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Picture 3 seems to be missing Andy ?? The one showing the underside ... as it's rolled over onto it's roof !!

The rainstrip on the roof is a feature of the BCKs, hope this helps.

I also meant to comment on this photo when posted which really took my eye with both the contrast between the red of the locomotive and stock with the whiteness of the snow / heavy frost but also the sense of power and speed of the train swirling up the snow with the stillness and freshness of the cold, still frosted grass and grey steel steelwork of the overhead line equipment .... a real photo to stir the senses, thanks for posting. Regards, Ian.

You've also managed to capture a nice side view of a debranded ESSO TTA from the 56xxx range which will be a future modelling conversion for me in N gauge using a Farish model as a starting point (twin ladders to be replaced by a single end ladder, etc, as seen on the WHL.) Lovely photo of a much missed era for me (in more ways than one), thanks for posting. Regards, Ian.

I won't ask how you know ! LoL

Am enjoying seeing how you are making the cutting come alive, Rob, it's certainly got that West Highland look and feel about it. Also, that is a superb photo by Bruce Galloway that you've found there, it would make a great wall picture or interesting an basis for a painting (if I could paint, that is !) Regards, Ian.

I agree (although you've missed out the OCA) a Medfit could also be a good contender for being the last wagon in the train. As regards the date, there is another photo in the series which I have posted elsewhere in the "you wouldn't get away with it at an exhibition" thread (or something like that) which is of the Northbound freight train departing the station over track with some very newly laid ballast which makes me think that the Engineers train that we are discussing might have been involved with the reconstruction of the Oban and Fort William junctions layout (possibly 1986/7ish ??) I won't repost that photo here as I'm rather conscious that we are drifting away from Paul's layout subject.

I love this time of year just before the trees burst back into leaf as the birds are quite happy in their songs and due to the lack of foliage are a little easier to spot. Pleasant recent sightings have involved watching Long Tailed Tits, a Gold Crest, a rather alarmed Nuthatch although I couldn't see what in particular was upsetting him, a couple of crows several trees away perhaps. I also had a close encounter with a low flying Sparrowhawk which gave me a wonderful view with a fairly slow flypast just above headheight. The main reason for this post, though, is that my trusty 20+ year old pocket monocular is starting to lose it's effectiveness, the lenses becoming a little loose and cloudy despite me trying to clean and tighten them. I just wondered what other people use as I've not found my small pair of pocket binoculars very effective, taking a lot longer to focus and adjust correctly. I'm afraid that I can't now remember the make of my monocular but it came with another fitting which made it into an excellent macro / micro lens if required. Any suggestions as to what might make a good replacement, please.

Hello Dave, I've been studying this photo for a couple of days now (not continuously ...LoL) and would be interested in your thoughts regarding the helix incline / decline spirals that you've built. Did you use a kit to form them or are they home grown ? I have come to the conclusion that the only way that I can achieve 'the N gauge layout of my dreams' is by incorporating a helix system somewhere in the plan to achieve multi level running so I would appreciate any thoughts or experience you've encountered regarding your build ie. stability, practicality, incline percentage rate and just generally how successful they are in use. I appreciate that you are running mainly electric and odd diesel locos which have good haulage capabilities. Whilst 90s electrics are maybe not my thing (80s maybe) I do enjoy seeing what high standards others and yourself are achieving with modern N gauge in creating interesting layouts which really capture the feel and atmosphere of the time period in which they are set ... so keep up the good work, I hope that I can also achieve this goal with my own layout in the coming years. Kind regards, Ian.

Well I like them, I certainly wish that I could fly like they do. I'm sure that it's the black and white bars on a woodpidgeons wings that inspired the D-Day landing aircraft markings, ie instantly recognisable. Hmmm, is it wrong to want to come back as a pidgeon next time around, I wonder ?? (LoL)

That all looks to be coming along very nicely, Rob, the rock cutting looks particularly effective and in the last photo you've definitely captured the 'lie of the land' in preparation for your 'green' invasion. Best wishes, Ian.

Sorry @peak experience I misread your post and got timed out on my first rework of my reply. Slight confusion but the wagon behind the OBA in the Engineers train is a BASS OCA but if you mean the wagon on the track behind then this is a 12ton Plasser & Theurer Mobile Crane for which there is another thread somewhere. The Starch wagon is in the 2nd photo, the black and white CPC wagon which is heading for Corpach, I'm not certain but I think that it is carrying Caustic Soda. Regards, Ian.

I'd like to think that I might manage a small layout at some point, probably fictitious such as the proposed Bamburgh extension, Beadnell harbour or maybe a totally made up line to Craster (with it's quarry and kipper smoking houses) which I know have all been done before but a couple of other projects need doing first in N and 3mm (original TT ... not the new Hornby venture.) I have the MW 'L' kit and a Dapol Sentinel, plus a few others in 7mm (possibly a Y7 (can't remember)) but I still need to buy some Connoisseur coaches, a J79 ... and 'The Lady Armstrong.' I've also got most of these items in 3mm scale as I try to buy things whilst I can (the 3mm Y7 has already been built.) A lovely little line and a beautiful area. Regards, Ian.

Thankyou for the reply and the appraisal of the kit, I'm probably in a similar position to you in that my interest lies with the North Sunderland Railway (I was up there just a few months ago) and so will probably give the kit a go anyway despite it's failings. Thanks for the mention of the axle / gearbox incompatibility issue, as they say forewarned is forearmed, as most of my etched loco experience is with 3mm scale kits I may be able to find a solution within the 3mm Society members. I think it would probably be wise of me to build a couple of my (old style) Agenoria kits first before tackling the Alphagraphix one, the last 7mm loco that I built was the small Greenwood & Batley loco that John Taylor (Uncommon Kits) sells and I stalled at the 90% complete stage when I decided that it would be better with a Delrin Chain drive, which I'm afraid is stiil on the 'to do' list; some of the issues, or preferences that you have found sound to be similar to the G&B kit, ie couplings and buffers. Anyway, thanks again, I'll give it some more thought before I commit. Regards, Ian.

Hello Rob, Could you mask Mallaig Jct with trees and bushes so that they just block out the stabled trains from normal seated viewing but not so high as you can't easily reach over them when stood up to do the necessary fiddling, you could then paint mountains onto the back wall behind Mallaig Jct which would give an element of distance and perspective when seated, although the wall angle change might not help with this ?? *Possibly a combination of both Paul's and my own suggestion might work best as removable 'jigsaw' scenic sections would make maintenece work on Mallaig Jct easier. Regards, Ian.

Morning Rob (and all), The only Ferry van of a 'similar' design to the Rapido one that I can think of on the WHL was part in the Chipman's weedkilling train that toured the lines in 1989 behind two of the Hunslet Barclay class 20s ... so probably a bit late for you, I posted a photo link to this recently in the Weedkilling train thread so won't repeat it here. The vans that we found photos of a couple of pages back associated with Oban trains are of a different design and I have a similar dilemma to you in that the NGS are about to release 2 versions similar to Rapido's, neither in the Dutch livery of the weedkilling train. In view of the fact that I'm unlikely to see a RTR model in N gauge of the type seen at Oban I think that I will probably just use these as 'lookylikeys' .... unless I get very, very brave with a scalpel and razor saw ! That's not to say that photos of the Rapido version (which is a superb model) don't exist on the WHL ....we just haven't found them yet ! (LoL) Regards, Ian.

Just called at FM&Rs, no Hanson's lorries to be seen but at least 3 Base Toys Leyland Octopus tipper lorries in Charringtons Blue / Silver livery on the shelves if they are any good for a repaint. Cheers, Ian.

Nothing to add from me I'm afraid, Dave, my list is the same as yours except that I've included 56090 and 58040 'Cottam Power Station' which are both seen as reaching the Flockton Exchange sidings in Flickr photos from 1993. I'm afraid that it's a while ago now that I looked deeply into this potential project and I haven't noted down which Flickr sources I found other than the Album that you posted the link to and a few from Gordon Edgar's albums; I know that I kept on finding new photos by varying my searches beyond just British Oak, ie using words like Crigglesstone Collieries, Calder Grove and any other combination that I could think of like NCB Wakefield, Yorkshire Mining Museum, Caphouse Colliery and references to the barge operations, etc. My main sources being the two articles in the IRS's Industrial Railway Records 187 & 194 and also their Industrial Loco reference book IRS 8A for loco working dates. Paul Lunn makes reference in his British Oak project piece in the Santona Publications Planning and Design book to an article in Scale Model Trains April 1991 but I've never (yet) managed to see a copy of this. It was Paul's work in the Santona book that set me off looking into this system, I've got a good few 7mm locos and kits already in the 'to do' pile but really need to do my West Highland N gauge layout first (whilst I can still see the bloody things !!) I'm off down to Frizinghall M&Rs shortly, I'll have a look for any of the Hanson's lorries whilst I'm there. Regards, Ian.

If you'll forgive me just one more tank train photo to share, please Rob, I came across this image yesterday showing not one but two of the noticeably larger 51t tank wagons included in this 1985 consist, 3rd and 8th wagons, bound for Oban. (This is actually 1/3 of the class type built in 1977 by Procor, coded TUB - see p.286/7 of Petroleum Rail Tank Wagons of Britain (R. Tourret.) for more details including dimensions.) Photo by RobT653 ....his 'In Scotland' album is worth looking at, not all WHL photos in the 4 pages but some very interesting shots from 1985-87. Another fine shot of your Crianlarich Jct in today's photos, Rob, which is very useful to me as I consider baseboard design and construction over the next few days. Regards, Ian.

Frustratingly for me I learn't to drive in 1985/6 and used to visit nearby Healey Mills several times a year armed with my Pentax ME Super ... but I never realised that the British Oak system even existed so no photos or information of my own to offer, I'm afraid. By the time I became interested in Industrial railway sites, inspired by where I live close to the defunct Esholt Sewage Works system and Bylines magazine, I'd missed most of them ! I've managed to gather a bit of information about the site since but only from the usual sources of published articles although I enjoyed a good conversation with Paul Lunn on the telephone during lockdown about it, I think that he has a rather good collection of info on the site. I did manage to walk the dogs around the remains of the BO Staithes area and trackbeds a few years ago just to get a feel for the place .... if only I'd known sooner, oh well, as I said, I look forward to seeing how you develop this. Regards, Ian.

Run out of time to finish weathering your VGAs before the exhibition begins ? Photo by Robert Cutter.

I'm looking forward to seeing this develop, Dave, as like others it is a site that has interested me for quite a while and just maybe, one day, I'll actually get around to doing something about it. I'm sure that you've done your homework on the locos that visited the site but I just thought that I'd post this link to the other Class 08 (other than 08016) that I know visited ... just in case you want a 'fancy' named loco to model and hadn't come across it. https://railscot.co.uk/img/28/81/ Unlike you I love the Class 14s in this livery and was most impressed with noise that they make having travelled behind one on the Nene Valley a few years ago, up to then I hadn't paid them much attention. There's certainly a good few locos to be modelled to give some variety to operating sessions, anyway good luck with the project. Regards, Ian.

As usual I'm very late to finding many threads that interest me but can I ask if this build is (was) using the Alphagraphix kit, please and if so how did you find it. I've currently vowed not to buy any more 7mm kits until I have built some of the ones in my stash ... but this one might tempt me to part with some cash, I think. Kind regards, Ian.

I'm enjoying reading the RM article and can I thank you for including the 77L storage box dimensions as I've been wondering about trying to build something that could be kept in one but couldn't navigate the RUB website (I think others have found this also) so being able see your finished layout and knowing that it can be stored in one of these is, well, 'really useful' !! I shall be keeping this article along with 3 others for further scrutiny when I dispose of the unwanted parts of the magazine later. Regards, Ian.

Now that photo is just missing a suitably mini snow plough fitted 37 .... before Spring arrives !