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Forsinard and the Far North


class26
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14 minutes ago, manna said:

G'Day Folks

 

Looking good, thought for a moment you were doing a 'Snow' layout.

 

manna

 

And there are still the remains of the snow fences!

 

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Some small advances on the layout over the last few days but still handicapped by the lack of Peco Bullhead track and points so the Thurso section is very rudimentary at the moment.

 

Starting with a couple of photos the Flow Country section south of Thurso. For those not familiar the Flow Country is a beautiful but desolate area of peat bogs mainly in Caithness with little in the way of population. Forsinard lies here, an oasis and the only passing place between Helmsdale and Georgemas Junction. There are few trees (save for recent plantations) and those that have dared to grow are often bent over due to the wind or have given up on life completely . There are even fewer houses and those that exist are often abandoned such as the derelict croft featured in the second photo. Also there are many snow fences (seen in the distance on photo 2) which these days are rather dilapidated but I think really set the scene.  

The bridge in the distance on the first photo shows the entrance to Thurso station and civilisation ! 

 

Photos 3, 4 & 5 sees 26046 passing south through Forsinard with an empty freight

Please bear in mind that all trees are just plonked on for effect at the moment and the signal boxes are not the final ones, the actual ones are being scratch built at the moment . The boards for the backscenes are also old ones, again  just for effect. that`s a job for the New Year and a visit to Caithness to take some photos for this purpose, C 19 allowing   

 

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Edited by class26
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I had a enjoyable afternoon visiting the layout, giving my Bachmann Class 37, 37424 a test run and it didn’t look out of place.  Can’t be said about my Hornby Class 60, 60044 which definitely looked out of place but fun watching it trundle about :D:D:D

Edited by jools1959
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This is looking fab already. I really like the idea of the desolate moor which is very rarely modelled as most can’t resist the temptation to put tracks on it. 
 

 Out of interest what have you used for the gravel platform surfaces? I need something similar and haven’t figured out the best way to go yet.

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11 hours ago, SHerr said:

This is looking fab already. I really like the idea of the desolate moor which is very rarely modelled as most can’t resist the temptation to put tracks on it. 
 

 Out of interest what have you used for the gravel platform surfaces? I need something similar and haven’t figured out the best way to go yet.

 

Thanks

 

The gravel platform surface is a mixture of Gaugemaster N gauge brown ballast (which isn`t very brown) put on first then a light dusting of 4D Models sand as the Gaugemaster alone is not quiet right

 

The Flow Country I intend to model in autumnal colours, not much green, more yellow and heather. Just working out exactly how to get the mix right ! 

 

My original track plan was to be a roundy roundy with no terminus station and would have entailed a larger desolate  moor section but my concern was storage  as this would have entailed maybe too many behind the scenes tracks and the hassle  that goes with them so in exchanges with Ben Alder (FNL)  the idea of Thurso came about which will act as on scene storage as well as allowing for shunting.  

Edited by class26
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36 minutes ago, jhb171achil said:

The old stone cottage with the ivy all over it - what's the origin of that? On my Irish layout I'd like something like that, as such structures are very plentiful in rural Ireland!

It comes from Skytrex of Loughborough

https://skytrexmodelrailways.com/

It is their model barn which is actually 2 floors high but I just cut off the lower floor and it made a very good abandoned croft. You will find it on their site under rural buildings

 

 

Edited by class26
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2 hours ago, class26 said:

 

Thanks

 

The gravel platform surface is a mixture of Gaugemaster N gauge brown ballast (which isn`t very brown) put on first then a light dusting of 4D models sand as the Gaugemaster alone is not quiet right

 

The Flow Country I intend to model in autumnal colours, not much green, more yellow and heather. Just working out exactly how to get the mix right ! 

 

My original track plan was to be a roundy roundy with no terminus station and would have entailed a larger desolate  moor section but my concern was storage  as this would have entailed maybe too many behind the scenes tracks and the hassle  that goes with them so in exchanges with Ben Alder (FNL)  the idea of Thurso came about which will act as on scene storage as well as allowing for shunting.  

Thanks, I was stuck between fine ballast that I thought might be too big and kids play sand (have some in the garage) that may be too fine - I suppose by mixing the 2 you’ve got past both issues. I had also wondered about scenic scatter but thought that would also be too fine.

 

Also after zooming right in to look at the texture of the platform surface I have to say your coping stones on the far platform are exquisite (being a Civil Engineer who’s worked in Rail all my life and dealt with many a coping job I’m drawn to silly things like that!) They seem to have a slightly non uniform thickness that just looks so realistic for a natural stone slab.

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8 hours ago, SHerr said:

Thanks, I was stuck between fine ballast that I thought might be too big and kids play sand (have some in the garage) that may be too fine - I suppose by mixing the 2 you’ve got past both issues. I had also wondered about scenic scatter but thought that would also be too fine.

 

Also after zooming right in to look at the texture of the platform surface I have to say your coping stones on the far platform are exquisite (being a Civil Engineer who’s worked in Rail all my life and dealt with many a coping job I’m drawn to silly things like that!) They seem to have a slightly non uniform thickness that just looks so realistic for a natural stone slab.

 Don`t zoom too closely ! My modelling always has rough edges. The tufts of grass are placed at strategic points on the platform for a reason ! 

The coping stones by the way are from Scale Model Scenery. https://www.scalemodelscenery.co.uk/

They are the Steam era ones as the Network Rail modern ones would not look quiet right (to me anyway.)

They are as supplied and simply painted with diluted Humbrol acrylic primer. In places I may have used a little too much primer but this does give a non uniform appearance. 

Edited by class26
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Chinchilla dust which you can buy in pet shops is used by N gauge modellers as ballast as it’s finer.  I suppose you could use it on the the platforms as it’s probably closer to the stone that was used.

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A few photos from today. Firstly 26027 arrives at Forsinard from Inverness.

 

At last a box of Peco bullhead track arrived this morning (minus the points) so I managed to crudely lay out Thurso with some old Code 75 points used for guidance

 

Finally I received a weathered mk 1 from Richard Dockerill who just happens to live half a mile from me. The photo isn`t great but the weathering is exquisite and not done justice by my photo. If anyone wants Richard`s contact details please ask.

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Edited by class26
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2 minutes ago, definate maybe said:

Absolutely love the latest images. Can’t wait to see progress. Can I ask what size the Thurso aspect takes up

 

Take care/ stay safe

mark

 

 

Thanks !

From the (non existent) buffers up to the bridge on the entrance to Thurso station site it is exactly 9 feet in length by 30 inches wide increasing to 54 inches at its widest which allows the loading sidings to achieve some spaciousness  

It is remarkable how little space Thurso takes and it was this very point, made to me by Ben Alder that persuaded me to include Thurso

There may not be too much more scenic work now until the spring as the weather turns colder it is making drying things out almost impossible. The next job ought to be wiring the layout up properly but my electrical skills are severely lacking.

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Pictures look great, I’d love to come up again and see the progress you’ve achieved.  I assume you’ve sorted the baseboard warping with keeping the heating on?

Edited by jools1959
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