sulzer27jd

Good effort - two insults in one post!

Remember that the fish would not be coming from the harbour as such, but from the fish houses, where they had been gutted and cleaned, iced, then packed into sealed boxes. For Aberdeen (at least), the fish boxes would arrive via lorry. The boxes would then be loaded into the waiting vans. John

Just an aside, but that is how I remember the Dundee - Edinburgh workings, usually a 27 with 4 Mk1's. The driver would get the train started and then open up fully. Fine with what normally worked those turns, but on one trip, I came home from Edinburgh behind a Deltic, subbing for something that had failed. The driver tried the same approach but stalled it on more than one occasion. Despite that, I still had the bragging rights for a bit! John

I thought I was alone in feeling that way about buildings. I can see them, appreciate them, think they would make a great model and then - "Oh look a wagon kit!" Keep posting please, if only to push me on as I am starting my new project by doing the main buildings. Thanks John

I have a Hornby one in use on Claterinbrigg; but would still like to see an updated version. I would have more than one on the layout, but the thought of fighting with another Hornby rebuild puts me off. John

How do the statistics explain the high number of US outline models that we see at exhibitions? Many of which lead you to conclude that the builders are not relying on personal recollection (or even the most basic research) for their inspiration. John

I saw a couple of interesting shots on another thread. DMU's at Balmossie Halt and Carnoustie; http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/130693-hybrid-dmu-formations/?p=3025132 John

Hybrid formations were very common for us in the Dundee area. The sheds there would put together whatever was running, so providing a mixed bag of colour schemes (all blue/white & blue/blue & grey) and unit classes. Single car units were often press-ganged into three car sets. I notice on Railcar.co.uk they have a picture of a class 122 with a 105 and a 101 at Lochmuir on the Dundee to Edinburgh line. That sort of makeup was not at all unusual, in fact, it was quite regular. John

And that is the weak spot. Having been used on other layouts, it is instantly recognisable now. Although, I am at an added disadvantage, as I see that view every day, so it is really noticeable how often it is used. The more I see photo backscenes in use the less inclined I am to utilise them. John

Not exactly Sutherland though. The OP was specific and the area in question is a radically different landscape from the West Highlands.

Looking at your trees in relation to the station buildings, I would suggest a reduction in total height and start the foliage much lower. When you study the landscape of Sutherland (and that varies because of its large area) many of the trees are planted deliberately to provide shelter. As you have them, the wind would simply whip through, past the trunks. As a first 'port of call' I would suggest Google Maps and the exceptionally useful Streetview. Study the size and shape of the trees in the location that you wish to model, then try and replicate the general shape you see. Pay particular attention as many of our trees exhibit a clear 'lean', usually to the east, as the prevailing high winds come from the west. Over the years this causes a change in the tree shape. I find it useful to start by modelling the basic shape as the tree would be without foliage. That is easily done if you photograph deciduous trees in winter. This will help get the proportions, overall shape and branch structure right before the foliage is applied. John

There is a cracking photo of a 25 crossing the main road to access the branchline here - http://www.geocities.ws/railphotosuk/25092bw.jpg John

Additionally, because there are no drawings for the station buildings, I have scaled from the available photographs - as best I can - to come up with these elevations; The Platform side The public entrance side I have noticed a couple of drawing errors (the end dormer is missing from the platform view), but if there is anything else that is noticeable, give me a DM. Thanks John

The research into the Glenfarg route was always going to be dangerous territory for me. Below is the first element of a potential future project, which hopefully will be recognisable to the followers of this thread. This actually represents a huge step forward for me, as previously my layouts avoided structures as much as possible. A) because I'm not very good at building them and B) I'd rather be building another LNER Pacific. I am therefore taking some tentative steps by starting with my weakest discipline. I will move the construction to a new thread so as to keep this thread for those who are researching the line and of course encourage further participation. John

Don't know how I've missed this layout previously, but its very nice. Well done. All the best John

Rather than dying polyfibre, I find it easier to spray it in situ. For trees, I find the more it is teased out the better and it can be pulled back along the branches. This avoids the long bare branch, stretching out from the trunk and gives the 'fuller' textured look that you see in the prototype photo. I would spray with black car paint and sprinkle your leaf material down. It can be locked in place with hairspray or acrylic varnish. Its another option at least. If its any help, I have some photos here - http://thesulzer27.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/ John

Hornby to release the LNER "Hush-Hush" - excellent!

The George Square installation was a modern attempt (1882) to give public access to imperial measurements. More info here - http://scienceonstreets.phys.strath.ac.uk/new/Measurement_Standards.html Previously, most market places, often the site of a town cross would have the standard measure included in the monument. For length (of cloth etc.) this was the Ell.The Scottish Parliament had tried to standardise this in 1661 to 37 Scots inches, but variation continues across the country. The mile was generally considered the length of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, from the Castle to Holyrood Palace, making it somewhat longer than the English mile. For liquids, eight jougs or Scots pints made up a Scots gallon. The Scots pint and the Scots gallon were both around three times the volume of their English equivalents.

Whilst left-hand drive is a reasonable rule of thumb, there were many classes that were the opposite. Not that the A1/A3's would trouble you in Banff, but they regularly trap the unwary modeller. Again, these are not likely to affect you, but the B12's that ran on the GNSR were right-hand drive. John

Being an LNER fan, we cannot get a decent vestibule coach, let alone a catering vehicle. I wish Hornby would announce they are going to do the Gresleys properly. John

The layout came about following my building of Claterinbrigg in P4. I started out building a bigger layout, again GNSR and in P4, however, the one thing that Claterinbrigg did was prove to me that if I wanted a project where building it was more important to me than operating it, then I might as well get as much "bang for my buck" as possible. I set out with the intention of having the railway as part of the scenery, (not something you see very often in 7mm) and having it look pretty, even when nothing was moving. The east end is substantially complete and includes a view block of trees, that allow you to approach the track, rather as you would do if you were walking the dog in the forest. We're walking along the edge of the field in late spring/early summer with the Broom out and the May blooming. And looking out over the bay; A quick chat with the branch crew, then back in to heat up! I hope you enjoy John

Always Brian - thanks. In Michael Harris' "LNER Standard Gresley Carriages", he lists, at the end of each type, a number of vehicles that were allocated to the Scottish Region in 1949, prefixed by SC. He also talks about the introduction of BR Standard Stock and the allocation of those vehicles requiring the addition of the "E" suffix to indicate any former LNER vehicles. From that, I conclude that for any given Scottish carriage it could have been numbered; LNER - 4567 [1943-48] E4567 [1948-49] SC4567 [1949-51] SC4567E [1951 +] Of course, the overlap between them would have been significant and given the length of time that 'teak' remained visible, there is quite a bit of scope for the modeller. John

Thanks, Brian. Re the vestibules, the carriage working book is very specific in that those vehicles for the Inverness run are specified as CKLA or BTKLA, with the A identifying these as vehicles with a British Standard vestibule and Pullman Adaptor. I would think that the vehicles you highlight - CK Sc18404E - Sc18408E and BSK (ex BTK) Sc16733E, Sc16735E and Sc16737E would be the likely candidates. Also, thanks for spotting the Glasgow services. The carriage workings only refer to 'Glasgow' and give no more detail and as is the way with technology, I re-used a previous spreadsheet to populate most of the entries and have of course not replaced the Buchannan Street labels. You are of course correct that these should be Queen Street. John Glenfarg Passenger services 1948 Sheet1.pdf Coaching Stock.pdf

I have been doing a little work regarding the operation of the Glenfarg line in the early BR days. I have attached a list of the weekday passenger services over the line, according to the summer 1948 timetable. From the corresponding carriage working book, I have identified the carriage sets that were used. These consisted primarily of 4 sets of 4 coaches that worked the Waverley to Perth section, supplemented by sets of through coaches for Inverness, split between those via Carr Bridge and those via Forres. The other sets were two, six coach sets, used to form Edinburgh to Leeds trains and some 4 coach non-corridor sets used for Perth to Glasgow via Kinross Jcn. I have set these out in the attached file. The above stock 'sets' were supplemented by other vehicles through the day. As always, I hope this is of interest and any information about this early BR era will be most gratefully received. All the best John Glenfarg Passenger services 1948 Sheet1.pdf Coaching Stock 1948.pdf

No is the short answer. Car fires usually require a high pressure hose reel to extinguish then.