mallaig1983

It looks like the steps have had a good lick of paint for the 1984 season while the window frames also look like they may have also had a coat while the boards have been left. Also of interest the shed on the hill has been re-panelled horizontally rather than vertically and the signalman’s cottage has had new windows. Possibly these buildings had been rented out once the signalman had been made redundant? Thanks for the links Rob.

I have kitbashed the signal cabin to suit Mallaig and fitted an interior. It will need lighting inside before I can fit the roof properly. This project has been a lot of fun and rewarding after 2 failed attempts to scratch build it. Thanks Peco 👍

And a seagull on the roof I think. Yes a little more tidying of the paintwork, I hadn’t noticed the splodge of brown on the blue on the steps until I saw the photo once posted. The white does look a little grubbier in the flesh but I feel there is scope to do a little more. It’s had a coat of very very thinned humbrol brown wash. Studying photos of the cabin from the early to mid 80s it would appear that the blue was deteriorating and flaking off at the time and worsening over the years but for 1983 I’m happy to represent it still in a reasonable state but with the white looking a little worse for wear.

The signal cabin has almost been completed this weekend. It does contain an interior but it will need a light in there to see it properly. Because of this the roof has not been glued down. I’ve really enjoyed bashing this kit and had fun with the painting. I may well weather it a little bit further but for now I’ll just enjoy it as it is. I have acquired another one for Glenfinnan along with the station building and up line platform shelter. Just in case these ended up being out of stock when I needed them but I have enjoyed this build so much that I will probably have a look at them sooner. In the meantime at Mallaig next I will be back to the scratch building.

Seems all the easy parts at the start of the project have to be repaid. Just be patient and work through the snags Andy. Yellow is always an absolute bitchkins. Steadily work through the other bits. She’s a work of art and love and I promise I’ll leap from my BRUTE camera in hand at Christleton with my camera. Don’t lose heart now on the final push, you’ve created something that we never noticed back in the day but we miss sooooo much now. Good luck with the fettleing, you’re almost there and I really can’t wait to to see her on service. Calm and patience for the final push. Good Luck. It’ll be grand.

The layout looks wonderful Andy and that 37 sounds the biz. The viaduct really adds something special to the scene. Well worth the effort I’d say.

Micheal Palin? 😀

A couple of Eastfield’s namers basking in the sun at Mallaig in 1983. I absolutely love these Accurascale tractors. I had a problem with one of them which Accurascale told me to return and sent a return label for. Quickly turned around and a replacement arrived within a week. Blown away by the helpfulness and top drawer service. There was nothing for me in the second tranche but with a roadmap to 500 specimens I’m already saving for more. This pair were ordered as I started track laying so I’ve been building the layout and looking forward to photo opportunities like this. Can’t wait for more. 👍

The man with the white paintbrush has swooped at Eastfield and 37012 Loch Rannoch has her first run to Mallaig. This is a renumbered and renamed 37027 Loch Eil. I just had to have a pair of white stripe namers on the layout. Running in past the signal box And standing with classmate 37027

Ps you really need to make a start on that layout 😀

That’s spooky Ian because Catherine Ann McPhee’s cd is in the car at tge moment and I too have been listening to it on my commute and it’s the one that provides several tracks for that video/dvd from a few years back. Great minds and all that. My main interest in Scottish folk is what I describe as Folk-Rock with the likes of Runrig, Teail West, Heron Valley, Skipinnish, Tidelines etc. Ideal soundtrack when touring around the west coast and the Islands.

I’d love to go to HebCelt one day. And the Tiree music festival. Im just listening to Travelling Folk on Radio Scotland via BBC sounds. Great music. Will check YouTube clips later thanks

What do you do when your scratch building confidence is a bit rocky? Well you kit bash. I had acquired the new Peco Arisaig signal cabin with the plan to modify it to represent the box at Mallaig which was a mirror image. I took the two ends and two sides from their frets and clamped a straight edge to a suitable square of mdf and sharpened a pencil. I put the inside face of one of the ends and the front and rear sections sandwiching it with their bottom edges tight against the straight edge and with a small metal rule I drew a new line across the rear face of the end piece. Repeated several times and then the other end the same. Then with a new blade in Stanley I used the rule and scribed the new V joints along the pencil lines. The kit has an inner skin with the window frames so those sections needed modification to so a wee bit of thought required but all was good. I found the steps the biggest challenge and they do look like they have been fitted by Shane McGowan’s dentist so I will have to see how I feel about them once painted, perhaps there is something 3d printed out there. They’re ok for now at least. I’m the photos the roof, which is still a separate section, isn’t quite sitting 100% flush but it does fit properly. I would retake the photos but the model has now been primed and is drying. I still need to glaze and fit an interior Yesterday the catch point with fitted and wired in and the tortoise motor fitted and wired. This works in sync with the loco release point. It now requires painting and ballast. A nice productive weekend and it’s time for a beer and some Scottish folk music. Cheers Gents.

It all looks good to me. I remember when mine looked like that. All of a sudden there’s a ‘Ta Dah’ moment as it all comes together and you can feel slightly smug. This layout really is looking very nice already. Thank you for the information and advice regarding signals. And yes I did mean MSE lol. Andy

An absolute feast of inspiration and motivation in there Dave. Wonderful photos as always. Thanks for sharing and giving us the update. Right, lunch break over, I’m back to Mallaig

Looks great. I’m paying particular attention to your scenics. Love the rocks. Is tge signal an MME one? Looks perfect and I’ll need a few too. keep us posted on developments.

It certainly would! Until then though I am looking forward to a new Heljan 27 too. I’m sure it will be announced once the 26 is released. I ordered 083 without understanding when they are due. Are they with this first tranche or the first announcement for the second do you know? If the 24/1s won’t be with us for some time I could possibly persuaded to save up for one as they are proving hard to ignore. I don’t own a 24 but have been blown away with them since my first encounter at Warley. Many years ago and I’ve been hoping and wishing for a suitable 25 since. As we agree, these 2 are close enough.

Yes I read that after posting 😀 It doesn’t say where it was seen from though. I think the Mallaig - GQS it was double heading with a 27. There’s always the possibility that 25083 had been added at Fort William to get it back to Eastfield so if it was seen at Crianlarich for example there’s no proof it started from Mallaig but that’s close enough for me though. I am tempted to order 086 as well but I don’t want to swamp my late 70s fleet with 25s as I am still being patient for an early example too. Plus I’m still a couple of 27s short. Up until now I’ve been building the 1983 fleet up. I can however see a future of SLW temptations. Thanks for the info.

Having spent most of the weekend crawling around and crouching underneath the baseboards I certainly wouldn’t recommend retrofitting soldered joints either. Nice idea re the 60’ lengths Ian but……… 😱 Warren I hopefully won’t get to find the cause of the short and it’s gone away forever but it could have been parts of the old wiring still attached and touching something that it shouldn’t. It was as described a real rats nest. It looks much tidier now. Future sections will be wired with the boards turned upside down. Thanks David, indeed onwards and upwards. I had a lot planned to get through this weekend and fortunately I have a free weekend with no visitors or visiting coming up so hopefully can push on.

It’s been one of those mornings. I woke early at half past 6, showered, dressed and made a brew and by 7 I was watching a random Everard Junction on YouTube. After it finished I was in the mood to venture into the attic. I can happily report that after a couple of hours of careful soldering I now have a new and fully functioning dcc bus. I have just done an hours continuous testing with all of my dcc fitted fleet without hiccup so I am absolutely over the moon. I did hit a bit of a low point over the weekend so thank you guys for all the support and advice and giving me a lift. Lessons have been learned for when I start Glenfinnan in the winter. I still have the catch point to fit, wire in and motorise but that’s for another day. And as I’ve been writing this BRM magazine has just dropped through the letterbox so it’s a good Monday so far. Hopefully work will go well later too. Thanks again, Andy

Also because I have done away with the choc bloc connectors I can no longer isolate droppers/rail sections to test them individually. I have decided to leave it for today. A positive step forward from where I was this time yesterday. Only the last few droppers to solder to the new bus but potential for another problem so I’ve decided to end on a positive for today. I did empty the fish boxes out onto their new ‘hump’ and the pile now looks much more significant. The boxes have just been poured out of a plastic container and I love the way they all sit as if they had just been hoyed one at a time onto the stack.

Sadly the multimeter is in the toolbox in the campervan and that’s not at home so I have been using 37178 to test. The station section is now running as it should (don’t ask how) so I will continue to replace the bus along the remaining 150cm or so. Yes @BoD I checked all the droppers went to the correct bus wire, even their positions in relation to there partner just in case I had originally got any back to front. Thanks for all your suggestions and advice

There are strange forces at play here as it’s so random it’s bizarre. I have unattached the remaining section of bus wire from my new section I did yesterday. So I renewed from the buffer stop to the crossover by the signal box so from that point on there is no electrical connection now. The new section is dead also unless I run that red cable to a positive rail and then every line on that section of the bus is live. Unclip that cable and it all dies again. My unqualified head is telling me that each and every one of the positive droppers on that section are ineffective and the juice is powering the rails via the rail joiners. When I first laid this layout I put power from the controller to only one piece of track and the whole layout ran, reverse points and all. So although that made no sense to me then and still doesn’t now it does at least hint at what is going on. Sadly it also tells me that I need to completely rewire the layout which does not excite me on the slightest. I shall continue to investigate the short as once that is found I can solder that cable to the track and at least be able to operate the layout pending the rewire. yours, baffled of North Wales.

That’s quite the comparison isn’t it? Now am I correct in thinking that flux needs to be cleaned off after the joint has been made as it’s corrosive? Hence dcc concepts ‘no clean flux’? If that’s the case maybe my joints have corroded over time and became reliant on the rail joiners? That only raises questions about the initial problem, here in Mallaig the search for the short goes on. I have just wired up a length of code 100 (following the methods advised above) and my soldered connection looks very nice. I have done this just to eliminate the feed from the controller from the enquiry. Controller and locos tested and all ok. Now back to the rats nest………

The rail I’ve laid on the extension section has had the droppers soldered to the underside of the rails. This was done to the best practice as outlined by your comments above. I learned a lot over the 3 years since I wired up Mallaig. I’m back home now so will venture up into the loft to see what can be done.