Max Legroom

Your 25/0 really looks the part. Very nice.

The track is in place and wired up for dc. I've used cork tiles as a track base. Next task is to paint a backscene of ocean, sky and distant mountains which isn't that simple as I only have limited paint and even more limited painting skill!

Here is a quick update illustrating the track plan. Fiddleyard to the left beyond a road overbridge and platform at the back. The goods yard and platform will be completely separate. Peco Locolifts will be used in the fiddleyard.

Hi Marc In general I found the foam core good to work with and would use it again. I like your suggestion of a wooden subframe. In this case I’m trying to use up stuff I’ve got lying around so 6mm ply should do the job. Track will be Peco code 75 and I think I’ve just about got enough! Cheers Max

The imaginary line to Portmahomack would have run from a junction just south of Tain with a halt and a couple of RAF sidings at Balnagall, and a halt at Inver. The station at Portmahomack would be roughly where the caravan site is situated. The DMU runs four or five return journeys each day (except Sundays) and a branch freight runs three times a week.

I've been thinking about a micro layout based around the lovely Peco Highland signalbox. A few years ago I started a layout based on Portmahomack using foam core board for the baseboard and got to the ballasting stage when I accidentally lent on one end and it snapped! However, I've still got the Scalescenes station signs. A good rummage around in the shed produced enough plywood and softwood to make a 900 x 300 mm board, all held together with PVA and a few pins. The fiddleyard will be a plywood box. A Heljan class 26 and a Dapol class 122 will do the honours. The 122 has the GG symbol and was transfered to Inverness in May 1978, hence the summer 1978 timeframe. All the best Max

A few more Woodland Scenics pine trees have been planted by the road bridge. That Ruston is still lurking around in the yard!

Hi Martyn The upper green doesn’t look quite right to me too but I decided I could live with it. I’m tempted to get a blue one and renumber it as 6100 with the extra arrow on one of the cab doors. Having said that, I’ve got a blue 27, 37 and 122 waiting for their new numbers so maybe I should focus on them instead! All the best Max

I've turned the clock back to 1970 to run 6112 alongside no-heat 5377. TOPS codes have been temporarily banished from Strachur! I must admit that I'm impressed with the Dapol model. It just need a few dabs of paint and a spot of weathering to really look the part. Well worth the long wait and a big improvement on the Hornby model that I spent so much time modifying back in the early 80s!

Thank you all for your help. I’m going to assume that the wagon is vacuum braked and add a brake cylinder.

According to the article it is from lot 2267 and was later fitted. Photo shows one shoe per wheel and it definitely has vac pipes and screw couplings. It might have a cylinder on the other side but photo is inconclusive. Caption reads ‘B746576, Lot 2267, in unfitted livery, has vacuum pipes but no cylinder.’

That was my first port-of-call but no luck. They do seem to be a real mix of unfitted and fitted.

I’ve got a Bachmann model of B746576 in grey unfitted that is about to get the weathering treatment. I’ve also got a copy of the June 1981 Railway Modeller that contains an article by Keith Allen on sand tipplers and includes a picture of this very wagon with screw couplings and vac pipes but no brake cylinder. The article mentions that the wagon is vacuum braked but I would have thought that the lack of a cylinder would point to through piping. Have I got this right? Max

Are you going to give it the double arrows symbol in the style of some green class 27s?

Superb catalogue. I’m modelling Scotland in the 1970s so those Pendon figures are perfect - especially the ladies in the hats!

This is an impressive model from Bachmann. The lower cab front doesn’t quite work for me but it isn’t too far behind the SLW offering. It’ll be interesting to see if either Bachmann or SLW do a 25/0. Then the big question is who will bring out a 25/1 with the early body style - Bachmann, SLW or Heljan?

Hi Andy I really enjoyed your new book. Nice to see some electrics and EMUs as they are often overlooked in favour of the scenic lines. I think my favourite photo is a very grubby 37191 which provides plenty of weathering inspiration. Max

Large logo is OK but I draw the line at those funny orange cantrail stripes!

Reading this thread has reminded me that I should get the Milan and Cairo out of storage (following a house move a while back) as I'm missing my shortline fix! I've been distracted by the West Highland in the 1970s!

I've just bought a third 27 and I think they are pretty good models. Sure, the windscreens and bogies aren't perfect but they can be improved and the class 33 plough can be trimmed to look OK (or replaced). In the end I guess it's down to the individual whether to buy or not.

Sadly no and the ploughs are from the 33.

The bodyside windows are slightly higher than the earlier version. Also, the headcode panel is larger.

I think there was also a second short siding off the cattle dock siding which was taken out in the late 1970s.

Good luck with this. Looking forward to seeing how it develops.

Hi Rob You have done a fabulous job of capturing the South Bristol atmosphere. I like the drain cover. Was it an etched part? Max