Glenfinnan Station in O Gauge

[thegreenhowards]

On 07/06/2023 at 15:44, David Bell said:

You can't have too many Class 27's!

I’m doing my best!

 

 

The Hattons price just kept getting cheaper, so I succumbed to a couple more. The sharp eyed amongst you will have spotted a 26 as well. I was intending to run mainly 37s with just one or two 27s to represent the earlier era, but I’ve become rather fond of them while researching photos. So far I’ve just changed the head codes and fitted a decoder and ploughs to the new blue 27.
 

The question now is what do I number them. My current thinking is:

 

New Blue 27: change cab windows to sliding to make a ‘Scottish’ one for some variety and number it 27008. I’ll try swapping the class 26 windows over and replace them with spares if it works.

 

Green SYP 27: This will have to be a ‘Scottish’ one as I don’t think any ‘English’ ones made it north in this livery. I will have to drill out a tablet catcher recess and do the sliding windows, so this one will go in the pile to be dealt with in due course.

 

Blue 26: I don’t think 26s were very common on the WHL and I’ve only found one photo of one beyond Fort William - 26034 in 1975 in the Tom Noble book. This has the tablet catcher recess filled in unlike mine, so I’m not sure whether to do this one or go for one which kept its tablet catcher recess longer, like 26041. Is anyone aware of other 26s to Mallaig?

 

Please excuse the embryonic scenery which is still wip.

 

Andy 

 

 

 

[David Bell]

2 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

I’m doing my best!

 

 

 

 

Andy 

 

 

 

And a sterling job you are doing. What a lovely collection of locos.

Cheers

David

[03060]

26029 made it to Mallaig in Jan 1982 along with 37260 and some Blue Grey Pullman stock on a special.

 

There are several photos in Ted Arisaig's excellent Scotland Flickr album showing the train at different points in the journey.

 

Photo by Ted Arisaig.

 

Regards,

Ian.

Edited July 6, 2023 by 03060
Photo added.

[thegreenhowards]

I’ve had a look at those photos - lovely, but  -27C, ouch!

 

In terms of my modelling that would be ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’ with those Pullmans to model!

 

Andy

[thegreenhowards]

The dodgy weather at the end of last week encouraged me to get on with some inside jobs. One of them was converting this 27 into a ‘Scottish’ one with the sliding windows. My initial plan was to cut out the yellow window divider and then raid the 26 and see if its windows fitted, but they were marginally too small. So I had to make some glazing out of acetate sheet. I then used my lining pen and aluminium paint to do the sliding window frames. It doesn’t bear close scrutiny, but I think it looks OK  for the 3’ rule.

 

 

 

 

I also fitted the snow ploughs which give it a very Scottish look and a sound decoder, so she’s now ready for weathering and then into traffic. 

 

Andy

[BoD]

It certainly looks the part in those photographs.

[David Bell]

Looks brilliant

[thegreenhowards]

I’ve been working on some changes to how the station boards fit into the garden, in particular I’ve dug a new flower bed for my other half and the deal is that I can have a viaduct running across it. So far I’ve half mocked something up, but the eventual aim is to have something permanent in concrete. This will be a sort of mini Glenfinnan or maybe a Arnabol.

 

there’s still lots of work to do to connect it into the rest of the circuit, but I’ve run a first train as shown in this video (please do crank the sound up).

 

https://youtu.be/mctyMsJ_4fs

The Interfrigo vans are now running smoothly after some problems. I noticed that one was always derailing while the other was fine. I tried single vans and the same one derailed. A friend then noticed that I’d put springs on one and not on the other. So four bits of sprung 0.7mm nickel silver wire later and all was fine. A lesson on the need for some springing with longer wheelbase vans.

 

regards

 

Andy

Edited July 27, 2023 by thegreenhowards

[Softvark]

That 37 sounds the business! Whose sound file/decoder are you using?

 

Julian

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, thegreenhowards said:

I’ve been working on some changes to how the station boards fit into the garden, in particular I’ve dug a new flower bed for my other half and the deal is that I can have a viaduct running across it. So far I’ve half mocked something up, but the eventual aim is to have something permanent in concrete. This will be a sort of mini Glenfinnan or maybe a Arnabol.

Shades of Don Neale's Kirtley branch over 50 years ago...

[Jeremy Cumberland]

8 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

So far I’ve half mocked something up, but the eventual aim is to have something permanent in concrete. This will be a sort of mini Glenfinnan or maybe a Arnabol.

I like the idea of modelling a concrete viaduct in real concrete.

[thegreenhowards]

8 hours ago, Softvark said:

That 37 sounds the business! Whose sound file/decoder are you using?

 

Julian

Thanks - that’s why I said crank the volume up! It’s a Legomanbiffo sound file on a loksound XL. I think the sound comes over much better in O gauge because if the ease of using bigger speakers. This has two large (45x35x20) 3W speakers in the fuel tanks.

[thegreenhowards]

7 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Shades of Don Neale's Kirtley branch over 50 years ago...

That’s praise indeed! I have a long way to go before I get anywhere near, and I don’t think my wife will allow that degree of ‘embedding’ in the garden.

[mallaig1983]

The layout looks wonderful Andy and that 37 sounds the biz. The viaduct really adds something special to the scene. Well worth the effort I’d say.

[thegreenhowards]

Some progress today with my mock up of ‘mini Glenfinnan’ viaduct.

 

 

 

I intend to paint the whole thing in magnolia paint which should be an approximation to concrete.

 

Andy

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Some progress today with my mock up of ‘mini Glenfinnan’ viaduct.

 

 

 

I intend to paint the whole thing in magnolia paint which should be an approximation to concrete.

 

Andy

How are you going to make the Monument lawnmower-proof?

[thegreenhowards]

6 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

How are you going to make the Monument lawnmower-proof?

Can you not see the monument masquerading as a large sunflower?😁

[thegreenhowards]

I managed to get some weathering done last week, so I’ve just about finished my GFYE 27, 5392.

 

 

I also weathered my class 20, 20148.

 

 

My remaining issue is that I have had some white spirit ‘bleeding’ into the headcode boxes on both locos. It’s not too evident in the photos, but it’s quite annoying. If anyone can suggest a way to sort that out I’d be grateful. 
 

Andy

[thegreenhowards]

It was Guildex this weekend and, as normal, I spent too much! This included this rake of blue spot fish vans which I envisage running as part of a mixed train with some maroon Mk 1s (OK pedants I know they’re pass rated so not really mixed, but it looks mixed to me!). 
 

They were very good value (I paid just over £100 for the six), largely, I suspect, because the weathering job is rather unsubtle. These wagons certainly collected dirt along the metal stanchions in the way portrayed but the treatment here looks rather harsh to me. 
 

 

I’d be grateful for other people’s views on the weathering. I’m thinking of a thin white wash over the current weathered bits to tone them down and then a thin coat of roof dirt over the whole thing to tie it together. Does that sound a sensible strategy or does anyone else have any better ideas? I could repaint them completely but I’d rather not if I can avoid it.

 

Andy

Edited September 5, 2023 by thegreenhowards

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Andy, I think they are ok.

 

Cheers, Ade.

[BoD]

I don’t want rain on your parade, Andy, but it’s not the weathering but the different heights that jump out to me.  The thing that sticks out about trains of insul-fish vans is the uniformity.

 

Looking closely at the photo it looks as though the bottom of the wagons/solebars are at a different height too, so it looks as the issue is below that.  Are the wheels of different radii? Is there something in the construction that has led to this?  Hopefully (if it bothers you too) it can be corrected.

[thegreenhowards]

1 hour ago, BoD said:

I don’t want rain on your parade, Andy, but it’s not the weathering but the different heights that jump out to me.  The thing that sticks out about trains of insul-fish vans is the uniformity.

 

Looking closely at the photo it looks as though the bottom of the wagons/solebars are at a different height too, so it looks as the issue is below that.  Are the wheels of different radii? Is there something in the construction that has led to this?  Hopefully (if it bothers you too) it can be corrected.

I hadn’t noticed but now you’re pointed it out, it will annoy me! I suspect it may be partly the track as the last two fish vans are on my lift out section. I will have a look tomorrow.

 

Andy

[thegreenhowards]

I’ve now finished the temporary viaduct, which I suspect may not be very temporary as it will take me some time to pluck up courage to start pouring concrete.

 

Andy

 

[thegreenhowards]

I also managed to shoot some video of the return working.

 

 

[young37215]

Terrific video, O gauge can be really impressive. One minor observation is the locos rate of acceleration looked a little quick, one of the acceleration or top speed CVs looks like it do with tweaking down a little.