young37215

Videoing is still work in progress, here is the best of todays efforts; 37026 arriving at Crianlarich with the up sleeper

My second and final WHL4 upload of the day, the football beckons. 37039 arrives at Crianlarich with the evening Oban to Glasgow service. Driving a train and videoing at the same time is not easy, combined with being a bloke and therefore unable to multitask, I need assistance if I am to improve the quality of video.

Youtube can be most frustrating and my camera work is unlikely to see the BBC make me any offers of employment! Nevertheless the first WHL4 video shows 37264 with a Mossend bound freight from Oban departing Arrochar. Lots of work is required to complete Arrochar, I want to fix the area to the right before starting on this so as to avoid disturbances.

I want to publish video of WHL4. As a test I have uploaded an old video from WHL3 to Youtube. If it all works then I will add more content showing WHL4

Thanks Doug, I have tried to make a funnel using foil but without sucess so far. Not sure that I would have been very good on the Krypton Factor! Back to running trains then, the first Oban trains of the day seen as they pass through Crianlarich. First 37039 with the 0740 Oban to Glasgow. 37027 with the 0806 Glasgow to Oban

Fantastic pictures which bring back many memories of the original station. Bristol Parkway was sold locally as being the place to go for free car parking when travelling by train. For many years this was the case before the decision to start charging for car parking was made at some stage in the 1980's. for several years from 1979 I used to park in the short stay car park almost daily whilst out haulage bashing and was only occassionally chastised by the station staff for doing so. What a contrast to the camera controlled prison camp the station car park has become.

One more item for the list of 'requires sorting' to do's ! I had the same issue when joining 20184 and 37011 yesterday. It does not seem to affect the consist but it is an annoyance.

Yesterday was a running day. I had become frustrated at my lack of progress with adding weight to wagons and the upper level trestles to support Fort William depot. I wanted a stress free, positive day and got one with everything working well which has hopefully recharged my motivational batteries. I want to get the baseboards for Fort William in place so that I can get on with Arrochar. I finally managed to get a picture that reflects the feel I want of the gradient from the southern approach to Arrochar There is a lot of wiring on WHL4, this is just the southern end of Arrochar station 37012 heads the down sleeper into Crianlarich 37012 awaits departure from Crianlariich 37085 follows 37012 north with 7B02

WHL 4 is built from Peco track, code 75 in the scenic areas and code 100 in the fiddle yards. Generally I have very few derailments which I attribute largely down to the Peco trackwork. I have 2 exceptions, Bachmann TTA's and Kernow's PRA's, which are the most common derailments by a distance. I have checked the back to backs which are all there or thereabouts correct. I think that the fact that these are two of the lightest wagons running is a major factor so I decided to do some comparison. I 'borrowed' the kitchen scales and started weighing wagons with a view to increasing their weight. TTA weighs 40g PRA weighs 44g OBA weighs 54g A combination of the fact that the OBA's run well and my desire to get all wagons to a similar weight, meant that I decided that I would increase the weights of the TTA and PRA to 53g. As a test I drilled a 2mm hole in the base of TTA (which will be filled in once the liquid lead is added) and attempted to fill the TTA with lead. As can be seen from the amount of lead lieing on the board, it was not easy to fill the TTA. I do'nt want to increase the size of the hole but cannot see any other way of getting the additional weight into the wagon. Any suggestions please?

When starting the layout up this morning, 012's headcode light functioned perfectly. The power of re-booting seems to have been the cure, it looks like I could get a job on an IT Help Desktelling everyone 'to switch it off and back on again'!

Thanks to everyone for their contributions, I now feel much better placed to make decisions about where I go next. Whilst I think everyone agrees the ECoS is a good system, the current weaknesses of ESU's remote has knocked ECoS off of the top of my list of potential controllers. Even if a new updated remote emerges in the coming months, it will be some time before it earns any sort of reputation. Back to the drawing board for now, fortunately my Prodigy does everything I need from it at present.

Two Loch named 37's, numbers 12 and 26 return the empty Alcan hoppers south through Crianlarich. For some frustrating reason, 012 refused to keep its headcode lights on when paired with 026. They go for a split second and then go out again. When removed from the consist the lights function normally; very strange....

My friend Doug Johnson called round for a visit the other day bringing with him his Loksound Programmer. We tested a number of different settings for the acceleration and deceleration rates on my class 37's and after deciding on what we thought looked best, Doug was kind enough to set the fleet to the same rates. The difference is really noticeable, looks much more authentic and the uniformity makes driving a lot easier. In theory at least this should also make running double headed trains easier although having tested several combinations, I am not 100% happy with how the locos perform double headed. On the basis I am not a great fan of double heading, it is not a big deal although just occassionally I like to pair up a couple of earth mover sound fitted locos and give them a blast. Below are a few pictures of a pair under trial with the Alcan hopper train, 37022 and 37264 head the loaded train north through Crianlarich.

There were more pictures from yesterday which for some reason did not upload correctly. Hopefully this time they will load.

Please accept my apologies for the question, in hindsight it was rather thoughtless to effectively ask you to slag off your employers on a public forum! I still believe that Scotrail will be glad that they got the HST's once the conversions have been completed and the power cars updated. Clearly the experiences gained on their introduction has been poor and I am sure that many of the reasons quoted in this thread are relevant to a greater or lesser extent. Personally I look forward to travelling through the Scottish landscape in a Mk3 rather than being subjected to the units that have infested Scotland for the last 30 years!

My thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. It seems that MSL get a big thumbs up which gives me confidence to use them should I go ahead with the ECoS. One question arises from peoples comments which is what are peoples experiences with the walkabout unit 51113? John makes his view clear, do any users have experience that they will share. I have a large operating area and have become accustomed to the Guagemaster walkabout unit meaning I want something similar with any new control system. A couple of friends have had poor experiences using their smart phones as a controller making me hesitant about using mine for this purpose.

For just a few minutes this morning the sun shone! I managed to get some more arty farty pictures of Crianlarich.

I currently use a Guagemaster Prodigy Advance 2 which has proved very reliable. As my layout grows I am considering upgrading to the ESU ECoS 50210 system which seems to be the leading premium offering at present albeit at a hefty price. Rails appear to be cheapest and are currently offering the system for £599. I additionally want the hand held controller 51113 option which Rails will order in for a further £299 making a total of nearly £900. As an alternative a quick Google search leads me to Modelbahn Lippe where their package of the 2 items would cost €826, about £700 at current exchange rates. For a saving of 20%, I am tempted by Modelbahn Lippe who appear reliable having searched RMWeb where I find a number of positive comments regarding them. I would prefer to buy from a UK supplier but when all is said and done, I am buying a German product. Whether buying from Germany or Sheffield, in the event of a problem I would have to return a package, the only difference in buying from Germany is the extra cost of shipping abroad rather just the UK. Does anyone have any alternative thoughts about how I might best acquire an ECoS?

You are closer to the ground than most and well placed to comment. I am suprised though at your experience and views, personally I though the HST cascade was a positive move for Scotland with increased capacity, improved ride quality and more powerful trains. The GWR short sets HST's all seem to be performing well which suggests that the concept works and that the issue is more one Scotrail specific. Could it be that your views are more a function of poor management/implementation of the HST's by Abellio?

My observations were not intended to be criticism, just an opinion based on what I could see. Your film is an absolute cracker as far as I am concerned and a valuable resource for early 1980's modellers. For what it is worth, I have a number of dvd/videos from the era supposedly professionally produced and many of them contain far more glaring errors.

Thank you for the comments. WHL4 is DCC controlled and I think most people agree that once you have tried DCC you do not want to revert to DC. Like you I do not have the skills to scratch build station buildings to the standard I require so I 'sub contracted' to an Irish business Dawson Hall, I am delighted with the laser cut card buildings which are such an essential feature of stations on the WHL.

Life seemed a lot easier and less stressful back in 1983! You covered a train, hoped that it was a new engine and cursed if it was'nt. I think that the 12 coach train was the Clansman not only because the length would have precluded it from entering Queen Street but because it is air conditioned stock. As far as I can recall and have seen on pictures etc, whilst ETH locos were commonplace, air cons were still rare on the intra Scotland services to Inverness in 1983.

It has been posted before but it is still first class material for the BR blue era and well worth a second (and many more) viewing.

Although I have completed less work this week I have not been idle, rather I have been pondering how the area above Arrochar will work so that I can build the framework onto which I will drop the baseboard. Much as the case is in real life, on WHL4 Arrochar is on a ledge comprised of baseboard 300mm wide. My plan is to have Fort William depot on a baseboard 600mm wide on the area above Arrochar. I started laying out a depot trackplan because I need to be clear on Fort William depot before I commit and fix Arrochar. Having experimented with several track layouts for the depot, I think I have a workable solution. General view looking south from north of Arrochar station, Fort William depot will be on the right hand side of the picture Framework for the Fort Wlliam depot baseboard will form part of the hillside on the southern approach to Arrochar Fort William depot track plan looking towards Ben Nevis. There are less sidings than in real life but this is as many as I can fit in the available space. The track underneath the batten will be a hidden line that rises up from the lower section. Looking from the other end, track on the bottom left will transition into Mallaig Junction yard.

Having been lucky enough to see Meanach in the flesh yesterday, I can vouch for its quality. Visually the layout is so clearly set in the Scottish highlands it doesn’t really need a title. Still hate the Sprinter though even if it’s a cracking model!