Waverley West

47704 is still shuttling to Perth and back...

Hi folks, Just thought I'd post a few more pics from recent operating sessions. 37043 and 47704 are getting quite a lot of use at the moment, so apologies if there are any repetitions from previous photos. 26004 waits for its next duty in the siding by the North Wall... 37043 is currently working the cement rake... Later in the day, another coal sector loco, 37692, takes up residence in the siding...

Hi again folks, Just thought I'd post a few pics of the latest addition to the WW fleet - a Realtrak 156 in Regional Railways livery. Not a huge amount done to this one, although I did fit an iphone speaker in each car to beef up the sound a bit. It is now pretty noisy, with plenty of that second-generation DMU revving going on when pulling away. Otherwise, it's just been fitted with drivers and passengers and had the usual weathering to the underframe and roof, and slight weathering on the bodysides. Here it is passing through Princes St. Gardens in an unusual burst of sunshine. This part of the layout doesn't get that much direct sunlight because of its position behind The Mound relative to the window. ... and earlier in its journey as it heads out of Waverley... In case anyone is experiencing loco withdrawal symptoms, while I was there, 26004 was also pootling about the station... It must have headed out to the coal concentration depot next to Haymarket, as it returned shortly after with a trainload of domestic coal in HEAs. And for those who like their colour in black and white... Happy Modelling! Cheers for now, Dave

Hi again folks, Just thought I'd post a few pics of WW's latest 47/7... a new tooling version partially resprayed/renumbered/weathered 47704 Dunedin, complete with oversized 8" numbers. The loco is the first 47/7 on WW to be modelled as per its Eastfield days, with Westie logo. Eastfield never kept the 47/7s anything like as clean as Haymarket did when it had them and the photos show a covering of roof grime already descending on the loco, not all that many months after transfer to the Glasgow depot in October 1987. The dark grey on this loco had to be resprayed, as Bachmann's version is based on the modern version of the livery. Here are some shots of the loco on the new Perth Mk 2z rake... The Mk 2z rake leaving platform 17 bound for Perth... The loco has settled into its duties nicely. The ability to independently control head and tail lights with the new tooling is a real boon on push-pull services, as it makes it possible to run with tail lights only in push mode. On my locos on which it is not possible to independently control/permanently switch off the tail lights, I always disconnect the tail lights at the tension lock coupling end, so that a loco can never haul a train with its tail lights on. The lights at the end with buffer beam detailing can be left unaltered. The loco has become a real favourite on the layout and now rivals the "Duke" for popularity on push-pull services. I can firmly say though that I have no plans to replace my shove-duff fleet with all latest tooling versions. The previous Bachmann 47 was pretty good as it was and the cost involved really makes the idea unjustifiable. I have managed to pick up a couple cheap from Model Railways Direct though, so there will be more additions to the fleet soon! I did experiment with using magnetic couplings on the Mk 2z rake, but I gave up in the end due to constant derailments on the ladder crossings through Princes St Gardens. The Mk 2f DBSO still has a magnetic coupling at the non-driving end, but the other coaches have been refitted with tension lock couplings. These seem to negotiate crossing better in push mode, due to their inherent slack. The magnetic couplings seemed to be too rigid. In other news, a Realtrak 156 has just been completed. More on that to follow. This unit marks the end of the period covered by Waverley West (roughly 1980-1990). It will be accompanied by a pair of Bachmann 158s, which will be used on "trials" only, marking the transition away from loco-hauled trains from 1990 onwards, when Waverley gradually became a less interesting place. Hope to be back soon. Happy Modelling! Dave

There are two end windows plus five Veluxes which let in light from all angles. The largest window faces southwest. This lets in the most light and I take most of my sunlit shots when the sun/strong light is coming through this window. There are also 15 LED dimmable daylight bulbs evenly distributed across the ceiling. All these light sources combined come together to produce the overall lighting.

Some shots of the APT-E at speed... ...and entering Waverley West (before its recent revamp) at a rather more sedate pace...

Yes, it's the two old ones that are the problem. They are of a very old type, not even sure what make. I might be able to get a blind to fit over the opening, but for now I've just fitted a piece of cardboard into the opening on the south-facing one. The new Veluxes all have blinds and essential they are too, living as I do in tropical Cumbria (well, Cumberland now I suppose).

Thanks Moley! The layout is housed in a room above our garage. Fortunately, a house came with the garage, so we have somewhere to live too! I had the room insulated and fitted with as many Velux windows as possible (4 modest-sized ones + 2 small pre-existing ones). I also had the southwest facing end window enlarged as much as possible. The natural light is still more limited than I would like it to be, so I had 15 x LED lights installed in the ceiling. These are "daylight" bulbs, only 4W each too, so they don't consume much power, even with 15 of them. These dim as well, which means I can run the layout in semi-darkness too, which shows up the layout lighting nicely. Here are a couple of not very good photos of the layout room... The new Veluxes have blinds, but the old ones don't. I've recently noticed that the cab on one power car on my blue-grey HST has become very faded, so I think I will need to block up the offending window somehow. Hope that gives you an insight into what the layout really looks like! Cheers Dave

A few more shots of 37043... Currently on the workbench is a newly tooled Bachmann 47/7, now in the shape of 47704 Dunedin. This is basically finished and just needs to be reassembled now really. This one has been done in its Eastfield guise, with suitably dirty cab roofs. I've also modelled the quirks of this particular loco in the form of blue data panels behind the cab doors and the missing roof panel behind the no. 2 cab end, not to mention the larger 8" numbers, with 47704 being the only 47/7 to carry these. Hope to be back soon with some shots of 47704. Work on the Mk2z Perth push-pull set has stalled in the past week, partly because of the work being done on 37043 and 47704, but also due to problems encountered during final tests runs in push mode. These latest Bachmann Mk2z's seem to be a bit on the light side, so I'm going to try adding some weight first. Happy modelling in the meantime! Cheers Dave

Have just posted some pics of my new 37043 over on the Accurascale 37 thread, but thought I should put them here too, so here goes... It runs beautifully and has yet to derail on the layout. The fragility of the snowplough brackets concerns me a little if it did derail, but time will tell on that score. The stayalive is another big step forward, resulting in flawless operation. It's quite strange to pick up the loco and turn it round on the track, without any interruption in power supply/sound. This eliminates the frustrating start-up sequence issues I've sometimes experienced with DCC sound when the power supply to a sound-fitted loco is interrupted for any reason. The quality of the sound is probably what stands out for me more than anything else, which seems a step change in realism to me, with a strong bass sound giving the impression of a 100-ton loco along with random fan/equipment noises. The level of underframe detail is impressive too. The biggest problem I found with weathering it was the delicacy of the bogie frames, which caused me problems when refitting them. A bit of practice and I don't think this will be quite such a problem though. I know what to expect next time. I've also recently purchased a new Large Logo Bachmann 37 at a knockdown price (a shop return), but have since found out that it had a damaged gear wheel in one bogie which is probably why it was returned. With a £15 replacement bogie, it was still a bargain though and it will be interesting to see how it scrubs up compared with 37043. I'm certainly looking forward to working on my other Scottish Accurascale 37s though, with 37026 next on the list.

Just thought I'd post some shots of 37043, which is now in service on Waverley West, and very nice it is too. The quality of the sound is probably what stands out for me more than anything else, which seems a step change in realism to me, with a strong bass sound giving the impression of a 100-ton loco along with random fan/equipment noises. The level of underframe detail is impressive too. The biggest problem I found with weathering it was the delicacy of the bogie frames, which caused me problems when refitting them. A bit of practice and I don't think this will be quite such a problem though. I know what to expect next time. It runs beautifully and has yet to derail on the layout. The fragility of the snowplough brackets concerns me a little if it did derail, but time will tell on that score. The stayalive is another big step forward, resulting in flawless operation. It's quite strange to pick up the loco and turn it round on the track, without any interruption in power supply/sound. This eliminates the frustrating start-up sequence issues I've sometimes experienced with DCC sound when the power supply to a sound-fitted loco is interrupted for any reason. I've also recently purchased a new Large Logo Bachmann 37 at a knockdown price (a shop return), but have since found out that it had a damaged gear wheel in one bogie which is probably why it was returned. With a £15 replacement bogie, it was still a bargain though and it will be interesting to see how it scrubs up compared with 37043. I'm certainly looking forward to working on my other Scottish Accurascale 37s though, with 37026 next on the list.

Thanks Ian. Yes, 20048 is the newest tooling. I think there is space for a better speaker. With so many other projects on the go recently, I haven't looked into it yet but I think it would definitely be worth a look. I squeezed a 20 x 40 mm speaker into the original version after a bit of hacking around with the chassis and the sound wasn't too bad. The new one is a lot better but I think there is still room for improvement and more bass in particular. Cheers Dave

See class47.co.uk It’s a brilliant reference source with photos of every 47, including 012 of course.

Hi Bill, What a useful post! No, I haven't corrected the brake issue as yet. The rake is still a work in progress. I just wanted to test the lights and the magnetic couplings on the layout, so they were heading back to the workbench again anyway. Those upgrades look great and make a big difference, so I will definitely have to investigate. Thanks! Cheers Dave

For comparison, here is my normal coupling arrangement for coaching stock, with a corridor connection and tension locks... This looks OK to me, as the tension locks are not very visible. The coaches are a little too far apart though, so that was one of the main reasons for experimenting with magnetic couplings. The main thing of course is that passengers must be able to pass through the train! Over the past year or so, I have also been building up a small fleet of electric locos to run during "happy hour" sessions when anything goes 😀. These sessions make a nice change from trying to run everything exactly as it was at Waverley in the 80s. The most recent addition is an InterCity Mainline-liveried Hornby 87, renumbered as 87024 Lord of the Isles. I loved the names of those 87s, Black Douglas, Hall o' the wynd, Lord of the Isles, The Black Prince, John O' Gaunt, Knight of the Thistle and so on. So evocative, not that I had much inkling of their origins though. These days, thanks to Google, I can find out! Here she is, sound-fitted with a Legomanbiffo chip and 2 x sugar cub speakers just behind the cabs, which put out a very nice sound! Another fairly recent addition to this fleet is 90037 in Railfreight Distribution colours... Anyway, don't tell anyone, will you? Well, that's about it as far as this update goes. Currently on the workbench is one of Bachmann's new 47/7s. As Bachmann have modelled 47712 in its current livery, I have had to respray the upper dark grey. I was hoping to avoid doing this, but it is (correctly) just too dark and different from the upper dark grey on all my other sector stock. I've made good progress with it though, so hopefully it won't be too long before it is put into service on WW. I do like the latest Bachmann 47s and have now replaced several of my old fleet, although I have no intention of replacing them wholesale and many of them have many years of service left in them, I'm sure. There just isn't enough of a difference to justify replacing them like that, especially taking the crazy cost that would entail anyway. Cheers for now and happy modelling everyone! Dave PS A sneaky final shot that didn't make the cut above...

A quiet moment between trains out in the countryside... I'm thinking of repainting this bridge to bring out the stonework and textures a bit more. Not the easiest of jobs with it being in situ though! Another major project has been another push-pull rake, this time of Mk2z's + DBSO. This rake was often used on the Perth shuttle service. Here are some shots of it undergoing proving trials. As an experiment, I have fitted magnetic couplings from West Hill Wagon Works. They work well in both push and pull mode and look less intrusive than tension locks, so I may well expand my experiments to other stock and from stock to loco. The coaches have been renumbered to four of the five ScotRail Mk2z's and fitted with lights and passengers and the outer vestibules have been painted yellow, along with the usual weathering. Here is 47715 Haymarket, appropriately enough, arriving from Perth, passing through Princes St Gardens...

One final shot of the TUA, which is a very nice wagon... Another addition on the wagon front is a polybulk from Rails. I normally prefer to do my own weathering, but this one caught my eye and I couldn't resist it. It still needs a dirty wash to finish it off, but for factory weathering it's pretty impressive and certainly a long way from the brown skirts of the early days of factory weathering. Another new addition to the loco fleet is 47484, a special from Kernow models. This will replace 47500 Great Western, which will probably be sold off. The young spotter (me!) seems remarkably uninterested in it as it arrives from Carstairs on an inter-regional service.

Rest assured though, loco-hauled services continue to dominate, even on local Fife services. Here is 27052 arriving from Dundee... While care-worn 20048 was unusually acting as station pilot... Shortly after 47461 Charles Rennie Macintosh passed through with a ScotRail-liveried inspection saloon... There have been a couple of new arrivals on the wagon front, with an ATO-liveried TUA first up, which has been slotted into one of the Speedlink rakes...

Hi folks, Well, "only" three months since my last update, so here goes... I've been pretty busy over the past few months with various projects. The first project to be finished off was the last of the four 3-car 101 conversion projects, this time in the form of a Strathcylde-liveried unit, 101 304, converted from 2 x 2-car units as a cut-and-shut project. Along with the unavoidable full respray, this also underwent the usual DMU refinements, including drivers, passengers, weather, alteration of the brightness of the lights so that they are only visible in the dark, destination blinds, etc, etc. An unusual feature of 101 304 at one point in this livery was that it had had silver buffers at some time, so they were duly added. Here are some piccies of it in service... Another 3-car 101 conversion is also in service, in the shape of Haymarket-based 101 306 with black window surrounds... That's my file size allowance used up already, so onto another post...

Just spotted a rather grubby TUA passing through Waverley West in a Speedlink rake... This is the first of at least four to be done. I have another ATO-liveried one and a couple of the ICI versions. Nice one, guys! A big thanks to Mark and everyone else who made this happen. Now, about those TTA CO2 tankers... Oh, and then there's the Scottish Distillers grain polybulk too. You know you want to really... 😀😀😀 Cheers Dave

By the way, should have said - sorry to hear about your tumble. Hope you get better soon. This is a very nice looking layout and coming along very nicely indeed. I love the weathering on the engineers wagons and the scenery is starting to come together now. And what's not to love about the Crianlarich area? (well, OK maybe the midges at times, but apart from that!). I look forward to your seeing developments and some more piccies. Cheers Dave

If you look closely at Mk 1 coach roofs, they do have noticeable ribs, just not as prominent as on the Bachmann ones... http://www.theaylesburynews.com/images/BR Mk1 FK W13311 Bristol TM 4-5-84.jpg So my approach is to leave just a trace of the rib (i.e. don't rub it down too much)... Although it's a tedious job, I think it makes a big difference to the overall look of the coach.

Just to back up what others have said, this is excellent modelling and a very atmospheric layout. I particularly like the overall colouring. It all seems to blend together so well. Looking forward to more piccies when you get chance. Cheers Dave

Just put a dab of dark red/black paint over the lenses using the handle end of a paintbrush, that should do it. Alternatively, apply some black insulating tape to the inside of the body over where the lenses are. Simples.

Thanks, Grunfos. I actually managed to fit a driver without removing the insert last night, but I still have two others to do, so will have a look at that.