Lochdubh - Gateway to the Isles in the 1980s…

[James Hilton]

5 hours ago, Enfys_Rainbow said:

Very nice layout full stop James. This era and location (Scottish Highlands) are also a great inspiration to me.

 

My next layout will be something similar-ish, although 4mm rather than 2mm.

 

Matt

Thank you Matt, and good luck with your own project!

[03060]

Have spent the weekend reading through the thread ... very slowly, which just felt right, somehow for this particular journey.

 

You've created a piece of Highland 'ambience' there James that immediately transports the viewer to the time and location ... it's one of those silent pieces .... where the mind then immediately starts to fill ones head with the appropriate sounds of the loco, the seagulls, the occasional vehicle crossing the bridge and best of all the the sounds and smells of a Highland Loch going about it's natural buisness ! Marvelous.

 

Regards,

Ian (a self confessed Scottish romantic all of his life ... despite being born and bred a die hard Yorkshireman ! LoL)

Edited March 11 by 03060

[jamest]

Hi James,

 

I had a scan back through your posts and can't 100% ascertain what track standard you go for on your 2mm/n gauge layouts. I'm thinking of dabbling in something similar as a small distraction from my normal O and OO gauge stuff.

 

You mention on your Blue 37 lowering bit that you did not intend to change the wheels suggesting you use N gauge models on British finescale track? So you don't convert to pure 2mm standards?

 

I am thinking of going to 2mm but I am wary of adding the complication and expense of changing wheel sets - and sticking to split chassis Graham Farish stuff for locos. You show that this is not necessary for fantastic results (assuming my assumption is correct!).

 

Can you confirm your track choice - and if it is N gauge or 2mm FS?

 

Thanks for sharing, and inspiring.

James

Edited March 11 by jamest

[James Hilton]

4 hours ago, jamest said:

Can you confirm your track choice - and if it is N gauge or 2mm FS?

 

Thanks for sharing, and inspiring.

James

The track is British Finescale code 40, in N gauge.

It is not 2mm finescale.

 

5 hours ago, 03060 said:

Have spent the weekend reading through the thread ... very slowly, which just felt right, somehow for this particular journey.

 

You've created a piece of Highland 'ambience' there James that immediately transports the viewer to the time and location ... it's one of those silent pieces .... where the mind then immediately starts to fill ones head with the appropriate sounds of the loco, the seagulls, the occasional vehicle crossing the bridge and best of all the the sounds and smells of a Highland Loch going about it's natural buisness ! Marvelous.

 

Regards,

Ian (a self confessed Scottish romantic all of his life ... despite being born and bred a die hard Yorkshireman ! LoL)

Ian - thank you. That is a wonderful reflection, I’m glad to have taken you there…

[Class 26]

James I have been following your blog and I'm new to RMWeb forum. This really is a lovely layout. Atmospheric and nicely built.

[James Hilton]

Thank you!

[James Hilton]

The childhood railway experiences of mine were two contrasts. The full fat bright colours of British Rail sectorisation on hand at Chester station with the desaturated black-and-white imagery found in books at the library…

 

I have found myself expanding my model collection with less attention, perhaps intention to specific modelling projects. This ‘scope creep’ goes beyond existing layouts to dreams of new ones, attracted by images in books, videos on YouTube or snatches of long forgotten memories. A refocus brings what is important more clearly into sharp relief. This morning I put out a few of my Scottish models, enjoying their small form, the work of Chinese toolmakers and my hand in artful weathering. 

 

These feel welcome, calming, I feel at home amongst them.

 

Lochdubh continues to delight, and whilst dreams of a larger exhibition style project based upon my imaginary branch line linger I continue to feel very much in love with this incredibly small slice of the Scottish Highlands.

 

I opened with a reflection on ‘de-saturation’ in terms of experience of the prototype. I continued with the idea that through refocusing our modelling we can feel a lifting of the weight. 

The weight of expectation that all these items will one day require a layout! 

De-saturation if you like, space to breathe…

 

Until next time, more soon…

Edited April 10 by James Hilton

[James Hilton]

Whilst today’s Class 158s on the Far North will surely be facing the same fate, it is the Class 26 that will always, for me, be the most sorely missed…

 

The autumn of 1984 proved to be the last chance to catch Sulzer type 2 power on the Kyle branch with the commissioning of the RETB (Radio Electric Token Block) system and introduction of the Class 37. As a child at the time I was blissfully unaware of that loss, instead stuck in my library book time lag where the plucky BoBos plied the route with their short Mk1 coach trains. 

 

The Dapol N gauge model is a wonderful capture of the character of the prototype. A few errors, which I live with - the shade of blue being the worst offender! Sat on Lochdubh, today I have created my own time machine. As the tardis, bigger on the inside my little slice of Scotland proves time and again to be a wonderful tonic and balm to a busy and stressful world. Until next time, more soon…

[Dunalastair]

1 hour ago, James Hilton said:

Whilst today’s Class 158s on the Far North will surely be facing the same fate, it is the Class 26 that will always, for me, be the most sorely missed…

The autumn of 1984 proved to be the last chance to catch Sulzer type 2 power ...

 

A fictionalised version of the Oban line rather than Kyle, but have you read Alan Warner's 'Deadman's Pedal'? It is a little while since I opened a copy of the novel, but I remember it evoking the days of the type twos in the Glens, even if the ending is rather melodramatic.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jun/01/deadmans-edal-alan-warner-review

[James Hilton]

The history of the Lochdubh branch remains a little fluid at present but one of the long held ideas was not the clichéd whisky distillery, instead an aluminium smelter fuelled by a hydro power scheme...

 

On the West Highland alumina imported at Blyth in the North East found its way to the smelter via train in a variety of wagon types - one of which were a rake of refurbished ex Whisky blues. These wagons were given pedestal suspension, revised top loading arrangements and airbrakes. Whilst the aging Peco wagon outwardly looks similar, it runs on a vacuum under frame. 

 

On the Lochdubh branch I would envisage a mixed rake of alumina hoppers, including these and some of the Procor replacements - more on that shortly.

 

 

A few months ago I was approached by Will at Coventry Rail Works about giving him a hand promoting his a range of new N gauge wagons developed around his personal interest in the West Highland. Rather than a 'paid promotion' I offered to design the decals in return for a short rake of pre-production kits - and the results are shown here.

 

 

The Peco wagons are still crisply moulded and Will's parts offer a direct replacement of the top moulding (with better roof walkways and 4 circular loading hatches in place of the longitudinal doors), chassis moulding and a new piece, under the frames representing the bottom of the hopper. On my examples I have removed the Peco moulded 'advertising' hoarding using a sharp blade and file.

 

 

I have also fitted Mosskito 6.2mm diameter 3 hole disc wheels and DG couplings - which are a direct fit onto the Peco end inserts that poke through the under frame. I used Humbrol 25 for the blue which I think is a good match to the prototype and they have been fitted with the pre-production samples of the decals I designed. These are all from photos on Paul Bartlett's excellent website, so the numbers match the body and under frame style.

 

 

 

The prototype weathered a little curiously, the framing seeming to be lighter than the panels between. I pre-shaded the primed models with a white spray to the framing. After the decals were sealed with lacquer I used my usual washes of Humbrol 98 and 33 to bring some depth and life to the finish.

 

 

The most visible improvement to the un-initiated is the hopper door that plugs into two holes in the chassis - and theoretically could be offered as a spare part for retrofitting to existing Peco wagons, that are all deficient in this area!

 

 

If you would like to purchase your own examples, the conversion kits (excluding the Peco donor model, DG couplings and Mosskito wheels used here) are available on eBay. Will has done a great job of these, his skill as a designer and manufacturer of kits shouldn't be any surprise as this is a side hustle to the day job of Beacon Models, specialising in small scale aviation models. I enjoyed collaborating here, and I hope we can work together again on the Procor hoppers in the coming months. In the meantime, I'm enjoying seeing this short rake on Lochdubh and day dreaming of the 'one day' project to build a larger scenic model of somewhere between the terminus and the Far North line at Dingwall.

 

 

[James Hilton]

Before the smelter at Strathcarron closed the Lochdubh branch saw daily trains of the distinctive 2-axle hoppers from Blyth but today’s photo is a rare one for the train rarely ran as far as the terminus… 

 

 

 

37418 is pictured here in the loop, quite a nice composition actually, it’s as if the crew set the photo up on purpose, my friend Andy is checking something in his notebook, kindly adding a human element whilst including the station name not only adds a nice framing to the right but also places us with no doubt at the ‘gateway to the Isles’.

 

The model is a detailed and lowered Graham Farish model, the alumina hoppers from kits by Coventry Railworks. Posed on my HiFi-micro cameo ‘Lochdubh’ as featured in the March 2024 BRM magazine and also covered in more detail in my third book, due out. later this year. Until next time, more soon…

 

 

[James Hilton]

For travellers arriving at Lochdubh heading for the isles there has always been a modal change. Even before the bridge the Highland coach loaded at the station before heading across to Skye on the ferry…

 

 

Highland Scottish Omnibuses operated a variety of services to Portree and Inverness from Lochdubh. An empty looking Ford is parked on the ramp to the station whilst 26040 idles beyond, having drawn forwards from the mid morning arrival from Inverness, the second (rear) platform still being in use in the early 1980s.

 

Lochdubh, my slice of the Scottish Highlands in British N scale is a wonderful muse. The layout is entirely scratch built but the bus (a BT Models example) is a ready to plant example simply repainted to suit its new setting (it still needs some ‘Highland’ decals and a destination board - perhaps a driver too) as is the wonderful Dapol Class 26.

 

In our modern homes where space is at a premium can you think of a better way to enjoy your imagination in a small space? British N gives us accurate and characterful models of our memories - we just need to provide the model making to give them a home. Remember N isn’t about true scale as such, even fidelity. I’d say it’s mostly about neatness, if you can practice one thing, that is the key to realism, no gaps where there shouldn’t be, bricks aligned on corners, short static grass fibres, subdued cohesive colours. 

 

In short, the hi-fi micro could find a place in many of our homes, what is stopping you scratch that itch?

[Kevin Johnson]

James nice work on the peco wagons and great photos.😉

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Wonderful - looks like that bus might just get away without grounding the front at the bottom of the ramp - but only just 🙂.  Seems to have been a very fruitful collaboration, as you say.  Keith.

[03060]

This is a great way of advertising Will's product by featuring them on your micro layout and it sounds like there might be some more exciting products on the way for West Highland modellers along with Revolution's Alcan PCAs. Will will certainly recieving an order from me in the near future.

 

Thanks for this James, I'm also pleased that you've picked up on and illustrated the road coach type(s) that I think accompany Scottish station scenes very well along with McBraynes's red and white lorries.

 

Marvellous stuff !

Regards,

Ian.

[F-UnitMad]

On 29/06/2024 at 10:53, James Hilton said:

The prototype weathered a little curiously, the framing seeming to be lighter than the panels between

American rib-sided covered hoppers and boxcars seem to weather in the same way; the ribs seem to stay cleaner than the panels. 

[James Hilton]

Today our ‘ready to run’ models are often dressed in painstakingly researched and carefully checked clothes - to the extent there is little point in repainting if your chosen livery is available out of the box…
 

Sadly, whilst many of Dapol’s N gauge models are nicely proportioned representations of their prototypes (the 22, 26/27/33 and 121/122 in particular) the shade they use on their rail blue often seems a long way from how we all remember it, you could joke it’s rail turquoise! I have lived with this for as long as I can, the model is so lovely I overlooked the colour and would adjust photographs I took to either be black-and-white or certainly reduce saturation. The time had come to do something more drastic!

 

 

The only problem in this case was the fact I had already detailed and weathered the model. I wondered if it would be possible to preserve as much of this as I could, be careful masking. Carefully removing the body from the chassis, removing the cab side handrails and body side glazing, I figured I’d be able to mask the yellow ends without further dismantling. However, since I was repainting, I wanted to address one detail discrepancy on the Dapol body. They have represented a seal on the side windows Which the unrefurbished example certainly didn’t have, and not all of the refurbished ones received this modification. Careful work with a craft knife removed these without damage to the rest of the finish.

I use Humbrol masking tape to protect the yellow ends and around the cabside windows. Precision ‘rail blue’ Was sprayed using an airbrush. I used a gloss lacquer where I needed to add the Fox N gauge decals which are specifically for the Scottish locomotives as they feature larger body side numbers. At this point, I masked the glazing individually before applying a satin lacquer across the whole body, tying the two paint finishes together.

 

 

At this stage I was a little disappointed, the rail blue almost seemed to vibrant and without relief. I used a dirty black to pick out the roof cantrail grills (as above) and later the same shade on the body side grilles. This helped, and encouraged I moved onto weathering. My usual mix of Humbrol 98 and 33 were applied wet on wet to the roof and relief on the side. A wide flat brush moistened with thinners was used to remove much of this leaving a work stained finish (as below).
 

 

Seeing the character of this distinctive Scottish locomotive emerge a second time was a great relief. The weathering really bringing out that personality we are all so familiar with from period photography (or maybe if you are lucky first hand experience). Whilst I share these photos with you today, there is just one stage of the finish I have not completed, adding the exhaust deposits to the centre of the roof.
 

 

This project has only fanned the flame of my longing to create a larger N scale scenic layout, certainly with a Scottish flavour. Between times I have been busying myself in research again, enjoying photographs on printed page, the smell of an old book, the muscle memory in flicking pages, pausing on one favourite photograph and imagining being part of the scene before my eyes. In recent times I have settled upon the summer of 1984, to allow mixing 26s and 37/0 in blue and large logo, even an excuse to run oddballs like a class 27. 

 

When I started work in British N gauge I saw it as an excuse to play trains with out of the box, lightly modified and weathered stock in the colourful liveries I remembered from childhood.  As things have evolved I’ve now taken to kit builds and full repaints. I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing, if anything it is a commitment and comfort with the scale. If you’ve not got space for the OO gauge layout you desire, or OO gauge feels too much of a scale compromise do consider N. Yes, it’s still narrower than scale but visually feels a good balance, especially when using the track from British Finescale. Until next time, more soon…