you for your thought provoking response.

Glad to hear you’re enjoying your golf again and I hope you’re not to rusty.

[young37215]

20 hours ago, mallaig1983 said:

Can you run round the load 6 sleeper train?

 

Yes although the 6th coach is off the platform on arrival because the train has to stop short to allow the loco access to the run round. After run round, the consist sets back so that all of loco and coaches are in the platform. I cannot find a picture of a 6 coach arrival, these show the southbound sleeper in the platform showing atight but acceptable fit.

 

 

 

[mallaig1983]

Thanks Rob,

Yesterday I spent some time looking back through your thread to have another look at your Fort William build. I was surprised how far back I had to go! This past few months seem to have flown by. Really interesting comparing your dimensions to the photographs and your YouTube walk round. The amount of space I have from the tip of the first point to the end of the platform is slightly more at 320cm so a decent Fort William can be achieved. I don’t know for sure but from watching a lot of video yesterday of FW it looks to me that the platform holds about 10 coaches in reality. Your version shows that compressing it to six still produces a convincing replica and even the crossover at the station throat. I did think I would have to have this off scene.  I hope you don’t mind but I’ll be pinching a lot of your ideas for my version. The siding that runs alongside the main at the station approach however will be off scene. Fortunately Morrison’s and Lidl weren’t there in the 80s so I’ve got away with that 

[Alcanman]

Sorry to gatecrash your thread again, but I was wondering if someone is able to help me identify this 37 at Glasgow QS. This is one of my photos which I recently discovered. The loco appears to have a number 7 on the cabside. That may be a clue.

[young37215]

37022, the 7 is the give away

 

 

 

[Alcanman]

50 minutes ago, young37215 said:

37022, the 7 is the give away

 

 

 

Thanks. That's great. I have photos of 37022 at Oban but the 7 isn't visible, so obviously must have been on one side only.