Loch Dore - Somewhere in Scotland in 1987

[sharkman]

Although I originally built this layout to fit into a small workshop I still really hankered to do one as a show exhibit. My previous one which you may have come across was Latelee Town which was retired in 2006 after doing DEMU at Burton on Trent. My rail partner then had moved to Wolverhampton and as I no longer had the facilities to store it so it was decided that I'd sell my share to him and he would return it to he's home. So after nearly 5 years with no layout the opourtunity came along to build a 12'0" x 1'6" design in a new workshop in the back garden. It was to be simple and something that would'nt spend month's stored away and then quickly put up somewhere suitable to do a weeks work and maintenance before a show.

 

Being in contact with the local club I heard that they where going to do a new show so I stupidly said I'd volunteer a layout which gave me about 9 months to build something. Fortunately I had a carpenter/railway modeller friend who did all the boards. Electrics was going to be DC as I had tended to be a DCC "ludite" till I started to fall under the spell of sound. So it was going to be DCC, hardware was the NCE Powercab reason being Gary my ex rail partner had gone that way plus he would volunteer to help out which ment if I got a Powercab as well we would then have two handsets if I was going to do shows.

 

Design was simple a small back fiddle yard leading into a single platform station with loco refuelling facilities at the other end. The main industry is the Wiskey Distillery, all the graphics was supplied by our local model shop manager http://www.modeljunction.com, I never new he had so much interest in wiskey!

 

The period is aroundish 1987, location is the east side of Scotland, and some what off a limb between Edinburgh and Inverness it also men't I could still run large logo 37's and some 47's. Trains are a mixture of two and three coach services, the night sleeper, come on this is Scotland you've got to have one of those. Freight is traffic to distillery, an OTA timber train, BDA's carrying pipe's and other Speedlink services.

 

Most of the building are the excellent Bachmann Scenecraft range because they seem to lend themselves to the location. I also have gone to town on lighting and you can actually work the layout quite affectively in darkness the only thing needed is the coaching stock to be lit. Those floodlight towers by CRsignals are excellent and work on a simple Bachmann trainset controller, 7 tower's in all. I was particularly pleased with the bridge that breaks the layout in two and hides the entrance to the fiddle yard, it carries a disbandoned branch line.

 

Now heres some photos to wet your appertite and I hope those of you that can will pop over to the Bury show and introduce yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[taybridge]

Love what you have achieved in a very small space, very well done... a lot more complete than my layout!

Doug.

[sharkman]

Love what you have achieved in a very small space, very well done... a lot more complete than my layout!

Doug.

 

Cheers Doug, although their is still much work to do on it including smaller detail's like figures your comment is much appreciated.

 

Ian

[Classsix T]

Hi Ian, we met briefly at the exhibition today. A super layout and one I hope to see again sometime.

 

C6T.

[sharkman]

I've included somemore photos which also include the station 08 pilot, its a Bachmann and I'm sure it hates the wiper contacts on the wheels particularly in DCC has anyone else had problems?

 

After I had laid the track which is Peco finescale I sprayed it all over with cans of track colour then I ballasted using Woodland Scenics Brown Medium Ballast which i prefer to the normal grey.

 

 

Newspapers and mail for Loch Dore's residents is being removed.

 

 

47 563 has just arrived on the morning sleeper

 

 

08 762 waits to release the loco then take the coaches to the off scene carriage siding. Although this is a standard Bachmann 08 it was allocated to Perth shed at this time.

 

 

A fine site for all TRACTOR fans 37 403 and 37 424 wait to depart with respective service to Inverness and Edinburgh.

 

 

Two more 37's on the refuelling point.

 

 

47 563 moves onto the refuelling point.

 

The following are ammended shots showing those excellent yard floodlights.

 

 

 

I realise the lamp is in the 6'0" way but they where added as an after thought unfortunately but if you "breath in" you can get through OK!