young37215

Fantastic work and a comprehensive report on what is being done. Given the propensity for water to to collect internally and create corosion, is there anyway that additional drainage can be introduced at the various 'hot spots'?   

Brilliant report, it is fantastic to see the old girl getting the well deserved repair and renewal she needs. It must help that she is spending much of the winter this year under cover in the steam sheds. I know that the GWSR has more diesels than it has diesel shed space but wonder how she can be kept dry in future winters which can ony reduce the rate at which she dilapdiates.

In your spare time all you need now is to find a second hand boiler to fit so that 26043 can go back to heating trains as she did for most of her life on BR! 

Richard of Everard Junction fame also uses Scultpamould extensively and speaks well of it.  His latest Youtube video contains a chunk of time in the middle given over to using Scultpamould

This is a great start to what should be an informative blog. I am a volunteer on 26043's home railway and always enjoy seeing the old girl around the place as she brings back happy memories of bashing Scotland in the early 1980's.

I have the utmost respect for Preservationist's who keep heritage locos running, please keep us up to date with what is happening to her.

If I may, I would comment that the headcode and marker lights appear very bright. This is something I experienced with Loksound chips and their default settings. I managed to address the issue by seeking peoples guidance on this forum, if you are interested the attached link takes you to the discussion and provides dimming solutions for V3.5 and V4 chips. I have applied these to my fleet and in my opinion the changes make a big improvement.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/117575-dimming-headcode-lighting-with-loksound-v4/

Finally I have managed to find a video with the steam service on P2 at Fort William although, admittedly, it is mid 90's. It is on Road to the Isles Part 1 and can be found at 1 hour 26:30 into the video.  

I am not sure how relevant this is anymore but I am glad to have scratched the itch that has been niggling away for several months!

You should make a thread in the layouts section.  The blogs are quite difficult to follow and you would have a lot of interest via that section.

Hi Lee

I agree with you but, in all honesty, I cannot be arsed with the effort!

WHL 3 will be ripped up later this year when I move from a 13' by 11' room into a 45' x 10' loft conversion. When WHL 4 gets off the ground, I will record its evolution as a thread rather than a blog.

regards Rob

OK

Back home and had a look in the 1984 wtt at the steam service. Return Fort William 15.24, next service train not until 17.20. This suggests minimal pressure to exit the platform. However no detail on which platform was scheduled.

Question therefore is was it always P1? I will raise the question

Hi David

I am glad that you like WHL3, it is has provided me with hours of trials and tribulations as well as a great deal of enjoyment. To clarify and put your mind to rest, there is no wrong way running on WHL3 because the semaphore signals still control the line. As you observe, wrong way running started with the advent of RETB.

I bought the green and cream coaches in a moment of exuberance on Ebay. They are the first incarnation of the two sets of Mk1's painted for the steam service and just about fit my period modelled. I will defer to those that know more than me about the steam services regarding the platform used at Fort William because I know little about them. In my mind I recall a video showing a departure from P2 but I cannot recall which video it is!  However I think that in the early days of the reinstated steam service the timings allowed more time for clearing the platform. I am away from home at present and so cannot check my WTT's to clarify but I will when I get home. Whilst WHL3 is a representation and not an absolute facsimile of the west highland line, I would not want to operate inaccurately. As for my dreams of a K1 in green, I am happy to admit this running in the 1980 and 1985 period is pure fantasy on my part because the K1 did not arrive on the line until 1987. Nevertheless, in the event that Hornby produce the K1 in green I will be in the queue for it.   

Thank you your kind words, good luck with your own modelling. 

Hi Ian

The stacking idea concept is copied from a Railway Modeller article dated around 1990 where Chris Thorp (if memory serves correctly) had built an N guage WHL layout using the concept. I have fine tuned it over several iterations of WHL based layouts as it allows you to get far more railway in to a limited space. It is essential that you maintain access to all parts as derailments are guaranteed in the spots you cannot access hence my use of modular/removable scenic sections.

The MSE signals were bought in their completed form as I did not (and do not) have the confidence or capability to make them myself. I did not clean MSE out and they had some signals left over when I last spoke with them 3 months ago. At