Waverley West

Plus a few more... Plus a final, even closer close-up...

Hi folks, A decent session up in the modelling room this afternoon saw the return of pretty much all services. Here is a selection of shots from this afternoon's trial running session.

Some lovely photos there, MD. I can't believe I've never been to the Threlkeld gala, as it's only a few miles away from me. Must get round to it once lockdown is over though. Cheers Dave

Hi David, I'll be interested to hear your experiences with companies who produce backscenes from your own photos when you get round to it, as it's something I'd like to do with my layout. My backscenes (which I put together from my photos using good old-fashioned cut and paste - as in paper and scissors - techniques) are looking a bit tired now and I'd really like to replace them with some good quality photo-quality ones. I'm enjoying watching your progress with 64B! Cheers Dave

Probably Almost certainly breaking copyright here, but this shot taken from class47.co.uk. maybe shows the gap you're talking about and even a couple of gricers too. Maybe even you??! There were quite a few gaps like this along the length of the hedge at the time, but the hedge had become pretty continuous by the time of my first visit (early 2000s) for actual modelling purposes. Might make for an interesting cameo? This is a nice shot of the wall at about the time I am modelling it too. Dave

No, there was no siding there. There are/were sidings on the south side of the prototype (where the station pilot was often parked), but I didn't have room for those, so I added an extra siding on the north side. It's a handy place to park the station pilot or other locos for me too.

You're right, MHB/Paul. It's something I've been thinking about too. At the moment, the hedge is just placed loosely on the layout and not glued down. I've been wondering whether it might look a bit daft if I cut up the hedge and leave gaps in it. On the other hand, I do want to reproduce those gaps as they're quite distinctive, so I need to experiment I think. I'm quite pleased with the hedge itself so far though and I think it looks the part. A spotter or two peering through the gaps would be good too. There often seemed to be spotters on the platforms back then too, which is something I need to add to the platforms as well. I have a short section of hedging spare, so a bit of experimenting with the scissors is in order. Watch this space! Dave

Fantastic images, David, of a wonderful place. I've had two extended holidays in Interlaken now and it is most definitely one of my favourite holiday destinations. If I may be so bold as to post pretty much exactly the same view as above but taken in the summer. Happy to delete if you'd rather keep this thread to your lovely photos.

A study in light and shade, as a passenger casts a shadow across Platform 18 at Edinburgh Waverley. Behind, a Class 101 DMU waits to depart for Fife.

Hi folks, A quick session in the railway room tonight saw Platforms 18 and 19 returned to use, enabling HST services to Kings X/Aberdeen and local services to Fife to resume. Here is a 101 unit in Platform 18 waiting to depart... Stay safe, Dave

Thanks David. They bring back happy memories of a holiday a few years back. Dave

I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.

Have registered my interest, but can't decide between InterCity Mainline and InterCity Swallow. Probably Swallow methinks.

Hmmm, looking through the last few pages, it seems that the bar has been raised significantly recently. There are some fantastic shots coming through right now. Keep it up, guys! Some years ago, tree-felling around the National Gallery in Edinburgh gave me an opportunity for a rarely seen view of the gallery buildings on The Mound...

Hi folks, Well, Project Station Refresh is now starting to come together. The wall is finished and the fence and hedge are temporarily in position. Over the past week or so, I've been doing the ballasting. This has involved laying fresh ballast from Greenscene over the original ballast. This proved to be a bigger job than I thought, but it is now mostly finished. The outer and inner circuits have actually been cleared for trains and I can now run trains again. There are plenty of tidying up jobs and finishing works to be done yet, but here are some phone shots of the current situation, as 26025 runs through the station with a rake of ballast wagons, the first service since the blockade began. With the trees still missing, these shots show an unusually clear view of Princes Street behind. The next jobs will be to clear all platform roads for use by trains and then make a start on producing some more trees for the area around the Scott Monument. Hope to be back soon. Stay safe one and all, Dave

An interesting discussion, guys, and a couple of fascinating shots there, Calum. I've not seen those before or any showing the bridge with scaffolding for that matter as far as I can recall. 1984 was my best guess for the cleaning of the walls and the work on Waverley Bridge. Waverley is such a frequently photographed location, it's amazing there aren't more shots of the work being carried out. I guess it doesn't look as attractive covered in scaffolding, so maybe people are less inclined to take photos. That wall may have been spotlessly clean, but it certainly didn't take long for it to start getting grubby again.

Down by the churchyard in our village the other day, I came across a young tawny in a hedge, near where there's an owl box. I didn't spot it until the last minute and it seemed completely unfazed by my presence and we stood for ages watching each other just an arm's length apart. A couple of days later, I saw an adult tawny in the same area, which I presume was a parent. I believe young tawny owls leave the nest and spend quite a while hopping around nearby branches before they can actually fly, which would explain why this one was where it was.

Dear Valued Customer, During this planned disruption, rail replacement buses will be in place for those passengers where travel is unavoidable, however these will add significant time to your journey and may be extremely busy. There will be further days with no trains to or from Waverley West later this month. These dates are still to be confirmed and we will update this page as soon as we have this information.

Hi folks, Just thought I'd post another quick update, as I've been working away on Project Station Refresh when time allows. The fence has now been completed and placed along the top of the wall, but not glued yet. The hedge has arrived and been place where it is to go, behind the fence. The big news is that ballasting has started and a rough covering has now been completed across the station throat area. A lot of work remains to be done, especially weathering and blending in, and then all the details need to be added, but you can at least now see the general colouring that the station throat will now have - quite different from how it was in the early 2000s, which the previous version was based on. The next job is to tidy up all the ballast, areas where the old colour shows through, and so on. Then it will be on to weathering. I'm enjoying this project, as it will make the station look much more like it was during the 80s, but it's also been pretty frustrating as train running has been extremely limited recently and is currently non-existent with the ballasting in progress. I'm looking forward to getting trains running again and to toning down the ballast. Here are a couple of shots taken on my phone showing the current state of play... Hope to be back soon with another update. Stay safe everyone, Dave

Hi Peter After many unsuccessful attempts at calling and emailing to place an order, I’ve found that just ordering by letter with a cheque in the post works best for me. i usually receive my orders reasonably quickly this way. Dave

Hi Gary, Maybe. I actually quite looking through the tunnels and the prototype ones aren't actually that long either, although the model ones are nowhere near prototype length of course. Might well be worth a try though! Cheers, Dave

Thanks Peter. I'm still experimenting at this stage, but for the two trees in the photos above, I used Woodland Scenics Blended green turf. I quite like the effect too, but I think maybe a bit more foliage might be in order. Hope that helps! Dave

Hi Colin, See about a quarter of the way down page 158. I've described the process there. Hope that helps! Cheers Dave

Thanks David, that's very kind. I look forward to watching your progress! Dave

Hi folks, Just another pitstop update as Project Station Refresh continues. The tunnel portal is pretty much complete and the wall is also finished and has now been glued on. Here are a few shots of the current state of play... I've also been experimenting making some new trees for the station area and Princes St Gardens using seamoss. Here are my first results... The plan is to replace all the trees alongside the station throat area first. These are the first two trees and more are currently in the pipeline. A hedge has been ordered which will be placed behind the fence along the top of the station wall. The cable trunking has now been glued down and the next job will be to apply a new top coat of pre-weathered ballast (i.e. pre-sprayed with my favoured mix of Railmatch roof dirt and frame dirt. Pre-weathering will hopefully reduce the amount of mess caused in the station area by eliminating the need to weather it in situ. It also means that if the ballast ever gets scratched, it will remain the same colour. Hope to be back soon with another update. Stay safe. Cheers for now, Dave