josh_will

And the reason I suggested this is because I don't think you'd find specific items they're selling by searching eBay. So, for example let's say you searched "2-bay covered hopper" you won't find one of their listings by doing that. They tend to sell items as 3 or 4 cars sold together with a simple description such as "4 x Athearn hoppers" or "3 x HO wagons, various makes". Hope this helps. Regards

I find it's always worth looking at the Rails of Sheffield eBay shop. There's a huge amount of US stuff on there at really low prices. Regards

Thanks Robert, one thing that’s also dawned on me is that sleepers on lightly used track such as this were often grey, almost white in colour due to the fading of the wood. My default approach to track weathering is to simply cover the whole lot in sleeper grime, but I’ve tried to be more attentive this time. I had wanted to try using clay for the ash ballast, but I thought it just wasn’t really worth it in N gauge - the chinchilla dust seems to work reasonably well. Regards

I’ve tried to be brave and reproduce the myriad of different colours found in the ballast. Photo evidence of the line in the 50s, 60s and 70s shows that the the track and ballast along much of the route, particularly at stations, was in a very poor condition. The ballast was often stained with a mucky concoction of all kinds of different and truly horrible colours. However I must admit that I am quite badly colour blind, so what looks alright to me might look absolutely awful to others.

Thanks, for some reason the polyfiber looks really bright in the photo but it’s a lot less noticeable when actually seeing it.

I thought I’d try a bit of Woodland Scenics Polyfiber to create the bare branches. I think it might be possible to get away with this and not use sea moss in N gauge. I might need to spray the whole thing darker though.

I’ve decided to go a bit left-field with this layout and set it in the springtime so I’m experimenting with making up some armatures out of wire and coating them in filler. The hard part will be finding something suitable to look like the little branches that will be bare.

Nice use of curved Setrack turnouts - they really are a Godsend.

I’ll be aiming to get there quite early, it’s about a 2 and 1/2 hour drive for me but I’ll be expecting to arrive by 10:30 latest, traffic permitting. I hope you’ll still get time to look around and do some shopping then. Re. the platforms that’s an interesting idea and something for me to think about as well. Regards

Hi Robert, before I forget, I’ve seen the topic you’ve posted on TINGS, either on here or on NGF, I can’t remember which. But anyway, I’ll be there on Saturday and I’ll be sure to say hi if I spot you out front (if that’s where you’ll be). Regards, Josh

May I ask what shade(s) of paint you used for the platform surfaces? These look absolutely spot-on for the Kyle line. I'm building a model of Plockton myself, and I'm having some difficulty achieving this appearance. Your modelling is first-class, by the way. Regards, Josh W

This is Chinchilla dust and I think it’s going to be my ballast of choice. I think that after painting it’ll look quite close to cinders from a normal viewing distance of, say, one metre. Also I’ve nearly finished building up the platform structure.

Hi Robert - I have used DAS clay here, as per Chris Nevard’s style, but thanks for the tip for using the toothpicks. This is my first test piece, next time I’ll try painting the rails and sleepers first. Regards

To recreate the cinder ballast of my chosen time period, I’ve started experimenting with using clay rather than the usual stone. First signs are that I’ll need a lot of practice before deciding to go down this route.

Thanks Robert, I think I’ve got the shape of the abutments slightly wrong actually. The piers look a little wide to me. I don’t really want to do it again though, not yet anyway. I also couldn’t really find any stone plastic sheet that was a close match, and I already had some Slater’s dressed stone, so hopefully it won’t look too bad.

Looks like it’s another one of those times where you don’t want to think about Monday morning so you stay up too late on Sunday scratchbuilding ..

Not sure I’d want to be a passenger trying to alight here …

So this little guy turned up today. I was very pleased to see (this being my first Dapol model) that the mechanism is based on the typical American style (of which I’m a massive fan) with split chassis and axle point pick-up strips. However the green lights only work in one direction - not a major issue for me but I’m just wondering if this is a common thing with these 26s? Josh

With the backscenes in place it’s finally time to start laying track.

I’ve now finished the baseboard, apart from the backscene. I tried to find some easier way to set up and take down the layout, to make it a truly portable unit. I trawled through magazines and found an interesting idea associated with a OO-9 layout, Feltwell Road, and I must credit the builder for the solution that I have employed. The legs join up with a combination of backflap and split hinges into a self-contained unit. This is the assembled unit with baseboard dropped on top. It can then be bolted to the legs. The whole thing is a bit of a bodge but it does work. The legs then fold up into these bizarre looking contraptions for easy transportation.

Now I’m doing the lighting pelmet. It will be situated around 600mm from the baseboard surface.

Quick update. Fiddle yard final design being put together. More detail can be seen here of the small extension to the rear of the layout. It looks flimsy but it does the job. Electro frog points have also arrived and this should facilitate more reliable shunting movements in the yard.

Thanks Alister, that’s a good idea. One set of legs for home, one set for a show. Thanks for your interest in Plockton. I’ve tried to find another depiction of the station, but I haven’t done so yet. Kyle is popular, and also Achnasheen, but not Plockton so much it would seem. I actually think it’s a more neglected topic than the West Highland, which seems to get a lot of attention. Regards, Josh

On the (slim) chance that I might get to exhibit this layout locally eventually, I’m wondering if it’s worth trying to install a lighting unit. I’ve not done this before. I would probably fit some removable uprights and a lightweight pelmet above the layout with LED strips. The thing is, because this layout is so small, and the height is only about 2’ 6” (for a comfortable sitting height), the lighting would have to be situated way above the baseboard surface, probably about 5’ or more, otherwise a viewer’s sightline would be blocked (unless they are young or wheelchair-bound). Is it worth it really?

Here is a rough idea of the station track plan. The kickback siding will be quite short. This siding once ran into a Highland Railway goods shed, but this seems to have disappeared by the BR days. The other two sidings are probably greatly condensed in size compared to reality but they can still serve a purpose in handling goods traffic. I have managed to squeeze in some Setrack 2nd radius curves to just slightly ease the sharpness of the curves, but 1st radius will be used throughout in the non-scenic area. As an aside, will a Dapol Class 26 get round 9” curves? Just so I don’t end up spending a lot on something I can’t use…