young37215

The current focus of my efforts is on my variation of the Craigenarden viaduct which bridges a steep ravine and feeds into a rocky cutting. I have been uncertain about the baseboard until I looked again at the picture below which made me realise that I needed to change what I had built. Original baseboard was flat to the right of the viaduct meaning there was no space to continue the downwards gradient of the ravine. I cut the baseboard in two and re-attached the front piece at a lower level using a 35mm piece of batten. This created the space to continue the slope to the front of the viaduct which I create from polystyrene and will cover in plaster cloth once I am happy with the shape. Testing to ensure the viaduct slots back in to the gaps in the polystyrene. I'll finish the plaster cloth and scenery to the rear before reinstating the viaduct.

I have been paying particular attention to fencing whilst watching video, partly out of feeling guilty that I choose to ignore it and partly because I wanted to test my notion that fencing is rarely visible. As it is the more I see, the more I feel vindicated because for a significant amount of the time it takes real effort to identify any fencing so for now I will continue to worry about other challenges and sleep safely in the knowledge that fencing is not a big deal. The pictures and video of Ardlui lead me to the conclusion that the mountain scenery on WHL4 above the station is not sufficently extensive or dense. Fortunately the mild autumn has helped the greenery around Ardlui thicken up, hopefully the mild weather will continue and there will be more growth. Alternatively I'll just have to add more Woodland Scenics trees, bushes and fine leaf foliage. 37043 and 37011 change crews whilst crossing at Ardlui with off setting freight workings that start and end at Mossend and Corpach.

I am currently plotting how best to embed the viaduct into the surrounding landscape at the southern end of the recently built rock cutting. I have not quite got what I want yet but am making progess. Following on from yesterday and still at Garelochead, 37085 arrives with 1T32, 1226 ex Oban where it crosses 37049 and 7B13.

My failings with the camera have some upsides, I think the haze is actually due to excess light which I clearly failed to allow for when taking the picture. Still on the subject of Fort William and whilst seeking out further information relating to the signals, I found a 1982 picture showing the bracket signal on the end of the platform. No major differences to the one of 37422 above but 37190 in 1982 is smack in the middle of WHL4's time window so I will use this as my reference going forward. Meanwhile further south 37049 is seen arriving at Garelochead with 7B13, 1250 ex Mossend to Corpach. 37049 was a late arrival on the WHL for my 1980-85 time period and the largely 'out of the box' loco is ripe for renumbering to a longer time served WHL loco.

I think the 1976 photo answers my original question and proves my earlier hypothesis wrong. I am sure that FW33 was only installed around 1975 as part of the new station arrangments. Prior to that I believe that all signaling in the area was semaphore. When I expand the picture of FW33 I think I can see a blanking plate indicating FW33 was 3 aspect from installation with the top light blanked off. That will do for my early 1980's planning purposes, my original picture of FW33 appears to be the same signal and I consider it highly unlikely that anything has changed since 1976. Roughly behind the class 27 in the picture of FW33. My knowledge of the distillery connection is zero, I have only ever known the siding as a derelict one used occassionally for dumping a defective coach or two. Thanks to everyone for their input, it is much appreciated.

Interesting, in the context of my question this supports my view that the signal erected in 1975 was originally 3 aspect with the green element covered/removed at a later date. This is pretty evident from the picture above, if BR had been installing 2 aspect signals then it is inconceivable to me that a 3 aspect would be installed with the green plated over. The signal also has a calling on signal which would have been used for entering an occupied platform. Back to the original question, when did the signal get reduced to 2 aspect?

That is the nub of my question, I believe that the signal originally, as built in 1975, had all 3 aspects working but I stand to be corrected by someone more knowledgeable. I model the early 1980's and want to be clear on how the signal should be built for my time period.

The new Fort William station opened in 1975 with MAS (multiple aspect signals) or lights as many of us call them. I want to add 2 of the MAS signals to my model of Fort William, the bracket pair on the end of the platform and the single 3 aspect signal that controls entry to the station. My intention is to have Absolute Aspects do a 'custom build' and I am in the process of collecting pictures for their reference. Pictures of the platform bracket signal are relatively easy to find, the one below is the best that I have found so far. The single 3 aspect which is somewhere behind the 3rd coach is more difficult to find pictures of. I have managed to take a picture from a Youtube video dating back to 2009 which shows all of the necessary detail. It also shows that the 3 aspect has had its green light blanked off, presumably in line with current practice of using amber to control access to a terminus station. I am pretty certain that the signal originally had all 3 aspects working, my question is when was this changed?

Back to Fort William and 37081 with the southbound 1245 Mallaig to Glasgow arrives from Mallaig. Loco detaches to run round Run round Station throat needs some work which will wait until signals have been acquired and fitted Awaiting departure for Glasgow

Warley was unspectacular with a smaller footprint than I recall previously but well worth the effort of attending. It was nice to meet up with @Mallaig1983 and plot how we might acquire a sizeable number of plastic fish boxes for the pile we both need at our respective versions of Mallaig. I was also looking around at the variety of MAS signalling available and was most impressed by what Absolute Aspects offer. I need to carify a couple of points with them first but then an order for the 2 MAS required at Fort William looks likely. On the subject of Mallaig, 37026 is seen arriving with 0834 Ex Glasgow and after running round the rolling stock, awaiting its return back south with the 1610 departure.

Managed good bit of running yesterday with everything working well and plenty of pictures taken along the way. Off to Warley today, not sure what to expect but it will be nice to get to an large exhibition for the first time in several years. The 4k HD offering from Scotrail is fabulous for the scenery, albeit 40 years later than I would have liked a video!. It is really useful reference material with the clarity of picture so superior to the video taken back in the 1980's.

Hi Andy Exactly what I was hoping/intending, we just need to find a small supplier that will take on the job. The Harburn Hobbies option warrants some consideration but a bulk order looks prohibitively expensive. A bit of research is on my list for my trip to Warley tomorrow, watch this space. https://www.harburnhobbies.co.uk/acatalog/info-2068.html#SID=146

Large quantities of fishboxes and the secure compound are evident in the picture below. I'll investigate the mass production options for the fish boxes, given the quantities involved I favour sub contracting this to someone with the technical means to 3D print or create resin molds.

I planted a few more trees on the new scenic section south of Ardlui but am constrained as to how many I can add because there is a narrow window where a tree does'nt obstruct the drivers view of the signal or start to intrude into the Fort William area. There is also consideration of the fact that ready made trees are expensive. That said I managed to buy some more yesterday from Wayland Games who were having a 'Black Friday' sale where quite a bit of Woodland Scenics stuff was discounted up to 30% which enabled me to re-stock following the planting at Ardlui. It is also nice to be able to spend some time operating again, 37085 this time is seen arriving and departing Ardlui over the new scenic area with 1T32, 1226 Oban to Glasgow. The wonky home signal seen in the last couple of pictures has been re-glued in place following my knocking it loose during the scenic work. The repair was easy, getting the servo to actuate the signal correctly was not.

Hi Andy You are making good progress. Two questions for you, until I read your post above I was unaware of the secure compound. Now that I am aware I have been looking for pictures but I am only finding snapshots of the compound at the edge of pictures. Do you have any good reference pictures? Secondly is fish boxes; how are you planning to get the significant pile that 1980's model should have? I am think that 3D printing might be an option.

Substantive progress on the southern end of Ardlui at last with scenic material added and a few trees planted. Still work to do but I have done the bulk of the task, I'll plant more trees and add bushes etc over time. Next will be the area leading from the new cutting onto the viaduct heading further south towards Arrochar. Scenic material from Woodland Scenics coarse turf range added Testing is required, 37033 heads north with the Alcan hoppers

A slow day yesterday largely because the previous days Sculptamold had not hardened sufficiently to work on it. I managed to paint a few small areas and added some more Sculptamold to infill gaps but progress was limited. On touch this morning the Sculptamold is still damp and probably needs another 24 hours before painting. No big deal, I need to cast some more rock and can always just play trains. The view of the cutting from the viaduct looking towards Ardlui, additional rock casts will be added The rising gradient away from Ardlui towards the cutting Birds eye view of the cutting, I cannot ballast any further until the viaduct is fixed in place because the rail needs to lift up to allow access to the viaduct Embankment on the approach to Ardlui duly Sculptamolded

Could you not weather the stain and treat it as some form of natural damage?, much simpler and probably not to far removed from reality. Pristine building can look smart but reality is most buildings have some discolouration from being exposed to the elements. Your Burton building is a good age in your era modelled, I doubt it was not showing signs of wear and tear. I love using weathering to hide my mistakes and faux pas along the way, it probably explains why so much of my layout is weathered!

Hi Bill. All rocks are coloured with Woodland Scenics paints applied using the techniques in their 'How to colour plaster rocks' video on Youtube. The WS paints are easy to use and deliver good results based on my experience. Yesterday I painted about 50% of the surface area of plaster cloth laid the previous day with emulsion. I am not sure about the colour but it is the same tub of paint that I used at Ardlui; I might add a wash of a darker paint as a second coat. The remaining area was treated with a combination of plaster cloth and Sculptamold which, assuming it is all dry this morning, will leave me free to paint these areas later today. There will be a little fine tuning required and some more Sculptamold work but if all goes well I might just get a base layer of scenic material down on the by the end of the day.

WS = Woodland Scenics, the wire they use is very thin and challenging to work with. I'll keep trying with resistors to see what can be achieved. The WS electrical controller appears similar to the "Mini DC Motor Speed Control Driver Board" in that the power level can be adjusted from each of the 4 outputs individually. Some progress yesterday, I managed to complete 90% of the cutting using WS molds and infilling gaps with plaster to create the rock face I was looking for. This is a removable section in order that I can access the Fort William baseboard that lives directly above. I then started the process of adding plaster cloth to the polystyrene based mountains and managed about 50% of the task before giving up for the day. Some more plaster cloth work and a few areas of Sculptamold should see this move a long way forward. Cutting is given its first coat of paint Cutting drops neatly into place Shaped polystyrene awaits plaster cloth

Thanks Ian, the lights are a pain in the rear but they do add something. The first LED strip I used was just a few weeks ago under the canopies at Fort William. There are various types of lighting, all are LED's all powered from the same 12V, 8Amp sources that power the Megapoints network except for the WS kit. I have used whatever light I can find to best represent that found on the real thing, some are 12V DC, some 5V DC. Of the 5V some came with a resistor fitted, others required supplied resistors fitting. The only really thin wires are those on the Woodland Scenics Plug and Play which are a faff, everything else has 7/0.2 wire as a power source. All in all a real cross section of what is available, the only thing I do'nt like is the thin WS wire which is difficult to work with. The rest were all easy enough to put together. What I do not know is how to reduce the brightness of the 12V LED's, can anyone tell me? The mountainside saga continues, my efforts to make it look like the track bed has been blasted through a rock cutting are beginning to bare fruit but it is taking time. Line climbs away from Ardlui Gradient peaks at the entry to the cutting before falling down towards the viaduct Ruler used to shows the how the profile of the land would have been prior to the railways construction.

The mountain construction is taking longer than I anticipated, hopefully I am getting closer to finishing. For a break I spent a few minutes wiring up an LED strip to fit into the station building. It looks fine although a little on the bright side. I'll fit the wires properly once I've sorted the station lamp that is currently out.

Polystyrene and glue the order of today, progress has been slow but is begining to show signs of what I am looking for. To break up the monotony I recorded another video, this time 37051 heads 7D19 at Garelochead. The loco could have been louder although in fairness it was heading downhill.

Spent some time chopping polystyrene and glueing it in place to create the outline of the scenery leading south from Ardlui. It is a fiddly business which shows little for the effort until you get to the stage of adding plaster cloth and paint. Hopefully I will be at that stage by the end of the week. In between creating a snow storm whilst cutting polystyrene, a few trains were moved. 37178 had charge of 0700 Mallaig to Glasgow seen waiting departure at Ardlui where it passed a northbound Regional Managers observation salon hauled by 27041.

Don't hold your breath but it seems the Portishead branch has actually been approved. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-63633295