coronach

Tony, Wonderful photos and interesting discussions, as always. I am building a model based on the Waverley route (see Whinburgh and Slitrigg), in which I am attempting to capture the spirit of the route in terms of the way it was operated as well as recreating the trains that ran between Edinburgh and Carlisle. I believe that one can create a realistic model of a particular railway without recreating an actual location. Some aspects of railways are very difficult to capture in model form, including those things that assault the senses but are not visible. This includes smells (smoke, oil, creosote etc) and sounds. My father managed some of the smells with his O gauge clockwork garden railway, which included coarse scale track built with code 200 bullhead rail and pine sleepers liberally coated with creosote - very evocative on the hot summer days in 1976! Of course we now have DCC sound to provide the audible dimension for locomotives if we are prepared or able to pay for it. May I refer you to my post http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/91707-diddly-dum/. In my opinion, one of the most evocative sounds of the steam age is that of steel wheels on steel rail. Just listen to the Peter Handford recordings (I'm sure you must have!!). Whilst I am not advocating that you should start chopping into your wonderful track, I would be interested in your opinion and whether you think a layout such as Little Bytham would be enhanced with a few rail joints.

Some photos of the ongoing scenery work. Unfortunately white plaster doesn't photograph very well but it is a record of some progress being made! Eventually, the scene will comprise open moorland, populated by sheep and with a rough track starting from behind Whinburgh coal yard, passing alongside a tarn and running above the lineside towards the three arch bridge. Already, the scenery puts this bridge into context. Also more apparent is the steep gradient as the line climbs alongside the (level) refuge siding containing a down freight train.

Hi AJCT, Sorry but I just noticed your comment and question. My LMS 12 wheel diner is also the Hornby one, repainted from blood and custard (I think I have only done one side so far!!!) and fitted with new wheels. I have picked up the modelling tools again now that the nights are drawing in. A significant amount of scenery is under construction - Arnton Fell is evolving in the back left hand corner of my loft space! I am using a chicken wire frame covered with sheets of kitchen towel soaked in Wickes indoor filler. Its quite theraputic to get plastered up to the elbows whilst creating hillsides. The great thing is that the contours seem to create themselves and as more plaster is added, various gullies, bumps, crags and trackways become apparent in my minds eye. Eventually I hope to create a scenic feature that captures the remoteness and openness of the Scottish borders. I have ordered a new camera and will post some new photos soon. Recent rolling stock arrivals include a Heljan class 26 D5302. These pilot scheme diesels were allocated to Haymarket and worked the Carlisle - Edinburgh trains from the early 1960s. Photos show that typical trains were formed of 4 mk1 coaches (BCK, SK, CK, BCK) plus any number of vans coupled at the rear. An ideal train for a model railway.

I was once told that 8 mph was the lowest value speed on a loco speedo that the driver could rely on. It was probably unreasonable to expect drivers to comply with 5 mph and 10 mph was not supported by the civil engineer.

Thank you! The layout has been 'evolving' even more slowly of late. It is sunny outside and too hot in the loft. LOL! I am currently making up a rake of stanier coaches using the excellent Hornby and Bachmann range of coaches. More weathering in the offing I think.

A few more pictures. Firstly some shots of a class 25 working northbound from Whinburgh to Slitrigg. Afterwards, a few pictures of the Up Waverley, complete with ex LMS period 2 12 wheeled restaurant car, which was such a feature of this train in the 50s and 60s.

I have put up some new pictures in Whitrope and Slitrigg, which includes 43000 and 43023, both of which worked out of Carlisle in the mid 60s Also, here is 60534 Irish Elegance at Whitrope and again a close up shot of the same loco at Whinburgh.

And the photos: This photo shows how easy it is to store lots of stock away from the railway And here is the simplified fiddle yard showing how it relates to Whitrope in the background

Just to show that the Waverley line is still developing..... Here are some new pictures of recent loco allocations: 43023, one of the Ivatt 4MTs working the line out of Carlisle Kingmoor has arrived at Whinburgh on the Hawick bound pick-up goods train and is waiting a clear signal before running round to shunt the sidings. The motley collection of vehicles includes unfitted and fitted vans as well as coal wagons. After running round, three steel open wagons are collected from the loading dock siding for reattachment to the train. By co-incidence, another Ivatt 4MT, this time the doyen of the class 43000, is busying itself shunting wagons at Slitrigg. Later the same morning, we make our way to the other side of Whitrope and walk to the north end of the viaduct to observe trains climbing the steep gradient towards the summit. The first train we see is a pleasant surprise - ex LNER class D11/2 Lady of the Lake is working hard pulling a rake of Gresley coaches and vans on a stopping passenger train. The second photograph shows the train as it triumphantly passes Whitrope SB and the top of the climb. The next train we see is one of the famous fully fitted freights that were worked by LNER pacifics between Edinburgh Millerhill and Carlisle Kingmoor marshalling yards. This one is hauled by 60534 Irish Elegance. A brake van was provided at both ends of the train to facilitate propelling moves at Carlisle between the Waverley line and the marchalling yard. The very heavy nature of this train means that banking assistance is required from J39 64733, which looks commendably clean!

Recent work on the layout has involved a rebuild of the fiddle yard to replace most of the loops with a cassette storage system. Two through lines have been retained in each direction, each of which is long enough to accomodate a 9 coach train plus loco. All of the other loops and sidings were shorter than this and I had run out of room to store rolling stock in the fiddle yard. The remote location and relatively sparse service on the Waverley route means that parking trains in loops and refuge sidings in the scenic part of the layout would not reflect reality. The fiddle yard cassettes are constructed from 'L' section aluminium angle (20 mm x 15 mm) sourced from B&Q screwed to 1/4" softwood. Each cassette is 2 m long, which comfortably holds 7 or 8 coaches. Strong foam is pushed in at each end of a train to prevent it from moving before lifting the cassette for storage. Despite being 2 m long, the cassettes are not too heavy or unwieldy. The two running rail edges are provided by the aluminium edges, which are spaced 16.5 mm apart from end to end. A shallow well has been created between the running-in and running-off ends of the fiddle yard in which the cassette sits as a comfortable fit, allowing form expansion / contraction with temperature changes. Electrical continuity is provided using crocodile clips to provide power to the cassette. In practice, I have found that an empty cassette can be left in place and used as a through line. I am building some simple racking to be able to stack cassettes full of rolling stock until it is required. Photos to follow.

Nicholas Trudgeon uses battery power for all of his G scale - non steam locos. He found that electric power was unreliable in the garden on lines used by steam locos. Batteries are carried in a wagon coupled to the loco and connected using dolls-house plugs. He explains it in his book, which is often available in remainder shops but is still available from Atlantic: Garden Railway Adventure - Nicholas TrudiganAuthor Nicholas Trudgian's professional artistic skills, his acquired expertise in garden scale civil engineering, his love of landscape and innate feel for things mechanical, has driven the construction of this expansive garden railway tour de force over a number of years. The Southern Cross Railway draws inspiration from many different steam powered railways across the world where the author has not only travelled on trains, but has driven and fired locomotives as well. The building of this impressive garden line which employs both live steam and electric motive power, is fully documented within these pages, supported not only by the author's accessible and enjoyable writing style and the many photographs of the railway as it's neared competition, but also by the author's superbly drafted design and constructional artwork. With these pages are sections on layout design, permanent way construction, track laying, landscaping, tunnels, bridges, water features and planting. The combination of sound construction and an eye for railways in the landscape has produced a fully believable railway landscape that melds, as you will see from the photographs, imperceptibly into the surrounding Gloucestershire countryside. The resulting garden railway is therefore a credible combination of art, engineering and experience that all of us, whatever out preferred garden scale, can draw on when turning the pages of this thoroughly engaging, imaginative and instructive book

very occasionally I saw one at York in the 1970s. A van train containing BR 'collection and delivery' parcels traffic would arrive in platform 16 on Saturday mornings, usually hauled by a class 31. The vans would be emptied before being sorted in the sidings at the rear of the station. Apart from the odd syphon and many BR and ex LMS and SR vans, I saw the last few gresley and thompson bogie vans and even a few LMS Stanier and Thompson 6-wheelers. Needless to say, they were all well weathered in Railmatch 'frame dirt' LOL

Does anyone still produce coarse scale brass rail and chairs suitable for 32mm gauge track?

Hi Robert, The layout is coming on really well - and what a coup to get a Tony Wright photo session! I am really impressed by the pointwork complexity you have achieved using proprietry track. I was enjoying a look at the 'The far north line' pages the other day. The guy building it has decided to add cosmetic chairs to his points. Have you thought about doing this - I guess it would be a massive task on Grantham but it would certainly add to the overall visual image. Here is a photo copied from the far north line pages showing the effect before the chairs are painted..... Another feature that I enjoy on my layout is the sound of wheels on rails. I have filed a 'U' shaped notch in the rail head everywhere that there would be a pair of rail joints (every 60ft on plain line and additional positions in pointwork). Get it right and the effect is amazing - especially when trains pass through complex pointwork. Care must be taken not to weaken the rails - just enough so that a wheel has something to hit. I first came across this on the Alton layout exhibited at York about 20 years ago. You get the sound without digital electronics!! Coronach

Wow! So D5061 was a Waverley loco then, and it still exists in preservation. How many other ex Waverley route diesel loco's still exist? I guess the class 26 and clayton are a start.

Regarding the photo, it is of course the Bachmann loco with the addition of lazerglaze windscreens and a bit of grime. I was surprised what an improvement the replacement glazing proved to be on an already good model. Any amount of weathering turns a plastic model into a 'working loco' in my opinion.

That's good to know. I've seen lots of photo's of the later batch of 24's with the headcode boxes but not a 'skinhead'. Good news is that Heljan are going to release the pilot scheme class 26 which I know ran on the route. I have avoided buying one of their current models because it is the later variant with post Waverlay era modifications.

I don't know how often a class 24 would visit the waverley route, but here is mine at Whitrope Siding!

We now follow class A3 pacific 60073 St Gatien hauling a semi-fast Edinburgh Waverley to Carlisle Citadel passenger train between Slitrigg and Whinburgh. First we see the train awaiting the 'right-away' from the guard at Slitrigg. . Looking the other way towards Whitrope Summit, part way up the 1:75 gradient, Slitrigg's starting signal is 'OFF' but the distant arm shows clearly that the section beyond Whitrope is not yet clear so the driver will not push Ladas too hard in the hope that that he will get a clear run by the time he reaches the summit. Looking a bit worse for wear, the A3 forges it's way up the gradient. At the summit, a BR Sulzer type 2 has been stabled after shunting some ballast wagons into Whitrope siding, no doubt ready for a P.Way job next Sunday. They ought to straighten up the telegraph pole whilst they're at it!! Eventually Ladas reaches Whinburgh and is routed into the loop platform by the Signalman at the North Box. The reason for being routed into the loop is soon apparent. D11/2 'Lady of the Lake' has failed on the Up Main with a collapsed firebox brick-arch and the train is waiting for a replacement loco to be attached, in the form of 4MT 76109, which is waiting on the Up Goods. Finally, we climb up onto the footbridge for a look at both engines.

Thanks 'Chard, I think that would be excellent material for a back-scene. I have been reading the excellent articles 'Backscene for Burford' in the last two MRJ editions. I think I will I will start on the backscene for Whitrope first (that should take all of 5 minutes because it will just be moorland disappearing into the distance!!), and if that goes well, I will tackle Slitrigg.

Thank you acg_mr. As I have said - it is a 'slowly evolving layout' and correspondingly the blog is slowly updated!! I will keep an eye out on yours too.

And please ignore 'Alston SB' lurking in the background! In fact, Slitrigg SB is actually Lambley SB with an extended base. My last layout was of the Alston branch and it seemed a waste not to use it. Eventually I will build a North British SB to replace it.

Its downstairs in the warm!!! Joking aside, there is alot of scope for more scenic work at Slitrigg. I was looking at photo's of Newcastleton (I think) where the station is at the centre of the town, which gives me some ideas for further buildings and a backscene - so a pub may well appear in the future.

Your going to have a great layout and it is really good to see that you are using Robert's technique to get a proper track alignment through your points. Regarding ballasting, my method is to fix the track down first (either using glue or track pins) and make sure that you are completely happy with the alignment before ballasting. Next, I paint the track using track colour, allow it to dry and then paint the rails and chairs rust colour. It sounds labourious but it isn't once you get started. When the paint is dry, clean the top of the rails with a track rubber (leaving rust on check rails etc), vaccuum up the bits and then apply ballast. I use woodlands scenic 'fine' ballast (mixture of brown and grey) and sprinkle it on dry, using a brush and fingers to pack it under the rails and fill in any gaps. When you are satisfield with the way it looks when dry, next spray the lot with a mix of water and washing-up liquid using a handhaeld plant sprayer - holding it far enough away so that the jet doesnt dislodge the ballast. When everything is wet, use a dropper to apply a diluted mix of 70% water / washing-up liquid, 30% PVA to the whole area. The WUL breaks down the surface tension and stops the ballast from floating away. Allow the whole lot to dry. If the track wasn't glued down before, it certainly will be now!!. When completely dry, use a knife blade to scrape away any ballast stuck to sleeper tops, rail sides and flangeways. Vaccuum again and apply extra ballast where any bits have come away. Ladt of all, apply white spirit and add more track colour, rust and grime as necessary to achieve consistency of colour over the whole area. I find that a stripe of 'roof dirt' along the track centre line adds to the overall effect. It might seem like a lot of work but it is worth it because ballast is such a significant feature. My layout is Whinburgh and Slitrigg if you want to see my result. Good luck Coronach

Some more pictures of winter train operations between Whinburgh and Slitrigg: Firstly, an Edinburgh to Carlisle stopping train calls at Whinburgh in the loop platform. It is formed of 3 Thompson coaches, hauled by St Margarets B1 61347, which is overdue for overhaul at Glasgow works (in order to receive a Comet chassis and new motor!). The coaches are early Bachmann examples fitted with Comet sides and roof fittings to improve their appearance. Next we travel down the line to Slitrigg and observe a Sulzer type 4 passing through non-stop hauling the up 'Waverley' from Edinburgh to London St Pancras via Carlisle, Leeds and Sheffield Midland. Soon afterwards we catch a glimpse of the train crossing over the road close to Whitrope signalbox. Half an hour later, the morning pick-up goods arrives at Slitrigg from Hawick. Today it is hauled by a Sulzer type 2 (class 24), which uncouples from its train and shunts over the level crossing to gain access to the sidings. After attaching to some wagons, the loco draws forward and is stabled whilst the crew visit the local hostelry for their lunch!! In the meantime, a J39 proceeds carefully down the bank with a train of household coal bound for Hawick. . More to follow in due course :-)