Portchullin Tatty

Andy, what is the source of the stonework? I don't recognise it? Also, was the roof really laid with pantiles?

Here are a few links to shunt signals on Am Baile: Burghead - https://www.ambaile.org.uk/?service=asset&action=show_zoom_window_popup&language=en&asset=26983&location=grid&asset_list=13876,27089,27896,27339,27963,27263,26983,27109,26965,27960,27887,6637,13706,30948,27447,27448,19898,19902,19913,19914,19988,19853,19859,19899,19915,19967,19978,20018,27212,27213,27500,27501,27510,27804,19961,20057,23729,23730,23731,23732,23734,19836,19840,19850,19963,26755,26880,27170,27480,27503&basket_item_id=undefined The Mound - https://www.ambaile.org.uk/?service=asset&action=show_zoom_window_popup&language=en&asset=27965&location=grid&asset_list=2099,41188,2001,1481,1477,27622,27665,27965,13412,8173,10004,10002,9988,9669,9664,9638,5464,5466,12235,20134,20136,20137,20139,21591,26563,26567,26570,26763,26815,26908,26937,26942,26951,26952,26953,26959,26973,26992,27017,27023,27026,27027,27135,27183,27249,27257,27276,27281,27322,27324&basket_item_id=undefined Dingwall - https://www.ambaile.org.uk/?service=asset&action=show_zoom_window_popup&language=en&asset=26552&location=grid&asset_list=20138,11625,26552,26554,26557,26558,26559,26560,26561,26562,26564,26961,26962,27613,30947,31010,31041,31365,31540,11930,11427,20135,11652,11656,5934,5936,5938,5940,5943,8139,14431,20004,26868,27024,27045,27284,27494,27495,27496,27524,27615,27874&basket_item_id=undefined Forres - https://www.ambaile.org.uk/?service=asset&action=show_zoom_window_popup&language=en&asset=26561&location=grid&asset_list=20138,11625,26552,26554,26557,26558,26559,26560,26561,26562,26564,26961,26962,27613,30947,31010,31041,31365,31540,11930,11427,20135,11652,11656,5934,5936,5938,5940,5943,8139,14431,20004,26868,27024,27045,27284,27494,27495,27496,27524,27615,27874&basket_item_id=undefined

I work on the basis that the Highland's track in late pre-grouping was in 30 foot panels. However, I suggest it is a mistake to presume that there is "one" answer to what was standard track to a particular company. As has already been illustrated there were a variety of answers and, over time, these would have changed too. The Highland in particular was very economically minded and would have gone for any deal going! With regard to the signal, this is a shunt signal. It was used to control movements onto or off sidings and similar. As such, you would find them on the running tack controlling movements onto either a goods loop or MPDs etch or the return journey. You can see one of my signals that has a shunt arm here and my (now slightly superseded) signalling plan here - the shunt arms are the arms with crosses on them, for example arms 15 & 16.

Probably here or in the Scalefour News. My advice would be to chamfer the end of the tube before inserting it into the wheel blank. The sharp cut to the end will, as you have seen, scour the plastic and there is a good chance it will not do this equally and hence cause the wheel to go on untrue.

Rob, I will have a look to see if I have a spare set of the axlebox castings for the Loch which will be the least "scratchbuildable" if you wish (drop me a PM if you do). The tenders are not dramatically difficult to scratchbuild but I appreciate you are trying to do this to a budget of time & money! The new owner of Lochgrom (who is not me) has their hands full with the range and I would be cautious about presuming it will all be available from the end of June. Thus, I would also keep your eyes on ebay............... Mark

Thanks Jonathan. Can I also take the opportunity to mentioning the Fox Bogies too. These were used by many of the pre-grouping LNER companies - the NER/NB/GE certainly - and they will have lingered for some time. These are fully sprung, with both primary springing on the axle and secondary springing on the bolster. I can't offer axle boxes / bolster castings at present but they do work well with those provided by D&S in their kits, if you are looking for a solution to compensate/spring some of these, I would suggest these are quite a good solution - like this one indeed!

The detailing kits that I have mentioned earlier in this thread are now available via my Miscellany Models website. Here is an example of them in use - both with external W irons, one with end brakes, one with side brakes and one with the anti-friction gear.

oops and yes it was a spelling error. I don't recommend anyone and do not intend to get dragged into the debate about Coopercraft. There is a caution in the instructions but beyond that it is not something that I am prepared to comment on.

The MR full brake, HR full brake, Fox Bogies and P7 hopper detailing etch are now available for sale. See either this link or my Miscellany Models website. For anyone who does seek to make one, I would be interested in any feedback from you.

I am now able to offer a number of the models that I have been developing over the last few months (and years!). I am producing these under the name of Miscellany Models and you can see more details of these either there or on my blog. First up is a Highland Railway/LMS/BR diagram 51 full brake - priced at £48.00 for a 4mm and is suitable for OO, EM or P4. These were the last generation of full brake produced by the Highland, built with both cupboard doors and sliding doors as well as alternative forms of guards duckets (all of these are included in the kit). The kit inclusive of fully sprung Fox bogies (see below), roof, corridor connections (also see below) but all castings and buffers will need to be sourced separately. The castings for the bogies are proposed, but are not presently available. As was common with many pre-grouping coaches these vehicles utilised Fox Bogies (£16.00) and these are being made separately to the remainder of the kit, These bogies have been developed in conjunction with Justin at Rumney Models and are fully sprung, with both the axleboxes and the bolsters sprung. They really do glide across track and look as if they weigh many tons rather than a few grams! They need castings for your favoured axleboxes/springs and bolsters but do include the foot steps and all of the bogies sides, brakes and details. The second coach kit is for a MR/LMS/BR: Dia 530 Passenger Brake – priced at £36.00 in 4mm scale. This prototype was built in some numbers and by the 1920s they were spread extensively across the LMS system. The kit is for full etches covering the roof, body, underframe and footboards plus parts for the sliding central axle included. It needs axlebox/springs (available from Branchlines or Coopercraft), gas lamps, buffers, brake and gas cylinders. On the wagon front, there is an etch to detail the NER/LNER/BR: Dia P7 Hopper Wagon – £13.50 4mm (sufficient for two wagons). They cater for a large number of the variants to this numerous and long lasting hopper wagon. Needs wheels and the Slaters kit P7 kit for the donor model. Variants that can be made include the end braked version, improved components for the Morton braked version, outside twin W irons and also the anti-friction wheel device. All of these are available from my website https://miscellanymodels.com/ and in addition to this from the Rumney Models stand at the following shows - Scalefour North in April, Railex in May, Scalefourum in September and South Hants in November, All of these have been extensively road tested by me with a couple of test builds for each of them. You can see this unfold on my blog and if you are interested in seeing how they go together do take a look! Please remember that the availability of these models is an adjunct to my own hobby and this has to be accommodated within the constraints of my day job and general life! In particular I can't get to post these orders until Saturdays so do please give me a little slack when it comes to getting the goods to you!

I particularly like the LNER era pacifics, Tom! And I notice that one of the inspection hatches on Capercaillie is open, which is a nice touch.

Wonderful locomotive (real and model!)

Can't see this at Glasgow, Ray; but will be looking out for you at Scalefour North!! Mark

Jim, All the Highland's locomotives, post circa 1880, are drawn and some of them from before then, Most are in Highland Railway Locomotives by Peter Tatlow which is pretty easy to come by on Ebay or specialist resellers. The few exceptions (notably the Loch) have been drawn. They have been published in magazines (the Loch in the Model Railway Constructor I think, the rebuilt Loch in the Highland railway Society Journal). All the drawings are held by the Highland Railway Society. They also publish a list of drawings and articles in the various magazines over time, which is available to the public here.

That i a fine model Dave; i particularly like the weathering.

Hmmmm, I arrived at a similar conclusion; a lot of additional work (actually a complete replacement for me as I tried to grind them and ended up damaging them. I will talk to Derek about this the next time I see him as the mods to the artwork will be very straightforward.

Looking at the chassis, am I correct in you have encountered the same problem with the Bill Bedford NPCS W-irons that I have? This is that with the larger wheel and the slightly reduced depth from the underside of the solebars to the axle centre point, the wheel rim ends up rubbing on the side of the base plate? You seem to have soldered the unit in place and then ground out the baseplate where the wheel rims are? Is this correct? The NPCS w-irons need a redesign in my view!! Mark

Aghh, but to be truly authentic it ought to have a half flat tyre.......

Whilst things are going at a snails pace (mindful that the last post was in 2014!) but there is some progress being made with Aultbea. So whilst I appreciate it is not really signalling, I though a few update photographs might be worth while: If you wish to see a few more photographs, you can follow this link to my external blog Mark

Peter, It is an attractive vehicle and well modelled by Coachman isn't it! My contribution is relatively minor. Although I don't know for certain, it is probably based on a Comet Coaches kit. In terms of the specifics of the train, I can't advise as this is well off my patch. In terms of the generality, unless there was a specific make up for the train then quite possibly will be the answer. It was a prestigious train and therefore it will have been made up of reasonably contemporary stock such as this. If you don't already have one or more of them, the Jenkinson books are worth having. They show that there was a slightly later flush sided version of this (can't remember the introduction date but it might post date 1930) and other than that you would be back to the pre-grouping designs.

Next up is the handiwork of Mr Coachman. This is a D.1778 full brake. This diagram was constructed between 1925 - 28 and was the standard period 1 design for the LMS. A 149 were made and they were disbursed over the whole of the LMS's system. This particular one was built by Lawrence Scale Models and painted by Larry Goddard in 1998. There are a couple of aspects of this that I need or want to change. First up, because I model in P4 I have opted to refit the bogies with some Bill Bedford sprung versions, with the sides of the cast originals soldered to the sides of these. I have also replaced the rather crude paper concertina corridor connections. I have sought to develop my own corridor connections in connection with the HR full brakes shown in my previous post. These are shown fitted here and are a big improvement - well, they will be once they are painted and finished! Once this is done, I will apply a modicum of weathering. The irony of this is that although these modifications will pretty much kill off the notional value of the coach, even if it will be a lot more realistic as a result - aghh well, my trainset and all that!

Very neat and very characteristic of the scottish lines.

I like the Comet chassis because they are all CAD drawn and thus the leap of faith in relying on their accuracy is smaller than the leap of faith of trying to do it myself!! What I actually do is use digital calipers to carefully measure the centre to centre distance of the rods and then the hornguides (measure the minimum dimension and then the maximum before averaging them). The hornguides are, as etched, fractionally tight anyway so a couple of strokes on the sides are required and if you have measured before hand, you can apply these to the appropriate side. I find this quite effective and I would steer people to Comet chassis for their first taste of chassis building as a result (although Mousa Models have similar characteristics). What I do find with the Comet approach is that their little springs can bounce out only too easily. I have soldered them on the top of the bearing but have since designed a little carrier to work on the Comet hornblocks (something similar from http://website.rumneymodels.co.uk/miscellaneous)and use CSBs. The inside motion looks fun; must have a bash at this and it is useful to know that Brassmasters sell it separately.

Alan Gibson ref 4M746 HR ‘Yankee Tank’ clack valves (x2) P are the ones you want. A view from the other side to assist, that also shows the clack vale fairly well. Should have mentioned the tender doors are fairly key to the look too.

Hi Rob, the Barney is looking fine. I have one on the decks myself, which has its origins in a Jidenco etched kit (so a good 30% has been replaced!). Here are a couple of protoype photos to assist. I would nudge you to completing the injector pipework below the footplate as it is fairly prominent and the pipework from the clack valve but it is your/your client's choice!! PS - Alan Gibson does a rather better clack valve, if you wanted to swap it.