Waverley West

Hi Alex, More good progress! I've been putting off starting on my Haymarket main shed for some time now and you're putting me to shame! Can I ask what wood you are using (type and thickness)? It looks like plywood. The structure looks nice and solid, not to mention square, and would be good for Haymarket I think. How are you joining the pieces of wood together - glueing and screwing? Looking forward to more updates. Cheers, Dave

Hi forest2807, Thanks for your kind comments. As I normally view the layout from "the south" and from a fairly low angle when operating it, I don't think you would see either Salisbury Crags or Arthur's Seat. I've often wondered exactly what to include and what not to include, as obviously the layout is viewed from many different angles and heights. Getting views for the backscene of all the buildings and so on from the right angle and with the right lighting proved pretty tricky and took a couple of trips to Edinburgh and Waverley itself, not that that's a burden! Cheers, Dave Waverley West

Hi again folks, Here are couple more shots which I forgot to add last time... Hope you're not getting bored of these! As there have been a few requests for more info on my weathering techniques, maybe I should start a workbench thread. My methods are pretty crude by comparison with the experts, but they work well enough for me and I'm happy with the results. I have also yet to ruin an item of rolling stock, which is just as important! Cheers for now, Dave Waverley West

Hi folks, Thanks for your comments. I will get around to answering them! In the meantime, I thought I'd post a few more shots... A 26 arrives at Waverley through The Mound... 55007 gets the right-away to depart for Aberdeen... 55007 later in its journey... Cheers for now, Dave Waverley West

Hi folks, Just thought I'd post some pics of details from around the layout. Hope you like them! You can click on the pics for a larger version and then click on "Next" which appears in the top-right of the pic to scroll to the next one. First up, some platform details as a driver awaits his next turn... Secondly, a view down the southern ramp into the station with the North Bridge in the background... A couple looking north along Waverley Bridge with Princes St in the background... Next, 26031 careers hopelessly out of control around the layout without a driver (I was sure it had one until I took this shot!)... Some of the road vehicles at Haymarket depot... Plus an overall view of the station peering over the ramparts of Waverley Bridge... And finally, 50044 is still receiving attention on that troublesome bogie... Cheers for now, Dave Waverley West

So you had them all along. No wonder I couldn't find them.

Hi Peter, Yes, I know it, it was in Rail Express Modeller a while back, wasn't it? I hadn't seen their fotopic site before though. Just found it now. There's some good shots on there. Prototype shots of Waverley too. 47562 certainly is of interest to me. Something to think about there. Cheers Peter, you're a star! (PS Where's the thumbs up emoticon these days, anyone know??!). Cheers, Dave

Cheers for that owentherail. I do remember seeing a photo of Glorious Devon at Aviemore once now you mention it, so maybe I shouldn't worry about it. They certainly got about those 47s.

Hi Carl, Superb. Thanks a million for that. I see from http://www.brushtype4.co.uk/bt4_search.php?number=47470&livery=3&output=t that the headcodes were plated over before it was named. Humph, thought so. I've got a feeling I have a spare Heljan body with plated over headcodes somewhere, so I'll see if I can dig that out. Unless I can find a Scottish domino-headcoded named 47 (apart from the 47/7s), 47510 might just stay as she is. Having seen a photo of 47484 Isambard Kingdom Brunel at Glasgow Queen St yesterday, the idea of 47510 visiting Waverley/Haymarket doesn't seem so bad after all. By the way Carl, how's the Hebridean Isles coming along? You've been starving us all of updates recently, you cruel man. Mind you, looking on the bright side, my therapist says I might be released next week if I continue my current progress. Cheers, Dave Waverley West

Hi Peter, Love the latest shots. Lovely detail, colouring and weathering. One thing I've always wondered about Llanbourne is the apparent lack of a backscene in most of your shots. Are you planning on having one or is it just not visible in most shots? Or would a backscene not work because the layout is viewed from both sides? Cheers, Dave Waverley West

Hi Peter, I'm thinking of 47470 University of Edinburgh but I'm not sure it ran with domino headcodes when named (in 1983), probably not. Any ideas? Otherwise, I need to look for a domino headcoded Scottish 47 that I can get nameplates for, or maybe plate over the headcode panels. Watch this space! Getting the glazing out of the Mk2's was a real pain. I managed it in the end but because I broke so many (not across the windows fortunately) they are going to have to go back in the same coaches and the same way round they came out! As regards the rat, I'm not sure yet but probably. It does look kind of basic next to the 26s and 27s with all their pipework. Cheers, Dave

Rubbish those, Jon. Something a bit different from Waverley West... Plus a B&W shot... Cheers, Dave Waverley West

Hi folks, I thought it was about time I posted some more pics of the layout in its BR Blue guise, with the emphasis on one of the new arrivals - 25083. Hope you like them... 26031 waits for the right away on a Perth train... 25083 runs through Princes St. light engine... Plus a last shot of 47510 before its renumbering to a Scottish-based duff... And finally, work continues apace on the Mk 2ds. Here is a snapshot of one of the ScotRail ones in its current state. Plenty of work still to be done but they're getting there. Cheers for now, Dave Waverley West

Hi Jamie, The codes are: Couplings: 36-026 ("mini type long") Wheels: 36-033 or 36-017. Hornby also do a metal wheel pack: R8097 Thanks for that flood. I did try that but ended up gluing the shaft onto the bogie tower! I obviously wasn't as careful as you!! Perhaps I'll give it another go!! Cheers, Dave Waverley West

Yep, brilliant. Thanks Flood. Cheers, Dave Waverley West

Will get back to you on those Jamie. Cheers, Dave

Hi Jamie, They're a mixture of Airfix and Dapol, bought years ago and stored in the loft. I will be rewheeling them all with metal wheels (Bachmann probably), as I use code 75 track too. Hornby's current Mk 2d is just a re-release using the same moulding I think and is no better than the Airfix/Dapol version. The finish on the older versions is of course far inferior to the latest releases though. As I'm respraying them, that's not an issue for me though and I would think buying from new would be more expensive (and I'd still have to respray them in my case anyway). I am also changing the couplings to the Bachmann "long type" (or something like that). It brings the coaches pretty close together and hasn't caused me any derailing problems. Bachmann do multipacks of wheels and couplings. Hope that answers your question. Cheers, Dave

Hi both Petes and everyone else! Thanks for your comments. I hope the photo below shows what happens at the back of the station and the 'fiddle yard' area. I??™ve used the station roof to hide the sharp curves of the lines at the end of the layout and the platform roads which double as storage loops. There are 9 loops, one of which is not adjacent to a platform. The outer loop has space for a 25-wagon MGR train plus 2 x 2-car DMUs. The innermost loop has room for a 4/5-coach train. The middle few roads have space for 7-8 coach trains, which is plenty for me and enables me to run reasonably realistic looking train formations. One limiting factor with this arrangement is that the "south" side of the real station (i.e. on the right in the photo) is used for long-distance trains, but I only have space for 4-coach trains here, so some trains have to use the ???wrong??? platforms. I could extend the storage loops on the right-hand side but that would eat into the scenic section on the other side. Something has to give somewhere! The other limiting factor is that I can??™t really run trains ???off-scene??? to replicate trains heading off somewhere else. I??™m working on that though. Space is tight but maybe I could squeeze in a few extra off-scene sidings somewhere or even a spiral to another level (now that would be good). Work is continuing on the Mk 2d's with the basic two-tone colours complete apart from some tidying up. The interiors are also finished. Will post some pics when they're done. Trouble is, I think I might need more than the five I'm working on at the moment. After that, 47510 is going to be renumbered 47470 University of Edinburgh and upgraded a bit (wire rather than plastic handrails mainly). 47510 Fair Rosamund was a favourite Old Oak Common loco of mine, but I think it's time to make it more appropriate for Waverley West. This Heljan loco also needs some mechanical attention, I think because the rotating carden shaft keeps slipping where it joins onto the bogie tower at one end. Anyone come across this problem and solved it? It's really the only running problem I've had with any of my Heljan locos. Cheers for now, Dave Waverley West

Thanks guys! Waverley West isn't actually that big and I hope I've made a few people think about what they could achieve in a relatively small space. I think there are plenty of other big stations that could be done in the same half-station way - Glasgow Queen St, Birmingham New St. (not jim s-w-style though of course!!) and Liverpool Lime St. spring to mind. I think even Carlisle N or S could be done, using the side walls as the layout edges. Having said that I think with a photographic backscene to indicate the city, you wouldn't even necessarily need a confined station. Hi Peter - I've been wondering that myself. I believe they were mainly used on the Glasgow - Aberdeen push-pulls, so I'm not sure how often they would have visited Waverley. I guess they would have done though. I was thinking of doing at least one. If anyone knows of the travels of the ScotRail BGs please enlighten us!! Cheers, Dave Waverley West

Hi folks, Firstly, Happy New Year everyone! Secondly, thanks for all the great feedback on the MR article and the layout. Much appreciated. Glad you liked it. I've had a few requests now for some shots which show the layout "in the room" rather than just the layout itself, so here they are. Here is Waverley West as it really is... Hope it gives you an idea of how I've put it all together. Progress on Waverley West has been slow recently, mainly because I've been working on a 6' x 4' roundy-roundy layout for my 5-year old daughter (which she wants me to put on here too!). In the Waverley West works at the moment though are five Dapol Mk 2d's for respraying into a mixture of ScotRail and InterCity liveries. Cheers for now, Dave Waverley West

Crikey Alex. Just dropped in on this thread for the first time expecting to see a few photos, plans and ideas, not baseboards, building frames and track!! Great progress. Really looking forward to seeing this develop! Cheers, Dave Waverley West

Thanks everyone! Much appreciated. Your comments and feedback are what make posting so worthwhile. A Happy New Year to everyone! Cheers Dave Waverley West

Hi Rick, Glad to see you made the transition to the new RMWeb. I especially like the appetite-whetter. Looking forward to more, please! Cheers, Dave Waverley West

Yes, more please Stuart Cheers, Dave Waverley West

And A Very Merry Christimas to You Too, Mark. You should be able to fit a nice variety of stock in those storage roads. The lack of a true fiddle yard is one of the biggest restrictions on Waverley West's operations I think. I have some vague and ambitious ideas floating around in my head about a spiral and a second layer, but that is as far as it has got so far. Something to think about for the future perhaps. Looking forward to seeing more progress on Rannoch Moor next year!! Season's Greetings, Dave Waverley West