Signaller69

Voted via email for the BFYWP Highland 24/1. Non DCC would be preferred as DCC chips in DC control has not been a good experience for me.

The shell of the hotel is complete now, ready for overlaying with embossed plastikard, windows and further detailing, once the milliput around the crenellations has been tidied. Roof tiles are the tried and tested cereal box card, embossed with a sharp marking punch. Last photo shows the interior floors and bracing, and the use of slot and tab construction for rigidity in certain locations.

Certainly by 1980, recall 46's and a 44 once too, observed from the Junior school playground. Edit: I left junior school in 81. The 44 was on a freight (vac braked of course).

Don't forget the 45's Nick! :-)

Hi Al, that is a great photo from a perspective I've not seen before, very many thanks for posting. As I'm only doing a low relief version of the end in the photo I don't need to worry about the roofline beyond the first apex thankfully! It also shows the unusual chimney position, with a window below it, which I'm sure will raise some comments at shows! There seems to be a lot of Ivy over the walls which is another idea to throw into the stone v brick mix. And usefully it shows the layout of nearby buildings (one of which may be modelled, low relief again probably) and the access road. Great stuff! Please pass on my gratitude to your Father too. Thanks, Martyn.

Just discovered this thread, very nice layout and set in my favorite era to boot! Very interested to see the Kadee uncoupling magnets idea, think I may have to get some to try on my layout. Cheers, Martyn.

That is fantastically impressive!

There will be a few inches of track added with the aim of allowing up to 5 coach trains to be run once the fiddle yard is suitably modified. And yes, I feel a running session is long overdue!

Yes that's true, stone does seem more common. I thought I had a eureka moment when I found a video online of a choir singing outside the Crinan Hotel entrance, showing dressed stone walling; unfortunately those same walls weren't there in the period I'm modelling!

Thanks for your kind comments Al, yes the blocked lock seems to be permanently full, presumably there being no way to drain it any more. The locks are slightly closer together than scale which is giving me a dilemma as the lock beams (the ones you push to open/close the lock) will overlap, however I think the real ones must have removable beams for the same reason, as at least one Google Images photo shows a spare(?) beam resting on stands at the sea end; another photo shows a beam sticking right across the hotel access road, which would be very inconvenient if not removable? Unfortunately I don't have space to model the basin but I'm hoping to represent it on the backscene. Martyn.

Thanks Marcus, hopefully further research will uncover whether it is brick or stone (in true fashion I will probably find its whichever one I don't go with)! Cheers, Martyn.

Thanks Simon, hopefully it should give the scenic end of the layout a slightly more "open" feel beyond the station, after fighting the temptation to add more track! :-)

I have made a start on the low relief "Crinan Hotel", which will be a card shell overlaid with embossed plasticard, and using windows, doors and other parts from an old Scalerama plastic house kit. Window and door appertures have been cut out using the kit parts for reference, the castellations were a pain, especially as I then realised they need overlaying with another layer as they stand proud on the real building (see second link in post above). The build is currently in 3 parts to ease assembly viz: main flat wall, front "tower" and the single storey outbuilding. Whilst awaiting a Slaters Plastikard order to arrive I have a quandry, I'm not sure if this building is of brick or stone construction? As the only images I've found of the pre-rebuild building are black & white and not of sufficiently high resolution to be sure; there are a couple of areas which hint at brick and others that look more like stone. The fairly remote area suggests traditionally stone would have been used and I feel this would look better on the model, in the absence of any conclusive proof emerging, although iirc there are (newer?) brick buildings in the area too.

Nice work, the whole scene looks very convincing.

Yes. Had a reply from Peco stating the check rails on the Large radius Turnouts are to be extended to FOUR SLEEPERS/CHAIRS, the sleeper layout is to remain as per the earlier image to "match the '0' scale design". I also suggested they might consider an "extra large radius" Turnout for this range and to quote the reply, they will "throw this into the mix" which I take to mean they may consider in future. Edit to add full reply from Peco: Thankyou for your email. The layout of the sleepers on the bullhead turnout is the same as on our O gauge turnouts. It is my understanding that sleepers in line with the straight route was mostly used on a double track formations such as crossovers and junctions, although research shows that there are many exceptions to this! Each railway company and region of BR seemed to have their own preferences. The arrangement we have chosen also lends itself well to producing what is in reality still quite a sharp radius turnout (despite being a large radius by model standards) as the angled sleepers are nearer to being perpendicular to the rail, which helps to keep the chairs (which are scale sized on the Bullhead range and larger than normal code 75 rail fixings) on the sleepers without having hanging off the edge un-prototypically. The check rails have been lengthened to cover four sleepers, but the illustration is from before we made that change. Thankyou for the suggestion for an extra-large radius bullhead turnout, we’ll add it to the mix! Kind regards, David Malton Design Engineer Pritchard Patent Product Co. Ltd

Thanks Max, yes Crinan is keeping me busy at the moment so may be some time before I can start anything new. Cheers, Martyn.

Having always happily used Peco products I had been looking forward to seeing the new Points but I am rather put off by the sleepering in that image (if it is indicative of the production run), looks as if Peco want to use one base for both left and right points possibly? I can live with the 3 chair check rails which do/did exist on the prototype but not so happy about the angled sleepers, particularly on a "main line" point as it just looks odd, even if it did happen in places.

With the new extension in mind I have been looking at the Crinan Hotel, thankfully there are plenty of online images as well as the Hotel's own website etc. I'm fairly sure I read somewhere that it is "Art Deco" style, and this style looks apparent in contemporary photos, such as this one: https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0a/5b/f5/03/the-crinan-hotel.jpg taken in the 1980s I believe. "Surely can't be much different to how it was in 1970 if its an old Art Deco building" I thought, maybe the balconies and top storey added since then? How wrong I was! Further historical searches found an old Newspaper Article about a major fire in 1971, which caused severe damage to the roof, and another fire in 1978. I then found an earlier black & white photo of the hotel which shows something almost Gothic rather than Art Deco: https://i.rcahms.gov.uk/canmore/d/SC01334517.jpg . After pondering how the new structure didn't resemble the old one I realised it is in fact the same building but heavily rebuilt and enlarged (following one or other of the fires presumably); certain key features remain such as the angled front corners and the chimney but the hipped roof and gabled frontages have gone, an extra floor added, the single storey extension in the left corner has had floors added, the castelated roof edging removed etc etc, apart from the Car park walling which retains this. Going off door & window sizes I have guesstimated a sketch to 4mm scale of the end elevation shown in the links above, to get an idea for space needed and use as a template for cutting when construction starts. Study of the B&W photo shows the centre portion of the building is extended outward on the lower 2 floors, with castellations above, the top floor having a "bay window" style projection with the chimney directly above and flush with the wall/castellations, yet having a window directly under it, presumably the chimney flues passing in the wall either side of the window? This should be "fun", I'm quite glad I'm only doing this in low relief!

Today a proper start was made on the long planned small (2'6") extension beyond the station, a nice afternoon saw the baseboard take shape. This board will feature the Crinan Canal Locks into Loch Crinan, the small Lighthouse and a part of the Crinan Hotel in low relief at the new "end" of the layout. It will also allow a small extension to the longer platform and the station frontage and approach road to be modelled. Excuse poor photos: There will of course be some selective compression over the prototype, hopefully this link shows what I am trying to achieve (photo taken from the Hotel roof it seems): http://moblog.net/media/s/e/a/seadogrose/tarbert-to-ardrishaig-and-the-crinan-canal-4.jpg It is assumed the (fictional) Crinan Station was built on the fairly cramped land beyond the locks (one of which is permanently blocked at the sea end to provide extra mooring). It can be seen that the canal passes through a basin before entering more locks and then rounding the headland in the distance (where in my version the swing bridge carries the line over the canal, past a house and through an imagined cutting or tunnel through the headland). More soon!

Apologies if its been menioned before but the Facebook page "Classic Lorries" has some superb images, including Parcels vans, BRS etc, especially from 50s/60s/70s. https://www.facebook.com/ClassicLorries/

This is exactly the picture I had in mind! ;-)

Looking great as ever Nick.

Jon you have made model semaphore signals into a fine artform my friend! Martyn.

Nice to see a "proper" blue pair with the 50! And as others have said, a very impressive loading shed, good stuff! Martyn.

I suppose most layout types might be considered cliches to a degree but if it fits with your interests thats the important thing. Also, there don't seem to be many Loco depot micro-layouts doing the exhibition rounds, at least not in the North West, nor 1970s themed; my own thinking is based around a 1970 Scottish stabling point using my existing green and blue pre-TOPS diesels, about 5'x 1' in size, but its no more than an idea at the moment due to other projects. I do like the idea of different backscenes for different areas you mentioned for your layout, I would suggest that would set it apart in itself?