David41283

Looks like Dapol fitted the nameplate! There's hope for us all!

I'm pretty sure the 26s and 27s had been largely replaced by 37/0s and later 37/4s in the 80s. However I'm sure there will be examples of them being used. My timescale is broadly 1975-85ish so I'm using various prototypes from all over Scotland throughout this period. All my coaches Mk1 and Mk2 have had Railtec transfers added, using a coaching stock handbook from 1980 picked up on ebay for reference.

Hi everyone, Thanks for the positive comments. Having just looked at this thread on a computer for the first time in a while (as opposed to my phone) I can see how blurry my last few photos have been. I will endeavor to post some more. Not much more has occured in the last month, mainly as my eldest has discovered games workshop, and my modelling time has been largely spent painting these guys (great fun!): Major off topic alert! This little flurry of interest in the layout will motivate me to have a a break from the minatures and do some more this weekend! Cheers David

Thanks for the positive comments. There was a nice photo of Poldeen in the NGS journal which landed this last week. (and another of my layouts on the front cover). Poldeen has been stored in a cupboard since the autumn, but I have plans for a "re-visit" of a few aspects of the layout - a new station building, goods shed etc.. but these are a long way back in the queue of other projects for the mo. Hopefully should be in RM soon...... Cheers David

I must say I love the cover photo. Even if I am a bit biased! Thanks Grahame.

Hi all, Progress is still plodding forward, here is a quick phone snap to show how "Station Square, Invernevis" is coming on. Still loads of gaps to fill and odd bits left to touch-in with the paints, but my station building is more-or-less finished. (just don't use a tape measure or set-square when you look at it!). Cheers David

Am I right in thinking that Network Rail are outside the planning system, and so can pretty much do what they want within the railway boundary - hence the many communities upset but helpless regarding ugly communications masts and OHLE?

Good evening everyone, A long time since the last update. Mainly because we moved house early in the New Year and everything was packed away and I had more important matters to attend to. The good news is we're now settled in and unpacked, and as we've gained a few rooms with the move, I now have a study with a designated "train table" to work on. I've even been given a whole dresser in the study to store all my model railway stuff My family are already starting to refer to the "train room". Anyway no-one is reading this for an update on my house or storage arrangements! Invernevis hasn't been abandoned or fallen by the wayside, although I have been slightly distracted by a very large Dapol 08. The one thing which didn't get packed over Christmas were a few Ratio signal kits, which I used to make some signals before we moved. The main platform starter is modelled on the famous signal at the end of the platforms at Mallaig, which appeared to be a strange mash-up of components and looked a bit WR rather than SCR. The signals have now been painted and planted. The "beaches" have gained some texture with various grades of stone chippings to represent the rocks and shingle. The last couple of weeks have been spent working on my attempt at the "least square model building of the year" competition. However it is starting to come together now. I have pragmatically shrunk the iconic station building, and many of the arches have been replaced by easier-to-make square windows. It is just propped up with blu-tac for this picture and there is still lots to do. Cheers David

Hi everyone, Just picked up 08202 as they appear to be selling out fast, and it had been staring at me from the window of Antics for a while now! It's a bit of a change to my usual N gauge. I am delighted with the model, and the kids are suitably impressed. No layout or even any track yet, but I'm thinking of a sound chip and a small yard in the future. Has anyone had a go at repainting the rods? I'm happy to respray the cab roof, but the coupling rods will require some extremely careful coats of paint. Cheers David

Evening all, Enthused with yesterdays progress update, this evening I set the layout up, connected the fiddle yard and power and ran everything for the first time since ballasting. Fortunately the points all still worked, even the polarity switches. A few bits of ballast were chipped away and everything was given a good hoover. I have now fixed the platform in place with impact adhesive. This seemed a good excuse to get some trains out to ensure all the clearances were adequate. What started out as a test run, ended up with a lot more stock out of the box than planned! (Ignore the mugs in the background, they were weighing down the platforms while the glue dried!) Tomorrows plan is to ballast up to the edges of the platform to blend everything in. I am also contemplating using spare ballast on the shingle beaches, I think this would work from the point of view of using a limited "palette" of colours throughout the layout to tie it all together and create a cohesive feel. Cheers David

Thanks, as with many aspects of this layout so far, I had grand plans to scratch-build the canopies but having gone with the Ratio kits I thought that adding the distinctive beams were key to capturing the feel of the station, even with the off-the-shelf parts.

Great photo of the new Moorswater cement trains. A class 70 dragging 20+ loaded cement wagons up the hill from Moorswater to Liskeard must make some noise! I've made sure I'm passing the station on my way to and from meetings when it's passed through Plymouth last couple of weeks. Regards the timings - there are several paths on RTT, but so far it seems to have run down empty early on Wednesday and returns loaded on Thursday mid-morning. It runs through Liskeard to Lostwithiel loop to run-round then goes back through Liskeard and down to Moorswater. Be warned if you're going out to see it, it has run around 90 minutes early each time so far. Thanks for posting all the excellent photos. David

Hi everyone, Over a month since the last post, but progress continues, with 30-45 minute sessions whenever I get the opportunity of an evening. I think this is starting to give a bit of the flavour I was hoping for.... this evening I have got the first coat of paint on the harbour wall, and fixed down the first building (signal box). The platform is more or less complete, but not fixed down yet. I need to have a good running session to check the track is nice and clean after ballasting before I restrict access with the canopies. Once the platform is in place I plan to raise the ground level behind and around the station so that the layout looks less flat and the low relief buildings behind look as though they are higher than the station. A close up of my current "side project" Inverness' 47463 which stretches my time-scale a little, but is a nice loco. Renumbered and logo'd and a minor respray from 47612, with added snowploughs. Just waiting for weathering to blend in the gloss varnish around the decals. Cheers David

Long time since I've updated this thread. Poldeen has been in a cupboard since the Exmoor Rail exhibition in August. I had a nice surprise this evening when I got home from work, and found a complimentary copy of this on the door mat: It looks a great read with some interesting articles. A small mention of Poldeen and a photo from the Railway Modeller shoot back in February. Poldeen should be in the main magazine in the spring 2017. Nice to get a name-check in the credits of a book for the first time. Cheers David

Thank you - that is a helpful view. I agree that the drawing is wrong, the roof clearly meets the sides in the overwhelming majority of photos I've seen. I keep reminding myself that my project is "based upon" rather than a "scale model of" Fort William. My plan for the station building is to simplify the architecture and shorten the building a bit to fit the composition of my layout, but retain the overall character and design - especially the pitched roof and the iconic turret. Cheers David

Hi everyone, Thanks for the continued interest. I have been steadily making small steps. I have installed the backscene, although I found the photographic backscene an absolute pig to install. The paper is so thick that the "View Glue" I have successfully used before didn't really work, so I ended up brushing a coat of PVA onto the wooden frame as well. The print isn't colour-fast either, so there are a couple of patches where the colour has faded a little, but I think these can be saved with a little work with the airbrush. I have painted the track ready for ballasting. I have built the first few buildings from he "Town in a Box", albeit none as per the instructions and all have added pitched roofs. I need to think of a way of filling the gaps between the low-relief model buildings with more even lower-relief buildings so it looks like a townscape rather than the odd building in the middle of nowhere with the open countryside visible between them! I have made good progress with the harbour wall, 4mm Block Paving sheets, with added details to break it up a bit. Some foam board has been used to add some beach areas which will be covered with plaster bandage soon. Cheers David

Evening everyone, Small steps are still being made.... The lighting is installed, and is pretty effective; This used about half of a 5m roll of Warm White LED strip which cost less than £5 from eBay. You can just about see in this picture that I've filled in the missing sleepers so I'm ready to paint the track and start ballasting. I've also been working on the harbour wall, I've attached a layer of 00 scale block wall plasticard which looks the part for n scale harbour walls. In other news, this arrived today. I've been looking forward to receiving this which was a bit of an eBay bargain at £90. I've used the 00 version of one or two of these kits before. I reckon with the addition of appropriate signs and pitched roofs they will provide most of the townscape behind the station. Cheers David

Saloon 1981 This is a photo of 45030 marshalled behind a 37 at Glasgow Queen Street in 1981. There are pictures of the same saloon, in the same livery being used as an observation saloon in 1985 elsewhere on RMWeb. God knows why I ordered the "preserved" version. I was kicking myself for not buying blue/grey until I found these photos! Cheers

Hi everyone, On Friday I found 45 minutes to make up my 2 leads to connect the boards, so this weekend I've been able to operate the layout for the first time. On connecting the two boards together there were a few bits which didn't work but fortunately only due to wires being connected into the wrong choc blocs which were quickly identified and sorted. Once everything was working properly I was able to fill the fiddle yard and run some trains for the first time. These photos were just snapped quickly on my phone. The next task now everything is working properly is to install the lighting on the main scenic board. The fully stocked fiddle yard. Class 20 shunts postal stock. 26040 has just backed down onto the stock brought in by 27005 (in the distance). 27029 waits to leave from platform 2 37108 has just arrived, by fortunate coincidence the NGS Inspection Saloon I bought a few years ago, is the exact number and livery that was temporarily used as an observation saloon on the Kyle line in the mid 80's. 37108 has added an RMB to the front of it's train for the run to Glasgow. 37425 has pulled forward past the station building after uncoupling. Class 20 shunts the sleepers into Platform 3 for servicing after arrival. 27029 has just arrived with a rake of Mk2's. Thanks David

Morning everyone, After about a month of small steps I now have some real progress: A complete, finished and working fiddle yard. This also contains all the electrics which will power the scenic board, so all I need to do now is solder up a couple of 25-way D-sub leads to link the two and I will be able to have a proper test of the layout. The simple control panel. The yellow push-buttons are route selection, the on-off switches provide power to the different sections and the red buttons isolate the final 6 inches of each of the station roads for loco-release. However the simple neat panel does mean a mass of wiring on the other side! I had hope this would look a bit neater, but all the wiring is in an area of approx 11" x 11". The large panel of stripboard is the home made diode matrix for the route selection. The shortest sidings (#1 and #6) will take a short diesel and 4 coaches, the longest roads will easily handle a type 4 and 5 coaches. In other news I decided to give my 47/7 a new identity - it is now 47706 Strathclyde. The replacement nameplate seems a little bright, even after a coat of matt varnish, so I may give it a very thin wash with some thinned black. I've also finished my mini rake of Mk2's, all have SCxxxx numbers and ScotRail branding ready for service behind a 37. Cheers David

I was going to make a joke about a lack buses on bridges - but in the first frame of the video there is one!! Seriously though, this is incredible work - very inspirational.

Bit more progress..... I've laid the track across the baseboard join. First time I've done this. Simply soldered to a piece of copper clad board from Maplins, seems to work so far! Following a delivery of bits, I've knocked up a quick loading bay platform. I'm reckon I'm more-or-less done with the signal box, store and coach body. The ratio signal box kit has been built slightly differently to the instructions to make it a bit more suitable to the location and I've scratch built a chimney stack. I've finished weathering my 47/7. A bit of a stretch but this may end up substituting for another loco on a sleeper or parcels working from Glasgow. I wasn't planning on buying one of these, but I chanced upon a 30% off sale a few weeks ago, so for less than £70 it seemed too good to miss. I had a pleasant surprise when I received 2 mk2 TSOs from Hattons this week, as they appear to be back in stock. I had them on back-order from when they sold out a couple of years ago. These are part way through receiving ScotRail branding and appropriate SCxxxx numbers. A bit more MicroSol is needed then some varnish to blend them in! I've fitted Dapol knuckles between the coaches - one short and one long give nice close coupling and a working coupling on each end of this mini-rake. Just a quick note on the geography of Invernevis - I mentioned a train to Inverness a few posts ago without thinking - I have decided that *rule 1* geography applies. Trains can reach Invernevis from anywhere in Scotland - I want to be able to run prototype trains from the Far North lines, the Kyle line, Aberdeen, Inverness and the WHR. Don't ask me how they get there, but they do! Thanks David

Thanks for the comment The NEM pocket and snowplough arrangement is a bodge which I've done on loads of locos now: This is the bogie from the 24/1 in the other photo, but the principle is the same. I cut up the supplied snowplough assembly, leaving enough of the frame to provide a good support to glueing to the bogie. With a bit of filing and adjustment they fit well and you have plenty of surfaces in contact to get a good amount of glue into the joints. Cheers David

Hi everyone, Now the madness of the summer holidays is out of the way, I'm making small steps again. First - I received a set of printed photo-backscenes - these are apparently Llanberis, but they look the part. In the tube there are two sheets, both easily long enough for this little layout without any cutting or joining. I like the more muted, uniform colours of the first sheet, but the overall impression of the second sheet, is probably my preference. Both are just clipped in place with Bulldog clips for these quick photos. Option A Option B Earlier today I finally fitted the harbour wall. I eventually found a bit of wood which would bend enough to fit, but was strong enough not to split while being fitted. The solution was a length of 6mmx25mm pine stripwood from B&Q. While this was drying I had some stock out. There's still no power, so these are just posed to give a flavour of what we're aiming for. 27005 has arrived into Platform 1 with a portion of the sleeper. 20048 is waiting in the loading dock siding to shunt the stock and release the loco. 27029 waits with a short train for Inverness. 20048 on the loch side. 27005 will be beside the station building and half across the road when finished. 24117 shunts vans into the loading dock siding. Cheers David