millerhillboy Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Hope the powers that be don't mind me doing this in this sub-forum. I always liked the old workbench threads in the old RmWeb, and never quite took to blogs. Nor did I ever feel bold enough to start a layout thread. So hopefully this thread has a logical home here. At the risk of repeating myself, I'll start with some picture also posted elsewhere in the sub-forum but I also tend to use my own threads as a documentary of progress as well as a point to take feedback from all you guys. I'm very happy to take opinions and even more so from the excellent group of WR experts within this sub-forum. I'm open to any comments at all as sadly (in some respects, not in other ) I am way too young to remember anything running south-east of Millerhill. The tracks were long gone at the OldCraighall end of Millerhill by the time I was bunking the shed with my platform 5 book in hand, underlining blue diesel numbers! Anyways here's the original photos from elsewhere in the forum for starters..... St Margarets 60100 Spearmint works northbound under one of the maze of lines in the Niddrie area.... 60824 works a stopping service for Hawick This is the shed area as it stands, work in progress (slowly). This shed was fictionally situated in east Niddrie (Newcraighall area - in my head somewhere around the Living Well Gym and Big W) and was the predecessor to the Millerhill diesel shed. The shed would see regular visits from St Margarets and Haymarket locos, as well as the odd other Edinburgh area straggler. On shed today are A3s 60052 and 60100, Haymarkerts D1970 and D5066 as well as 60824 and an unindentified gronk on the coaling line. D1970 makes its last stop before Edinburgh Waverley with a northbound service, as 60824 sits in the bay platform on a loaded Lady Vic coal train. The next day D5066 works south, on a tanker train whilst 60100 is relegated to local services D1970 again approaching the station, as yet unnamed, with a northbound passenger service. We've just missed a peak working an empty ballast train. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 So forward onto this afternoon and some progress was made on the scenery work and some photos were taken. Apologies that the photos aren't quite as sharp as they might have been. The layout is in my dads attic, with low ceilings and only one velux windows. Anyone advise on how to take better pics? So the embankment was completed and the overbridge leading to the shed put in place. A retaining wall just past the overbridge was also installed. So first train that was photted after the permanent way gang finished up was the 1S64 working headed by D163 still in clean condition... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 Was quite lucky and managed to just sneak a picture of Hawicks 80113 working south from Edinburgh, as the tail of 1S64 disappears under the bridge. We didn't have to wait long until WR favourite 60100 was seen working north Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 Didn't have to wait long before a straggler from Eastfield (complete with ploughs and tablet recess) had been roped into a southbound coal working Working of the day though had to be this plough positioning move from Carlisle heading up north for the forecast heavy winter, with D1 Scaffell Pike pushing Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 After a while photting at the mainline stretch, I took a stroll over to the station side and managed the following pictures of the St Margarets duo 'Prince Palatine' and 'Spearmint' together. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Max Stafford Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Only a year before, that plough was heading the other way with a load of coal and water on it and 40 wagons at its back...! Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 BTW big shout to Max S of this particular parish who many moons ago now was responsible for the 60052 cabside stripe and weathering. She's still a firm favourite Max :-) despite Dapols best attempts to have her superseded. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 So forward onto this afternoon and some progress was made on the scenery work and some photos were taken. Apologies that the photos aren't quite as sharp as they might have been. The layout is in my dads attic, with low ceilings and only one velux windows. Anyone advise on how to take better pics? Very nice M.H.B Don't know what you're using, but if you can, more light will help - alternatively sometimes a bit of A4 paper acting as a reflector beside the camera and close to the subject can lift the shadowy bodysides of stock. FWIW, other than the deep shadows due to lack of light (being indoors) there's not much wrong with the pics in my opinion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 Current steam roster is as follows Class Number Name ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A3 pacific 60052 Prince Palatine A3 pacific 60100 Spearmint A3 pacific 60041 Salmon Trout A1 Peppercorn 60134 Foxhunter LNER V2 60824 LNER B1 61244 Steel Strang LNER B1 61356 4MT 2-6-0T 76050 Std 4MT 2-6-4 80113 Std 4MT 2-6-4 80124 LNER A4 60027 Merlin Merlin is under attention going back to fully 1965 grubiness Salmon Trout is chassis-less 60134 is in the paint shop and the two B1s are awaiting weathering completion. 76050 is in the works due to tender drive problems. I hope some of the listed casulties will be back in active service sooner rather than later. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 Very nice M.H.B Don't know what you're using, but if you can, more light will help - alternatively sometimes a bit of A4 paper acting as a reflector beside the camera and close to the subject can lift the shadowy bodysides of stock. FWIW, other than the deep shadows due to lack of light (being indoors) there's not much wrong with the pics in my opinion. Thanks Jamie There are 4 spot lights on arranged as two pairs on the two vetical posts that you can see the base of in a couple of pictures but they are at the rear of the layout rather than the front which might have been better. To the eye it looks quite well lit to be honest, even given the light source is at the rear of the layout. The trouble being is that the camera never wants to focus and I continually get the 'shaky hand' icon :-(. I'm not a camera whizz at all, far from it. More a fully paid up member of the point and shoot brigade. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveArkley Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 MHB, The photos look fine, and that looks like a fine layout too. Any chance of a track plan and some idea of the dimensions? Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 Dave, thanks for your kind words. Its very much work in progress and slow progress at that. Layout lives in my dads attic in Musselburgh, whilst I now live in Bathgate so modelling time is at a premium. It was originally just nothing more than a glorified roundy-roundy, a place for my dad to run trains in his retirement. That was maybe as much as 5-6 years ago. In the last few years its taken on a slightly more serious approach, with a bit more focus on the south-east of edinburgh. Its two boards which are 5ft 6 by 2ft 6 each. The layout is semi-permanent and is in the attic as I say. Trackplan is as follows, but I haven't plotted the shed area but it gives you an idea. The fiddleyard is also now 5 complete roads rather then 4 and a dead end. Here's an overall view. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Scottish Modeller Posted October 22, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 22, 2011 Hi Millerhillboy, I can remember standing in the playing fields at Newcraighall watching the steam puggies trundle backwards and forwards against the sky line on the embankment! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 Hi Millerhillboy, I can remember standing in the playing fields at Newcraighall watching the steam puggies trundle backwards and forwards against the sky line on the embankment! Phil Know where you mean well, used to cycle up the backway from Musselburgh up to Millerhill when a lad. That was before the Musselburgh bypass was built. Then when the bypass came you had to divert down and skirt the edge of the park you mention to get to the bypass underpass and then up to Millerhill. My other two spots for watching were at the overbridge where Musselburgh station is now sited, or down at the junction where the Millerhill route, the old route via Wanton Walls and the ECML converged. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy L S Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Dave, thanks for your kind words. Its very much work in progress and slow progress at that. Layout lives in my dads attic in Musselburgh, whilst I now live in Bathgate so modelling time is at a premium. It was originally just nothing more than a glorified roundy-roundy, a place for my dad to run trains in his retirement. That was maybe as much as 5-6 years ago. In the last few years its taken on a slightly more serious approach, with a bit more focus on the south-east of edinburgh. Its two boards which are 5ft 6 by 2ft 6 each. The layout is semi-permanent and is in the attic as I say. Trackplan is as follows, but I haven't plotted the shed area but it gives you an idea. The fiddleyard is also now 5 complete roads rather then 4 and a dead end. The track plan shows plenty of scope for operation and I like the idea of having the Fiddle Yard one end rather than at the back. A great setting for all those lovely locos and I have to say that it is making me ponder "what next" after the tidying up of Whitrope Siding is finished (Which will include better and hopefully working signals, new more prototypical handrails on Bridge 199 and possibly another go at scratchbuilding the "box" too). I look forward to seeing the layout progress. Roy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 Thanks Roy The trackplan was somewhat unintentional and sort of 'emerged' rather than was planned. The main aim was to have two roundy-roundy loops for watching trains, other than that I just engineered a loop at the station that would be accessible from both up and down lines. That gives a little bit of interest in the running in that trains can pass each other in the station in both directions. Fiddle yard is OK, but 5 lines is already not enough. I'm not sure what to do. My dad suggested over the weekend that the outer loop could incorporate a thru line in the station area and that way we could accomodate another complete train on the layout at any one time. I'm currently looking into that. Here's another picture that I found on the PC, in order to allow my dad to sit in one place the aim was to electrify everything. So far that's about 40% complete but I've ran out of switch real estate and need to build a sub-panel to incorporate all the fiddle yard switches. One of the next tasks is to add point indicator LEDS, for the 3 point junction, called Fisherrow Junction (area of Musselburgh where my dad lives - the junction was named by my mother who when asked on the phone "Where's dad?", she would invariably reply 'up the attic at Fisherrow Junction' and so seemed appropriate). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy L S Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Thanks Roy The trackplan was somewhat unintentional and sort of 'emerged' rather than was planned. The main aim was to have two roundy-roundy loops for watching trains, other than that I just engineered a loop at the station that would be accessible from both up and down lines. That gives a little bit of interest in the running in that trains can pass each other in the station in both directions. Fiddle yard is OK, but 5 lines is already not enough. I'm not sure what to do. My dad suggested over the weekend that the outer loop could incorporate a thru line in the station area and that way we could accomodate another complete train on the layout at any one time. I'm currently looking into that. Here's another picture that I found on the PC, in order to allow my dad to sit in one place the aim was to electrify everything. So far that's about 40% complete but I've ran out of switch real estate and need to build a sub-panel to incorporate all the fiddle yard switches. One of the next tasks is to add point indicator LEDS, for the 3 point junction, called Fisherrow Junction (area of Musselburgh where my dad lives - the junction was named by my mother who when asked on the phone "Where's dad?", she would invariably reply 'up the attic at Fisherrow Junction' and so seemed appropriate). The Panel looks very neat and tidy. Regarding storage loops, we never can have enough of them in my experience! I know it would involve a fair bit of wiring and potentially a further sub-panel,but as an alternative would there be any scope to add two loops beyond the scenic break at the other end of the layout? That would allow storage for another two trains off scene if it could be done, with the added benefit of not having to disturb any scenery. Roy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveArkley Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Hi MHB, The loco shed looks about the size I'm aiming to use for the shed on Cruikglen. What is the model, or was it scratch built? Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 Hi MHB, The loco shed looks about the size I'm aiming to use for the shed on Cruikglen. What is the model, or was it scratch built? Cheers Dave That one that you see is a metcalfe kit, a la http://www.metcalfemodels.com/acatalog/Engine_Shed_N.html. However, can I also recommend the scalescenes shed, from here http://www.scalescenes.com/products/R022-Gable-Roof-Engine-Shed I made one years ago but never got round to completing the roof section, which is still outstanding. Both are very good representations, and pricewise theres not much in it. Both also require fabrication, the metcalfe one is easier to make as all the sections are there, whereas scalescenes you need to make up the sheets. However I'd go for the scalescenes one myself, it also has the added benefit of allowing you to select the brickstyle from the scalescenes brick range. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 The Panel looks very neat and tidy. Regarding storage loops, we never can have enough of them in my experience! I know it would involve a fair bit of wiring and potentially a further sub-panel,but as an alternative would there be any scope to add two loops beyond the scenic break at the other end of the layout? That would allow storage for another two trains off scene if it could be done, with the added benefit of not having to disturb any scenery. Roy That's also under consideration but as it stands there's probably not enough room, but perhaps with some rejigging that could be possible. That would be a nice solution too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 Working of the day though had to be this plough positioning move from Carlisle heading up north for the forecast heavy winter, with D1 Scaffell Pike pushing Well well, spot the delibrate mistake. After reading one of the many extremely useful and informative 'Chard blogs (this one regarding WR peak) then its clear than D1 Scaffel Pike was an unlikely visitor to these parts, and with so many more much more likely candidates to be modelled I've decided that D1 will need to undergo quite a major identity change. So already have a D163 as per complete with 1S64 and 1M88 headcodes. so it'd be nice to have a split box job I feel. Bit of undertaking to convert the 44 with nose doors into a split box but should be possible courtesy of Etched Pixel split box folding etches and some careful filling and filing. I wonder if Mercig use the etch pixel boxes, as the Mercig ones look the part. More on this as it happens. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 Not much to report here, just more pictures really although I did more make some steps forward with the bridge walls at the fiddle yard end of the layout. Not quite finished and H&S would today have kittens at the state the work was left in with no barriers or fencing on the bridge but in the 60s things were a bit less 'bueracratic' ;-) Tried taking pictures with better lighting, to see if that'd help. Apologies in advance is its just more of the same as above really. So class 27, D5351 makes an appearance on a Sunday empty return ballast working, not usual traction for the route but possibly a more likely spot just south of Edinburgh, rather than deep in the borders. Here she is passing under the depot access bridge, throttling down to take the curve under Newhailes Road Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 An extended gallery of 60100 in action, probably my favourite St Mags loco Here she is working northbound into Edinburgh with only maybe 10-15 minutes left on her journey including a stop at Niddrie station, she's just emerged from under one of the freight only lines in the Niddrie area. Here she is just before disappearing under Newhailes Road underbridge. Looks like the crew just had clean overalls on this morning. Here she is taking a final rest before working in from Niddrie East station into the capital past Portobello junction, past Craigentinny then her home depot of St Margarets before entering Waverley. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 Other operations on the day include this light engine movement from St Margarets down to Niddrie East Shed (as I am currently calling it anyway). 60052 and brake van briefly stop at the platform awaiting access to the shed, which is currently blocked by 80113 which has just come off shed and is heading off to pick some ECS working. Looks like the PW guys have dumped a shark ballast plough for some reason....I hope they've noticed the lack of buffers on the sidings ...tsk tsk. D7614 makes light work of two plate wagons, heading south. Judging by the angle of the second plate wagon hopefully off to some wagon repair depot. St Margarets 60824 plus brake van head south light engine, reason unknown. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerhillboy Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 Finally the earlier departed 80113 has worked south and picked up ECS stock, and is working back to Craigentinny. Some type 2 action in the small yard just north of Niddrie East station Finally, a peak relegated from passenger work finds gainful employment on a rake of bolsters Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.