Rannoch Moor

[Grimleygrid]

Great work on the footbridge Mark, that really does look the business. I now know where to come if I require any kits to be soldered up!

[MRDBLUE17]

Hi Everyone,

 

Thanks for all your comments, Claggy even in this no where near finished state - it is great to sit at the front of the layout and run a few of my sound fitted fleet around - the sleeper still needs to get a 67 done up but it will sound good when it is ready!

 

Alex you just might need to do some soldering for your inspection platforms - have you seen Pete Harveys etches they look superb and just might be the best ones for your depot!

 

Arpley Modeller - all the points are powered with Peco motors, mixture of normal and the low current ones which seem better to use with DCC as they throw the point a little bit quieter. They are controlled through my prodigy and 4 Lenz 150 accessory decoders which are very good value and can control up to 6 points - see DC kits for these as they are well priced. There is still quite a lot of wiring required for this set up but being able to control my whole layout from my handheld controller makes life a lot easier and in the future might add a laptop to use the gaugemaster software as well but we will see.

 

Not updated on progress for a while but things are happening. More of the ten commandmants cable trunking has been added to the curve at the south end of the station and fixed in place ready for painting. I have at long last covered the platform surface with the base layer of thick art card and will at some point start adding all the details required to make up the surface level. I have also added another small mound of earth at the front of the layout using polystyrene blocks carved to shape and then covered with brown paper and wallpaper paste. Hanging basket liner has then been added to create a base surface layer which can then be added to later. I have also made a start on painting the footbridge. A base coat of games workshop white was added first to create a couple of thin undercoat layers. Then Humbrol Gloss white was sprayed on for the main latice work coat. The hard part is now all the hand painting of the Scotrail Violet shade. This is slightly darker than I was aiming for as the real thing is quite faded now but as I already had a tin of it decided to go with it. I might tone it all down with a matt varnish at the end once some rust is added. I still have a lot planned to finish this as I want with textured surface on the stair treads and the warning lines painted on the steps as well and will also need to add in some handrails as per the real thing. I have taken photos of Aviemore recently which are of great help for this.

The photos show 47792 with a rake of VGA vans on paper traffic from Corpach. I know that 47's didn't get used on the line when this one was still active but it creates a bit more variety to my fleet.. I have recently swapped my Howes 47 sound chip from another loco into this one and whilst doing this added in a donut of white tack around the speaker as hadn't originally on my other 47 and this has nearly doubled the sound output from a standard round speaker. I normally always do this when adding sound ever since doing my 60 originally but having left it off before it was nice to hear the difference this simple low cost method makes as it stops the speaker vibrating against the chassis so the sound doesn't get distorted.

 

Anyway hope you like the photos/progress and any questions/ comments welcome as usual.

 

Thanks,

Mark

[St. Simon]

Hi Mark,

 

Looks very good so far, it'll look fantastic when it's finished!

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Simon

[Arpleymodeller]

Hi

 

The layout looks like it is coming together well,keep up the great work! B)

Regards

Lewis

[45157]

The footbridge looks an absolute treat.

Those of us who model "Up North" are very lucky to have Lochgorm Models kits available, they are quality (the 7mm stuff is just as good).

 

The fencing is also very impressive, straight and true, it looks just right.

Keep up the good work (and the photos)

 

regards

Stewart

[sixoh8sixoh]

Hi Mark,

 

Good to meet you today at Bonnybridge. The footbridge is looking superb there, I've been planning to get one of those Lochgorm kits as well and paint it in the purple and white like at Blair Atholl!

[carl1967]

Hi Mark,

 

Good to meet you today at Bonnybridge. The footbridge is looking superb there, I've been planning to get one of those Lochgorm kits as well and paint it in the purple and white like at Blair Atholl!

 

hi mark

 

Blair Atholl bridge on google map

 

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Blair+Atholl&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=11.435889,28.081055&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Blair+Atholl,+Pitlochry,+Perthshire+and+Kinross,+United+Kingdom&ll=56.765479,-3.849238&spn=0,0.010943&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=56.76547,-3.84936&panoid=rs3nWt1qqF1_PufOgSR-Cg&cbp=12,161.61,,1,5

 

are you going to put lights on yours like Blair Atholl's bridge?

 

carl

[MRDBLUE17]

Hi everyone,

 

Been a little while since I had time to update this again but I have been doing a few bits and bobs on the layout. Thanks for all your recent comments.

 

Mike it was good to meet you too its nice to meet people that you chat to on here in person - I quite enjoy sitting on the DEMU stands at shows as you get to have a good chat with people and share so many ideas as well which is great. Two of my Rannoch fleet also had a run on Mikes New Garnock layout on the Sunday and seemed to behave themselves, 37422 and 47792 with a Howes chip in it. I think I might take my footbridge to Dundee as I will be there on the Sunday in a weeks time to show the progress so far - don't think it will be finished though.

 

Carl - That link is very useful as I will be adding the modern embellishments to mine eventually - the yellow lines on the stair treads and hand rails etc. Mine doesn't have lights on it like that one though but I am planning to add lighting to all my buildings along with the blue stop board lights and the platform lights as well when I have time - I am going to make these from brass and have found some thin wire from an old printer PC cable which fits inside the thin tube I am going to use.

 

I am working my way throught the long and tedious job of making all the platform edging slabs - these have to be cut from a slaters sheet in short sections as the sheets are not all in straight lines, which I only discovered when I put my steel rule over to cut them with. This actually makes life easier as they are very soft and will curl up. Using a triangular file I cut out a little notch between each slab and ensure these are cleaned up, then I score 3 lines to represent the grooves that run along them. As my platforms curve - especially the rear facing side the ends of some joints need to be angled slightly to create a nice flowing curve before being superglued in place. I am only half way through this stage! The photos should show make more sense.

 

I have created a site for the cottage that sits at the North end of the station - This is being scratch built using wills lime washed stone sheets and will have wills slate for the roof. Using photos of the cottage on line I worked out a rough footprint for the building and cut this out of thick art card. I have also drawn out some approximate elevation shots and some measurements of each wall section and an overall rough sketch of how the cottage will look. All the photos I have found only show 2 faces the rear and the side facing the station so the rest will be made up to my plan in terms of windows and door locations and to suit my room plan. This seems to have become my DEMU demo project for shows as I started the work on it at St Andrews and got more done at Bonnybridge. Its quite good for this as I can easily stop to talk to everyone without it being to complicated to pick back up where I left off. All the main walls are now cut and next task will be to cut out all the doors and windows but you can see how it will all go together at this stage so thought it might be useful for others wanting to scratch build for themselves.

 

Hope you like the progress and if anyone is going to Dundee next week, I will be around on the Sunday on the DEMU stand so come along and say hello if you can make it.

Thanks,

Mark

[Scottish Modeller]

Hi everyone,

 

Been a little while since I had time to update this again but I have been doing a few bits and bobs on the layout. Thanks for all your recent comments.

 

Mike it was good to meet you too its nice to meet people that you chat to on here in person - I quite enjoy sitting on the DEMU stands at shows as you get to have a good chat with people and share so many ideas as well which is great. Two of my Rannoch fleet also had a run on Mikes New Garnock layout on the Sunday and seemed to behave themselves, 37422 and 47792 with a Howes chip in it. I think I might take my footbridge to Dundee as I will be there on the Sunday in a weeks time to show the progress so far - don't think it will be finished though.

 

Carl - That link is very useful as I will be adding the modern embellishments to mine eventually - the yellow lines on the stair treads and hand rails etc. Mine doesn't have lights on it like that one though but I am planning to add lighting to all my buildings along with the blue stop board lights and the platform lights as well when I have time - I am going to make these from brass and have found some thin wire from an old printer PC cable which fits inside the thin tube I am going to use.

 

I am working my way throught the long and tedious job of making all the platform edging slabs - these have to be cut from a slaters sheet in short sections as the sheets are not all in straight lines, which I only discovered when I put my steel rule over to cut them with. This actually makes life easier as they are very soft and will curl up. Using a triangular file I cut out a little notch between each slab and ensure these are cleaned up, then I score 3 lines to represent the grooves that run along them. As my platforms curve - especially the rear facing side the ends of some joints need to be angled slightly to create a nice flowing curve before being superglued in place. I am only half way through this stage! The photos should show make more sense.

 

I have created a site for the cottage that sits at the North end of the station - This is being scratch built using wills lime washed stone sheets and will have wills slate for the roof. Using photos of the cottage on line I worked out a rough footprint for the building and cut this out of thick art card. I have also drawn out some approximate elevation shots and some measurements of each wall section and an overall rough sketch of how the cottage will look. All the photos I have found only show 2 faces the rear and the side facing the station so the rest will be made up to my plan in terms of windows and door locations and to suit my room plan. This seems to have become my DEMU demo project for shows as I started the work on it at St Andrews and got more done at Bonnybridge. Its quite good for this as I can easily stop to talk to everyone without it being to complicated to pick back up where I left off. All the main walls are now cut and next task will be to cut out all the doors and windows but you can see how it will all go together at this stage so thought it might be useful for others wanting to scratch build for themselves.

 

Hope you like the progress and if anyone is going to Dundee next week, I will be around on the Sunday on the DEMU stand so come along and say hello if you can make it.

Thanks,

Mark

 

Hi Mark,

 

That shed hasn't changed in a week!

 

I thought it would be finished by now and the next building be in shell stage.

 

Still looks good though!

 

Thanks

[kevpeo]

That edging looks the dogs dooda's Mark! kev.

[Arpleymodeller]

The set out parts of the cottage looks good,will be interesting to see it built

Keep going with the platform edges,it will be worth it when finished!

Regards

Lewis

[MRDBLUE17]

Hi Everyone,

 

Thanks for the comments. Glad you like the edging stones Kev - they are a real pain to do but having been off this week I found time to get them done and stuck down before I visited Barrow. Went in to Crafty Hobbies and got some senic bits and bobs whilst I was there including some nice reeds for the viaduct area whenever this takes shape!

 

Just for you Phil I raided one of my bits boxes and found some items off an old layout to put around the shed. I even managed to get it glazed and cut out an individual brick to prop the door shut with. Will look nice when the long grass has grown up around it!

 

The stones sets are all in place now and my new rake of JPA's is seen at Rannoch - far too long a train for on this layout but having just picked them up from The Train Shop in Morecambe had to give them a test run.

 

Thanks for looking,

Mark

[MRDBLUE17]

Hi Everyone,

 

Not getting to do as much work and updates as I would like and as a result the layout is starting to become a bit overgrown in places! The cottage at the north end has had a bit more work done to it following the Sunday on the DEMU stand at Dundee show a few weeks back but my main work has focussed on getting some ballast down and some vegetation. This is still wet but using a mixture of woodland scenics ballasts and some gaugemaster grass matts cut into small strips and glued between the sleepers and in bigger tuffs set into the ballast first helps to build up the textures I want. Whilst still wet I also added some Jarvis dark green scatter to add some finer texture. I will add more shades/ textures once the ballast has set hard and a final spray of track dirt will blend it all in but I am quite pleased with how it is starting to take shape.

 

Any questions, comments welcome,

 

Thanks for looking,

Mark

[yellowvanman]

Hi mark,Just catching up this this layout thread..some great senic work going on with some excellent details..keep up the good work , cheers YVM:drink_mini:

 

 

[Arpleymodeller]

Looks very good,who makes the yellow JCB seen next to the MTA?

[carl1967]

Looks very good,who makes the yellow JCB seen next to the MTA?

 

 

i think its this, correct me if i am wrong mark

 

http://www.minimodel...-motorart-13135

[P.C.M]

Hi Mark,

The layout is looking great, I do like your 37422 B) it looks really good sat by the station. I really must get on and do some scenics on my extension, I have been busy working on locos and wagons, though I was out in the garage today tweaking a bit of track in the carriage sidings.

 

Cheers Peter.

[Arpleymodeller]

i think its this, correct me if i am wrong mark

 

http://www.minimodel...-motorart-13135

 

Hi

I don't think its the right one as on its described as 1:50 scale!

[Jack westwood]

There is a 1:87 version of this 3cx by motorart, there is also a winde range of other JCB and Volvo construction equipment

[carl1967]

Hi

I don't think its the right one as on its described as 1:50 scale!

 

 

yer sorry, i ment there 1/87 scale one. its the same make.

 

http://www.modelenium.co.uk/models/JCB-3CX-BACKHOE-LOADER-187--MTA13136.aspx

[MRDBLUE17]

Hi Lewis,

 

Carl is quite right it is a Motorart model to 1:87 scale. I got mine from Harburn Hobbies as they have a good selection of diecast vehicles in stock not a cheap model but it certainly looks the part - I have actually been on a tour of the JCB factory when I was 16 and at college quite a production line and the whole place was immaculate and they can do other colours than yellow if you pay for it!

 

Peter & YVM - glad you like the scenic work - tamping ballast in place with a paintbrush does your back in but it is the only way I can get it too look right been working on the cleaner pink granite on the main line sections tonight and need to rememebr to create the right shoulder on this section like I did a good few years back on Victory Road - hopefully it will come together. 37 422 is one of the few locos that I have actually weathered and detailed myself and I am pleased with it, even was brave enough to let it out for a run at Bonnybridge exhibiton on Mikes layout! Need to get the rest of the Rannoch fleet up to scratch!

 

Thanks for all the interest!

Mark

[bcnPete]

Hi Mark,

 

Nice work - I do like the second to last shot of the MTA - how are you doing couplings for this layout?

 

Pete

[MRDBLUE17]

Hi everyone,

 

Pete - Not really gave it too much thought was generally just planning on keeping the couplings fitted as most trains will just run through. Some locos have detail at both ends so currently have thin bits of wire hooked loose over the buffers for coupling up to stock - these will be made more permanent at some point. Others will retain a coupling at one end as it makes shunting into the front sidings possible.

 

Have just collected a parcel today containing my newest fleet member. 37 425 is fitted with Howes sound and came weathered with name plates fitted and details at one end already fitted for a very good price from Trains on Time in Paisley. I am very pleased with the model and the service from them was excellent. I sent an e-mail enquiry and had a response back straight away initially and once I had phoned with my details and payment the loco was sent next day delivery as well. They have a good selection of weathered locos on their website which is well worth a look. Already had it out for a play and here it is at Rannoch in fast fading light, idling away! Shame you can't hear the sound.

 

Thanks,

Mark

[bcnPete]

Hi Mark - thanks for the reply - only reason I asked was because the coupling was the only thing that stood out on the photo for me as the rest looked the business.

 

And as for that 37.... ..how about a little youtube video upload so we can hear her

[sixteen 12by 10s]

Large logo class 37, got to be right, but I think you should put the proper Scottish name on it,OK Bob, sorry Mark.

 

 

 

 

Gary