Portchullin Tatty

I think it was District Inspector Morgan that made that substitution! You were quite welcome to give your stock a bash, especially as they did look the part. My father, who did not see them and has a first memory of the Kyle line in the mid 1950's blood and custard era was a bit cheesed not to see them - looks like we will have to have a repeat session! Anyway, all packed up and ready to go to Rainham - I just have to brave the rush hour M25 which will be a bit of a bore! If any RMweb'ers are passing the layout do stop to say hello!

Portchullin will be appearing at the East London Finescale show this weekend. Details of which can be found here http://www.ehmrc.org.uk/exhibs.html. I don't think we will be showing any steam stock but we should have at least one more class 24 and the van train is getting longer. Here is a taste of the highlands in the 1950's with a little help from Morgan........................... In truth the 8F did not make it down the line to Kyle, but can we gloss over this please! It was a regular on the main line to Inverness, so it does still look the part. I was told the backs to the speed restriction signs and the station boards should be black - a little job before we go this afternoon therefore!

Here are a few of the latest photos of Portchullin, taken at Scaleforum last month. Photo's with thanks to Phillip Hall and Morgan Gilbert respectively. The layout's next outing will be the East London Finescale on the 6 & 7th of November - details are here!

Due to commitments with Portchullin and a rather busy period at work (no bad thing in a recession for a consultant!), things have been a bit slow with the workbench. However, the coach is now painted. Prior to painting (and after the grit blasting noted before), i washed it a couple of times in cellulose thinners to remove any dust and grease. I used Precision paints two pack etching primer and am very impressed with this too. Then, for the crimson lake, I used Halfords "Volkswagen Gambia Red" which I reckon is spot on. I do use a light coat of Halfords red oxide primer as an undercoat though - red can be a very funny colour to paint. Lining has commenced. Whilst I have lined with a bow pen in the past, I lost my nerve for this one and am using Fox's lining! I will put in the corners with a brush (for the straw) and then a Rotring pen (for the black).

I have toyed with similar thoughts after seeing Highlandman's photo. I think I would avoid such a well known backdrop (as a occassional munro-ist, the Buachaille was instantly recognisable) but after that I am looking for how it feels. I see model railways as an art not a science and an impressionist one at that! So what feels right and allows people to think it might be real is what I am looking for. I think they work best when there is quite a lot of level forground and then the hills. Several (including yourself?) have used one that I think works well in the borders but it would feel out of place for the west highlands. If you come across any pictures that might work, I am open to proposition!

You forget the buzzing of the midges I think? You would indeed here the echo for miles (and more so a mile to the west where Glen Coe is at its tightest). I would think the photo is taken about half a mile away from the Kingshouse Hotel, so once you have seen your Sulzer struggle pass, you can retire for some refreshments...........!!!!!

We are safely back from Scaleforum and now unpacked, if a little exhausted. A lot of RMwebbers stopped by to say hello, so it was nice to put some faces to names! I hope to have a few photo's to put up in due course but I have to say that Highlandman's from the Scaleforum thread really caught my eye. Obviously there has been a little bit of photoshopping to plonk Buachaille Etive Mor and Glen Etive in the view but it does work I think? What is really tickling to a student of Scottish railway history, is that this is not such an unrealistic view. The Glasgow North Western Railway planned to build a line (well before the West Highland was conceived) from Glasgow, up the east side of Loch Lomand, across Rannoch moor and down Glen Coe. It would have then gone up the great glen to Inverness. It did not get parliamentary approval, but just imagine it did - this is what it would have looked like! So thanks very much Highlandman, this was really appreciated and I gotta get me photoshop I can see! Portchullin is next out at the East London Finescale show on the 6th & 7th of November http://www.ehmrc.org.uk/exhibs.html. After this, we will be at Southampton, Railex and Tolworth Showtrain in 2011; 2012 is also shaping up to be rather busy too! Stop by to say hello?

Excellant stuff Mike, the signals in particular are top notch. Look forward to seeing the layout out and about - I take it that it is intended to air it at some point? Mark

Right! Things are pressing ahead to get the layout ready for Scaleforum. Mr Parkside have thought seriously about retiring after the number of their kits that I have purchased over the last few years and we have a selection of additional vans to add to the stock list (and plenty more in the cupboard!). Indeed, I recall them saying to me a couple of years back at the layout - you'll be wanting a lot of our vans then! How right they are, when you look at pictures of the kyle line, most of the goods was carried in fitted vans. No bang up to date pictures, but here are a few from earlier in the year (with thanks to Nick Harling for some of these). Whilst I still do not have enough stock to convert the layout back to the 1920's, I have been working on this (see my workbench thread too). So not yet but soon, we will make it look like this. So Pinkmouse, what is the proper colour for an engine? See you all at Scaleforum? Details here.................http://www.scalefour.org/shows/shows.html I'll make a couple more posts to show a few more of the changes in the coming couple of weeks.

One of the neat things about the Lochgorm Models kits (and other Alistair Wright designed coaches) is the roof. These are constructed around a cradle that is formed of a lattice of formers. A simple arc roof is, in truth, not to bad to make but compound curves of the elliptical roofs of later vehicles are really difficult without this. If you are going to make your own roofs, it is well worth investing in a set of bending rollers - mine came from GW Models (who advertise in several magazines and get around a few of the shows). It is a breeze making the roofs with this, a right pain otherwise as you get the rolling pins out! The working of the sheet into the curve even work hardens the brass, so it is more durable in its new shape. With the roof finished, there was a little bit of work to detail up the chassis. No vacuum brake gear was provided for some reason; so a cast metal cylinder, vac pipes and various "gubbins" below the chassis was added. I simply added this in a manner that seemed sensible - I know that nobody will know better where it goes and it is difficult to see between the foot boards anyway, so is representative at best! Then I got to use one of my new toys, a grit gun. I had read about the use of this in Ian Rathbone's book (an excellent buy for those that do not have it) and also on Allan Goodwillie's thread on the Scalefour Forum - I thought it was going to be worth it to make sure the paint had the best chance to adhere so purchased one from Shesto. It really does provide an excellent finish, as hopefully you can see, in the picture with the model loaded on a stand for painting below.

Nice work Jol, They were very handsome engines weren't they?

Hi Pete, Yes I will be passing the comments back to Andy when I have completed the build (which I have, I just need to get some photo's sorted so some more postings to follow over the weekend). Having said that, my father who is also doing the dia34 at the moment, has not encountered the same issue with the width of the ends versus the body - so it may be builder error! The issue with the ducket wrapper was found though.

Mark, You are making a cracking job of the footbridge and you downplay your skills by your stated nervousness of soldering an etched kit. There would seem to be little wrong in what you have done! I have made one of Andy Copp's footbridges and it produces a very fine model (see my Portchullin thread for some piccies). The only issues I had was that the upper flight of steps (from the quarter landing) did not slot in the tabs perfectly (easily dealt with as you can solder them to the base of the side pieces); it was a bit difficult to get the four legs under the quarter landings perfectly square and seated properly (slightly over file the rebates and then fill with solder) and I did damage a couple of the lattices bars cleaning up the excess solder (so go easy!). I think I found it sensible to make the deck piece with a second layer of 10 thou brass laminated below, just to give it a bit more strength. Have a look at this when you get to this point. Dave (Waverley West) Andy Copp is contemplating doing an etch for a lattice road bridge. These would be relatively lightweight road bridges (it is based on that still present to the site of Killiecrankie station and would be very similar to those formerly at Kyle & The Mound stations). He has not said he would do it but a little enquiry might provoke him (don't quote me but then I know he reads RMweb, so he will probably know!). If I recall correctly, the bridges at Princes Street gardens are of the sort of depth + weight that this might be right?

Craig, When painted, does the diffrence in texture between ply sleepers and the plastic ones stand out? I have always been a bit shy of mixing them due to this reason. Mark

Very good Gary, look forward to seeing it at Nottingham next year. Curses for banking "Water of Life" for your distillery......................I was going to use that one sometime!

The body of the coach is now fully assembled, the underframe and the step boards complete. However, not without a number of issues. I found the ends a little bit to narrow for the base piece to the body and had to introduce some shim where the sides met the ends to pack this out - only a little, a piece of 10 thou to each side, all of which needed filing down. Then I discovered that I had reversed the ends - both the raised panel section and the end are handed and I had mucked em both up! The most irritating was that the front face of the ducket has been formed too large - it ignores that the curvature of the roof cuts this off. This means that the moulding is lost when it is cut down and I will have to recreate the moulding. I also found that the moulding to the side of the ducket was so narrow that any filing to tidy up the joint with the ducket sides eliminated it – more remedial work is going to be required. Conversely, the step boards were a breeze, but I decided that the hangers were a little thick and filed these in slightly before adding a stiffener of fine brass wire behind for a little extra strength.

STOP PRESS!!! I have accepted an invite to attend this year's Scaleforum (25 & 26 September - http://www.scalefour...hows/shows.html). It was due to go in 2011, but due to a layout having to withdraw, the invite has been brought forward a year. This is my favoriate of Andy York's pictures - I have been holding it back to use it in a splash! Looking at the picture, some more fence posts are badly needed and I really do need to sort out the joint by the down fiddle yard. About the only problem with the layout that is not merely operator error.

Hi Tim, On my rather dodgy trackwork I did ultimately find that the slightly longer wheelbase of the brake van meant that it needed springing. I used Bill Bedford's for mine and reassembled the brake gear on metal rods as the plastic that Bachmann use is very slippery and does not glue well I find. A bit of faff, but still easier than starting a kit from afresh. Especially as the model is subtly moulded, so looks the part.

I have found that the Brassmaster's chassis sits just a bit to proud under the floor of this kit. This is due to the extra thickness of the sub-chassis that the Cleminson bogies are attached to and results in the carriage riding a little high. As I had already made the Cleminson bogie, I was looth to reform this and opted instead to cut slots in the floor of the Lochgorm kit. This allowed me to drop the subchassis into the slots by about 1/2mm and thus get the right ride height. Using one of the "don't know what I would do without it" tools - in this case the Morgan Gilbert height gauge - it is easy to determine if you have the height correct. With hindsight, I think I would seek to adjust the Cleminson bogie next time, by soldering the screws directly onto the undersid of the floor, thereby saving the cutting and chopping of the kit - wonderful thing hindsight! aggh, I wish I had taken the photo on the side I had cleaned up my rather rough soldering on! Anyway, this is what it then looks like.

The Brassmasters kit has a nifty combination of arrangements to allow it to be constructed to any size wheelbase in 6" increments. As there are so many combinations of wheelbase, it is necessary to follow the instructions carefully when assembling this. The base plate has pivot mounting posts (the bolts, one of which has been cut down in this picture) and some guides for the central W iron. Upon these three W iron cradles are assembled. The two end cradles have a plate that projects towards the centre through which the pivot point passes. Beyond this point there is a further projecting bar, that sits into a housing in the centre W iron cradle. This means that when the leading axle confronts a curve, it swings into the curve. By doing so, the centre axle is swings out and the trailing axle in turn swings in. The net affect is to keep the wheels parallel to the railhead and it significantly reduces the amount of throw required by the axles to negotiate a curve - both important to reliable performance. In addition, given that most six wheeled vehicles have full length foot boards, at times this is essential.

Whilst most of my posts on this forum are related to my D&E era layout, this is merely a diversion from my main interest which is the Highland section of the LMS in the first few years of its existance. As there is a definate shortage of threads on things prior to 1948, let alone earlier, it is time for me to start to correct this unbalance! One of my current projects is a Highland Railway dia 34 passenger brake van from Lochgorm Model's. It reeks of its age, with flat sides, huge guards lookout duckets and even a private little box (see the half height door to the right hand side) for the laird's gun dogs! I learnt some time ago that six wheeled vehicles are pretty hard work to get to operate properly, whether 00 or finescale, due to the middle wheel restricting movement around curves and acting as a see saw on any rough trackwork. The solution to this is to use a Cleminson bogie - in this case a kit from Brassmasters. Cleminson bogies articulate the three axles, so that not only can the centre axle move side to side but it also rotates to match the curvature of the rail. First invented for the Ffestiniog, these immediately solve the problems for six wheeled vehicles - some of which have wheelbases much longer than this vehicle. There are differences in the types of such bogies (and I am told that strictly speaking, what I am buildign is not to the Cleminson patent anyway!) and there is an interesting thread on them here http://www.rmweb.co...._1&?do=findComment&comment=152523

Andy York came armed with his camera to DEMU and in the relative peace and quiet of Sunday morning managed to get some great shots, one of which has made Portchullin a cover girl I see! Here are a couple of them: cheers for those Andy! Next outing for Portchullin is a little way off, the East London Finescale Exhibition on 6th & 7th November - details of which are here: http://www.ehmrc.org.uk/exhibs.html

Ah ha, sorry, did not realise the connection below the anonymity of RMweb handles! Yes you clearly did get into Templot! Someone somewhere was telling me that LED’s did not give off enough light. Can’t remember where this was or the provenance of it, so experiment! What I can tell you is that I found that on Portchullin (which is admittedly 24 inches deep) a single band of fluorescent tube to its entire length did not illuminate it enough for my liking – I had to put another 50% in. If you go to the photographs of my layout at Uckfield – here http://www.uckfieldmrc.co.uk/exhib09/portchullin.html - you can see what I mean about pulling the lighting screen forward.

Interesting layout Kipford. Looking forward to developments. You might want to have your lighting screen proud of the front of the layout by 6-9", this means that the lighting is on the face of any models to the front, not the tops alone. It also makes viewers stand back very slightly which is rather good! Keep up the good work!

Portchullin will be at DEMU on the 12 & 13 June...............http://www.demu.org.uk/showcase.htm Stop by and say hello if you are going.