backwaterscotland

In response to requests to show progress on the station building, I thought I'd better get on with the station building The window frames have now been fitted and look OK - not brilliant but I'll live with it. The glazing will be added once the building has been weathered. The main roof structure is now in place as is the canopy structure. The roof will be covered with slate plasticard once I get some so for now I have painted it dark grey to see if I am on the right lines. The canopy is temporarily attached for just now as I want to fit the brass valencing and primer it before fitting the canopy permanently. I still need to sort out where the chimneys will go and add details such as drainpipes, signage. etc. Here is an overall view showing how things fit together : And with D5116 and a BG to give an idea of scale : Looking at that last picture I need to tone down the railside and ballast a little Andy B)

Hi Pete, I'm afraid it's mostly modellers licence The 08 shunter is mostly because I have one that I like - the Kritter is from the fictional local distillery which gives a reason for the grain wagons (I assume the 08 could be for that as well). I am assuming TTA/TTVs were used in the same way as at Mallaig, bringing fuel in for the local fishing boats. There is a big tank just beside the station which I assume would be used for this. There was also a smaller tank where the cattle dock was. I'm sure I've seen photos of OAA/OBA wagons used to transport bagged fertiliser but I can't remember if that was Highland or West Highland. I'm assuming that the distillery continued using rail into the mid-80s and would use the later grain wagons and VAAs for transportation. Airbraked vans and opens were certainly used on the West Highland (I have a nice photo of a 27 with VAA and OAA wagons at Spean Bridge) Parcels were conveyed in CCTs or PMVs (in either mixed trains or with good trains) and later in the BG sandwiched between 2 SOs. No dedicated parcel service as far I have evidence for So mainly might have been with a certain amount of extrapolation from West Highland and Highland BR days practices. Andy B)

I've been looking at my stock and deciding on what I need to buy and what is excess. The main running era for the layout is 1975-77 with the odd foray back to 1972 (purely so I can use my Clayton ) and forward to 1985 (to use my Large Logo 37s). Some of the stock may be renumbered/renamed before it's used. I've put some links to pictures on the old RMweb/fotopic where possible. Locos : Heljan Clayton in BR Blue (currently D8529) Bachmann 24/1 Conversion in BR Blue - D5116 Bachmann 24/1 Conversion in BR Blue - 24115 Heljan 26/1 (modified pre-tops version) in BR Blue - 26032 Bachmann 37/0 in Large Logo (currently 37025 "Inverness TMD") Bachmann 37/4 in Large Logo (currently 37410 "Aluminium 100") Bachmann 08 in BR Blue - 08718 Kritter - Modified Knightwing kit on a Bachmann Underground Ernie Chassis - this is the local distillery's shunter. Trains : Passenger - Bachmann Mk1 BSK, Bachmann Mk1 SO - Both Blue/Grey Parcels - Bachmann BG x 2 (1 in Blue, 1 in Blue/Grey) Engineers 1 - Heljan Dogfish x 2, Bachmann Seacow, Hornby Shark - All in Olive Green Engineers 2 - 2 x Bachmann 20T Brake Van, Genesis Kits Salmon (with Cranes), Parkside Dundas Tube Wagon (see here for prototype) 1980s Engineers - Bachmann BG repainted as a re-railing coach 1970s Goods - Bachmann 12T Vans, Bachmann 16T Minerals, Bachmann TTV/TTAs, Bachmann PAVs (Grain) 1980s Goods - Bachmann VAA/VBAs, Bachmann OBAs, Lima PAAs, Bachmann TTAs For a small station this should be more than enough stock - I suspect an additional line in the fiddle yard may help as well. There may be some special trains as well - I have a rake of the Green & Cream tourist stock (with an observation car under construction) and a Caledonian Sleeper Rake. Andy B)

Since the last update, very little has happened with the layout due to various other distractions. However, today I got some free time and decided to make some progress. The station building now has all of the doorframes and window surrounds fitted and most are painted. A nice quick project was a portacabin for the engineers bothy on the front right of the layout. Starting point was the Hornby Skaledale R8765 Car Sales Office. The brandings came off with a light scrape from a cocktail stick. Then various washes of black, brown, grey and green were applied to end up with this : Slightly grotty but reasonably well maintained portacabin. Andy B)

Something like this? : http://uk.farnell.com/pro-signal/cpr/patch-lead-coiled-8way-3-05m/dp/107214 Andy B)

It's still here - not hacked it into a 24/1 yet - drop me a PM or an email when they are allowed again Andy B)

The signature loco for the Kyle line in the 1970s was the class 24/1. I already have one 24/1 as D5116 which was converted by Rippers (and can be seen here D5116) but I fancied doing one of my own. Having done some searching I have decided to model 24115 as it was at the end of it's working life as seen here : http://80s-and-earlier.fotopic.net/p47427012.html The basis for my 24/1 is a standard Bachmann 24 in BR Blue plus the Brassmasters conversion parts. First up, the domes are removed and the replacement resin headcode boxes fitted. This is tricky as the body flexes a lot with the dome removed. Next I removed the side grilles and replaced them with the 5-hole version and filled the side handholds. I've started modifying the front but this still needs some work. Tablet catcher recesses have been cut in the cabsides, backed with plasticard with small pieces of strip plastic representing the catcher mount. I've managed to get a quick coat of primer to show what is needed - some filling around one headcode box and the sorting of the front. Once the filling and tidying is done I can then look at painting the body. Andy B)

The "Hospital Gates" layout uses the Gramodels Nissen hut and it looks pretty good. Rippers gives some details of it on the old RMweb : Gramodels Nissen Hut. Might be worth dropping him a message to see what the castings are like. Andy B)

Gramodels list a 7mm scale FV432 Armoured Personnel Vehicle - listed as N/A on the website but I assume to be produced soon: http://www.gramodels.co.uk/7mm_kits.php Andy B)

Progress is fairly slow on the station building - a lot of cutting little bits of plastic strip and painting. The whole building has now had a coat of white primer which will be the base colour. I've started to add window and door surrounds using 80thou x 80thou L-shaped plastic and 60thou strip (of course I ran out of angle before I got finished ) I'm painting the lower wall and the surrounds with Railmatch BR Loco Green as this seems to be a good match to the colour the station was painted in the 1970s. Overall view : Full frontal - Unfortunately, this shows some of the not-quite-straight modelling! (The two pictures overlap) : Next I need to finish the surrounds, fit the windows and start working on the roof. I've started soldering the canopy brackets together (see here). Andy B)

To show the difference : Early - 6300 - 1988 Late - 6300 - After Withdrawl I'm modelling it as it was later with the sealed windows. Andy

Looks like a good (and easy) way to do the Green/Cream rake. I assume you are modelling the early observation car before the sealed windows were fitted? Looks like your 101 Observation car might be finished before mine in OO as I have to wait for the weather to warm up to spray paint it. Andy B)

These ones? Fotopic Link In 4mm scale I think the only way to these is Modified/Resprayed Jouef RTR items (There is an N Gauge kit) Andy B)

Despite appearances to the contrary, there has been some progress on the layout in between stock building sessions. Today has seen the main section of the station building constructed based on the mockup Here (Old RMweb) As an idea of scale the station building is around 26 inches long. The front wall is made from three layers - the centre layer is mounting board with the window and door holes cut (fairly) exactly into it. The back layer is also mounting board but with larger window cut outs for mounting the glazing. The front layer is planked plasticard. Onto the plasticard is glued various sections of evergreen strip to represent beading and the canopy support columns. On top of these will go the etched canopy brackets supplied by Lochgorm Kits. Round the back there is a large piece of card (from an old bookcase back) along the top of the building for strength with room dividers made from the cardboard packing from a shirt! I've used different glues depending on the requirements : Plasticard to plastic strip - Liquid Poly Laminating card layers - PVA. This is slow but can be adjusted easily Plasticard to card and dividers/support structures - Hot glue gun. Fast and effective but little time for adjustment. Next up is start painting the building and constructing the roof/canopy structure. There was one slight error during construction - I got the front completed, put it on the layout and discovered that it was around 3 inches too long! So a section has been removed from the centre. The error crept in as my tolerances on the mockup were a little too tight for the real construction. Andy B)

Would it be this one? : Chris Hodge photos Andy B)

Yes, the platform edge is still being worked on - both the brickwork and the concrete surface will be seeing large amounts of weathering and toning down! Andy B)

On the layout there are only 3 major structures - the overbridge, the station building and the goods shed. The overbridge is simply thick card covered with metcalfe stone card. For those of you who don't remember the how the shed started out it went from a basic mounting board shell with peco doors : Corrugated plasticard was added to the outside and the whole lot painted with Humbrol green spray paint : Finally, in the last few days the roofs have been painted silver, the small door replaced with a larger sliding door (various bits of plasticard) and the whole lot weathered. The weathering has been done using washes of dark grey and burnt umber artists acrylics. Andy B)

There's a glitch in Adams link. Try this one : Link Andy B)

Some of you may recall this layout from previous versions of RMweb. The original plan was to build one side of Kyle of Lochalsh station in 4mm scale. The Mk1 version of the layout was 8' x 2' plus fiddle yard but this became to big for the room I was working in so Mk2 was begun, recovering as much material from the previous version as possible. Main scenic board : Overhead view showing trackplan : Today the layout is fairly well progressed. There is still the main building to construct, detailing to be added and weathering/painting to be completed. Photos as the layout is now : The layout is planned to run over several eras using the following stock : 1960s - 2-tone Green Class 24, GSYP 24/1, Maroon Mk1s, various wagons Early 1970s - Pre-tops Blue Clayton, Pre-tops Blue 24/1, Blue/Grey Mk1s, various wagons Mid 1970s - Tops Blue 24/1, Tops Blue 26, Blue/Grey Mk1s, various wagons Mid 1980s - Large Logo 37s, Blue/Grey Mk1s, airbraked wagons. Early 1990s - Original Livery 156s, RF Construction 37/4, Kyle line Green/Cream coaching stock, airbraked wagons. Andy B) Edit - Added missing era - I always forget about the 90s!