young37215

Further progress with the area surrounding the cutting created with Sculptamold and painted. More Woodland Scenics rock moulds have been used in an effort to blend the rocky area into the background where I want to link up with the existing scenery with a seamless join. What will look best for the removable 'roof' over the hidden siding was not obvious to me. I do'nt want anymore height otherwise it will make accessing the cutting difficult. Hopefully a solution will become clearer today. The painted areas should be dry enough to dress with Woodland Scenics materials today which will break the back of the work and allow me to tick it off of the 'outstanding work' list. Sculptamold added to join the cutting to the existing scenery Sculptamold painted and the newly added rocks darkened Looking north through the cutting the new scenic area joins the existing scenery The 'roof' where I am undecided on how best to cover the area.

Cutting placed into its position and initial guaging undertaken. All seems to fit, one tight spot adjacent the left hand cab door in the first picture was easily trimmed back and painted over. In addition to cleaning up the cutting bases and painting them, I additionally hope to fill the gaps between the track bed and the base of the cuttings with a water effect to represent the drainage channels so often found in a cutting. This will have to wait until last, the rails need another coat of sleeper grime before I fix anything in place. The activity for today is extending and linking the existing scenery to complete the new area up to the removable sections.

Interesting thoughts on the reasons for the trunking installation. As 03060 has identified, the trunking that I have seen only extends as far as the signals which is one of a number of reasons that I favour the power for replacement oil lamps hypothesis. Glen Sloy's assertion also makes sense and it should'nt be too difficult to test as it should be easy to identify where overhead cabling has disappeared. Any excuse for another wander through Flickr! I have the Allen Jackson signalling book which is good reading with a decent chunk of WHL signalling albeit focusing on the post RETB era. I have made progress with the rock cuttings. Starting with the moulds already glued down, I added liquid casting plaster using a plastic jug to infill the variety of gaps. This was easy enough with a very satisfying outcome. I then applied leopard spotting using Woodland Scenics acyrilics and finally added a wash of their slate grey to finish. I may add some more slate grey or black washes depending on how dark the dried cutting faces turn out. Irrespective of this the results are fantastic, I am delighted with the outcome which was so easy to achieve and gives me confidence I can produce that the larger areas of rock I have planned to an acceptable standard. Most importantly I was able to clean up the utility room after painting so that my wife is blissfully unaware of the work. Infilled rock moulds Simple plastic jug used to mix and pour the plaster Painted and largely completed rock faces

The issue of cable trunking and why it was installed continues to occupy my mind. I continue to favour the trunking being for power supply intially for signal lighting and subsequently RETB lights but the evidence from pictures is inconclusive in supporting this. For example: Ardlui 1978, has trunking Wheras Garelochead as late as 1984 had no trunking By August 1986 trunking had been installed, the picture below shows signs of disturbance in the ballast around the trunking indicating recent activity. I dont suppose that power was installed at the same time which may explain some of the time variances. However all things considered I am no clearer a definitive answer to the reasons for the installation of trunking.

I have'nt seen the ALiExpress before and they look rather nice. That said I already have a number of the Woodland Scenics 'DIY' pine trees and just need to improve my construction technique to make the trees usable. Today I spent some time building the two base's for the rocky cuttings and glueing several rock moulds to the bases. Both bases will be removable so that I retain access to the hidden sidings and the track that leads to the upper section. The glue should harden overnight which will enable me to fill the gaps with additional plaster tomorrow. Once this is complete and all dry I can start painting the rocks. Rock moulds are glued to the base on the workbench. Bases are tested for size, fortunately they fit.

One of the many outstanding tasks I have are the improvments required to the south of Crianlarich. When I created the area to the south of the station I had intended to add fir trees and bought the Woodland Scenics 'build your own' set. These proved more challenging to construct than I had anticipated and the activity stalled leaving just a few spindly bits of fine leaf foliage. Recently I bought some of the ready made fir trees and yesterday I finally got around to planting them. How it should look. How it first appeared on WHL4 How it now looks, more trees would be nice but for now I am happy that the upgrade has considerably improved the appearance of the area. I need to master the WS 'build your own' trees so that I can make the plantation bigger.

A bit of a race down the A82 but we managed to get to Ardlui in time to see 7D12 arriving.

Having crossed 7B13 and with a change of crew at the helm, 37033 departs Crianlarich with 7D12

37108 and 7B13 pass through Crianlarich on their way north.

37033 is viewed arriving at Crianlarich with 7D12 heading south where it will cross northbound 7B13 and the crews will change over.

Nice video Ian, 1970's pre tops material which shows the Kyle line to its best. I do'nt do a lot of Youtube but I did recently find the 1987 clip below. It's interesting in so much as the semaphores have gone but they are still using single line tokens and running on the original lines through stations. Presumably RETB was still being proved at the time of the video being taken. Note also the lack of aerial on the locomotive bonnets.

More freight workings, 37108 heading north with 7B13 seen at Ardlui. The first picture highlights that I should raise the height of the background mountains because these are much higher in real life and need to 'loom' over the station.

Well done, I can thoroughly recommend giving up work. I have not once missed it, the people occassionally but not work itself. So long as you have plenty to keep you active, occupy your time and your mind, I am sure you will have a great time.

I managed a little running yesterday, 37051 was photographed arriving at Crianlarich with 8D12, 0520 Mallaig Junction Yard to Mossend.

A Loksound V4 loaded with Howes sound file and a base reflex speaker sealed in the fuel tank. I like the Howes sound, it is one of the more responsive ones to changes in power with the engine powering up and down rapidly on controller speed changes. Put another way 37085's departure from Ardlui was quite tame given a combination of this and how the SCR drivers typically drove the 37's. Also anyone listening should bare in mind that the sound you hear in the video reflects my Iphone on which it was recorded and your devices speaker in addition to the base reflex installed in the loco.

Nice work Andy. The shed is instantly recognisable as Mallaig.

Doug's montage is a cracking piece of work and highlights how important it is in the production of good video to have seperate driver and film cameraman as the following clip highlights. Hopefully we can get around to doing some more 2 person videos in the coming months.

Nice one Andy. It's not often you get the words 'O gauge' and 'discount' in the same sentence! A low key few days for me, I had my Covid booster last Thursday and have felt off the pace ever since. No complaints, it is just the price of maximising my chances of avoiding the virus. 37085 arriving at Garelochead with 1T32 is the extent of current operations, hopefully I will feel sufficiently lively to return to modeling in the next few days.

Station signs courtesy of John Upton's Eagle Signs have been installed at Garelochead, Ardlui and Crianlarich. 'Passengers must not cross the line' signs also aded at each end of the platform at Arrochar. In isolation these are not a step change but they feel like a dotting of an 'i' or a crossing of a 't' in providing finishing touches. More to the point I like them and am grateful to John for his excellent service.

Ever onwards, I spent sometime yesterday on station road signage which I aim to install today. Whilst operating I also found a couple of minor errors in the WTT although these proved easy enough to adjust to make things work. The 1983 running day continues, 37085 had charge of the first Oban to Glasgow service seen arriving at Ardlui.

The running day continues with everything, famous last words, working smoothly. 37011 had charge of the the first Glasgow to Oban train of the day seen arriving at Garelochead. 37011 will pass the opposite working from Oban at Arrochar.

Definitively the western highlands and nice to see more 'modern' traction appearing.

I am just happy that it all works again, last time when I had a similar issue the controller had to be replaced. Ouch! AT £63 pounds per servo controller I try and get maximum use out of them! RETB and the signal box closures that resulted of the mid 1980's were the time that running directions changed. Not all stations changed, the position of the sidings determined which ones did. Ardlui, Garelochead, Bridge of Orchy all changed, Arrochar and Crianlarich did not. Continued running yesterday where the revised WTT is working well. 37012 handled the 0700 Mallaig to Glasgow seen arriving and running around at Fort William. Finishing off the scenery at Fort William is up to number 3 on the 'to do' list behind the cutting at Graelochead and Mallaig station.

A trouble free day of running trains was the reward for Saturday's patience in sorting out the Ardlui servo controller. Not only does this cover the Ardlui section but because there are only 9 servos at Ardlui and the controller has 12 outputs, it additionally operates 3 of the points at Fort William. Whilst not yet complete I am happy with what I have done so far at Ardlui and apart from adding the station sign, I intend leaving the remaining work. Not only does this approach let me play trains, it allows me time to digest what has been done and decide on what further work is required. 37033 continued its journey north with 7B02 seen passing through Ardlui.

It took longer than I expected, most things usually do, but I managed to sort the servo controller problem. I am not certain but suspect that a fat finger on adjusting one of the servos was the cause of my problem which caused the controller to reset itself. This meant I had to re-programme all 12 servos again. By the end of the day I had everything running smoothly again although there was only limited running time. 37043 passed through Crianlarich heading north with the Alcan hoppers, 6S56.