brylonscamel

Now that's a great story! The sort of 'carry on' that I thought had died out on the railways. It sounds more like something from a victorian logging railway in the Yukon! You do wonder he he ended up. There's no knowing where the freight train would slow enough to disembark.

My trip to see Dad, allowed me to take fresh photos of locomotives and stock - in their natural 'Braeside habitat". Our newly acquired 'LNER' V2 sits under the coaling bench, whilst a class 26 cools her heels on the service roads of the shed. I've cooked up various scenarios to allow a handful of grouping & pre-grouping locos to share space with our BR stock. Scotland had four specially prepared pre-grouping survivors, providing motive power for enthusiast's specials in the last days of steam. In my imagination, they also outshopped some locos in grouping liveries, for similar outings.

Simple Pleasures .. Since I was visiting, I grabbed some photos of a now-functioning layout. I'm no longer pulling off tension-couplings in the in pursuit of perfect photography. I'm just glad that we are back to enjoying the movement of trains. In this spirit, here's a busy harbour scene ..

Most of the work was to smarten up the nose end and glazing apertures - very clumsy on the original mouldings ..

Turning a wheel .. A glimpse into the 'BR Blue' stock-boxes reveals this Haymarket class 40. 40142 is a mashup of a Hornby body and Bachmann chassis. I made two bodies a few years ago, so I could easily swap them onto the same chassis, using the cheap & chearful Hornby (ex-Lima) models to represent variations of the class. I used some Shawplan etches and bodged them into better looking locos.

Haymarket visitor ..

Post arrives for Dad at the Glentanar Hotel ..

Just the sound of a fresh breeze and coolant dripping onto the ground

Another candidate for the airbrush has sat here for months, without a wheel turned in action [insert disparaging NBL type 2 comment here]

With so much building and scenic work, I have a little backlog of locomotives & rolling stock to be spruced up or repaired. Ready for the next trip are a newly aquired V2 in the grouping livery of the LNER. Renumbered to an Aberdeen Ferryhill loco. Coaled, lightly weathered and sound fitted, all ready for crew to climb onto the footplate. Here she is on my harbourside diorama for static photography ..

.. anyone for Balloch Pier? .. just mind the dangling electical cables as you board your train!

The long view .. A view of Dad's layout that involves sneaking down the back of the fiddle yard sidings. It's one of the longer views and is much more pleasing now that it's populated with the latest buldings, including my stab at making a GNSR goods shed and the 'Glentanar Hotel'. * Dodgy mobile-phone zoom version

It certainly is .. PS did you manage to find good photos of the signal box. The photos I found online were all wreathed in smoke from locomotives!

That's terrific and I love the gloomy, subterranean feel that's creeping in. Also, the tenements look great in that position.

That's marvellous Martyn! I am yet to see Crinan, may our paths cross one of these days. Cheers, Brian

The Farthest North Part #3 This set of images show the external structure, after construction. We are representing Thurso as it was, prior to a refit in the 1980s that saw changes to the internal layout. Externally it has changed little but the overall condition and brick tops to the chimney stacks (incuding the deteriorated stack) should suggest the mid 1970s

The Farthest North Part #2 These images show the internal features, once the construction and cladding phase was complete.

The Farthest North Part #1 The latest commission to head out of the studio is a super-detailed version of Thurso station. My client suggested using a kit from PoPup Models as a basis for further work. We discussed it and decided on improvements to stonework, internal doors, chimneys and roof. These early images show the construction of the kit, with scribed clay added on the long side-wall, a new glazing panel for the roof and some work on the internal relief. The long side-wall drops to the ground, whereas the opposite side sits at platform level. To 'steady the ship' whilst working on the model, I made a crude platform from MDF.

The recently scanned & 3D printed figure of Dad chats to a garage mechanic about MG cars outside 'Michie's Motors' - another nod to our family!

A break in the schedule ...

It has been fun to incorporate some family nostalgia. The layout has plenty of names, locations and figures that connect us to the setting. I've tried to make it subtle and true to the real locations. For example, I changed name of the hotel in Aboyne that inspired the model, from 'Huntly Arms Hotel' to 'Glentanar Hotel'. The Glentanar estate neighbours Aboyne so it is entirely appropriate and as Dad's first job in Aberdeen was working at the Glentanar Bar in Aberdeen, also a neat family connection.

Finally! I painted the scan & print figure of Dad that we arranged through the wonderful Modelu On his arrival at the Glentanar Hotel, the local postman had a letter for him! The Vauxhall Victor 'XCL6' was our family car from the mid 1960s to the late 1970s and transport for many a Scottish holiday!

No greenery here, but another corner of the layout that can be revealed after installing a couple of wee but-and-ben cottages at the rear of the harbourside!

The roadway on the bridge ..