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Due to having materials left over from another layout, I have decided to commence construction of a small layout which fits nicely into the excellent Really Useful Box Wrapping Paper Box. The dimensions of the box allow for a 730mm x 230mm baseboard.

The layout is based upon the supposed completion of the Cromarty and Dingwall Light Railway (see here for wikipedia article). The railway was planned to run from Conon Bridge on the Inverness - Dingwall line, up to the small fishing port of Cromarty. Construction of the railway was commenced but was not completed due to the outbreak of the First World War, and the line was never opened.


I am supposing that it was completed post war by the Highland Railway, and then subsumed into the LMS, and British Railways. The line soldiered on into the 1980s, being served by a shuttle from Dingwall. Traffic warrants a 1 coach train of either BSK or BCK fashion behind a Class 26 or 37. Sometimes one of Inverness' Class 122 DMUs is a feature. Freight traffic is also prevalent on the line, with a variety of vans, 16t minerals for household coal and fuel tanks for the ferry across the Cromarty Firth.

I aim to document the progress of the layout in this thread - comments and criticism more than welcome.

Edited by SeanG
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First job for the layout was to construct a baseboard. As noted above, I have reused a number of materials left over from a previous layout, so please ignore the scribbles on the baseboard.


Construction is 12mm hardboard topped with 3mm cork, with 12mm timber supports at each corner. The backscene is formed of 3.6mm ply.

 

 

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You can see that it fits nicely into the Really Useful Box:

 

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Once the baseboard was complete, time to lay the track. With points in place, the rest of the track was arranged. It should be said at this point that I aim to use two cassettes to the right hand side of the layout to act as the other end of the run round loop. In time honoured tradition, a road overbridge will span the tracks and provide a scenic break. 

IMG_20200612_132329.jpg

 

After dropper wires were added, track was glued down with a little PVA to ensure it holds its shape - the ballast will secure it properly at a later stage. I knew there was a reason for stocking up on all of the tinned items prior to lockdown!
 

IMG_20200612_140018.jpg

Edited by SeanG
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Looking good.

 

Just a thought, have you thought out how you will lift the completed layout from the box without damaging the scenery  ?
 

Terry 

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Some more work on the layout today. I have constructed the cassettes - they are basic but do the job. I toyed with dowels to keep them in place but in the end have just decided to 'hold them to' - this will serve the purpose for me. 

IMG_20200613_122302.jpg

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Next job was to wire the layout using simple DC. It is likely that I will only ever have 'one engine in steam', so as is becoming the trend on this layout, nothing fancy required. 

 

With the layout wired, a perfect excuse to give the Class 37 a run out on test. 

 

 

 

Then it was time to paint the track. Firstly the rail sides were painted in Humbrol rust. 

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Secondly, I sprayed the track with Railmatch Sleeper Grime. 

 

 

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Edited by SeanG
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More progress has taken place on the layout, I have mocked up a brief setup (please excuse the masking tape), which of course was a great excuse to get out some stock and give it a bit of a run. 

IMG_20200615_203619.jpg

 

26044 awaits time with a passenger service to Dingwall. 

 

 

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26044 is seen again as a bubble car forms the passenger service today. 

 

 

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Back on a passenger turn, 26044 awaits the off as 37238 (soon to be renumbered to IS based 37183) has arrived with a brake van. 

 

 

I have taken delivery of the delightful Peco Highland Railway Signal Cabin kit and so building that will be my next task. 

Edited by SeanG
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I've made a bit more progress following my last post, but with shops reopening (to my wife's delight) and the football restarting (to my wife's annoyance!), progress has somewhat slowed.

 

Nevertheless I have been able to mark out roughly the locations of structures etc, and tidy up the backscene. This was done by PVAing some wallpaper (pattern side down) onto the wood, and then giving it a couple of coats of a matt emulsion tester pot (think it is the same colour as our bathroom).

 

IMG_20200619_075928.jpg

 

The next job was to paint the walling which will form the station building, retaining walls and platform face. This was done by painting a Wills Course Stone sheet with black acrylic and then wiping off the excess, so that the black paint fills the crevices. After dying, the same was done with a brown acrylic to build some depth and texture. I have seen better efforts elsewhere, but am happy with my attempt.

 

IMG_20200621_173641.jpg

 

I then proceeded with starting to construct the station.
The back wall was painted a darker colour, whilst the  wall of the station building which will be under the canopy was 'limewashed' with white acrylic. The platform faces are from Peco platform edging (currently mid painting) and the platform structure is formed of stiff card. I have yet to complete the surface of the platform, but intend to do this with a sheet of fine sandpaper painted a suitable colour, which I find to be a suitable and cheap solution for such a surface. (Note that the siding track is covered in masking tape - this is a simple solution to guard from the sharp track ends - ouch!

 

 

IMG_20200621_173631.jpg

 

The keen eyed amongst you may have noted the Peco Highland Signal Cabin to the right. It needs a repaint and I have fitted it with a plastic tiled roof as I found that the laser cut roof did not quite fit correctly. I will post some pictures once finished.

 

Edited by SeanG
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Another major job has been to fit the points with a manual wire in tube system. This is a relatively simple way of doing things, but I have found that it works fine.

For each point, I fixed two small timbers as supports underneath the baseboard (although one point utilised the existing main corner support), one at the front edge and one just behind the point. Holes had previously been drilled in the baseboard underneath each point prior to track laying. In each timber I drilled a 3mm hole and threaded some garden wire through. At the front edge, the holes were enlarged and a dowel fitted as a handle.
Below the point, the wire was stripped of its casing and part of a paperclip has been soldered between the point tie bar and this wire.

This has been a simple method, but has been effective so far, and if it breaks is easily fixable. The points will be operated from the front but if I ever wished to operate from the rear, it would be relatively straight forward to add a further timber to the rear and lengthen the wire.

Apologies for the long essay (although I hope that it may help someone). As they say, a picture paints a thousand words....

 

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IMG_20200621_174011.jpg

Edited by SeanG
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On 21/06/2020 at 10:24, 27016 said:

Progress looking great and always good to see another compact layout based on BR Scottish Region practice being constructed. 

 

Your method of track weathering looks very good and I'm plucking up courage to start track weathering on my own Scottish terminus.

 

I echo Jim's comments regarding a traverser, or in my case a sector plate, is definitely the way forward. 

 

Looking  forward to seeing further progress.

 

Many thanks for the kind words. I found that the weathering was rather straightforward. I used the aerosol version of Railmatch's Sleeper Grime as I don't have an airbrush. i have to say that it comes out rather easily after a couple of seconds, but best to test on a scrap of paper first. I found that 'less is more' and ended up doing a few passes with the aerosol.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have made a tad more progress with the platform since my last post.
 

I decided to change my plans for the platform surface. I initially intended to construct from sandpaper, but having read the methods of the peerless Chris Nevard, I decided to  use DAS modelling clay.

 

A card foundation was laid for the platform surface which was then covered with a thin layer of the clay, stippled with an old brush and left to set. The rear walling is in place for a 'dry fit', and comprises of Wills Stone Sheets.

 

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I then painted it with a couple of coats of an old tester pot of matt emulsion that I found in the garage - B&Q's Lauren if anyone is interested -  essentially a light beige.

 

 

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Next, this was covered with a couple of washes of watered down brown and black acrylic, until a suitable colour was achieved

 

.

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Finally, the rear walling was fixed in place, and the front edging was suitably painted white. The facing stone, again Wills Stone Sheet, was also added.

 

 

 

Hopefully a convincing platform has been created. I used the mantra of "you can always make it darker but not necessarily lighter...".

 

 

IMG_20200630_204721.jpg

IMG_20200630_204731.jpg

Edited by SeanG
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Thanks Jim

 

It took a bit of time, but I just pulled small bits off the big block with my hands (about the size of a pea), flattened them as best I could, wetted them by holding in a cup of water for a second, and then pressed them down onto a thin bed of pva on the cardboard base. 

 

When a few balls had been put on, I ran a wet finger over them to smooth it out. It was a rather messy process, so no photos unfortunately. 

 

I would say that the layer is approx 1 to 2mm thick. It's a bit lumpy and has some ridges and troughs, but I feel that adds to the texture when painted, remembering that this isn't representing a pristine main line station, rather a somewhat forgotten outpost at the end of a branchline

Edited by SeanG
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  • 2 weeks later...

Not much progress recently, although I have added some posters and a door to the station building. The door needs a lintel above to complete the look. 

 

The posters were simply found online and scaled down in Microsoft Word, prior to printing off and mounting on thin card. 

IMG_20200712_203839.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Progress has slowed as the weather has improved and the test cricket has restarted, so just a short update for now.
I have managed to construct the outside wall of the train shed and erect the gable end fascia. I think that a Limited Clearance sign will definitely be required for this one!

IMG_20200727_112135.jpg

IMG_20200727_113039.jpg

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  • 3 months later...

Apologies, progress has been slow recently. This has partially been by design - I have been trying to do more outside things recently whilst the weather has been kind in anticipation for a Winter spent indoors.

 

However, last weekend I did get the layout back out to do a bit of work, including ballasting and creating a raised area. I will take some photographs this weekend when hopefully I find that the ballast has dried and set - fingers crossed

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On 10/08/2020 at 18:15, Max Legroom said:

I’ve just spotted this thread and am really impressed by your work. I recently built a similar micro based on Portmahomack so I can vouch for all the fun they can be.

 

Thank you for the kind words - indeed it was seeing your layouts Strachur and especially  Portmahomack on this website that gave me the inspiration!

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Unfortunately upon getting the layout back out this weekend, I found that last week's ballasting went slightly awry. The glue:water ratio was clearly too much in favour of the water so the ballast did not stick. 

 

Not to worry though, out came the PVA and pipettes again for another round of everyone's favourite job... 

 

In other news I have been reworking the Highland Signal Cabin by Peco. 

It is safe to say that my first attempt was not the greatest effort. I pre painted the wooden parts and this caused them to warp as the wood sucked up the paint. Consequently fitting was not snug. Furthermore, I figured that the door was on the wrong side. 

 

So, out came the plasticard asbestos sheets and, using the peco model as a template, I created 4x new walls. I kept the front wall and windows intact and have incorporated them into the box. A quick rummage in the parts box produced a door, light and some fire buckets. A few more details could be added but I think that it is an OK job out of what was a bit of a mess. 

IMG_20201129_130711.jpg

 

I'm heading into the office for my monthly visit this week so will utilise the printer to get some signs printed out. 

 

Apologies for the long winded post, hopefully next time I can produce some more photos. 

Edited by SeanG
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Hi Sean

 

Like the idea, my house (well technically my garden) sits astride one of the bits of the line to Cromarty that was built in Jemimaville.  It proved to be a problem when we bought it because that portion of the land wasn't owned by the house vendor and we had to purchase it of the local laird.

 

There is a little booklet available locally in Cromarty on the line, I keep meaning to get it!

 

One observation is that the stone on the Black Isle (on which Cromarty is situated) is a characteristic pink colour.  There is no way they would have imported stone to Cromarty, so it really ought to be pink.  Google pictures of Cromarty or Fortrose or Rosemarkie and you will find the colour quick enough.

 

Your amazingly hopeful to think the line soldiered on to the 1980s.............but rule no 1 does apply!

 

 

Mark

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Hi Mark thank you for the response. I am meaning to visit the area but for obvious reasons have not done so quite yet - hopefully this coming spring will be kind to us and I can get up there. I will look out for the booklet that you speak of. 

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