thegreenhowards

The postman brought a couple of goodies this week. The first was a couple of Interfrigo Van kits, of which more when I’ve made some progress. The other was this delightful signal box commissioned from Ed Hall. I think he’s done a superb job on this and I’m looking forward to seeing it in position. I didn’t specify the exact period, so it’s possible that I’ll need to repaint it, but first I need to work out what period it represents. In other news I’m painting the three completed baseboards, but as I’m sure you don’t want to see pictures of paint drying, I’ll leave them until there’s something more exciting to show! Andy

Thanks for all those photos. Very useful. The Mk1 1 camping coaches are, I believe, after my timeframe. About 1989 I think, becoming green and cream later. But that second camping coach photo is very useful for the look of the land between it and the station building - an angle I hadn’t seen before. interesting that they’ve obviously just removed the track and point to the end on siding with the loading dock. The levels are confusing. Sometimes the loading dock track looks almost level, but this photo shows that it is lower than the signal box and your photo shows that as level with the platform tracks.

Thanks. I’ve been doing a bit of extra research myself on these coaches. There is a good picture on p34 of the West Highland Extension by Tom Noble which shows these camping coaches. Pullman Camping Coach 51 was not actually a Pullman car but was a SECR Royal Train coach. A good description of it is here: https://sremg.org.uk/coach/coupe/coupe_se07.pdf I believe that the other coach was Pullman Camping Coach no 45 which was originally Third Class Car No 47, a 12 wheeler. I assume this is the second coach in the photo, but there’s so little of it to see that I can’t be sure. No 51 was at Glenfinnan from ‘63-‘69 and was joined by No 45 from ‘67-‘69 - this coach had previously been at Lochailort and Arisaig. Andy

I love a J50 - good to see those photos. If I may offer some constructive criticism, I think the vans it’s pulling could do with a trip to Tim!

As I said in my first post, I intend the layout to cover quite a wide time frame from the 1950s until RETB introduction in 1987. So time for a steam loco! Here is my first and only working steamer so far. I acquired this from my friend and fellow RMWebber, @bbishop. All I’ve done so sort out some dodgy pick up arrangements so that it runs smoothly and renumber it to one of the Fort William regulars. This loco features in many West Highland photos of the ‘50s and early ‘60s, so will be at home on my Mallaig fish train or some maroon coaches. I’ll show the stock later once I have more of a layout to pose them on. An alternative use will be on the West Highlander steam train. The preserved K1, 62005 was renumbered to 62052 for a while in the mid 1990s. By this time, I think it was called the Jacobite and had maroon coaches, so I will have to bend the facts slightly as mine will run with green and cream Mk1s. I used Railtec transfers for the renumbering. The smokebox door number and shed plate are 3D water slide transfers. The first time I’ve used these, but they are cost effective and seem to work well. Sorry for the orientation of the photo! Andy

I made some progress on the baseboards yesterday. I now have three frames built and the OSB3 decking fir the track is roughly cut as you can see below. This shot shows the lines descending to the loading bank and camping coach line. I’m still jiggling the exact alignment to make sure I’m happy. I will then cut the deck closer to the track alignment, glue it down and paint the three boards fully before permanent track laying. Andy

I’m making steady progress on the baseboards and I’ll post a progress on them soon. But in the meantime, I thought I’d share some stock photos. This is my latest acquisition for Glenfinnan. One of the new Heljan 37/4s which came in unnumbered form. It seems to be an improvement on previous Heljan offerings with things like bogie chains included as standard and better fitting brackets for the snow ploughs. I have based it on my favourite 37/4, using Fox nameplates and Railtec transfers. I spent last night attaching all the pipes for which Heljan supply a comprehensive selection and some spares. I also filled in the hole for the RETB mast and painted the head code box which looks fine in the flesh but looks a bit wonky in the photo - any suggestions on how I get that straight?! It’s supposed to be in early condition representing the period between naming on 1/9/86 and RETB in Dec 1987. I.e. similiar to the photo below but without the RETB kit (and rather less dented!). I’m not sure whether the white ended pipe under the left buffer on mine should be attached as I can’t see it in the photo. Anyone know what this was for? I’ve just done one end of the pipes for now as the other end will be coupled to the coaches and I can’t couple it up with everything attached! Andy

I know that none of my kit built chassis worked well before you showed me how. And I still find that part of a kit build the hardest and most stressful. They take a lot of fettling. I’m much happier putting a body on a RTR chassis when I can find one of the correct dimensions.

Bill, My understanding is that the camping coach was there in the 1960s (a Pullman) and then absent until reintroduced when the museum opened. I’d like to include one if possible. Do you know of one which was there in the 1980s? You mention two platform shelters and two signal cabins. Do you have any photos of the second one of each? Regards Andy

Hi Bill, Thanks for the offer of photos. I have found a lot on Flickr, but there were probably lots of useful ones on RMWeb which got lost in the meltdown earlier this year. I’m using 1983 as my base year, so although I’ll run trains from a much wider timespan I’m trying the base the scenery and infrastructure on that year. A lot has changed now, so I suspect many of your visit photos will be too modern, but hopefully some will be useful. I think I have enough of the running lines and station building now, but anything you could help with in the following areas would be useful. 1. The waiting shelter on the up platform. Anything which shows the back and insides. 2. The back and top of the water tank as seen in this photo. 3. The lamp hut and wooden shed on the loading dock, East of the signal box. Any more detail than below, particularly dimensions. 4. This little hut in the mid distance by the point. I think this may have appeared after 1983, so I may not need to model it, but any info would be appreciated. 5. Any more pictures of this concrete shed which was between the signal box and station building. I think it’s been replaced by something bigger and more modern but equally unattractive now. 6. Any information on the line which the camping/ dining coach is on. I know it drops quite considerably below the level of the running lines but can’t quite work out the orientation round the back of the signal box and how quickly it drops. How far below the running lines is the camping coach? I.e. what happens behind where the photographer is standing for this shot. Ernie’s Railway Archive has been a godsend! Regards Andy

Hi Bill, Your layout came up very frequently when I was researching mine. Sadly I never saw it but it looks good online. I’d welcome your comments as I proceed. As for my pride and joy, she was my first car, bought in 1989. She’s now a bit like triggers broom(!) but has been used consistently ever since and was our only car until my son was born in 2003. Regards Andy

I've made some progress on the layout. I've finalised a plan based off my mock up on the old boards. Here is it drawn up in Anyrail. I've had to bodge the point geometry as Anyrail doesn't have templates for my eclectic range of points. Squares are 1 foot. I've also bought the timber. After some online research and discussions at the timber yard I decided on 9mm OSB3 for the track bed. The boards will be open frame with planed 3x1 timber. I will paint the whole lot with exterior paint (primer, undercoat and topcoat) to protect it before track laying begins. Here is my friend Peter helping me build the first board. He is a much better carpenter than me, so he's helping me with the first board and I hope to be able to replicate that for the others. I finished the framework for the first board (blue board above) last night. The drop on the right is to allow me to represent the land falling away on the right as you leave Glenfinnan heading East. I just need to add the track deck now. Any comments welcome. Andy

It’s good to see the sleeping cars again. Are they behaving themselves after Tony sorted out the couplings?

Having seen these in the flesh tonight, I have to say they look fantastic. You’re really getting that teak painting and lining sussed and the speed you churn them out is amazing. You’ll be stocking the whole club layout soon!

I have some similar uncouplers on my 00 sold by Heathcote electronics and using a servo to push up a rectangle of plastic. They use clear plastic to render then less obtrusive.

IGetting away from the DCC debate, today I finished my SR Q Class which I last showed on here back in July before painting. Today the cab number plates arrived from Light Railway Stores. They offer an excellent service producing a bespoke set of plates for £4.95 including postage. Anyway, I stuck them on this afternoon, and here she is finished. Regards Andy

With some Zimo decoders (and maybe others?), there is a bit of software which checks for connectivity as a loco stops and moves it forward a mm or two if not until it finds connectivity. This definitely helps starting on slightly dirty track. Obviously one should not have dirty track to start with….but in the real world it dies happen. Andy

Tony, I think it depends on what you mean by ‘operate’. Both Gresley Jn and my O gauge garden railway are regularly switched to DC to run locos in or let a friend run something he’s brought along. But they can’t be operated fully because there are no isolating sections, so they work on a ‘one engine in steam’ principal. I guess that’s similar to when LB is used for testing DCC locos? The main difference that I don’t have to remove or isolate all my DCC locos - they just sit there ignoring the DC signal as I’ve changed the CV to ensure they don’t work on DC (mainly to eliminate the problems I mentioned earlier). As for point control, I was DC but I’m increasing going ‘digital’. I use my index finger to pull a lever and the point/ signal is changed manually by some rodding. More satisfying and very simple. Regards Andy

Good Morning `Tony, I dont think it would upset locos not fitted with a chip. I think it must have been a combination of the short and the chip which sent a rogue signal to the Portescap. I suspect your high power controllers may have exacerbated the situation but I have blown up a chip on another DC layout and a chip on yours on a separate occasion (last Summer when we did the photos for BRM although I didn’t realise what the problem was at the time and it was only a £10 chinese one). I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that DC and DCC don’t mix and I no longer run my DCC locos on DC layouts except in very carefully controlled ways. I do sometimes convert layouts (mine and other peoples) between the two to allow all locos to run. It’s much safer that way. Andy

I think the issue with that particular incident was that DC doesn’t cut out with a short circuit in the same way as DCC does. It also may be related to LB running on considerably more than 12V DC. I don’t think it was related to the live chassis as the problem was caused by running into a live frog point which was wrongly set. The decoder was actually fine after a reset. However the Portescap was fried. You don’t need to apologise for it though. You kindly showed me how to replace the motor which was a new and slightly scary experience for me at that time and that was very useful training (I now do it very regularly). Regards Andy

I tend to agree, with some reservations. I have several live frame locos running on DCC. It’s no problem provided that shorts are ruthlessly tracked down and eliminated as they are more serious in DCC than with DC. With 0-6-0s it’s no problem but floppy bogies can short out and have to be sorted out with a combination of insulating through araldite or tape and making less floppy. The only insurmountable problem is live frame motors which have to be replaced. Having said that, when I’m building from scratch (rather than sorting out a secondhand purchase), I tend to build fully insulated for robustness with driver wiper pick ups and a stayalive if necessary. Andy

Without wishing to reopen another favourite debate (well perhaps just a little!), the same can be achieved very simply with a DCC chip and a stayalive! I’ll now duck! Andy

Lovely photos Andy. You could have photoshopped my ugly mug out of them though! Andy

Indeed! Although that part of the plan is very much in the long term!

Thanks Rob, I don’t think any garden could do justice to Glenfinnan’s scenery! I don’t have enough level changes to really get the height right but I am planning a water feature giving a run alongside a ‘loch’. I’d love to do the viaduct but that would be over two feet tall, so quite a challenge to fit in! As for cost, I clearly couldn’t afford a fleet like yours but the track work is not too bad if bought secondhand. What you see in the photo cost under £200. And at least the prices of rolling stock are reasonably stable as economies of size from the growing market cancel out the prevailing price pressures. OO seems to be catching up fast! Andy