SC55015

Thank you. There is a small mini fiddle yard missing from the track plan (it would be on the lower right), with two roads long enough for a two-car DMU. This allows a through branch service and room to shunt into the loop and yard.

1960 In the first year of the new decade diesels took over Edinburgh - Aberdeen services. Pairs of 1,160hp BRC&W type 2s would operate the service from the 4th April. Here the service is seen during the stop at Auchentogle: Both locos were new to Hornsey but had been reallocated to Haymarket by the end of May 1960. Meanwhile, the branch was being worked by one of the Cravens sets that had been delivered to the ScR the previous year. I need to change that Kings Cross destination blind!:

1959 It's 1959 at Auchentogle and in the branch platform is one of the newly delivered Park Royal railbuses. SC79970 spent its short eight year career entirely on the Scottish Region. Meanwhile, at Glentogle V1 67610 shunts in the yard. The BR Database website shows this was a Haymarket loco from at the least the creation of BR in 1948 until withdrawal in 1961.

Not a lot of progress on the layout as I was back in the UK for the holidays. Anyone looking through my posts will notice that the layout is not fixed to any era. The layout was always intended as a showcase for first generation DMUs on the Scottish Region - with some complimentary locos and rolling stock. For the start of the year I've now reset the stock back to 1958, and week by week I intend to evolve year by year until the end of the ScR first generation DMUs in 2000. 1958 The story should start in 1957 with the introduction of the Swindon Inter-City DMUs to the Edinburgh-Glasgow services - until I get one of those (Silver Fox now have a kit), then I'll need to begin in 1958. At the start of 1958 Gloucester twins were introduced to the Edinburgh suburban services, in March the Battery Electric Unit started on the Ballater line. In May the first of the Region's Met-Camm DMUs began to be delivered. These twin sets were first allocated to Dundee, their lack of whiskers made them easy to tell apart from the triple sets that arrived later. Here one of those twins pauses at Glentogle on its way to St Andrews. It's a Bachmann Middlesbrough/Newcastle set with the whiskers removed and the destination changed. It has the original style white vacuum pipes and silver wipers. Meanwhile, on the main line a K1 pauses at Auchentogle with an express. My coaching stock from this era is solely Mark 1s and I should probably be mixing in some earlier built stock - if anyone can suggest any RTR stock appropriate for the ScR 1957 on I'd be grateful!

This mention is from the April 14, 1961 edition of The Railway Gazette, suggesting Spring 1961.

No build progress on the layout recently but stock has evolved to the large logo period. I really need to fit all the detailing bits on this ViTrains 37!

A little progress update on the Class 104. Work has concentrated on the TBSL. I've very happy with the way the plated over vents turned out. Kudos to Steve at @railtec-models - ordering a custom set of numbers I was delighted to find he had taken the time to figure out what the vehicles were, so the accompanying data panels had the correct class and vehicle type on them. The centre saloon should have the smaller window at the opposite end, something I can live with. And I forgot to remove the radiator filler from the bodyside! I've since added no smoking labels which added a splash of colour and there are still a few other bits and bobs to finish this centre car.

Hopefully a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh etc. with Scottish 37s in each run.

Thanks! A 126 is also on my list - I've connections to the one at Bo'ness - but only after I have practiced on some easier conversions. I've a couple of Bachmann three-car 108s for renumbering to 107s but the side profile and windows are more suitable on the 110 so I might have a go at re-ending one of those - good suggestion. Also waiting to be tackled are some Worsley etched sides for a 116 and a 100. Busy times ahead...

For the centre car underframe I swapped the bogies with a power car so the motor remains in the brake van. I'm leaving the underframe equipment as-is on all three-cars for now, somewhere down to road I envisage getting a 3d printer and creating new parts then. This was the set in Glentogle station just see how it was looking so far: About 30 years ago I started a conversion with a Craftsman kit on two power cars, I decided not to use those as one was a DMBS, but here they are for comparison. The two new ones now have the destination box added which I've carefully cut of the 110: The last major part of the bodywork was cutting off all the roof vents, leaving just one at the toilet end of each vehicle. I've glued on small squares of paper to emulate the plates over where these vents were, and strips of paper to represent the sealing strip between the fiberglass roof dome and metal roof.

Auchentogle is a Scottish layout covering the mid-1950s to 1999, and this thread will cover some of the work on its stock. I wanted a Class 104 DMU for the layout but something less niche that the Mexican Bean. Researching what ran in Scotland (https://railcar.co.uk/type/class-104/operations-scotland) it was obvious that none of the forthcoming Heljans model would really suit what I was after. I have a number of Hornby 110s - not appropriate for a Scottish layout - so modifying one of those would be a better way forward. It's probably a very common conversion but a search on here found little previous mentions so I thought I'd share this as it progresses. The prototype My modelling skills are still somewhat in development so I didn't want to do a blue/grey repaint, so it meant a rail blue three-car, and I opted to go for set 457 (https://railcar.co.uk/data/set/457) which operated in the 1987/8 period. The brake van is in the centre car, the formation being a DMCL, TBSL and DMCL. Roof vents have been removed and one end had a Buxton depot white cab roof. The model First step was to enlarge the cab windows upwards to form the more basic rectangular 104 shape. Some of the headcode box was cut away and sanded then two layers of plasticard stuck on for the destination box, then the first layer of filler put on for the roof dome. The window frames were cut off on the cab and side windows, and the horrible angle on the tumblehome sanded out. The Class 104 windows are higher at the bottom than the Class 110s, so some plasticard was added to the bottom to make them match the window on the driver's door. For the TBSL centre car I had envisaged that I would have to graft a toilet end onto the cab end of a power car. However the solution was much was much easier. On the DMBC bodyshell I took off the cab detail and filled the cab windows and headcode with plasticard: The driver's doorway sanded out easily and I gradually opened up the window on the drivers door until the glazing for a toilet window fitted in: Here are the three reworked ends after a couple of rounds of filling and sanding:

Very nice! Getting rid of the tumblehome makes quite a difference. Maybe just the choice of numbers spoil it as the two I can see were not DMU numbers. Can I ask why you chose not to use the original Hornby glazing as I always thought that was one of the best features of the model?

This weekend I had a go at adding some scenery on the small embankment behind Glentogle station. It's an area that won't we seen in normal viewing, the aim was to provide something when looking through the fence from the platform side, but it will open up photo possibilities. The cardboard in the foreground is part of the road that comes off the overbridge to the left of these images. I've used a basic light green grass mat to the right of the signalbox as a temporary measure just to hide the bare boards, in time the plan is to build the frontage of the small Glentogle distillery there, the road becoming the access road. Next I'll add a little foliage creeping through to the platform side - it looks too clean at the moment. With working lights on the platform I now feel obliged to have a go at fitting lights into the station building, pity I hadn't thought about that when building it...

Yes, 9007 is a good candidate, and I can see no reasons comparing it with known photos of 9007 that it is not. The "BUFFET" (not MICRO-BUFFET) on white would be correct, the only vehicle that is known to have had this (although there are still a few vehicles with unknown styles). If it is 9007, then it has had the buffet sign on the non-counter side changed at some point as it was a white strip in this 1980 image at Coldham Lane: https://www.flickr.com/photos/140616380@N03/37865693284/. Which also raises the question, why say micro-buffet on one side and buffet on the other, unless it the counter side was also updated at some point? Here are some updates/additions for the spreadsheet. The ones in parenthesis are just there to see if any patterns emerge. 9000 and 9001: there is no evidence of them having had white blanking plates, only the windows painted grey 9002: "MICRO-BUFFET" in red on white - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bystuart/53131406337/ (without the non-smoking sign above - some like 9007 did have it, something else worth mentioning on the spreadsheet?) 9003: "Buffet" in white on black - https://www.flickr.com/photos/81974239@N08/35985700766/ (9004 unknown) (9005: "MICRO-BUFFET" in red on white) (9006 unknown) (9007 "BUFFET" in red on white) 9008: "MICRO-BUFFET" in red on white - https://www.flickr.com/photos/81974239@N08/34144239133/ - it looks like it still has the non-smoking sign (this also looks like 9008 where it can be seen better: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sydpix/5606917646/) (9009 unknown) 9010: "Buffet" in white on black - https://www.flickr.com/photos/53166167@N06/26150947871/ - assuming this preservation image represents what it had in service 9011: "Buffet" in white on black - https://www.flickr.com/photos/robertcwp/8418963807/ (9012 unknown) (9013 unknown) (9014 unknown) (9015 "MICRO-BUFFET" in red on white) (9016 "Buffet" in white on black) 9017: "Buffet" in white on black - https://www.flickr.com/photos/127526726@N06/50574218336/ If we accept the clues that 9015 originally had "Buffet" in white on black, then there is a possibility that the design had standardised from 9010 (or 9009) onwards to that style. What if the 9015 white board came from 9003? the two could have had them switched during repairs. That would group all the white windows together 9002 - 9008 or 9009.

I found another negative with a BSOT - a withdrawn unidentified Commonwealth bogie example at Thornton Junction on 8 December 1990. Not the best quality, this visit was late in the afternoon and the light was not wonderful. Of note though is that someone has taken off the white buffet window cover from behind the counter and stick it in the middle full size window. And its not flat, so this could just be the white layer taken off the timber.

Many thanks Scott - you've done an awesome job and it's pretty spot on. A big improvement on my sketches!

But if they don't look out of place then all may be good? There are a lot of compromises on layouts when we play with station dimensions to make them workable in the limited space we have. The use of underscale furniture - if not noticeably underscale - would help a station look bigger than it is.

Today Auchentogle fuel point contained my two Lima repainted Eastfield 37s. The yard area still has to be ballasted. Next on the workbench for conversion is a Hornby Class 110 to become a Class 104. None of the forthcoming Heljan 104s fit my need for a (non-Mexican Bean) Scottish one, and I'd rather bodge a £50 Hornby than a £400 Heljan - and I'll have more fun. I'm planning on a DMS - TBS - DMS formation that ran in rail blue in 1987/88 (set 457 https://railcar.co.uk/data/set/457), Station wise I have been looking at benches for the platforms, the passengers are getting tired of standing while waiting for their trains. I ordered three types for evaluation: The Peco one is noticeable smaller (particularly in height) than the other two, it may be more suiting to TT scale. I like the legs on the Skaledale one, they are more like the cast iron legs I have in my head, but I also like the squarer timber on the Wills one. Here are the three painted into the Glentogle station colour scheme:

I've been working on some lamps for Glentogle station, now ready for fitting. They are DCC Legacy lamps, the closest I could find to the style used on Inverkeithing station: Latest addition to the fleet is 37190. It's just a Lima model, but the price is right for me to practice resprays. It was 37216 in Midline livery, and I did it circa April 1983 when it was at Eastfield but pre-Scotty (see https://www.flickr.com/photos/bystuart/50594692978/): It's still on DC so no sound chip, here is a video of it running through the station. 37112 sits in the loop, it's a straight out the box Lima model:

Well I've had a go at hand drawing. I know I'll never make any money as an artist but hopefully they give some idea of the track plan! The layout is an L-shape, about 19ft by 11ft. It is construction in several sections that allow me to take individual sections out to work on them on a table where I can get around both sides. On the left end of the layout on the longest part of the L is Auchentogle station on an 8ft long board. It's a main line station with two through roads* long enough for a seven coach train (with loco) and a dead end platform road long enough for a six-car DMU. This road is meant to services the branch trains, but some main line DMUs that terminate here also use it. There is a two road fuel point for the branch DMUs. * although it serves through services the road bridge on the left is the scenic break masking the end of the line, one day I might build an extension. To the right of Auchetogle station is a narrow 8ft long board taking the main line downhill (into a tunnel) and the branch uphill. Branch trains have to cross over the main line from the station, over two double slips which give them access to any line on both directions. This board has no scenery or ballast yet, the mainline including the slips are HO track and will be replaced first. To the right side of the L the layout is now in two layers, these corner sections are about 3 x 3. The top layer simply takes the branch around the corner, the bottom layer is after the tunnel and the entrance to the main fiddle yard with two crossovers giving access to all drags on the way in or out. The main fiddle yard (not shown) sits underneath Glentogle to maximise space, each of the main line roads opens into four giving eight storage roads. Glentogle, the branch station, is again 8ft, the platform can take a four-car DMU. There is a loop, a siding, a headshunt and a goods shed siding. The goods shed may be replaced by a loading dock. A road bridge marks the end of the scenic section, beyond is a small two-road fiddle yard each long enough for a two-car DMU. This drawing should be 90 degrees clockwise to the others. This shows the double decker layout which sit in my bay window. The toggle switches are for isolating roads when on DC operation.

Thanks! I don't have have a trackplan, but if you can recommend somewhere to make one online that's simple to use I can have a go...

Progress continues slowly on Glentogle station. Fine coloured sand has been added as a platform surface, and a layer of modelling clay put over the polystyrene to form the rock face on the cutting at the west end of the station. The roof of the station building was finished and a start made on adding some fencing, seen in this video clip: This was the first run of a BSOT Micro-Buffet conversion which has taken a huge chunk of modelling time, mainly in prototype research, covered in this thread:

I finally put my vehicle back together and took it for a test run.

9015 did not receive frames until preservation. So out the box 9015 is the closest match as the roof vents are the same.

Thanks. That would likely have an 'information correct to' date of something like 31 December 1983. At least two of those came to Scotland after that: 9010 noted on the WHL in 1985 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/126013292@N08/49851013858/) 9011 was operating from Inverness by at least August 1984 (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10159754443117263&set=pcb.2385640511616902) and on WHL services in 1985 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/81428320@N05/51714995517/) Yes it would. I was thinking about a webpage/website on them as it's easier to update and link all the images of each vehicle, but I'm not sure when I'd get around to it...