young37215

For many years It was rare for crews to traverse the whole WHL, typically they would swap trains at one of the mid crossing points like Crianlarich. If there was no off setting freight then for many years there was a practice of stabling freight and even the locomotive at Crianlarich for a day or so pending a crew to take it forward. The original crew would ride the cushions back to wherever they had come from.

Thanks for the offer, it is much appreciated especially as 70's and early 80's pictures are much fewer in number than those found of the more recent past. If you can upload the pictures onto the general Crianlarich thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/48992-crianlarich/&do=findComment&comment=2842272 I would be grateful. In addition, they will be available for everyone to view if they have an interest in this wonderful outpost of the national rail network. regards Rob

Nothing further to report because I am now away on holiday for a couple of weeks. However work has not stopped entirely, this morning in a moment of suffering from modelling withdrawl, I extracted a copy of the 1983 working timetable and worked out that for the 6 stations I plan building a days operation of mandatory services will involve 117 separate train movements. Allowing an average of 2 minutes per train movement, an operating day will last nearly 4 hours!

Managed to extend the running line from Garelochead to Arrochar. Both station platforms require construction but the track laid seems to work and look OK. The lower level section running line now covers about 70% of what I plan with Ardlui station and surrounding area required to complete it. My next major step is to fit the upper section boards. Initially it feels as though the lower level track laying has helped with getting the perspective for the upper level; I just hope this is how it turns out in reality. 37 arrives at Arrochar with a southbound train View of Arrochar station looking south. Upper section baseboards will be trimmed back by about 75mm to create a greater feeling of space on the lower section. Arrochar yard area. Not happy with this as yet, in reality the sidings are at a lower level which will prove difficult to recreate in a space constrained area. Panorama of Garelochead and Arrochar section. The area in front of the window will be hidden from view so as to allow trains to pause as they travel between the two stations.

A month of faffing around trying to judge (and repeatedly failing) the best height for the upper section has left me frustrated. I decided to try a different approach and go against my first rule for WHL 4 of only starting a new section once I the previous one is complete. I felt that I need to get a better feel for the whole of the lower section comprising 4 stations and the main fiddle yard. I decided to lay the track for the lower section in the hope it would help determine the height of the upper section and because the thought of running trains over an extended line appealed to me! The first station heading north from Glasgow is Garelochead. As with all stations it is my intention to create an impression that reflects real life and not try to achieve a scale sized replica. I hope that I am not infringing any copyrights by attaching the first picture of the real thing. My first attempt at creating the same profile Southbound passenger service Overall station view Encouraged by running trains to Garelochead, I will now extend the line to the next station Arrochar.

I am attempting to replicate the sleeper and RMB to sit on my WHL layout. My starting point, one old Hornby Mk1 sleeping car which has sat idle in my 'old bits' box for years and a cheap Ebay purchase, an RMB. Stripped down for weathering and repainting I am waiting on the olive green paint to re-spray the body sides, however framework and roof suitably weathered. Hopefully all that is now required is the engineers olive green paint so that I can re-spray the bodysides. Once I have added this, a little more weathering and varnish should give me the two coaches.

Do another one then, keeps people like me happy and raises cash towards 003's upkeep!

I am seeking assistance with the two carriages that rusted away at Crianlarich during the early 1980's which have been previously discussed on this thread. What was the purpose of the coaches being left at Crianlarich?, I am guessing as a mess car and accommodation for Pway gangs? The RMB and sleeper appear to be painted in a green colour. What colour is this? do any of the usual manufacturers produce this? How did the coaches leave Crianlarich or were they cut up on site? As ever any assistance gratefully received thanks Rob

Limited work at present, two main areas of focus being Crianlarich platform and erecting the trestles along the opposite side of the room. Both have been completed to test/draft stage. Crianlarich looking south, underpass steps need carving out which will be completed when station building and signal box arrive Crianlarich looking north New trestles in situ, 14m in length. Ardlui platform is located approximately where it will sit Although I have a track plan, I find it best to place track on a temporary basis to guage whether or not it feels right. Experience has taught me that the best outcome is achieved this way. Therefore I have placed track on the sections for Arrochar, Mallaig Junction Yard and Tom na Faire depot. Arrochar will sit on a narrow ledge about 300mm wide and 100mm below the level of the Fort William area. I have to install slightly wider baseboard for Arrochar but first I want to work out where the station will sit best so as not to be to intrusive into the Fort William area. Tom na Faire, not all sidings will fit in the space available but enough to create the feel. Mallaig Junction yard and Arrochar areas

My intention is yes, you can see some track in the pictures of the bridge deck

Having sorted the diamond, I am able to start moving forward with the remainder of Crianlarich. Originally I was going to replicate the two bridges that carry the line across Strathfillan. In situ two bridges looked cramped so I decided a longer, single bridge would be a better option. This will be the first bridge heading north from Crianlarich which crosses the A82 and the old C&O line. I extended the bridge deck to enable the inclusion of a fourth column in line with the real thing. Bridge deck before extending Extended area Extended deck before painting Extended deck after painting I also inserted a small but potentially important, removable piece of baseboard to enable access to the servos that will motorise the two signals which will slide out under the Fort William line. Sods law being what it is, I am sure that had I not done this I would have encountered difficulty accessing the servos. Finally and as can be glimpsed from the last picture above, I have started construction of the station platform. Completing the platform and adding the railings to the bridge deck are next on the 'to do' list. I just need my new, extra strong glasses to turn up so that I can see what I am doing with the fine detailing this entails!

The advantage, of course, with Cobalt is that it has two built in electrical switches, one for Frog switching and the other, perhaps, for LED rout indicating, or signalling. I am not sure I see this as a unique feature of Cobalts. Megapoints have the functionality to deliver LED route indication from either the servo controller or the multi panel. In my case I have chosen not to use it because I see limited value on my simple layout. I too considered the Cobalt as the most serious alternative, however, having seen a demonstration of the system at Model Rail Scotland, I was attracted to Megapoints by a) the apparent ease of plug-and-play, b) the built-in programmability, particularly for route setting, and c) the semaphore operation possibilities. That said, the demonstration was on OO equipment, whereas I model in N. Plug and play is a fair description in my experience of Megapoints so far and I would recommend that you give it a go. I cannot see any different problems in using Megapoints to control N guage operations to that of OO. I hope and expect to get quicker with my future installations which I will record on here. The southern end of Crianlarich is next on my workbench where I have one baseboard containing 5 points and two semaphores.

To date my Megapoints experience is positive although I want to see how they perform over the medium term before becoming a total convert. In terms of price I estimate that if all 12 outputs on a servo controller are used, Megapoints can work out 25% cheaper then DCC Concepts Cobalt's which I see as the best alternative option. Positives Megapoints videos on Youtube are very helpful Setting/adjusting the servos up using the servo controller is straightforward. Aligning microswitch to the servo horn was very easy. As you noticed I used a block of wood to locate the switch which is glued to the baseboard. Potential for semaphore control; I have not used this yet but the option was one of my main reasons for choosing Megapoints. Questionmarks I used aluminium channel as recommended by Megapoints to hold the servos, easy to produce but given the servos can move when switched, I am not yet certain this is a perfect solution. Accessing the servos once installed under baseboards will be difficult hence the previous point is doubly important. Time to install is probably longer than a Cobalt.

At long, long last I have managed to complete the diamond crossing at the northern end of Crianlarich. This is now fully wired with Megapoints controlled servos driving the points and frog polarity switching. To test fully I have been running trains and I am now able to start the construction of the station platform and the bridge that takes Fort William trains across Strathfillan. Platform edging has been built 37027 departs for Fort William 20045 follows with an inspection saloon Anyone for spaghetti? BUS and servo wiring under the diamond Megapoints multipanel processor which will drive the 2 servo controller boards required to operate signals and points at Crianlarich Bridge deck across Strathfillan is temporarily positioned 37026 crosses the diamond and heads north

Success at last, I am delighted to report that changing the power feeds on the microswitches solved the problem and the whole crossing now functions as designed. My first time use of electrofrog points has been a time consuming challenge where I have learnt a lot. I just hope the investment in time will return benefits as WHL develops. Thanks to everyone who took the time to contribute and help me.

Back in the late 70's and well into the eighties, many a train both passenger and freight was banked by the resident bankers (invariably a pair of western region class 37's). For example the following were usually banked as was any train where the driver was uncertain about his charges capacity to get to the summit: 1S19, the northbound Glasgow and Edinburgh sleeper The erstwhile 1M60, (15.15 or thereabouts Plymouth to Manchester) which was a freight loco diagram from Gloucester and resulted in many a type 1 or 2 being shoved up the Lickey

Thanks for the clarity, NC is the top terminal which means I have wired the microswitches incorrectly because I thought/believed that NO was the unoperated setting! Back to the soldering board!

It appears that I may have my microswitches incorrectly wired. Please may I ask for comment on the above 2 pictures, particularly the last one. Want I want to know is given the present setting of the switch in the last picture, which of the orange or green wires will be powering to the common? Thanks in advance

The asylum beckons! The servos change the points perfectly and open/close the microswitch. My problem lies with shorts which I simply cannot crack despite having spent countless hours in the last month wiring up, testing, shorting, checking and re-wiring and testing again. I am at my wits end; all counsel whether psychiatric or electrical will be gratefully received. To clarify what I have done so far: Each point has its own power supply from the BUS I broke the frog power connections on each of the 4 points in line with Peco guidance. Diamond wired up with power (I use orange and yellow wires for power because I can see the difference) and all joins insulated. Diamond frog wiring, green wires from microswitches are attached to point frogs and diamond frogs in line with peoples guidance in this thread Microswitch, 5amp, appears bog standard. 3 wiring points, C (common) goes to frog, NO (normally open) is the middle connection and the default setting, if the switch is open as it is in the picture then this is the power source. NC (normally closed) is the power source when the switch is closed. Servo with micro switch. In this picture the microswitch is open so frog power comes from the middle (the yellow) wire

My recently built, 00 scale size generic WHL station building is 95mm wide. The attached link http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/119560-west-highland-line-v4/ shows pictures of the building on a 120mm wide platform which is clearly too narrow. My WHL island platforms are not scale length, therefore I am constructing them at 140mm wide to accommodate the building which is slightly less than true scale size but look and feels right to me. There are several historic models and various articles that have been written about Ardlui that have appeared in journals over the last 20+ years. I think I have copies of most of these, let me know if you want copies of these for refernce.

Eddie The typical west highland building is laser printed, heavy duty card produced and built by Dawson Hall. My contact has been with another Eddie, not sure of his surname though. Web site below contains contact details https://www.dawson-hall.com/xcart/

A little activity over the last few days has seen some progress at Crianlarich. The diamond crossing has been connected to the BUS with wire attached to all points and track. Brackets for the servos have been attached under the board. I am waiting for some micro switches to arrive so that I attach the servos and wire up the crossing frogs. Much trepidation here as I have never used electrofrog points before and my general electrical knowledge and skill level is rather low! I have also started the underpass at the northern end of the station where the western exit leads up a ramp to Glenfalloch Road. To the east of the station lies a car park which will be modelled in part. Retaining walls are beginning to take shape on both sides of the station. Further development all rests on completing the underpass and the diamond crossing because they dictate the position of everything else. Once these are finished, I can start on the station platform. Whilst my focus is on completing Crianlarich, I could not resist laying out the potential location and trackwork for Garelochead station. This will have to wait before further work but it has wetted my appetite.

The pictures show off the layout to great effect. You have managed to capture the essence of the west highland line superbly. The station is instantly recognisable but, for me, the highlight is the way you have blended everything into an archetypical landscape. Can we assume that Inverness will be joining the exhibition circuit at some stage? I would love to see it in the flesh. regards Rob

Progress report Taking on board peoples counsel I will attempt the use of switches to power the frogs of both points and diamond. As has been pointed out for electrical continuity I will consider routes using the crossover rather than individual points. As the above schematic shows, there are essentially 4 routes using the crossover of which only two traverse the diamond. Should be simple! Action to date BUS wires soldered to each point, the diamond and the two small pieces of track that make up the crossover which have all been connected to the BUS. Holes for the frog wires have been drilled through the baseboard and the wires now protrude to the under side of the board although frogs are not yet connected to any power. The track has been placed in situ and trains run across in all directions. No shorts evident although, given the frogs are not connected, there are a couple of points where the dead sections are virtually the length of the loco wheel base which cause momentary interruptions in power. Usually momentum carries the loco forward to the live rail although slow speed running stalls. Next steps Attach servos to the points. I am waiting for micro switches to arrive to power the frogs to do this as one task. Summary So far I am encouraged by progress. Thanks to everyone for their counsel. I will report again once I have connected up the frogs to the BUS and installed the servo point motors.

Dear all Thanks for your input. To clarify a couple of points raised, the diamond is electrofrog and has an isolating joiner on every rail. The layout is DCC controlled. I intend constructing a mimic control panel with switches to operate the servos for the points (and the semaphore signals) I get the option of micro switches operated by the point motor servos for the point frogs. I am less certain about the diamond. Is it as straightforward as Susie suggests? If it is then using point micro switches gives me a solution, albeit one that relies on me setting the points to the correct sequence to avoid shorts. I could live with that and it will be much cheaper than the frog juicer; its just that I am not confident that it is this straightforward. Rob