Waverley West

In Waverley station, 37423 was waiting to depart from Platform 15 for Inverness...

37027 was parked in the siding, waiting patiently for its next duty...

Three PRAs bringing up the rear of a Speedlink service...

Some more wagons in the rake...

A close-up of 37026...

...and at speed...

An unusual visitor to Haymarket in the shape of 37403...

37260 entering Waverley station...

Followed shortly after by Inverness-based 26038 on a rake of Polybulks...

After walking back to Haymarket station, I took a quick trip to Waverley and Princes St Gardens...

I was lucky to see 37026 passing through on a Speedlink service...

There were some interesting wagons in the rake, including a ferry wagon...

A Polybulk bogie wagon...

and a china clay slurry wagon...

Shortly after, 37260 Radio Highland passed through on another Speedlink service...

Hi folks,

Well, a very belated Happy New Year to you all. Not a lot of modelling has been done recently, but I've had quite a few operating sessions over the past few weeks, so I thought I'd post some photos.

First up is a trip to Haymarket MPD, courtesy of a depot pass...

Eastfield-based 47004 in its Construction subsector guise was on shed...

ScotRail-liveried 47461 was also on parked on road 5...

As the space-time displacement machine was set to the late 1980s, 47s were in the ascendency, with 47541 The Queen Mother and 47562 Sir William Burrell being given attention...

20227 was on road 8, here glimpsed through the window of the shed...

Keeping a fleet going requires long hours into the night...

Eastfield-based 20063 was also in evidence (partnered with 20067)...

To strike a more positive note for a moment, I thought I might post a few pics of the third Accurascale 37 to be released from the Waverley West works in the shape of 37099, renumbered from 37051. The two locos are very similar as far as I can see, apart from 37099 having a fully welded roof at the no. 2 end. So the roof panel at this end was sanded down and the roof repainted. The depot plaques also had to be removed. Otherwise, it was a simple renumbering/weathering job. 

All three of my Accura 37s (026/043/051) have so far performed faultlessly and they have done a fair few miles already. 37027 Loch Eil (with the white stripe removed) will be the next Accura 37 to be released into service. 

Here is the end product, trundling through Princes St Gardens and into Waverley West with a rake of BBA steel wagons...

And that just leaves me to say:

May Santa bring you all the trains (and maybe modelling time too) you are hoping for. I have two new tooling 47/7s (11 and 16) on my desk and a banger blue 37027 from Accurascale (with white stripe removed) almost finished now. I'm hoping to finish them off in time to run them over the holidays.

Seasons greetings one and all

Dave

Night falls on Waverley West...

...as 37099 trundles through Princes St. Gardens with a steel train...

...and work continues into the night down at Haymarket MPD...

One final photo that didn't make the cut above:

Work continues into the night down at Haymarket depot...

Here are some general views looking from the west. Of particular interest is 37423 (an older Bachmann version renumbered) at Platform 15, ready to depart for Inverness. A nice change from the usual 47. The Perth push-pull set is in Platform 17 and the stock from a service from Aberdeen is in Platform 16. A blue/grey 3-car 101 is in the bay platform, Platform 18. Plenty of buses on Waverley Bridge too... 😀

An interesting selection of rolling stock in Platforms 12 to 15, including two Strathclyde-liveried units (a 3-car 101 and a 156)...

47704 is still on the Perth service...

47550 arrives on the evening sleeper service...

A look along the path above The Mound Tunnels...

Well, I think that's all for now, folks.

Hope to be back soon with some more pics of my latest projects.

Happy Modelling!

Dave

Hi folks,

Just thought I'd post a few pics after a trip down to Waverley West last night. Some interesting new stock passed through.

First up is a new Accurascale 37 in the shape of 37099 Clydebridge, renumbered from 37051. As 37099 has a fully welded roof at the no. 2 end, I have smoothed off the roof here. Otherwise, I couldn't find any significant differences between the two locos, especially as they both have fabricated bogies and ran for a time with the car headlight-style headlights.

Here it is in careworn condition, passing through Princes St Gardens at the head of a rake of steel wagons...

Another new 37 on the layout is 37404, this one a Bachmann version, renumbered from 37430. This loco has had a difficult birth. I originally bought it at a knockdown price only to find that it had a damaged gear wheel in one bogie. I bought a replacement bogie from Bachmann and fitted it, only to find that it still ran extremely poorly. It turned out that the other bogie had suffered exactly the same damage. So another call to Bachmann's excellent spares centre was made. The replacement bogie arrived and was duly fitted. The loco now ran very smoothly. However, during removal of the body on various occasions up to this point, I had managed to pull off one of the plug sockets at the ends. And yes, I had read about this weakness on here, but still managed to do it. I managed to solder two of the connections back on, but could not get the other two to work, so I ended up hard-wiring those wires.

The loco then passed through the WW works and I now have a very nice, smooth-running 37404 Ben Cruachan for a (reasonably) affordable price even with the two replacement bogies...

Another new item of stock on the layout is a 2 x 2-car class 158 in Regional Railways Express livery, fitted with legobiffoman sound chips. Both units have been renumbered to Haymarket-based units and weathered, fitted with passengers, etc., etc. Their liveries have been changed slightly through the addition of the "Express" branding on the bodyside stripes. These units mark the end of the period represented by WW, i.e. 1990ish. I decided it was a step too far to recreate the miniature snowploughs, at least for now. These units did apparently run for a short period of time without them after their construction.

Also new on the layout is another Accurascale 37 in the shape of 37026 Shapfell. I haven't got round to photographing that yet, so hope to be back soon with some piccies of it. Having now tried both Accurascale's and Bachmann's new 37s, I think the Accurascale version wins it for me, mainly because of the better quality sound/speakers. It really does sound like a miniature 100-ton locomotive. I do still like the new Bachmann 37s though and if Bachmann produce the right number/livery combinations, I could still be tempted. I've noticed some of the earlier releases now being heavily discounted by some retailers, including 37423 Sir Murray Morrison, which I think Santa may be bringing (well, OK, I know he will be bringing it, as I ordered it 😀). 

Another couple of 47/7s are now in the works, again picked up as "bargains" (in the modern sense of the word). These are likely to be renumbered as 47716 "The Duke" (to replace my existing version) and 47711 Greyfriars Bobby. 

Also soon to enter the works is Accurascale 37027, which I think will have its white stripe removed, but otherwise remain as 027.

Plenty of work in progress!

I've reached my upload limit again, so onto another post...

4 hours ago, young37215 said:

 

 

 

I am afraid I have no idea, red ballast was widely seen on the WHL but not exclusively either as the picture below shows.

 

 

I spent a little time working on the mountain pass baseboard No 1 attempting to get the right profile of mountainside. What felt like several hours of wasted time delivered nothing tangible by way of progress but I think I am clearer in my mind how it should look which involves more rock face so I need to get casting. In an effort to show something for my efforts I got a first coat of blue paint on 37111. Regular readers will be aware of my colour blindness hence I am always reluctant to express an opinion on colours. On this occassion I am far from convinced by the Railmatch faded blue and wonder if it is just the uniformity that looks wrong or if the colour is unrealistic? I will wait until a second coat and weathering has been applied before reaching a final judgement. 

 

 

 

What I am trying to copy, 37111 Eastfield April 1983.

 

 

 

To copy 37111 in that photo, I think I would be starting with all-over standard Rail blue, rather than faded blue. Faded blue never looks right until weathering and other variations have been added to the body sides. 08s and 20s seemed particularly prone to fading. I guess they were a long way down the repainting list as much as anything. That 37 looks unfaded to me and ready for darker weathering on top of standard blue (I would be looking to use Railmatch Sleeper Grime, Frame dirt, Roof dirt and Weathered black).

I did use a base coat of Railmatch Faded blue for my 20048 below, but it was only after the final stages of weathering that I became happy with it. I spent most of the project wondering what on earth I was doing with a £150 locomotive. It only came to life after I added lighter faded streaking and darker patches and a coat of matt varnish. It's actually one of my favourite locos now!

Hi all, 

Thank you for the kind words. Interesting that nostalgia is such an important reason for people liking the layout. Nostalgia was one of the main reasons why I opted to "do" Waverley (I also considered doing Carlisle at the time). I wanted to recreate my visits to the station and the gardens in the 80s, when my sister lived in Kinghorn across the Forth. Whenever we visited her (from deepest Cornwall!), I would try and nip down to Kinghorn station for a few hours or, best of all, take a trip across the bridge into Waverley. I think I've achieved my aim, as the layout does bring back the feeling of "being there" whenever I'm operating it. Even better, I get to choose which trains I see on any given day. 😀

As promised, here is a track plan, taken from the BRM article (I presume this is OK to post here).

Waverley West is shown in the top right, Princes St Gardens in the top centre, Haymarket West and East Yards on the lower board and a freelance countryside section for trains to stretch their legs in on the left.

This shows the current (and probably final track) plan. There are also two looped fiddle yards, one on either side of the layout. These can hold around 31 trains of varying lengths ranging from a 24-wagon MGR rake and an 8-coach sleeper set, to sidings which can just hold a couple of 2-car DMUs or short freight/departmental rakes.

Hope to be back soon with another update. Plenty of projects under way at the moment. A second Accurascale 37 in the shape of Railfreight Distribution 37026 Shapfell is about to be released from the works, along with Bachmann Large Logo 37404 Ben Cruachan, which has had a difficult birth, but more of that anon.

Also on the bench is Accurascale Petroleum sector 37051, which is being renumbered as 37099 Clydesbridge. As far as I've been able to find out, the only significant difference between the two is the roof panel at the number 2 end, which is riveted on 37051 but fully welded (and therefore flush) on 099. I think this must be the only time I've ever counted rivets on Waverley West!

Happy modelling,

Dave

Haven't posted on this thread for a while, so here goes...

37429 about to enter The Mound Tunnels as it wheels a rake of PCA cement wagons through Princes St. Gardens

...and continuing the theme...

Cheers for now,

Dave

Hi folks,

A quick pit-stop to post some pics of a sector 37 which has actually been running on a layout for a little while now.

First up is 37429 Eisteddfod Genedlaethol (or words to that effect!). This was originally going to be done as 37425 Concrete Bob, but research revealed that the sector logos were at the "wrong" end of this loco for the donor loco, so rather than face the task of removing the logos, I came up with 37429 as a good alternative, especially as it was another Construction subsector loco in the pool serving Oxwellmains cement works along with 37425.

Here are some shots of it as it winds its rake of PCA cement wagons around the layout. I have recently bought a few Accurascale PCAs to insert into this rake for a bit of variety in wagon type in this rake, a far from uncommon feature of cement trains generally. 

And one final shot for now...

In other news, the Strathclyde 156 is virtually finished. I just need to paint the snowploughs yellow and weather them now.

Work has now turned to another Large Logo 37/4, probably to be done as 37404 Ben Cruachan after renumbering from 37430, which I picked up "cheap". 

37260 Radio Highland is also on the workbench looking far too clean.

These are both new Bachmann toolings, so it will be interesting to see how they compare to Accurascale's offerings.