BR37414

Thank you for adding that info Flood. Following your advice in searching Flickr, It produced pictures of Speedlink services from St. Blazey to Gloucester. I searched "Gloucester to cornwall speedlink" 1987 - 47258 leading what was identified as 6B43 St. Blazey to Severn Tunnel Junction, which was changed to Gloucester New Yard in October of that year. Sharing is disabled, but in the photo I think I can make out PRAs on the back. 13/7/1989 - 37672 and 37671 leading a train, with PRA wagons in the mix. Only intentified as 15.45 Speedlink from St. Blazey. Photo by Michael McNicholas A Gloucester to Mossend search produced one photo. 15/03/1991 with 90043 with what the photographer says is a 12 airbrake equipped wagon 6S97. Photograph by Michael Hart. I am going to scrounge for more pictures and see if I can recognize any more wagons on other services ex Mossend. It now provides me a use for my Heljan RfD liveried class 47, as I can have it on work the wagons in the fiddle yard and have it stabled in the sparsly sceniced part of it. Thanks for adding that info Rivercider, all this info I am trying to soak up. Cheers! Alex

I certainly didn't realize there was that many services out of Mossend. Finding out what went where would be a monsterous task. Thats a good thing to know about the shunting procedure, that will certainly make for some interesting shunting. I tried to find a copy of said book on the intetnet and so far no luck. However, I did have luck in sourcing a book about the china clay workings that I saw you recommend in another post. Thanks for more pictures D1059, that is exactly what I envision. LLB 37/4 with some weathered stock behind it. Perfect! ColinK, I had considered that. I have purchased some KFAs to make the 30 foot containers to load paper rolls on. Having one or two for some sort of container service wouldn't be a bad idea. Thanks for that!

Outstanding info Flood. Would that book also have the services they would connect to? Was, for example, 7D10 made up of wagons bound for Wales and 7D19 were bound for the midlands or further south? Or was that mixed and basically Mossends shunting job? Model railroading is just that your right, but I enjoy the prototype research as much as adding ETH cables and air pipes to my 37/4s Since being introduced to British modelling, it has been much more interesting to me than the Canadian trains I'm use to. Thanks again! Alex

Flood, As always your knowledge and direction are flawless. I never considered having only two services (so simple that I missed that). One to the papermill and one to the main yard. I will try and locate the book you suggested. Again your search is so simple, I never tried that. Always looked up Corpach paper or corpach 37/4. I'll give that a whirl as well. Do you know if the freight services had to marshalled as such to take passing loops into consideration or not? That could provide some complexity to the timetable if they didn't as to not have two long freights meeting at along the layout. There is three passing loops between the fiddle yard and the main yard on my design. Thanks again, Alex

Evening Chaps, I'm currently gearing up to start construction of my fictional Scottish/West Highland themed layout that is set in the late 80s, early 90s. I plan on having a papermill similar to the one at Corpach which will recieve pulp bales in and paper out in VAA/VDA/VGA vans, and slurry in ICAs. Four KFAs will be also used for paper loading. There will be a timber loading siding located in the yard (much like Fort William) which will receive OTA and OCAs for log loading. Near the main station will be a fuel depot that will recieve TTAs, and a goods shed that will take additional VAA/VDAs. Based on that info, I have determined that it will need about 3 seperate trains per day (operating session) in order to move the required wagons due to the length of my passing loops, which are long enough to accommodate a 37 with a BG, 2 mk2f FO and 2 Mk3 sleepes. With that in mind, would it be prototypical to run mixed trains or should I run them in dedicated trains? Just looking for thoughts on this, as I was struggling to answer this question through West Highland pictures. The new formations book does show mixed trains, but seems to be all for Corpach or the Alcan works until much later in the 90s under privatization. Thanks in advance! Alex

Thanks for the info folks, glad I didn't try the WD40 yet. I will avoid that, try using a stir stick with a soapy water bath/rinse. Cheers!

Thanks Neil, I'll give that a go and see how it works. Cheers! Alex

Hey folks, I recently purchased a used Bachmann Class 37/4 37406 'The Saltire Society and while I was removing it from the packaging, I discovered a oil like film on the shell and oil on the bogie frames. Upon further inspection, the entire chassis was coated in a oil like film. I have since disassembled the chassis and the bogies to discover that the bogie grease has hardened and partially separated with the "oil" coating the bogies, while the hardened grease is stuck to everything else. I gave the pieces a good soak in warm water and some dish soap, and have tried to remove the grease using a Q-tip and soft shop towel. My question is, is it possible to soak the bogie in some isopropyl alcohol with out damaging the plastic or having swelling issues? Is there another solution? I have a 37415 that looks like of the same era, and suspect I will end up having the same issue. Thanks in advance! Alex

Brilliant. That info is exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you everyone!

Thanks for the info Cloggy. Gives me something to start with! Alex

I'm interested in simulating loco exams on my layout as a way to keep rotating locos across all working diagrams. Could someone tell me what the intervals would be for the various exams, even right down to oil changes and other preventive maintenance (if any) on class 08, 20, 26, 37 and 47s? Thanks, Alex

'Ello again, After trying several track arrangments, I finally have one that I'm pretty happy with. I've attached it here for everyone to take a look and feel free to provide some feed back or ideas. Cheers! Alex

Thanks for the interest Max. I've bounced between making Fort Duncan like Fort William or Inverness. After a few hours of messing around with SCRAM, I discovered that it was near impossible to achieve the Inverness idea. I went with trying to still keep a balanced selection of scenery, functionality and stay away from the spaghetti bowl of track. Cheers! Alex

Hello everyone, I've started this topic to introduce my layout in planning and to get feed back as I start to plan and build. The layout will be based on the West Highland Mainline while being named after my late father who introduced me to model railroading when I was 4 years old. It's being built in a 19x12 room and will be a multi level point to point with operation being the main focus. Traction will be provided by 37/4 variants in LLB, Railfreight sector, RR and even one specially painted 37403 in BR green. There are also a small number of 37/0s, 37/5s and one 37/7. These will work primarily the freight workings except for the boiler holed 37/0s which will work the last Mk1 steam heated rakes I still have. Unlike the BR days of Fort William, the Class 47 will also have a notable role in both freight and passenger workings. Class 08s, 20s and 26s will also be on the layout, with the 20s and 26s working the small branchline to Loch Taylor (named after my youngest daughter). All locos will be Scottish in allocation for the period of 87-94. Coaching stock is a mix of Mk1 and Mk2A in Intercity, B&G and RR, with some Scotrail livery Mk2s and Mk3s in the plan eventually. Like Fort William, Fort Duncan will also have a Mk3 sleeper service. Freight workings will be based on a model paper mill much like the one on Corpach. Timber loading also will take place in the small goods yard, with petrol TTAs also making a appearance at the depot and the local dealer. I'm hoping to engage with other modelers for ideas and suggestions and stay tuned for the trackplan which I'm still working on in SCRAM. Thanks for looking, Alex

Wow, wealth of information here guys. So firstly, thank you to everyone. I do plan at adding a pair of 156s in RR paint when they come out, but my main focus is class 37 and 47 hauled trains. I had noticed in pictures that the former NSE stock appeared with a blue stripe and had wondered about that. On the topic of stock liveries, when 37427 recieved the RR livery with ScR branding for the Highland Enterprise, did the Mk1/Mk2As also get ScR or did they get RR branding? I have also seen a handful of pictures of Mk1 BGs, Mk1/Mk2 TSOs (I believe anyway) in the ScR livery. Did they venture up to Inverness? I've also seen a picture of 37707 hauling the morning Inverness to Euston train on the account of no 47/4 available. The caption did say it was swapped further south, but it had a red Royal Mail NEA/BG just ahead of the RBU. Edit: I just looked and it has Mk2D/E/F FO and TSOs. I only wish I could tell which! The Scottish diesels video is a bit before my era but a fantastic watch none the less. Thank you for that! Thank to everyone, Cheers!

Thanks Alex and Gordon, Thank you for that info. I will have to locate a pair of RBUs for both my planned mk3s rakes. The fact that in most of the pictures I've seen confirm your info Gordon of the rarity of air cons, I will focus on getting more Mk1s, mk2as and fill up my mk3 rakes. As for the make up, I'm limiting my normal passenger trains to the same length as a 7 coach set of mk3s. Just easier that way. Cheers!

Hey lads, I'm modelling a fictional line based on the Highland mainline in the 80/90s. Most of my locos ars clsss 37s hauling Mk1 and Mk2 coaches in the B&G, Intercity exec and Regional liveries. I plan to model a smaller version of the Inverness sleeper with either a Intercity livery 37 or a 47/4. In addition I plan on two ScotRail push pull sets with 47/7s. My question is, aside from the Aberdeen push pull sets, where there any solid take sets of Mk2D/E/Fs used or where they all mixed in? I've seen pictures of the Inverness to Euston trains with Mk3as, but closer to 1993/94 mark? Were they used prior to that? Would anyone have some sample rakes for the revelent era? Thanks!! Alex

Thanks folks! I will give him a ring today.

Does anyone have sources for Replica Railways High Intensity healamps? I tried there website bit seems to have been taken down. Thanks in advance!

Thanks lads! Didn't know that paint guide existed!

Hey all, I recently manage to snag 4 FGW sleepers (2 SLE and 2 SLEP) to complete my West Highland sleeper rakes. I would like to respray them in the Intercity livery they wore in the late 80s early 90s. Could someone suggest the proper brand and colours and transfers I would need? Cheers! Alex

Probably a long shot, but looking for 2 each of Hornby Mk3 SLE or SLEP in either Intercity Executive or BR BG liveries.

Awesome. Thank you very much!

Does anyone know of a addon high intensity headlight that is available for pruchase? I have discovered a couple of my class 37s are not fitted with them and would like to add them. Thanks, Alex

My googling skills or lack there of strike again. Thank you kindly for the links. The other photos are a big help and Mr. Barlett's site is wonderful. In the other forum threads it says these were operated by the southern region. I'm guessing they never made it up to Scotland? I have a bunch of Bachmann 12 ton vans that look like they would work. Just need to get some ferry pipes and ferry opens now. Thanks guys!