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Looking nice mark like these little touches I found this pic of the real thing at Dunroamin' Caravan at Rannoch Station and some great shots here Rannoch Station search eddie

Well Grace hase made a start on her layout over the last year she has managed to build a few Metcalfe Kits and layed a test track; we have had a few trial tracks laid but the one she likes best is a twin oval with no sidings have tried to get her to redesign the track but it seems the village scene comes first; at least I can use the track layout to run in my loco's. the latest so far. The layout is fine on the ceiling only downside is we do not have a lot of space around the layout to be able to wind it down so have made a opening in the layout;which will be hidden by some sort of building, and can wind it down enough for us to finnish lowering it down to our set height. I did phone the LTM Layout Lift supplier to see if they can supply a electric motor which wcould be fitted onto the gearbox but the did not have anything in stock but said they would look into it no reply to date. I am looking for a awning motor which may suit;its on the list!!. the top has been painted a earthy colour and the small river has been carved out. A few update photos

A photograph showing part of the ESSO terminal at Bowling is linked below ESSO Bowling Link

Was the tea room open?????

Morning all been out and fed chickens their water was frozen and garden had quite a hard frost clear sky though glad I do not have to defrost the car as I am going through the posts on RMweb

Always looked forward to your posts and have really enjoyed each one and what an amazing piece of modeling :clapping_mini:

A quick Google and you can get this book as new for under £10 and a New one from £11 inc postage

I have managed a start on my good lady Grace's 8ft by 4ft layout using a LTM Layout Lift to store it suspended from the ceiling in our small guest room. The lift was installed as per the instructions The layout base would have to be made as light as posible and was made from one sheet of 9mm ply for the framework and one sheet of 6mm as a top to hold two sheets of 50mm styro foam. I began by cutting the 9mm ply sheet into 8 110mmm strips to form the sides; each strip doubled up to 18mm. I also cut 50mm strips to form the cross members and as edge support to hold the 6mm base sheet in place my cordless rip saw made life a lot easier As seen above I soon discovered the ply strips took on a life of their own when glued together, by clamping the strips to a piece of 75x50 length of CLS helped solve this warping The frame was assembled using screws and glue and each corner had a 75x50x50mm block to add strengh I drilled holes in the cross bracing for the wiring before trimming and fitting the 6mm sheet of ply the result was a reasonable frame to fit the foam into. Now at this stage the frame was taken indoors and I had a well deserved cup of tea after which the hard job of clearing up began where did all these tools come from the layout base in place Parked out of the way The next stage is for Grace to make a fabric cover which will be made to hide the under side of the layout which will be fastened by velcro and of course to plan her layout now she has sizes to go by. I must confess that I should have just went for 19mm or 22mm ply which would have saved the glueing stage also I used a birch ply which I was advised was lighter but in future I will be using marine ply a far better quality product but we all live and learn I will update this blog as things happen

Thanks for that info on the foam John that will help with a bankdrop as putting anything on the wall is a no no had left space to put in some exterios ply back panels video of your layout looks great. Have you had any problems with track expansion in the summer also how has your electrics done. Eddie

Thereandbackagain A OO Garden Railway This is a description of my garden railway as it came about It all started when I bought a Hornby Royal Scotsman live steam Locomotive set at a bargain price for £300 but when it arrived and the thought of running it on the dining room table, water, steam and oil….. It was put back in the box. The thought of a OO gauge running track in the garden blossomed (a pun there) and after a few discussions with my good lady I got the go ahead so in early September 2009 a trip to the local timber merchant saw me return with a load of decking and some new (railway) sleepers. Notice the apprentice Mac the Cat sizing up the delivery The track would run along a wall and would be approx 27ft long with two 3ft 9in square planters at each end (the bottom end is 4ft wide) This would be a single-track dog bone but the centre leg giving the impression of a 19ft length of a twin track run. Looking along proposed site as it was in September 2009 I began by cutting the sleepers to the desired height I used a circular saw for this which made life easier I then dug small footing’s in which to place them into then using a dry sand and cement mix; which hardened overnight, and then placed the decking on top which gave me my track base a couple of days to complete. Cutting the Sleepers to form the supports for the decking Sleepers in position before adding dry sand and cement mixture then left overnight to set a light use of watering can helps but do not over do Top end completed using decking to aid levelling Using beach biscuits to extend the decking Extension in place Mac likes the height Top end completed with deck fitted just given it a quick coat of green wood preservative to complete Well that’s as far as I got in 2009 the house took priority for the next seven months then there was Chrismas, New Year then the rain, sleet and snow. 5th May 2010 back on track at last; it has been a long winter. A trip to Wicks (to buy two rolls of green roofing felt which was used as “ballast†for the track. There are other builders merchants and DIY stores but not all stock roofing felt in 10m x 250mm widths. Today was nice and warm and the sun helped soften the Felt; which made it so easier to work with, all seems to be nice and flat although I did wonder if I should have glued it down hopefully it will be fine. Felt was fixed using felt nails So from this to this all in an afternoon’s work and enjoyable it was too Well the boss did bring a cup of coffee out And as Mac asks what’s next I hopefully will begin to lay the track in the next week or so The plan is to lay the track leaving small gaps for expansion and linking the ends with soldered wire then running a bus around under the decking linked to the track by wire droppers. The track will be DCC and live steam but not on the same day. Then (apart from getting some trains out there) on to the next stage or two is to expand the running track into a proper layout no doubt with a West Highland theme but will need some thought on track layout and what material to build the buildings with.

Looking good Mark Have you looked at the appendix A of the 1944 or 1947 LNER "Story of the West Highland " has a good cross section of the roof I may be telling my grannie how to suck eggs here but if you have not got it I can scan it for you Have my tickets for Model Rail Scotland just need to get pocket money early from the good lady ;>)

I have just received a LIVE STEAM LNER 'Golden Fleece' which was ordered at night on the WWW on the 17/11/09 I received a phone call the next day to inform me it was out of stock and they would email me;which they did informing they had no stock of the LIVE STEAM LNER 'Golden Fleece' but were expecting an order in seven days and gave me the option of waiting or to cancel I am more than satisfied with the service I received from the staff and Tracy who phoned and emailed me and would use them again. PS this is my first order from them.

Hi Mark looking good enjoy the station being built looking forward to seing pics of the roof structure also nice to see the Rannoch Moor project on new RMweb pages