Crinan

[Bustered]

Looking really good Martyn, well done!

Best wishes

Nige

[Signaller69]

Today I managed to fit the new supporting wall, which is based on the one formerly at Mallaig. This replaces the original one which used Ratio Retaining Walls. Although the new version is rather plain compared to the arched style of the Ratio version, it more closely resembles the prototype style, and I am happier with the stone colouring which matches the Hotel on the new extension. It is also a little shorter, allowing the Station Building to be seen (this is also based on Mallaig); a lower wall now extends alongside the track and around the buffer stop.

 

The old wall:

 

And the new one:

 

Although the new wall is only about 8cm shorter it does allow the Station Building and concourse detail to be seen and photographed more easily which is a bonus, although this building will probably receive a bit of a make over (in colouring terms at least, and maybe better windows) in due course; the platform end will probably be modified or replaced too as I am unhappy with the fit and finish of the extension. The new walls just need bedding in scenically now.

[runs as required]

.. as for the history of the line, well I've been vague about that as I'm still working on it! As depending which I go with, it either left the NB West Highland line at Arrochar & Tarbet (a somewhat difficult and graded route to put it mildly), or the Caledonian Oban line at Loch Awe (much easier but rather long in terms of time taken to get to Glasgow)!

All that is certain is that the Engineers were Simpson & Wilson, with Robert MacAlpine & Sons being the contractors once the Mallaig Extension was completed in 1901. . . Hence the similarity in railway buildings to the Mallaig line....

I'm another admiring newcomer to your beautiful layout.

We last visited the Crinan Canal  when rendezvousing with an Australian friend who'd been holidaying as a stoker on a Para Handy Puffer nearly 20 years ago - although this is still nearly 30 years after your chosen 'early 1970s' period!.

The Crinan Extension must be a prime candidate for a Gold Pass valid for all journeys on the RM Imaginary Railways thread - which is a much more appropriate place to continue this 'could have been' post....

dh

[Signaller69]

I'm another admiring newcomer to your beautiful layout.

We last visited the Crinan Canal when rendezvousing with an Australian friend who'd been holidaying as a stoker on a Para Handy Puffer nearly 20 years ago - although this is still nearly 30 years after your chosen 'early 1970s' period!.

The Crinan Extension must be a prime candidate for a Gold Pass valid for all journeys on the RM Imaginary Railways thread - which is a much more appropriate place to continue this 'could have been' post....

dh

Thanks for your kind words. I looked at doing the "Vital Spark" from "Para Handy" instead of the fishing boat I settled on a few posts back, but being so distinctive and being limited in what I felt could be achieved with the hull, I decided against it!

 

Martyn.

Edited September 14, 2017 by Signaller69

[Bustered]

Hi Martyn,

 

I think the new retaining wall is a definate improvement and gives the canopy cross members a more realistic place to rest. Looking forward to seeing more of the extension. Keep up the good work!

Best wishes

Nige

Edited September 24, 2017 by Bustered

[Signaller69]

Hi Martyn,

I think the new retaining wall is a definate improvement and gives the canopy cross members a more realistic place to rest. Looking forward to seeing more of the extension. Keep up the good work!

Best wishes

Nige

Thanks Nige, yes I am much happier with the new wall, the relationship with the canopy girders was one of the reasons for changing it, at Mallaig the lattice work was embedded into the wall rather than resting on top of it as per my original rendition; the new wall is taller for that reason. The wall at the other end of the girders will be updated accordingly in due course, I'm currently thinking whether to leave that as a plain wall or incorporate a run down fish loading dock into it somehow.

 

Not much progress in the past couple of weeks, though I have now decided to model the Sea Lock Office after all. I'm not sure when the Sea Lock was mechanised (and the office built) but it will hopefully make for more interest at the canal side:

As space is tight it is a little smaller than it should be but to the same basic design as the prototype: http://l450v.alamy.com/450v/jpjp0d/sea-lock-office-at-the-crinan-canal-argyll-bute-scotland-united-kingdom-jpjp0d.jpg .

 

Once the roof is tiled and the corners tidied it will be pebble dashed with fine sand before painting.

 

Just hope it fits!

 

Martyn.

Edited September 24, 2017 by Signaller69

[Signaller69]

In my quest to find out more detail on how the NCL Depot at Kyle operated - it has no dedicated lorry loading area- I found this rather nice photo from the jetty end showing not only the Depot but a wagon turntable still in situ!

http://gb.fotolibra.com/images/previews/920829-pier-kyle-of-lochalsh.jpeg

 

The NCL depot area on Crinan may now receive a concrete platform (having previously assumed it was stone) as part of a further revision now the extension is almost finished.

[Signaller69]

The Sea Lock Office nears completion, roof from individual glossy paper tiles, my first go at doing them this way. A little touching up, weathering and guttering to add yet, some home printed signs just being added.

 

And the Hotel now has some outside benches.

[Signaller69]

The Sea Lock Office was fixed in place tonight, I had to compromise and have it parallel to the canal due to space issues; but this also allows the front to be seen (the real thing is at 90 degrees to the canal). Grass was added, and a bench for passers by.

 

Meanwhile, while the platform extension receives attention, the new low wall has been glued in place and a small gap between it and the road filled with a rough grass verge. The bufferstop has been re-affixed and a few weeds added inside the wall too.

 

The whole extension now needs a good vac to remove all the stray static grass fibres, they get everywhere!

[Bustered]

That looks much improved Martyn, especially like the lock office and curving wall on the extension.

 

Best wishes

Nige

[Signaller69]

That looks much improved Martyn, especially like the lock office and curving wall on the extension.

 

Best wishes

Nige

Thanks Nige, its getting there slowly!

[Signaller69]

Another first for Crinan, this time a Class 126 Ayrshire unit on a special from Ayr (construction details in my workbench thread). Mainly a test run to see how the Lima DMU chassis' cope with the code 75 track; the flanges just catch the chairs, not enough to be noticable but can be felt when pushing the unpowered vehicles by hand (even on the unballasted sector plate) so I either need to turn the flanges down a tad or invest in some Alan Gibson wheels on Lima length axles. Extra pickups would be a bonus too.

 

A 2 car Lima 117 was attached to the rear to check platform length of a 5 car set, which fits comfortably, but the current sector plate extension is too short, however this is on the "needs attention" list.

 

 

The platform extension in the last pic has been lowered slightly but still needs a little paintwork before being bedded back into the surface.

 

More soon.

Martyn.

[EnglishElectricFan]

Another first for Crinan, this time a Class 126 Ayrshire unit on a special from Ayr (construction details in my workbench thread). Mainly a test run to see how the Lima DMU chassis' cope with the code 75 track; the flanges just catch the chairs, not enough to be noticable but can be felt when pushing the unpowered vehicles by hand (even on the unballasted sector plate) so I either need to turn the flanges down a tad or invest in some Alan Gibson wheels on Lima length axles. Extra pickups would be a bonus too.

 

A 2 car Lima 117 was attached to the rear to check platform length of a 5 car set, which fits comfortably, but the current sector plate extension is too short, however this is on the "needs attention" list.

 

IMG_20171031_205528.jpgIMG_20171031_205344_1.jpgIMG_20171031_205233_1.jpgIMG_20171031_205138_1.jpgIMG_20171031_205003_1.jpg

 

The platform extension in the last pic has been lowered slightly but still needs a little paintwork before being bedded back into the surface.

 

More soon.

Martyn.

Love the Swindon Unit Martyn, just the thing needed for my layout !!

Simon

[Signaller69]

Love the Swindon Unit Martyn, just the thing needed for my layout !!

Simon

Thanks Simon, here's the other end (Driving Motor Second) which I neglected to get a photo of during testing.

The remaining 2 Lima 117 vehicles will be converted to make up a 5 car set in due course.

[EnglishElectricFan]

Thanks Simon, here's the other end (Driving Motor Second) which I neglected to get a photo of during testing.

IMG_20171025_190655.jpg

The remaining 2 Lima 117 vehicles will be converted to make up a 5 car set in due course.

Ah the ugly duckling end..............looks fab mate. Great modelling!

[Regularity]

I do love it when the influences of a layout are apparent, but the layout is still distinctively different and excellently blended into something believable.

 

One question, though. Is it not usual for the rails and posts of fencing to face onto the railway property, and not the other way round? I am asking particularly about the boundary between the railway and the quayside. The obvious answer is to check with the prototype via photos, etc, but I am feeling lazy.

[Signaller69]

I do love it when the influences of a layout are apparent, but the layout is still distinctively different and excellently blended into something believable.

One question, though. Is it not usual for the rails and posts of fencing to face onto the railway property, and not the other way round? I am asking particularly about the boundary between the railway and the quayside. The obvious answer is to check with the prototype via photos, etc, but I am feeling lazy.

Very many thanks for your kind words. Regarding the fence I assume this is the one in question:

In which case yes you probably raise a fair point; I seem to remember there was a reason why it went on that way round but I'm blown if I can remember what it was. Having said that, I'm in two minds whether the fencing would have been there at all, as both Oban and KoL (and no doubt many other locations) had quayside shunting with no fences despite public access c.1970. My excuse is the Harbour Authority had it installed as a safety measure, once ship to train transhipment ended . . . :-)

Edited November 1, 2017 by Signaller69

[EnglishElectricFan]

Very many thanks for your kind words. Regarding the fence I assume this is the one in question:

IMG_20170829_214010_1.jpg

In which case yes you probably raise a fair point; I seem to remember there was a reason why it went on that way round but I'm blown if I can remember what it was. Having said that, I'm in two minds whether the fencing would have been there at all, as both Oban and KoL (and no doubt many other locations) had quayside shunting with no fences despite public access c.1970. My excuse is the Harbour Authority had it installed as a safety measure, once ship to train transhipment ended . . . :-)

Please don't send the Port Authorities over to Newton Harbour............I don't plan any fencing along the quayside !

[Signaller69]

Please don't send the Port Authorities over to Newton Harbour............I don't plan any fencing along the quayside !

No promises, I did hear a rumour they are taking the Ayrshire unit back down your way on an inspection tour. . . . :-)

[Signaller69]

Currently working on a few more road vehicles, the Oxford cars are being varnished to tone down the shine, with a little weathering, rusting on older cars etc.

The Base Toys Forklift has been removed for a make-over with a new safety cage added from soldered wire and a scrap of brass mesh. The pallet load now has the forks correctly through the pallet (it was resting on top of them previously, a lazy cheat by yours truly) and weathered to an old battered finish. I'm thinking of a driver sat reading a newspaper between loading if I can find a suitable figure to butcher.

Following some research on Macbraynes lorries a few Hattons "Bargains" are on order to cobble into a couple to work from the NCL depot (as at KoL, due to Macbraynes operating the ferries).

[Bustered]

Hi Martyn,

 

Have you seen Scalescenes now do a nice Clyde puffer if you need to make the fleet bigger!

 

Best wishes

Nige

Edited November 13, 2017 by Bustered

[Signaller69]

Hi Martyn,

 

Have you seen Scalescenes now do a nice Clyde puffer if you need to make the fleet bigger!

 

Best wishes

Nige

Hi Nige, yes I had heard about that, it reminds me I have a similar unmade Scalescenes boat - not sure it was a Puffer but similar size - that was a free download (through a magazine I think) a year or two back. I printed it and put it inside a magazine iirc so just need to find it now!

 

Although I think adding it along with the fishing boat may cramp the scene too much. Could swap them around for variety though.

 

Thanks,

Martyn.

[The Johnster]

Sorry to rain on the parade, guys, but Clyde Puffers outside the area of the Firth of Clyde or the Inner Hebrides and West Coast sheltered from the full force of the Atlantic gales by them were a rare beast.  The area outside of the shelter of the Firth was accessed via the Crinan canal, which determined the size of the Puffers, and most skippers would not chance the exposed Mull of Kintyre, even in summer.  They are a very common solution to providing a small coaster on layouts with harbours set all over the country, but are really only suitable for the area outlined above, where railways were rare except for Kyle of Lochalsh, Oban, and Mallaig, which are getting on for a bit far north for puffer territory, though they did run through the Caledonian Canal to Inverness.  But puffer kits are easily available, they are attractive little ships, and many modellers are not knowledgeable on matters marine (I am not claiming myself to be, by the way).

 

That said, the 'Snowflake', an Ilfracombe owned vessel trading local produce up to Cardiff or Penarth and returning with the town's coal in the 20s and 30s, was, I believe, a puffer, completely out of her depth in the rough and tumble of the Bristol Channel and too slow to cope with the tidal currents; she was constantly in trouble, requiring tows, running onto sandbanks, being overdue and turning up at the wrong port in the fog.  My father, a Cardiff pilot apprentice at the time, remembered her well because the pilot boat once gave her a tow into Cardiff against the ebbing tide and they all got a share of the towing fee from her Cardiff agent.  Leaving Cardiff or Penarth heading back down channel, she would be filthy from loading coal, and belied her name somewhat.  But she was very much the exception rather than the rule; a more standard sort of coaster, about 120 tons and with the bridge set for'ard of the funnel, would be a much more common sight, but I know of no suitable models.

 

If it were me, and I was at one time contemplating a small river wharf on the South Wales coast before settling on my mining valley BLT, I'd be considering making up a puffer kit with the superstructure on backwards to represent a 'normal' vessel, and the bows lengthened and sharpened a little to make for a more seaworthy vessel capable of open water coastal passages; a puffer doesn't quite cut the mustard, being designed for sheltered inshore and canal work.

[Signaller69]

Sorry to rain on the parade, guys, but Clyde Puffers outside the area of the Firth of Clyde or the Inner Hebrides and West Coast sheltered from the full force of the Atlantic gales by them were a rare beast. The area outside of the shelter of the Firth was accessed via the Crinan canal, which determined the size of the Puffers, and most skippers would not chance the exposed Mull of Kintyre, even in summer. They are a very common solution to providing a small coaster on layouts with harbours set all over the country, but are really only suitable for the area outlined above, where railways were rare except for Kyle of Lochalsh, Oban, and Mallaig, which are getting on for a bit far north for puffer territory, though they did run through the Caledonian Canal to Inverness. But puffer kits are easily available, they are attractive little ships, and many modellers are not knowledgeable on matters marine (I am not claiming myself to be, by the way).

 

That said, the 'Snowflake', an Ilfracombe owned vessel trading local produce up to Cardiff or Penarth and returning with the town's coal in the 20s and 30s, was, I believe, a puffer, completely out of her depth in the rough and tumble of the Bristol Channel and too slow to cope with the tidal currents; she was constantly in trouble, requiring tows, running onto sandbanks, being overdue and turning up at the wrong port in the fog. My father, a Cardiff pilot apprentice at the time, remembered her well because the pilot boat once gave her a tow into Cardiff against the ebbing tide and they all got a share of the towing fee from her Cardiff agent. Leaving Cardiff or Penarth heading back down channel, she would be filthy from loading coal, and belied her name somewhat. But she was very much the exception rather than the rule; a more standard sort of coaster, about 120 tons and with the bridge set for'ard of the funnel, would be a much more common sight, but I know of no suitable models.

 

If it were me, and I was at one time contemplating a small river wharf on the South Wales coast before settling on my mining valley BLT, I'd be considering making up a puffer kit with the superstructure on backwards to represent a 'normal' vessel, and the bows lengthened and sharpened a little to make for a more seaworthy vessel capable of open water coastal passages; a puffer doesn't quite cut the mustard, being designed for sheltered inshore and canal work.

No parade has been rained on, fear not. Clyde Puffers were and still are common at Crinan; they were for example used to transport Whisky from the distilleries on Jura and Islay via the Crinan Canal, as mentioned here: http://www.islayblog.com/2012entries/20120905-clyde-puffer-jura.shtml

In recent years the VIC32 and VIC37 have undergone work at Crinan boatyard, the VIC32 being a common sight in photos of Crinan, which would be perfect if I was modelling the past few years.

 

The only slight issue I have with a Puffer is were they in use c.1970 on the Crinan Canal (the time period of my layout)? I guess if anything, they would have been in their final "working" years by then excepting the vessels which entered preservation, but I could be mistaken; it is something I keep an open mind on and am slowly doing further research on.

 

Which is largely why I settled on a Fishing boat for Crinan thus far.

 

At the very least if I end up building one it can be under "Rule 1", there is probably evidence out there that it would be plausible at that time.

 

Thanks,

Martyn.

[Legend]

Para Handy was still on the go!

 

Nice layout and of course that 126 is tremendous.