Whinburgh and Slitrigg - Main line across the border

[coronach]

I’ve purchased a Ten Commandments rolling road so that I can ‘run in’ and test new and repaired locomotives before I start painting and weathering them. 
 

Having successfully run in the G5, I have started work on giving it a work-a- day appearance.   It is a lovely model - look at the timber buffer beam planking.  
 

 

Edited September 30, 2023 by coronach

[coronach]

I have completed painting and weathering the other side of the siphon G, which is good for me because I have several vehicles that are only complete on one side. I forget which until I turn a cassette in the fiddle yard and am faced with a pristine unweathered coach or wagon, or even worse, a vehicle in grey primer!  
 

Anyway, the siphon will be finished before it goes upstairs, just needs a coupling on one end and the canvas rain covers on the corridor connections. 
 

Edited October 2, 2023 by coronach

[coronach]

BR Class 2MT 78047 arrived yesterday after a protracted delay. This was a Hawick locomotive for most of its life 1955 to 1965. 
 

I will enjoy detailing and weathering it over the next few days. 
 

 

 

 

Edited October 7, 2023 by coronach

[61656]

The standard 2 is a lovely looking model of a lovely engine. 

[coronach]

My efforts to get 78047 into a workaday condition are ongoing. I must say, Hornby has produced a fantastic model - the more I work on it, the more fine detail is revealed, particularly the copper work. 
 

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by coronach

[coronach]

I’ve spent a short time each day this week finishing the unweathered side of my Bachmann A2 60534 Irish Elegance. I wanted to achieve an unkempt look with lime stains on the boiler and grime encrusted wheels so I liberally applied frame dirt, roof dirt, dark rust and (funnily enough) ‘new timber’ colour shades using paint brush, with brake dust and rust shade weathering powders. Oily valve gear and wet areas are represented using gloss varnish. I’m happy with the result for now. 
 

Interestingly, this locomotive was stranded for several days in a snow drift at Whitrope whilst hauling a fitted freight. There are some excellent photographs in one of the books in my library. 
 

 

[coronach]

The model is an excellent runner with good haulage capabilities, being quite heavy with weight distributed over the driving wheels. The Bachmann A1 was less so, which meant I had to pack lead into the boiler space to improve matters.  I look forward to getting back up into the loft to get the railway running once more. That might need to wait until next summer when I will have recovered from a major chest operation. 

 

The other side of 60534 was weathered a few years ago and is a bit cleaner. 
 

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by coronach

[coronach]

 A bit of ‘diddly dum’ from 2014 - how time flies!  An A3 Pacific rolls down the gradient with an inter regional train bound for Edinburgh Waverley. There has bee discussion elsewhere about the merits of rail joints, either just a few or at 60ft intervals, as mine are. I enjoy the sound of a train when observed from a distance and the regular beats work really well for me. 

[coronach]

 

 

[AJCT]

On 17/11/2023 at 09:38, coronach said:

I’ve spent a short time each day this week finishing the unweathered side of my Bachmann A2 60534 Irish Elegance. I wanted to achieve an unkempt look with lime stains on the boiler and grime encrusted wheels so I liberally applied frame dirt, roof dirt, dark rust and (funnily enough) ‘new timber’ colour shades using paint brush, with brake dust and rust shade weathering powders. Oily valve gear and wet areas are represented using gloss varnish. I’m happy with the result for now. 
 

Interestingly, this locomotive was stranded for several days in a snow drift at Whitrope whilst hauling a fitted freight. There are some excellent photographs in one of the books in my library. 
 

 

I'm assuming your layout is set after 60534 was transferred to St.Margarets in 1961, as I doubt Haymarket would have let it get into that state....  I usually avoid limescale weathering on my locos, as I've always understood soft Scottish water doesn't give rise to this sort of staining.  Wasn't it 60535 "Hornets Beauty" which was snowed in at Whitrope ?  (Pic in Peter Brock's "Border Steam", Bradford Barton 1978).  Enjoyed the "diddly-dum" clip - definitely worth the effort to file notches in the rail-heads at 60' intervals....

Cheers - Alasdair

 

 

[coronach]

 

a bit of weathering to turn a nice shiny V2 into something more interesting 

Edited December 7, 2023 by coronach

[coronach]

 

I'm quite pleased with the outcome of this weathering exercise. 

[coronach]

I’ve not yet been able to get into the loft since my operation in January so am limited to bits of weathering on new purchases - four locos since the Autumn. The latest arrival is another Bachmann V2 which is being renumbered as St Margaret’s loco 60819. 
 

 

As I get stronger, I look forward to revisiting the layout but there will be some tidying and maintenance to do before trains can run again. Looking at old photos of the layout gives me the incentive to get back into proper modelling. 
 

 

 

 

 

[coronach]

Typical St Margaret’s livery

[coronach]

 

 

First time back in the loft today - yay!  78047 ran for the first time. 

 

 

 

 

Likewise, the TMC G5 ran really well too. 
 

And not forgetting the V2. 
 

 

[coronach]

There are a few repairs needed, which will have to wait, but the railway works well enough to enjoy running some trains after track cleaning. Lots of cobwebs though!

 

Edited March 20 by coronach

[coronach]

It’s great to be able to get back into the loft - I feel like a yo-yo on the loft ladder.  The semaphore signals and mechanical points now work again after oiling and cleaning. Also, I have run the D20 for the first time since resolving a short circuit. 
 

 

 

 

[lmsforever]

Glad you are feeling better it will do you the world of good to work on the layout ,but just run trains for now you got plenty of time to work when you are fully recovered . Keep well  Chris

[coronach]

Today’s exercise was to rewire and repaint two sets of points - a simple yet somewhat stretching task involving a soldering iron and hand tools. Success achieved in about one hour. 
 

I'm inspired to do some detailing next
 

(PS ignore the signal arm positions and the train that has apparently SPADed the starting signal).

Edited March 24 by coronach
Typo

[coronach]

I discovered several RTR coaches that haven’t received any weathering treatment yet so that is a good task for sitting in the conservatory today. I have had a first go at buffing up steel sided coaches using TCut so that they have a more metallic sheen - I’m quite pleased with the result. Although the satin finish is lovely, a bit of a shine is realistic I think. 
 

 

 

 

and in the background, a battle commences at Grimmauld Place

 

Edited March 29 by coronach

[coronach]

I got the Crab out today to give it a run. This is the one with the Brassmasters upgrade work that kept me occupied during the COVID Christmas lockdown. 
 

Here she is hauling a southbound goods. From what I know, crabs were rarely seen on the Waverley, but I do have a video somewhere of one stopping for a blow up half way up the climb at Shankend. 
 

 

 

Edited April 4 by coronach
Correction

[LNER4479]

3 hours ago, coronach said:

From what I know, crabs were rarely seen on the Waverley, but I do have a video somewhere of one stopping for a blow up half way up the climb at Steel Road. 

 

Hi 60093(!) Great to see you back up and at 'em in the loft 😃 All the best for your continued recovery; can't have been an easy last 12 months for you.

 

Funnily enough, I was watching a Waverley route video just the other day and that featured a Crab, allegedly stopping for a blow-up at Shankend, on the southbound climb to Whitrope. Either a case of mistaken identity ... or that's at least two recorded instances? Like you, I hadn't previously associated the class with the route; however, one suspects in the general 1960s rundown under the LMR, anything went.

[coronach]

34 minutes ago, LNER4479 said:

 

Hi 60093(!) Great to see you back up and at 'em in the loft 😃 All the best for your continued recovery; can't have been an easy last 12 months for you.

 

Funnily enough, I was watching a Waverley route video just the other day and that featured a Crab, allegedly stopping for a blow-up at Shankend, on the southbound climb to Whitrope. Either a case of mistaken identity ... or that's at least two recorded instances? Like you, I hadn't previously associated the class with the route; however, one suspects in the general 1960s rundown under the LMR, anything went.

Thank you Graham. That video is the one I remember. 

[coronach]

56 minutes ago, LNER4479 said:

 

Hi 60093(!) Great to see you back up and at 'em in the loft 😃 All the best for your continued recovery; can't have been an easy last 12 months for you.

 

Funnily enough, I was watching a Waverley route video just the other day and that featured a Crab, allegedly stopping for a blow-up at Shankend, on the southbound climb to Whitrope. Either a case of mistaken identity ... or that's at least two recorded instances? Like you, I hadn't previously associated the class with the route; however, one suspects in the general 1960s rundown under the LMR, anything went.

… or in this case, at Whitrope Siding!

[coronach]

I have remade part of the island platform surface at Whinburgh, using birch ply, coated with chinchilla dust and painted whilst wet with diluted pva and acrylic paint. A very organic finish that I am happy with. Just need to strip back and complete platform 1 next, which was started nearly 25 years ago!!!. 

 

 

Edited April 4 by coronach