West Highland Line V4, a 1980's West Highland Line layout

[03060]

I think that the 4th tank in the above photo is one of these from the 7073x number range. (Scroll down to the last 2 wagons in the collection.)

 

https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/trltanks

 

There is also a photo of TRL 70730 in Cheona Publications No.4 British Railway Wagons - Railtanks (G. Gamble) p.42 which in the caption states that it was leased to ESSO, so possibly even this wagon ? Note the Pedestal suspension which is unlike most of the other tanks used on the WHL which tend to be either leaf or UIC double link types.

 

I nearly sound like I know what I'm talking about ... but I don't really !! LoL

 

 (see post at the bottom of this page for more details found later regarding these wagons .)

 

Regards,

Ian.

Edited February 18, 2023 by 03060
Extra info added.

[young37215]

Interesting information from 03060 which shows how much time and energy could be spent on creating copies of the rolling stock that ran in a modellers time frame. As Ian and others have said, finding reference pictures of specific rolling stock is the best way to create precise copies. Personally with nearly 100 wagons on WHL4 including 12 TTA's, I can live with the compromises that come with using models largely in an 'out of the box' condition. This means that tankers are considered to be TTA's when running in air braked consists and TTV/G when attached to the rear of passenger trains.  

 

Despite having the road 37033 with 7D19 has been waiting to depart Ardlui for a while. I hope to fit in some running over the next few days which should see 7D19 move further south. 

 

 

 

[David Bell]

Lovely pictures Rob.

Cheers

David

[young37215]

 

I did manage a few hours of running yesterday and 7D19 managed to get further south. It was photographed at Garelochead. 

 

Has anyone bought the new book 'Lines of the West Highlands' yet? It looks like most of the photography is 21st century stuff, I  would love to know what peoples view of the book are before buying it.

 

 

 

 

 

[03060]

1 hour ago, young37215 said:

 

I did manage a few hours of running yesterday and 7D19 managed to get further south. It was photographed at Garelochead. 

 

Has anyone bought the new book 'Lines of the West Highlands' yet? It looks like most of the photography is 21st century stuff, I  would love to know what peoples view of the book are before buying it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, Rob, I'm hoping that it will arrive today or tomorrow direct from Key Publishing as I wanted a bookazine from their sale (plus it's free postage.) I'll give it a quick scan over but I'm on nights this week so it will probably be Friday before I can delve deeply into it.

 

I love this view of Garelochhead,  you've really made a nice scene of this, to the point that I went out of my way last year to pay the station another visit ... when I eventually found it again.

 

Any update on the Class 37 repaint job that you started a couple of months back ?

 

Regards,

Ian.

[young37215]

My experience of recent books covering the WHL is that many simply repeat what has been written and shown in pictures previously. I find this frustrating with many poor quality pictures adding to my disappointment. Fortunately this is a Key Publication, not Amberley which gives me hope that it might be worth splashing out. 

 

On 07/02/2023 at 08:50, 03060 said:

Any update on the Class 37 repaint job that you started a couple of months back ?

 

Whilst I have all the bits I need to move forward, it is waiting for me to have another go at clearing the paint from the inside of the bodyshell. Like with many tasks at present, I am exhibiting all of the features of the 'butterfly modeller' flitting between running and mini projects such as the respray, making little progress with any of them!. 

 

From my latest running session, 37081 is seen at Mallaig having arrived with the 0600 from Glasgow awaiting its return as the 1245 ex Mallaig. 

 

 

 

[03060]

10 hours ago, young37215 said:

My experience of recent books covering the WHL is that many simply repeat what has been written and shown in pictures previously. I find this frustrating with many poor quality pictures adding to my disappointment. Fortunately this is a Key Publication, not Amberley which gives me hope that it might be worth splashing out. 

 

 

Whilst I have all the bits I need to move forward, it is waiting for me to have another go at clearing the paint from the inside of the bodyshell. Like with many tasks at present, I am exhibiting all of the features of the 'butterfly modeller' flitting between running and mini projects such as the respray, making little progress with any of them!. 

 

Hello Rob (and all),

 

The new Key Publishing book arrived this afternoon so I've only had a quick flick through so far, I'm afraid that, as you suspected, there is probably not much in it for you as regards WHL v.4 development, with only 2 photos of 37022 on a 1984 railtour duty to Mallaig.

 

That said it is a nice little 'picture' book, printed on silk paper with 2 colour images on most pages and other than captions there are only a few text pages, which I haven't had time to read as yet.

 

 ** Photo print reproduction is better than some more recent publications ... but not as good as good as say the Tom Noble or Anderson books. **

 

Most photos are post 2000 and show the myriad of liveries seen on the line, quite a lot being of railtours with 'special' traction. There's half a dozen or so photos from the 1986-89 period and 4 or 5 from the late 70s.

 

First impressions are that I'm glad that I've bought it, there's plenty in it for me, a nicely presented 'picture book' but I would advise that you (Rob) probably would be better looking at it first before deciding to buy.

 

Hope this helps and I love the term "Butterfly Modeller" which aptly describes my feeble attempts over the last 5 years or so .... one day I'll produce something of interest to others on here ... but not today, time for another 12hr night shift !!

 

Regards,

Ian.

Edited February 9, 2023 by 03060
** Comment added **

[meanach]

It’s kind of frustrating as you know that there are people out there with a treasure chest of unseen images from the 80s of the WHL. You can tell this by the Facebook groups such as ‘All of our yesterdays’ or ‘Glory days of diesel and electrics’. I’ve seen some real gems on those pages. 

[03060]

2 hours ago, meanach said:

It’s kind of frustrating as you know that there are people out there with a treasure chest of unseen images from the 80s of the WHL. You can tell this by the Facebook groups such as ‘All of our yesterdays’ or ‘Glory days of diesel and electrics’. I’ve seen some real gems on those pages. 

 

I don't use FB as I just don't like it, I also didn't like the way that Pininterest was tracking my movements around the country so ditched that, I did join Twitter once having seen a chap (Richard Bywater, I think) was posting 1980s WHL images on there but then I still couldn't find them or understand how to use the platform, so that got deleted.

 

I do still find some 'new' gems on Flickr by trying different search headings, such as Station names or locations, which sometimes will bring up a picture by somebody that I haven't heard of before, so then look through their 'own' Album or photo pages. Quite often these will not be in the main WHL Flickr album.

 

I keep a rough record of WHL photographers on Flickr in a notebook, but can't always then 'refind' images that I know that I've seen before as I can't remember who they were by ..... I think that Rob must have a much better system than me as he always seems to be able to come up with some great images quickly when a 'topic' is discussed on here ... any chance of an insight, please, Rob ?

 

This sort of information could really do with it's own thread to stop people like me taking up Rob's valuble thread space, I wish that there was a seperate West Highland Line theme section to post in in the Special Interests section rather than just the more general Railways of Scotland section.

 

Regards,

Ian.

Edited February 10, 2023 by 03060
Extra waffle added !

[scottystitch]

4 minutes ago, 03060 said:

 

 

 

I keep a rough record of WHL photographers on Flickr in a notebook, but can't always then 'refind' images that I know that I've seen before as I can't remember who they were by .....

 

Regards,

Ian.

Flickr has a feature that allows you to designate any picture a "favourite".  This will then be remembered in a "favourites" folder of sorts.

 

To the bottom right of the image you are looking at, there is a star shape. If you click on that the image is placed in your "favourites" to be viewed whenever you fancy.

 

Best

Scott.

[young37215]

Most recent books on the WHL have been a regurgitation of the same old material with average quality pictures. Something different would be nice, a quality 1980's reference book of the WHL is long overdue and would be very welcome in my view, possibly even two books split to cover each half of the decade, the two eras of 37/0 and 37/4. That said I have high hopes for the SDEG's 37 book slated for release later this year.  

 

7 hours ago, meanach said:

It’s kind of frustrating as you know that there are people out there with a treasure chest of unseen images from the 80s of the WHL. You can tell this by the Facebook groups such as ‘All of our yesterdays’ or ‘Glory days of diesel and electrics’. I’ve seen some real gems on those pages. 

 

One of the few positives that came out of Covid was that it gave people time to transfer their old celluloids onto digital images many of which have found there way onto the internet. 

 

4 hours ago, 03060 said:

I keep a rough record of WHL photographers on Flickr in a notebook, but can't always then 'refind' images that I know that I've seen before as I can't remember who they were by ..... I think that Rob must have a much better system than me as he always seems to be able to come up with some great images quickly when a 'topic' is discussed on here ... any chance of an insight, please, Rob ?

 

Nothing fancy on my part, I do have a Word document with a list of names and URL's but most of the time I rely on memory to find reference pictures. I find that starting any Flickr search with 'Class 37' and a place the best way to find era relevant pictures.

 

4 hours ago, scottystitch said:

Flickr has a feature that allows you to designate any picture a "favourite".  This will then be remembered in a "favourites" folder of sorts.

 

To the bottom right of the image you are looking at, there is a star shape. If you click on that the image is placed in your "favourites" to be viewed whenever you fancy.

 

Best

Scott.

 

A Flickr account is required to use this facility, I dont know if this costs anything because I am not a Flickr account holder.

 

 

In addition to some running, I have managed an hour or two of scenic work this week adding plaster clot and Sculptamould with the section from the Viaduct beginning to take shape. The lower half towards the viaduct is largely complete, the upper section towards arrochar less so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[03060]

1 hour ago, young37215 said:

 

In addition to some running, I have managed an hour or two of scenic work this week adding plaster clot and Sculptamould with the section from the Viaduct beginning to take shape. The lower half towards the viaduct is largely complete, the upper section towards arrochar less so.

 

 

 

Now that photo is just missing a suitably mini snow plough fitted 37 .... before Spring arrives !

[young37215]

 

Whilst waiting for the Sculptamold to dry out I managed a few hours of running of the 1983 WTT. Into the afternoon where several freight workings traverse the WHL, first up is 37012 arriving at Crianlarich heading south with 7D12.

 

 

 

 

 

[young37215]

In 1983 the southbound 7D12 passd northbound 7B13 at Crianlarich where the crews were booked to change over. Pictures show 37012/7D12 patiently awaiting 37175/7B13's arrival whilst 37108 sits in the headshunt at the head of an engineers train. It is a busy few minutes at Crianlarich with 27041 waiting time in the yard before returning to Glasgow with an observation salon.

 

 

 

 

 

[65H]

Just to add to the Flickr debate. I'm sure you don't need an account to search for photos.

 

The links I've found useful for 80's west Highland photos are:-

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81428320@N05/albums/72157718453313388

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/eastfield/albums/72157629032507079

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bystuart/albums/72157669157413216/with/31221950816/

 

Though the sight of BR Blue 37s on the WHL will bring a tear to a glass eye for whats gone......

 

Ken

[BoD]

4 minutes ago, 65H said:

Though the sight of BR Blue 37s on the WHL will bring a tear to a glass eye for whats gone......

 

The first two photos in the first link were enough for me.

Thanks for the links.

[meanach]

11 hours ago, BoD said:

 

The first two photos in the first link were enough for me.

Thanks for the links.

Wow there are some absolute corkers in there ! Thanks for sharing. 

[thegreenhowards]

I’m going to enjoy going through those links. The photo of 175 with all that clag brought back some memories!

[mallaig1983]

2 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

I’m going to enjoy going through those links. The photo of 175 with all that clag brought back some memories!

I could be wrong but I think that photo was taken only days after it had its ‘Greta Thunberg’ nameplates removed. 🤔

[C126]

On 29/12/2022 at 15:24, BoD said:

On 28/12/2022 at 07:58, CameronL said:

The atmosphere of Scotland is spot on. If you could make it misty  it would be perfect.

 

Kathy Millat did a YouTube video on different ways of creating a misty scene but I think that was only for a diorama.  Perhaps on something this size it would be easier if you knew a few pipe or cigar smokers and invited them round.

 

Sorry to come so late to this thread and suggest this.  Has anyone used incense ('joss') sticks to achieve a smokey atmosphere in photos?  I have it at the back of my mind for a 'dawn sun-rise' shot one day.  Either waving them about vigorously on the diorama/layout just before firing the shutter, or wafting the smoke in from 'stage left', etc.?

 

Wonderful model and photographs @young37215 , I should add!  Very envious of your talents.

[Vecchio]

Great photos! I really enjoyed that.

[young37215]

On 13/02/2023 at 15:42, 65H said:

Just to add to the Flickr debate. I'm sure you don't need an account to search for photos.

 

The links I've found useful for 80's west Highland photos are:-

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81428320@N05/albums/72157718453313388

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/eastfield/albums/72157629032507079

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bystuart/albums/72157669157413216/with/31221950816/

 

Though the sight of BR Blue 37s on the WHL will bring a tear to a glass eye for whats gone......

 

Ken

 

The links are to 3 of the best and most comprehensive WHL collections I have found. All are a regular source of reference for me. 

 

A less smokey and unnamed 37175 seen departing Crianlarich with 7B13.

 

 

 

 

[young37215]

More time spent on the current scenic work which seems to be taking a long time to complete. Hopefully I will see something tangible with this over the next few days. To break up the workload I continue with a days operations from 1983 where 37014 clatters across the junction and arrives at Crianlarich with 8D09, 1455 Oban to Mossend. 

 

 

 

 

[03060]

If you'll forgive me just one more tank train photo to share, please Rob, I came across this image yesterday showing not one but two of the noticeably larger 51t tank wagons included in this 1985 consist, 3rd and 8th wagons, bound for Oban.

(This is actually 1/3 of the class type built in 1977 by Procor, coded TUB - see p.286/7 of Petroleum Rail Tank Wagons of Britain (R. Tourret.) for more details including dimensions.)

 

Photo by RobT653 ....his 'In Scotland' album is worth looking at, not all WHL photos in the 4 pages but some very interesting shots from 1985-87.

 

Another fine shot of your Crianlarich Jct in today's photos, Rob, which is very useful to me as I consider baseboard design and construction over the next few days.

 

Regards,

Ian.

Edited February 19, 2023 by 03060
More info added

[Module00]

Realy great pictures of your layout. 😃👍