west highland Mallaig and the Road To The Isles

[thegreenhowards]

I also went on Sunday and agree it was a bit quieter than last year. But there were train strikes on Saturday last year which will have shifted the balance. I heard that the Warley club were pleased that attendance was back to pre ‘Covid’ levels.

 

My favourite was also South Pelaw, although I had seen it before. I also enjoyed Netherwood, Staindrop (1920s LNER O gauge), and Long Melford (transition era east Anglia with an impressive lever frame and TV descriptions of each train.).

 

Andy

[mallaig1983]

Netherwood! That’s the one. Thank you Gentlemen. Sometimes I question the integrity of my marbles. Maybe it’s time to start taking a notepad to exhibitions. Or at least when taking photographs of the layouts it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a photo of the name too.

 

 

[meanach]

I always take a photo of the name now as it’s all too easy to forget by the next day. Despite having a ticket , a badly timed arrival of Covid put Pay to my visit this year. I had to make do with some fine YouTube footage. There seemed to be some better layouts this year but as usual at Warley, not many modern image. 

[mallaig1983]

4 hours ago, meanach said:

I always take a photo of the name now as it’s all too easy to forget by the next day. Despite having a ticket , a badly timed arrival of Covid put Pay to my visit this year. I had to make do with some fine YouTube footage. There seemed to be some better layouts this year but as usual at Warley, not many modern image. 

Oh no! That’s seriously bad luck Ian. I hope you’re not suffering to bad with it? Glad you’ve found some decent footage to entertain yourself with. I managed to ‘photo bomb’ the official video. I saw the maker/filmer(?) filming Ben Jones at Heljan and I just couldn’t help myself with the opportunity to become a background feature having a look at an O gauge 73. All very subtle. I know, I’m such a child 🤣 

 

Does our modelling still count as modern image? I’ve been pondering this lately. You make a fair point if you’re referring to BR blue being something of a rarity at Warley but I find it can often be a bit top heavy with very recent image. I do remember a good few year ago now we had both Mostyn AND Dewsbury Midland at the Warley. South West Digital were demonstrating sound there too and I was blown away. The two days I was there really got me fired up to start collecting stock for a future layout. Two massive BR blue layouts and sound fitted locos on a stand to marvel at. Brilliant.

 

South Pelaw was one of those surprise layouts for me. I was keen to have a look but became totally absorbed by it and lost myself in the moment. I really like it when a layout can do that to you. Over the years Mostyn, Dewsbury Midland (in BR mode), Wibdenshaw, Portcullin and Black Country Blues have all had the same effect but I expected that. It’s nice every now and again to get a surprise.

 

To be fair there were a lot of good layouts there, even if the subject wasn’t my cup of tea worth spending time at to appreciate the modelling. Having done a few scratch builds now I often get an inferiority complex. I guess perfection takes many years. I’m content for now that my efforts do at least look (to me at least) like they are supposed to. That said I am pretty chuffed with my station building, my best effort so far.

 

Sorry folks for the ramblings (Mallaig musings 🤔)

 

I hope you’re feeling better soon Ian.

[thegreenhowards]

South Pelaw is a layout based on a time and a place which allows one to lose oneself in a piece of history. For me they are often the best layouts. I think that’s why we all like modelling the WHL.

 

The fact that it’s brilliantly executed with exquisite signalling and plenty of action also helps.

[mallaig1983]

Opportunities to operate freight traffic on the Mallaig extension are limited but I couldn’t resist a couple of Rapido OAAs. Even just sitting in a siding with occasional moves adds to my West Highland experience. The BDA has been in stock for a number of years and with a price tag on the box of only £12 it was a bargain even back then.

I intend to build up more wagon stock over the years, not necessarily for use on Mallaig but if it’s relevant to the WHL it will probably see use in the future at some point. Hopefully Rapido will no go on and expand their air braked range.

 

 

 

Meanwhile work continues on the work bench with various sheds and buildings in different stages of construction. Hopefully I’ll be able to update on this soon.

[meanach]

Let’s hope they make the tooling alteration for the sibling OBA. I’ve succumbed to 6 of these OAA !  Also the new tool Hornby TTA tank wagons are superb. Although the latter needs a little re working for 80s west highland layouts,  it’s still leaps and bounds over anything that’s come before. 

[thegreenhowards]

8 hours ago, meanach said:

Let’s hope they make the tooling alteration for the sibling OBA. I’ve succumbed to 6 of these OAA !  Also the new tool Hornby TTA tank wagons are superb. Although the latter needs a little re working for 80s west highland layouts,  it’s still leaps and bounds over anything that’s come before. 

Are you converting them to TTGs? That’s what I need to do in O gauge for Glenfinnan. But I’ve no idea what work is required…

 

Andy

[mallaig1983]

Indeed Ian, let us hope. I would have thought it would be an easy one to tool having done the OAA but they may be cautious with Bachmann having already released it. That said that was some time ago now. A run of VDAs would be rather nice too.

 

The Hornby TTA has caught me by surprise as I knew nothing of it until this week. I have 5 of the Bachmann versions in the fleet but more would be nice as 3 of those are earmarked for the weed killer train.

 

A Dapol Turbot in Dutch was ordered but was delivered as an EWS example. I’ve sent that back as not only was it the wrong livery but my infrastructure and loading gauge could not accommodate an O gauge wagon!

 

Whilst at Warley I spoke to Accurascale about the rather large gap in OO gauge for Catfish and Dogfish ballast wagons and the Richard that I spoke to very very receptive to the idea as he had been giving the idea some thought so hopefully they will proceed with them at some point. I’m sure it would be a winner as any layout set from the mid 50s to the early 90s would find a use for these. If their modern nuclear flasks had a second run then surely these ballast wagons could have several. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

[franciswilliamwebb]

48 minutes ago, mallaig1983 said:

A Dapol Turbot in Dutch was ordered but was delivered as an EWS example. I’ve sent that back as not only was it the wrong livery but my infrastructure and loading gauge could not accommodate an O gauge wagon!

 

So glad to hear it's not just me!  In the last week I've had 2 mis-packed model trains deliveries, including my OAAs.  All sorted now, though👍

[meanach]

I’m still holding out for inter-Frigo fish vans! Although a detailed VDA is surely over due. I rather like the Heljan Dogfish as they are lovely runners. 

[thegreenhowards]

8 hours ago, meanach said:

I’m still holding out for inter-Frigo fish vans!

They are nice wagons, aren’t they! These are O gauge Skog models kits. There must be an OO kit manufacturer?

 

[mallaig1983]

On 09/12/2023 at 09:34, thegreenhowards said:

They are nice wagons, aren’t they! These are O gauge Skog models kits. There must be an OO kit manufacturer?

 

I have a few Dapol kits of the older version but they are HO scale so have not yet been built. I may or may not get  round to them one day. My ‘To Do’ list seems to grow all the time. One job done, two more get added. 

[mallaig1983]

There has been some good progress of late by steeling an hour here and there and usually a few on a Saturday and Sunday. The last two Saturdays I have worked though but overtime = modelling tokens and we can never have enough of those! 
It’s all about the signalman’s cottage and a couple of sheds of late. When I got my hands on the container for the yard the other week I realised that the shed I had built to go between it and the grounded van body was to large. I’d built it to the dimensions of a long garage but looking at a photo and comparing the two structures together I realised that the proportions were way out. So I built another one. It’s been primed and is awaiting paint, as is the container. I’d built the shed that sat between the signalman’s cottage and the box but this was to small. So again, I’ve built a replacement. The two first attempts have found new homes though as the real Mallaig was not short of sheds. One family on the estate can’t believe their luck as they woke up one morning to find they now have a garage! 

Meanwhile I also like to have a play with my toy trains at some point on a Sunday so to accompany this post here are a few pics of 37012 removing the tanks from the rear of the ‘mixed’ and shunting them into the oil dock. More progress on the oil dock is also on that to do list….

 

 

 

[DavidBird]

On 25/11/2023 at 19:40, Porkscratching said:

Best fish and chips I ever had in my life was in Mallaig, that was about 1990, no doubt it's changed a bit now. 

 

No, still the best fish and chips!

[mallaig1983]

Once the O gauge Turbot had been returned the suppler gave me a refund. They obviously didn’t have the correct one in stock. I was going to try and source another one but Ian @03060 gave a heads up on the Meanach thread that Rails were knocking out some SPAs so I had a look. I saw they had the ZAA version and as this sits in my time window (just) I couldn’t resist and got one on order. 
This will be a mini project and will have spoil added and I expect it will eventually sit in the yard siding at Glenfinnan to add interest to that area. For now it can sit in a siding at Mallaig to be admired.

Obviously it’s had a spin on the main line along with the OAAs just to enjoy some wagon activity for a change.

 

 

I keep progressing the area around and including the signalman’s cottage. The cottage still requires gutters, chimney pots and paint snagging but is almost there. ‘Steam to Mallaig’ dvd has been very helpful for seeing how the land around it looked. The water gulley that runs under the bridge and into the sea had a stone wall on its northern edge so this was shaped from Slaters embossed sheet, stones picked out in Lifecolor ‘stone’ pigments and once dry first a brown wash and then a black were applied. The wall section has been glued in place and the area between it and the cottage was backfilled with plaster of Paris yesterday morning. This afternoon the cottage was temporarily put back in place and Sculpamold used to refine the topography. Knowing sculptamold it will probably dry and hard by about Easter so to encourage it to go off I’m leaving the heater on up there to get the process moving and trying to avoid looking at the meter and it’s pretty red colouring.

 

 

As mentioned previously I had made the shed that sat between the box and the cottage but felt it was to small. Well it wasn’t really wide enough so I decided to have another go. As it was built from old sleepers I decided that the best way to go would be to use Scale Model Scenery’s wooden sleepers. I think I have the dimensions much closer this time and once the sleepers were painted, brown wash for the colour, black wash for the grime and a little white dry brushed to add some age and weathering I’m pretty pleased with it.

 

 

The holes in the roof are roughly the right size and position and I have included the rafters visible through the gaps. It’s only a shed but I like it.

 

[mallaig1983]

Also in the parcel from SMS was this post and wire fence kit. The posts have been creosoted with the brown wash but I’m not looking forward to threading that wire!

 

Big train fix was had this weekend as we took the two oldest grandkids on the Welsh Highland Heritage Rly to see Santa. Great fun and the little ones enjoyed the Narrow gauge, miniature Rly and of course the big man himself.

 

in between the modelling work today I ran some trains. Here’s 37027 awaiting departure while the Pike sits in the siding.

 

[Module00]

Excellent 😃👍

[mallaig1983]

Last update from me for 2023. I’ve managed to find some time for modelling over the festive period although the last couple of days have been hampered by a nasty cold which as sadly affected the motivation. 
work has continued around the signal box area with ballast, grass and grass growing through the ballast around the box. The cottage garden now has a lawn with a nice slope to it. The posts have gone in for the post and wire fence but in my present condition I just haven’t got the patience to thread the wire. A job for early next year. Also on that list for January are the chimney pots and gutters for the cottage. Super detailing of this area is required but I’m pretty pleased with it thus far. Especially as it does seem to have dragged on a bit.

 

I drew up a plan for the semi detached bungalows that sit at the foot of the slope on the housing estate. I built a card mock-up and although I think the width looks ok it certainly needs to be deeper so a mk2 version will be built prior to the 2 scratch built ones which will be plasticard rendered with fine sandpaper. The 2 un-unslated semi detached houses now have their slates but require the central chimneys and gutters.

 

A couple of pics of the area as it stands now. The mock-up bungalow can be seen placed in position.

 

 

 

Slightly out of era but prompted by @young37215s version of 37111 over on WHLv4 I decided to finish my version which 37114 was purchased for a few years ago. It does need red buffer beams painting and it should have a yellow band above the windscreens but it’s low priority at present so will go back in it’s box for now. It was a fun distraction though so a photo is shared with this post.

I hope you’ve all had a pleasant Christmas and have also found some time to escape to your layouts or work benches.

Thank you for your interest in what’s going on here, sometimes knowing that there is interest can keep me motivated 

Just leaves me to wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year and hopefully progress for us all.

 

Andy

[David Bell]

Happy New Year and all the very best to you for 2024.

Cheers

David

[meanach]

It’s looking great . Your buildings look fantastic . Fence posts are tedious . I’ve done feet of them in total but they are worth the effort.
 

That large logo 37 reminds me of my first ever spray paint when I was about 14/15. Lima  37012 redone as 37111 to be more contemporary!! 

[mallaig1983]

1 hour ago, meanach said:

It’s looking great . Your buildings look fantastic . Fence posts are tedious . I’ve done feet of them in total but they are worth the effort.
 

That large logo 37 reminds me of my first ever spray paint when I was about 14/15. Lima  37012 redone as 37111 to be more contemporary!! 

Things seemed to change at a fair pace on the livery front at Eastfield back in the day. I remember seeing a photo of it just named in a magazine, Rail Enthusiast probably back in 85. By this time the 37/4s were about to come on stream of course so it was the beginning of the end. Of course the time back then went much slower. That was an ambitious project for a youngster Ian but the bug had obviously bitten you hard.

[Module00]

Hello, 

 

This subject remains really fascinating, it’s a pleasure to follow it. 😃👍

[billywhizz]

Hi Andy. Hope you are recovering from your cold. Thanks for sharing your updates throughout the year. I find yours and @young37215 layouts inspiring! 
my goals for 2024 are to make a start my West Highland project  and finally get to visit the WHHR (A visit is long overdue!) 

Happy new year to you and look forward to seeing more progress on the layout in 2024. 
Cheers. 
Bill. 

[Module00]

Happy New Year Andy ! 😃👍