lambiedg

Hallside’s invitation to the SEC has been confirmed. I will post more piccies when the wiring starts. Robert (the younger) has even threatened a driver’s eye view video during our shakedown sessions which should be in mid to late Jan

The portals are by N Brass Locos.

The final phase of portal installation has started. The picture below shows the stock of portals for the curved boards at the north end of the layout. Also visible are the spacers and jig for drilling pilot holes for the dowels. Sods Law has come into play though, two of the portals will have to be replaced with cantilevered versions because they obstruct signals.

David welcome along! There has been a bit more progress since the last piccies but I decided not to post any more at the moment. More will appear once the spaghetti goes in.

A couple of shots from last night. The first shows that all the portals are now in place on the front boards. The second shows progress on the curved boards at the south end. Lastly we have a rather fuzzy shot (my fault) of Malcom’s entirely scratchbuilt tensioner for the end of the turn back siding. I’ll try and get a better shot once it’s installed.

Can only echo all comments above. I also assume that “fat fingers” are the cause of the novel concept of “helical hearing” in the email I received

As a retired employee of a industrial gas company I know that sourcing solid CO2 would be difficult as the industry is not at all keen on supplying private individuals following some wholly inappropriate uses. Storage and use probably make more trouble than its worth anyway. David

A significant milestone in the electrification of Hallside has been reached. All bar one of the portals in the station/junction area have been painted up and installed. Although we’re still not quite half way through fitting the OHLE the complex portals and masts for the junctions, turn back siding and station areas are almost done. In the last picture below the position of the missing portal, which needs to be slightly shortened so as not to foul on the station building is marked by the price of paper. Hopefully more progress piccies soon.

And one more on a separate post (up load limit infringement) They have been sent to the paint shop!

The portals continue their march south.........

Paul Thanks for the kind comments. I know it’s early, but if you do make it to the SEC, make yourself known at the layout. David

One to please the Rht Honourable Jim Hacker - evidence on an integrated transport system as First Bus await the next local to Hallside

More of the masts and portals are now in place although the wires are yet to be added. This encouraged young James to takes some piccies. The Fife circle set is obviously lost since it is seen ascending onto the Cathcart circle!!

Some progress to show. The Peco masts being installed on the link from the WCML to the Suburban lines and the turn back siding. A lot of “earth works” still to be completed though!

As I warned earlier progress has been slow. As a plea in mitigation our main portal builder has been preoccupied for several weeks recently after an accident severely curtailed his wife’s mobility. Happily health and mobility are improving. Plan A had been to build and install portals as they were assembled. Plan B has meant that we now have almost all the portals, masts and catenary ready for installation Hopefully we will have sufficient progress to warrant photos soon. D

Friends?

Jim it was a pleasure to see this mini marvel in the flesh at Perth today. The pictures don’t really do it justice.

I told you that progress would not be quick! Malcolm P has been building the portals and learning on the job. The work is fiddly but straightforward. The problem arises when the time comes to “plant” the portal as the kit makes no provision for this. A couple of options have been tried as can be seen from the attached photos. Malcolm has now settled on this: 1 - Assemble portal as per kit instructions 2 - Take a regular 8mm diameter woodworking dowel and insert a small screw into one end 3 - Solder kit to screw 4 - drill a 21/64in hole in the baseboard 5 - The assembly is now a tight fit in this hole. This will allow a little vertical adjustment. The final step will be to paint the dowel resemble a concrete pad and glue everything in place. Progress will now accelerate to sedate!

Another couple of piccies from the undergrowth around Hallside. So far there’s not a lot to show on the OHLE front. As you can imagine retro fitting on a scenically “complete” layout involves some destruction before construction! Hopefully something will emerge over the next couple of weeks. In the meantime

Dave Are you going to be the main contractor for this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-47687141 It’s only projected to be a 30 year job!

Mine has arrived with all the bits where they should be. I am a very happy bunny.The weathering appears to my eye to be fine. it’s certainly better than anything I could have achieved or been brave enough to attempt!

A couple of shots showing prospective rolling stock. In the first we have classes 303 & 318 from the Bratchell kits. Secondly class 86 and a very short rake! The observant out there will note the extra trees in the second shot between the Hamilton circle and main lines. Also the strategically placed masking tape showing the approximate location and type of portal.

Guys thanks for the comments. Hallside will not be out before next February as there is quite a lot of work involved in installing the spaghetti!

I should have pointed out that the Hallside footage starts @ 2.07 in the YouTube video. Also the third of the pictures was taken last night and features the first few portals which have been constructed from N brass locos etches

Hallside was built by Clyde Model Raiway Club (CMRC) and made its debut at Modelrail Scotland in 2016. There is no station called Hallside but, if you travel about 10 miles south from Glasgow on the WCML, you wil pass Newton. Newton serves commuters on both the Hamilton and Cathcart circles. This fact along with the WCML gives ample opportunity to run an interesting cross section of stock all of which could plausibly be seen in the early years of the 21st century. the pictures below give a flavour of activities at Hallside The layout also features here https://youtu.be/N6ix0GHUCxw Prior to its return to Glasgow (hopefully in 2020) the layout is undergoing an upgrade. On its earlier outing our version of the WCML was not electrified! Work is starting to correct this. There will be further news as work progresses, but please don’t expect very rapid progress