mallaig1983

This is where I'm at with the rocky shoreline. I can't carve it jaggedy enough hense I'm thinking about using ballast and slate. Still bashing ideas about on that one.

Seems I've mastered the art of loading more than one photo at once. Go Me.

The oil depot has been progressed today but the base needs modification. The tank on the left sat on a base built up from ground level so the section underneath it will need cutting away. I have cut plasticard sections to form the base but it looks a bit complicated so progress is slow as it's my first bit of scratch building.

Really David? It's funny that you've never mentioned that before ;-)

Bits of progress here, building buffer stops, making tanks for the oil terminal, platform painting etc and also a few trials on making the rocky shoreline. This is quite an important feature as it runs along most of the front of the layout. First attempt was with loft insulation as I have an 8' x 4' sheet of it left over from a renovation project. The rocks were very jagged and I haven't successfully managed to re-create them with this method. My current thinking is to see if real rock can be used. Not a big honk of it blasted from the mountainside obviously but perhaps something could be done with railway ballast type pieces intermingled with pieces of crushed slate. I'm thinking put this together and see how it looks, fill gaps with plaster, paint the whole lot grey and then pick out detail etc. Might sound crazy but I'm not sure real rock will look right. To real is perhaps a strange criticism but we'll see. Could be quite a big project. There will be an inlet from the sea to factor in to it too and as this will probably be made from resin the rocks will have to be leek proof too. A trip to the builders merchant for a bag of each is on the to do list. With regards to the oil terminal (diesel fuel for the ferries and fishing fleet) I've been over countless photos, dvd and YouTube footage to get a decent view. I didn't find a decent view but rather snippets from various angles. The best of these is from the cab on video 125's 'Steam to Mallaig" DVD. One thing I did learn is that the terminal changed subtley over the years so I've had to rely on photos from 83 to 85. I feel confident I've had enough of these glimpses to get a decent idea of how it looked (excluding detail) and have collected and built appropriate tanks. These are now coated in grey primer and require the supports upon which they sit to be constructed. I had always planned to build Glenfinnan station on the opposite side of the attic with the fiddle yard running back down the middle of the layout between the two stations but since researching the timetable and photographs to see what stock was generally on what service I realised that the two Glasgow to Mallaig through trains had a shuffle at Fort William. I couldn't stop thinking how interesting this would be in a layout so I have now decided to include Fort William in the layout and run an off scene track behind Glenfinnan to a fiddle yard under the non scenic section between Mallaig and Glenfinnan. The sleeper train would arrive at FW from Glasgow Queen Street and the rear 3 coaches would be detached and added to 2 coaches in platform 2. These 2 coaches having arrived earlier from Mallaig. The 5 coach ensemble then departs for Mallaig. Next in is the 12:30 arrival from GQS which has an observation saloon added before departing for Mallaig, passing the earlier ensemble at Glenfinnan. That set is now a through service from Mallaig to GQS and reverses at FW. A local service departs FW for Mallaig at 16:10 and often runs as the mixed. This passes the set with the observation saloon at Glenfinnan which on arrival will have a reshuffle with 3 cars joining the sleeper cars and the other 2 will form the 20:55 last train to Mallaig and indeed the 07:00 ex Mallaig the following morning. Before that though the sleeper will depart from GQS and London Euston and the local will return from Mallaig. Next action of the day will see the 16:34 ex GQS arrive at FW at 20:42 to connect with the afore mentioned last train to Mallaig. Loads and loads of scope to operate a really interesting layout and having been collecting stock for the last 15 years or so (£18 for a mk1 is something I miss!) I have enough coaches if I assume that the 09:19 FW to GQS is the same stock as the 16:34 GQS - FW. This could be done with 5 locos but more realistically with 6 as the first loco to arrive at Glasgow would more than likely head straight to Eastfield depot for a drink and a new duty. I also have the locos for this and these will be supplemented when a parcel arrives from Accurascale at some point next year. Really enjoyed working that sequence out and I'm happy to be corrected if I've made errors but to operate that timetable without utilising the space I have for Fort William seems a shame so I'm going for it. I'm aware that I'm not exactly blazing a trail and ripping up trees with progress on the Mallaig section but that comes in fits and starts when time and money are available and I'm aware that everything I'm doing I'm doing for the first time and will be quicker when repeated on the next section. So the layout plans just got a whole lot bigger but I'm really excited about it. If you stuck with that til the end thank you. Any spelling mistakes whatever, I can't be bothered to proof read it when I need to get some pie in the oven, poor a beer and fire up YouTube on the telly. Cheers everyone, have a great evening. Andy

Always a great feeling of relief and excitement when you find 'that' photo to answer your question. Well trawled Rob.

Rob, Your 15 year old camera and your photographic abilities do you proud Sir. Always enjoy seeing photos of WHL4 sometimes having to 'look twice' as very realistic. I'm sure there's a nice well illustrated book to be written about the construction of your layout. It's always nice to start the day with a 'fix' when checking out this thread. Andy

Ah, are you far from my modelled area David? Perhaps I could at least accommodate your car somewhere. Andy

Last night insomnia took a hold. Decided a bit of reading might help so returning to bed from getting a glass of water I grabbed a random magazine from the spare room. Complete coincidence it was this one. I see that the details have already been forwarded to Rob but it's Railway Modeller, November 2015 if anyone else is interested. I think it looks a decent representation as built Rob. Once blended in with the rest of the scenery should really look the part.

Yes I noticed the change of tack on the 7mm project. GQS is looking like it will be an awesome layout and to include Rannoch will be very nice. I'm watching this with real interest.

My Goodness David. That roof looks a huge task. Could take you a while but wow it's going to look absolutely fantastic. Really looking forward to seeing the finished article. I doff my cap to you Sir. Andy

Thanks David

A couple more coats of paint have gone on to the platform surface today. Between coats I have been playing trains. 37112 is the novelty loco at the minute now that it has sound. After I blew the first chip and successfully fitted the second albeit with the wrong speaker I tried to wire up the twin iPhone speaker to the chip. My soldering skills were a bit clumsy and I was unsuccessful so decided to have another go. Somehow I managed to pull the wire off the decoder. On inspection I instantly knew that I was not capable of soldering it back on so loco, speaker and chip were packed off to Richard Croft at Roads and Rails. 2 days later it was running around on Mallaig. Fantastic service from a really helpful chap. He'll now get all my decoder/speaker business. This is my first aftermarket sound loco, my other 3 having factory fitted sound (to be reblown and with better speakers. 37112 has a Legoman biffo WD chip and mated with the double iPhone speaker sounds great. Flange squealling to my delight running through the points while running round. Anyway here is a photo of the platform. Will need at least one more coat of paint. Andy

Thanks Bert

And for some reason photos keep loading on the cack. Best viewed if you tilt your head to the right lol

I didn't get to do any modelling until 4 this afternoon but it wasn't a wasted day as I went to grice the Ffestiniog Railway gala.

24 hours on and the clay has hardened nicely. I'll leave it a few day before painting it but Im pretty pleased with the results so far. 37112 ticking over having just run round the stock before departing for Fort William.

DAS clay takes at least 24 hours to dry but six hours in I had to go check on it. Way more exciting than watching paint dry mind.

Even the lovely box they come in. They really are very nice castings. I totally get your point lol.

Nice day up in the attic today continuing work on the platform. I've layed the surface today using DAS clay which was quite an enjoyable experience and my pie lid making skills have improved immensely. This is laid on a plasticard base that I applied pva glue to and allowed to go tacky before laying the clay. This seemed the best way to go following some experiments in the week. Once dry I'll know if it's worked. If it's loose or cracks then I'll try pollyfilla. I liked the idea of being able to roll it on a board, place it over the platform and cut to shape between the coping stones. I then stippled with a brush to hopefully look like tarmac once painted. I'm guessing that poster paint is the way to go. The postman brought parcels today. A Knightwing tank kit which I didn't realise was sectional. That's great because I can now order a couple more and build to different sizes. The other parcel was from Lanarkshire models and contained some buffer stop kits in beautiful packaging. It's almost a shame to take them out of the packaging. Andy

I'm really enjoying your early morning photos Rob. Very inspiring just before I head up to the attic for a couple of hours on my own layout before work. Can I just ask a little about your locos? How many does it take to operate the WTT for a day? How many have you got and are they all sound fitted? Of the sound fitted ones what projects are fitted and to which loco etc? Now I have decided to include Fort William on my layout I think I will need a minimum of 6 locos as I now plan to run trains to and from Glasgow as well as Mallaig. I currently have 5 available, another needing a respray and 2 on order from Accurascale plus others that I would like when a blue, oval buffer, cutaway cowels split box version becomes available and a couple of RSH examples. I wonder how many you have for WHL4 and against how many you need for one days service. Right, I'm away to the attic. Andy

Brilliant story. Right place right time for you. My first experience of 27 haulage (and the next trip a cabride) was at The Caledonian Railway last July. A couple of weeks later I was at NYMR and getting 26 haulage. Returning out of Grosmont we had had a signal stop on the bank by the depot. After a stalled start there followed about 10 minutes of slow climbing. The noise was awesome. I knew at the time that was as close as I was going to get. It was a fantastic day. Last day of my 3 months tour of Scotland but what a way to end. Andy

Lucky chap. At least you got to sample it regularly. I never got that far north at the time. I was 13 in 83 so it would of necessitated a family trip or my Dad taking me and to dad Scotland might as well have been on the moon. I think Carlisle has been visited since. It's a huge regret that I never sampled the line back then. Agree that this really is a fantastic layout.

Thanks Rob. Really useful picture. I have a Knightwing tank on order so once put together I can get some idea of size etc. The two tanks were similar but not identical so I'll see if I can find a suitable candidate for a second one. If not I'll just have two identical ones and live with it. I've noted that up in the rockface behind the vertical tanks there was a smaller horizontal one too. Just need to make sure it was still there in 83. I will then binge watch YouTube tutorials on making rock faces lol. Thanks for the photo link. Andy

More great photos Rob. The freight dock really looks the part. Some lovely modelling there.