David41283

Hi everyone, I have been using Anyrail5 to have a play at the track plan. Here is a draft using code 55 templates. I can get everything in to my 4' x 1' space available, but I am not happy with the flow of the point work. The "ruler" on the plan shows the length of a loco and 4 coaches for scale. I have been wrestling with Templot in the last few days, but went back to the far less detailed, but far more obvious Anyrail for the mo. I mentioned "FiNetracks" above, but read on another thread, that no-one has actually build a notable layout using this system - is this true? I haven't seen one if there is such a project out there. I have been looking at the 2mmFS society and their extensive shop of track building components. With only 3 pairs of points and being only 4ft long this would seem the ideal project to have a go at building my own track. However I would want to build an N Gauge layout so I would still be able to use my stock on other layouts. It seems to me to be somewhat counter-intuitive to become a member of the 2mm association in order to buy components to build "n gauge" track, as I wouldn't be able to use their gauges, templates etc... Is there another supplier of 2mm scale PCB sleepers and code 40 rail that I haven't found? I also have no idea where I would buy the necessary gauges to build N gauge finescale track. What would be ideal, would be to purchase enough rail and sleepers to have a go at building a single soldered turnout to see how I get on, without having to join a society or buy enough sleepers and rail to do a whole layout. Sorry for the slightly rambling post, but it's useful to get my thoughts in order. Cheers David (Edited as I uploaded the wrong image)

Hi Dave, As someone who has their name down on your website for a pair of Claytons I hope you may be able to look at this suggestion.... I have never really understood why it has to be a choice between the NEM pocket for a coupling OR the mini-snowploughs with the accessories supplied with N gauge locos. I have now managed to bodge several of my locos to have both - usually by cutting up the supplied snow-plows and then fixing the two large outer plows either side of the NEM pocket with superglue, wire and bits of spare plastic. Here is a Farish cl 24 bogie I have been working on this evening for an example of what I mean. Would it not be possible to manufacture a combined NEM pocket/ snow-plow assembly i.e. an NEM pocket with the outer plows either side allowing the best of both worlds? I would understand that there may need to be some changes to the dimensions of the plow to make this work, and you'd have to choose either yellow plows with a yellow NEM pocket or black plows with a black NEM pocket, but these seem better choices than simply one or the other. I would imagine I'm not the only one who is modifying their locos in this manner, but I would imagine scores more people who would like to fit the plows don't because they would rather have a working coupling at each end. Cheers David Edit - I want to use "plough" not plow, but my american computer doesn't like it!

I've read of a few which appear to be seconds and many have reported no accessories or paperwork, so I chanced my luck and used "make me an offer" which they accepted. My loco arrived with everything, but when I tested it it wouldn't go, fortunately it turned out to be simply that the lighting units weren't sitting in correctly, which was easy to sort. There is something a little "iffy" about them, the package arrived with the customs documentation saying "plastic toy value US$16" to avoid import duty. There is a bit of risk, you could end up with a dud and no recourse, or you could get clobbered with import duty if customs looked a bit closer, however I got a cl24 for less than £50, which was perfect for a project which involved a lot of butchery to an otherwise expensive model.

Hi everyone, Thanks for the further PM's I've received in the last 24 hours. The time taken to send photos and messages to me is appreciated. To answer the question above, I am not proposing a scale model of the original Fort William - however I am planning a layout which is extremely closely based upon it. I want to capture the cramped Loch-side station, the lack of run round facilities and the trains being able to pull forward past and beyond the station onto the quayside a short way. I like the architecture of the station building and canopies so these will be near scale models, but I want to add an extra siding for a bit more interest. The whole thing will also be condensed a little too. I think making a model "based upon" gives me a lot more freedom - my plan is to run "anything interesting in Scotland between 1976 - 1986". It's odd, but I feel that with a scale model of a location I'd feel a duty to be more accurate with the trains and not have a 24/1 with a mixed train c. 1976 meeting a 37/4 in large logo with Scotrail branded mk2's from 1985 in the same station! Cheers David

Just to follow up my last post, I have enjoyed making this little mock-up, and I've probably taken it as far as I can now. I have added a little more detail using cereal packet card - the raised stone work around the top of the roof line and base of the building, added the distinctive balcony and overhang at the front, the bay window to the rear and beefed up the chimneys. I have posed a couple of vans on what would be the quayside branch to recreate some of the distinctive photos. The final shot shows what I have gleaned about the interior layout, as you go through the front doors you have the two larger rooms on either side, to the left (Loch side) you have the buffet in the bottom of the turret, and to the right (town side) you have the travel centre/booking office which has the bay windows to the rear. I presume the other small rooms are offices or stores, although I know the last room before the platforms on the town side is a small John Menzies book shop. The public toilets were outside of the main building on the town side platform (Platform 3). The overall size of the station building in 2mm scale is approx 11cm wide x 14cm long x 5cm high. Cheers David

Hi everyone, Fascinating how different people can have different views of the same photo. Thanks for your input and PMs. Interestingly Ian Futers 7mm scale model has the roof modelled differently to the drawings.The text states that he built his model based upon the drawings he found in the BR Archives in Glasgow, but the scale drawings in the book are drawn by the chap who regularly produces scale drawings for RM magazine. I have been under the impression that the roof was as Ian Futers has modelled it, i.e. with the pitched roof going all the way down and ending in a gutter just behind the top of the side wall. not with a flat section each side as the drawing would imply. Anyway, rather than debating someone else's model, I have spent the day making a card mock-up of the building in 2mm scale. The loch side and front. The town side interior. Looking from the platform towards John Menzies on the left. As you can see this isn't particularly scientific, just multiple photocopies of the scale plans cut up and stuck to various off-cuts of card I had spare. I will probably add a few more details, if only as I am enjoying building it. Given the uncertainty around the roof, I am very tempted to model this without the roof, but with a fully detailed interior. I will probably do the "final" version in plasticard, but this is proving a really interesting subject. Cheers for all the interest. David

Hi everyone, I have started making a rough card model of the station building, using the scale drawings in the book. However I think I have discovered an error with the drawings. Here is a photo of the "Loch side" of the station. (photo by Robert Bridger, from Disused Stations website) This clearly shows the roof meeting the side wall, and that the side wall is level with the Loch side of the "turret". There is no apparent change in pitch of the roof, or any flat roof section over the offices on this side. This is the scale drawing of the station from Ian Futers book. Using the side elevations I have marked the top of the side wall point A (blue). Unless I am missing something, the pitch of the roof (red line) is clearly wrong. I am not sure if they have either drawn the middle bit of the station too narrow, therefore increasing the pitch of the roof, or simply just drawn the roof at the wrong angle. Here is a photo of the front of the building for comparison Photo from Ian Futers Book. I am sure some people who knew the station better than I do will be able to give some pointers. Cheers David

Hi everyone, Here's a photo courtesy of Railway Modeller. It looks as though it will be well into 2017 before Poldeen is featured in the magazine, but Peco are also planning to use it in a forthcoming book on N gauge modelling in the Autumn. Having watched the photography process at first hand, it is amazing to see the final result, although my eye cannot help but be drawn to the slightly open paper seam just in front of the loco! Cheers David

Hi all, I have had a most useful day in terms of this project! I ordered a copy of this book late last week, and the postman duly delivered this afternoon. Having chosen this book simply as it was the cheaper of the two volumes Ian Futers has written on Scottish Layouts I was absolutely delighted to discover the first chapter is all about his 7mm model of the station, and I couldn't believe my good fortune as the book includes full scale drawings of the station building in 2mm scale. Pleasingly the scale drawings (from the BR Offices in Glasgow no less) weren't a million miles away from my own attempts using the traditional methods of counting bricks and scaling up from cars and trains in photos. Thanks to everyone who has sent me PM's. The power of RMweb and the generosity of spirit shown by the members is amazing at times. It's going to get harder and harder to resist starting this layout in the flesh until autumn all the time now! cheers David

Exceptional service from Hattons this weekend. Like a number of other posters on this thread, I had also noticed that what always used to be a pretty much guaranteed 48 hour service had slipped to 72 hours in recent times, however I cannot fault my experience this time around. I placed an order on Saturday morning, I was pleasantly surprised to get a picking and packing notification on a Sunday, and delighted to receive the parcel via Yodel on Monday afternoon. Can't fault that. David

More fantastic images, thank you for taking the time to post these everyday. What an odd bit of track work in J6893. It looks like some sort of switched crossing, not a slip of anykind. I wonder why they needed to use this instead of a normal crossing? David

Thanks Jim, That is one of my favourite sites, I have regularly lost hours looking through the disused stations archive! The picture is one of the only ones I've seen which shows anything of the inside of the station building. I've got a closer one of a class 27 at the buffers in the early 70's but there appear to be huge poster-boards behind the buffers which obscure the building itself. I am thinking at this point that if I model the station canopies and the posters behind the buffers no-one will be able to see the back of the station building anyway, so I could get away with a reasonable estimate. Cheers David

Hi everyone, I am starting to plan a new layout, it is unlikely that any wood will be harmed until August at the earliest. So far the only investment I have made in this project is a sketch pad in which I am starting to draw scale elevations of buildings, list suitable rolling stock and make notes. I am aware that the Scottish BLT is rapidly becoming my generation's version of the GWR BLT cliché, but I reckon this is inevitable as those of us who were trainspotters as kids in the early 80's look for nostalgic prototypes, in the same way as the previous generation of modellers looked to the WR branchline for the same fix. My thoughts at this early stage are: Largely based upon the old Fort William station which closed in 1975. I will add an extra siding on the "loch side" with a freight unloading platform and end loading dock. Maybe also some platform mounted fuel tanks for Mallaig style fuel deliveries. No run round facilities - like the prototype at FW. Trains will be shunt released by the pilot - a blue class 20 with an Eastfield terrier on the bonnet. The scenic board will be 4ft x 1ft to fit in my allocated storage space at home. This will comfortably allow 4 coach trains with a diesel loco which are less than 2 1/2 feet long in N gauge. I will use 9mm finescale "FiNetrack" throughout the scenic section. I have contemplated building by own in copperclad, but feel this is a sensible compromise. I may well commission professionally built base boards. I feel carpentry is my weakest area when layout building. I only have my garden as a workshop, a basic folding saw-bench to work on and basic DIY hand tools, while this is fine to knock-up a crude single board. I don't think I have the time, skill, tools or equipment to produce two boards with folding legs, which align and are level to a good enough standard. I have done loads of reading and research, I have notes on most areas, but I have a couple of very specific questions. Please let me know if you can help. 1. In all the photos of the mixed trains synonymous with the lines around Inverness in the 80's the wagons seem to be marshalled in the same way. The oil tanks to Mallaig always appear to be at the rear of the train behind the coaches. The single freightliner flat which ran between Aberdeen and Wick always seems to be between the loco and coaches at the front of the train. Was this always the case, or are all the photos I've found just coincidentally of trains heading in the same direction? 2. Does anyone have any information about the interior or rail-facing sides of the old Fort William Station building. I have found enough good photos of the loch side and front with the arches and turret to begin making a model, but I cannot find any decent photos of the view into the building from the platforms. Thanks David

Hi Jeremy, Absolutely awe-inspiring thread. Sorry if this has been covered (I've had a read and couldn't see the answer.) but what track system are you using? It looks like fiNetrack, and a bit like 2mm soc Easitrac, but I don't think it is actually either. Are you buying a range of components from different suppliers then doing your own thing? I understand you're using plastic chairs, so I assume you're sticking them to the plastic (?) sleepers with solvent. Are the sleepers drilled with holes for the chairs, or just stuck with solvent? I'm just starting to think about having a go at building some track, and I'd much prefer to work with solvent than solder, so I'm interested in the parts you're using. Cheers David

Just opened my post today and received confirmation that I will be taking Poldeen and Tavistock Road (see the link below) to Exmoor Rail 2016, in Minehead on 6th August.

Thanks Graham, it was the Thorncombe invite from you, and locating me next to the Peco/RM stand which lead to the magazine article and the other exhibition invite!

Hi everyone, I am off to have photos taken for a magazine article about Poldeen tomorrow, so this evening I have given the layout a hoover, cleaned the tracks and had a test run. I'm really looking forward to the experience and seeing the results. Having been playing 1980's for the last few months it was nice to get the EWS/DBS china clay stock out and move the layout from Scotland in 1986 "back to the future" to Cornwall in 2014 as it was built! It also looks like I've got my second exhibition booked in August this year too. Cheers David

Even Hornby would have remembered to mask the windows!

Hi Jimmy, Thanks for the comment. Have a look at my workbench thread (link at the bottom of my posts). I have 3 of these wagons - based upon the ones used in the Colas steel trains to Boston Docks and to South Wales. They are foreign models picked up from Ebay, two are Fleischmann and one is a limited edition from Modellbahn Union. They were all bright red when I got them and have all been re-sprayed. Being European N scale they are slightly the wrong scale. I know the chaps who operate Horsely Fields have changed the bogies on theirs to make them an even better likeness. Cheers David

Thanks for the comment. I find the Dapol couplings excellent - they look much better than a rapido and they are pretty forgiving when fitting them to non-NEM stock. In terms of operation they do the basics faultlessly - they couple and uncouple really well. I have really successful hands-free running round on this layout. HOWEVER - despite no end of fettling and checking I have never managed to get the "delayed action" (i.e. when you uncouple over a magnet then you can push the wagons without re-coupling like you can with Kaydees in 4mm) to work at all. I just don't think that they can physically open far enough in 2mm scale. This means I can only reliably uncouple over the magnet - but they are excellent at this. I also find the Dapol coupler allows you to fit more of the detailing parts as they move less than a rapido. As for the magnets - the Dapol ones are excellent, but I would recommend cutting them in half - they work just as well and a far less obtrusive when cut-down - and you get twice as many for your money! Cheers David

I've posted this in the layout thread, but I like this image, so giving it a go here too. From my N gauge layout. The layout doesn't have a backscene, and I don't have photoshop to add one! Cheers