kevpeo

Sold. To the man at the back in glasses! It looks like I may have to buy two though so I can move the doors around! Did Sandra suvive until 1986? Kev.

It's not a bad machine for an Inverness cast off! I've had a look at yours Lee, very nice, do you wanna swap! I'm sure I dont know to what you are refering Carl! Oh, the mini OzzyO you mean, not what he was standing on! I've found a couple more shots of a Pathfinder tour to Fort William/Mallaig in the 90's that I'll have to scan and add, but on the other Scottish rovers I did, I only seemed to do the West Highland in the dark! That's cos all the 37 workings other than the beds were on the East side by that time! Kev

Ok, that post loaded all right so I will continue - On to the early nineties, although I do remember a trip behind 37 401 in 89? I didn't find a photo! This lovely pair were 26 025 & 026 on a Scot-rail ADEX to Oban, seen here on arrival. We quickly left Oban on the first ''plastic'' (156) to Taynuilt, for a session in the brewery tap that was housed in the old station building. This was the day after a rail-tour in Northern Ireland, oh to be young again! Here they are arriving on the return, and not even blurred, although I do remember loosing my lens cap later in the journey. Ah, the demon drink! Unfortunately for some, although I didn't mind, one of the pair ''sat down'' on the return trip and were replaced by these at Dalmuir I think. 26 036 & 42 seen here after arrival at Edinburgh. The next trip, 37 025 on another Lancaster Railtours ADEX to Oban. I seem to remember this was the third loco to be allocated to this train that morning, and the only one I didn't need for haulage! And here's Taynuilt again, this time we ''bailed'' here for the ''tap'' on the way in, and did the 156 in to Oban later for the return. The locos are of course 26 001 & 007 on another Scot-rail Sunday ADEX. And here's that bl**dy 37 409 again the next day on the ''Jacobite'' The loco hauled ''final fling'' arriving at Dumbarton?. I gave up at this point! Well nearly! I was tempted out again by another ''Moirex'' in Transrail days. This time the long term Scottish pairing of 37 406 & 430 (!) With a ''compo'' all the way, and for the life of me I cannot remember where it went? I hope some of you enjoy my little trip down memory lane! Kev.

Hello all. Having escaped a trip to the panto with the rest of the family, I found myself with an afternoon to do some modeling. And haven't got any to do, other than get the airbrush out and weather a 20 & 25! So, having done that, I thought I'd dig into my shambles of a photo collection and find some West Highland inspiration. My first trip, and the one that ultimately inspired Loch Dour was in 1986, and was a weeks Scottish Rover. I had been invited on a sun,sea, sand & s..... holiday by the then girlfriend, but decided a wet week in Scotland sounded better, I never did have much sense!!! First up, 37 035 at Oban, a Loch Dour stalwart, sitting ready to take me back to Glasgow. The green bag in the foreground contained all my worldly goods for week. An all line timetable, a camera, a toothbrush & paste. That was it! The carrier bag was for the food shopping. I've no idea what the banger blue one in the background is now though? And the Oban sign as was. With some tasty wagons behind! 37 424 up against the stops at Mallaig. Probably the next day, as I think I did 035 back up to Glasgow for the sleeper to Fort William. All my notepads have long since disappeared in housemoving! And that's all the photo's I can find of the West Highland from that trip although there are others from elsewhere in Scotland over that week. The next trip, in 1987, a ''Moirex'' (later known as Lancaster Railtours) ADEX to Fort William with 37 409 at the head. 409 bl**dy haunted me on the sleeper whenever I traveled on it ''on spec''! Note the weathering. Does anybody know the location?

Well the world didn’t end in Loch Dour today, so I will have to finish the 20 & 25! In the meantime Merry Christmas – I thought I'd try a night shot, but it's a bit pink! Thanks to all of you who have looked in or left comments, it is much appreciated. All the best, kev.

Hmmm. It does appear to be my pc at fault, as the gaps in this page of the thread are fine if I look using my laptop? So I'll stop mucking about with edits! Now it's time to own up to some muppetry! In my list of outstanding jobs to be done has always been fitting the forgotten speedo cable to 20 119, so while the 20 & 25 bits were drying; I thought I'd clear that job. Only to find I'd not done any of Loch Dour's 20 fleet. And I'd missed the speedo cable on 25 059 as well!!! Kev.

Are we getting fed up with pictures of part completed 25's yet? Last ones I promise! Firstly the completed underframe tanks - As you can see I managed to squeeze in some lead at the sides! And loosely placed together for the last time before cleaning up and painting - The loco is sat on top of some foam to hold the tanks in place! The other side - If you compare these to the earlier shots above I did make a few changes after comparing with the real thing. kev. edit - because the site keeps putting big gaps in! Or is it my pc?

Oh yes Rich, very much still with us - I try and get to Keighley for a fix now and then! I much prefer small engines working hard, to big one's ''pottering'' around! Kev.

I can't beleave I've missed this layout so far. A lovely job, always nice to see some overhead wires, even if they are the wrong voltage! As for the entrance/exit inverted ski-ramps, just keep the angle as gentle as possible, not like ours - Far too steep, but we just about get away with it! Notice also the springs on the ends to keep the overhead in tension, although not connected in this photo it does help. HTH, Kev.

Thanks ''class 66''. Your avatar picture is better than the name though! You should see the number of bits the 25 chassis is now bristling with. I'll hopefully get a couple of pictures later in the week. Thanks for looking, Kev.

While the 25 has been pinching most of my time, 20 020 has progressed to the painting stage - Marker lights from dressmaking pins and disc clips from .3 wire! The body is now ready ready for a wash and masking up and the sound program has been ‘’tweaked’’ so it works better in a pair with 119. Kev.

Well, as the wife and kids were out for the day with dancing practice, I thought I’d have a day off decorating and do something useful and go into work and build some baseboards! And here is the result sat by the garage doors – Next stop, the clubrooms for cleaning up and varnishing when the car comes home! Kev.

Thanks for the offer Ozzy, but I'm hoping to get away with a scrub up and partial re-paint! For those who prefer oil burners (who wouldn't?) to brew making machines, one of my operators Black Fives has paid a visit for ''trials''. He has added approx 100mg of lead to aid traction, so sent it round to face ''the 'ill''. After making up a seven coach rake it chuffed out of the platform and slipped to a stand before the loco reached the viaduct!!!!!! I thought about doing a video but decided that would be cruel! Kev. edit - because the dreaded tiny writing appeared!

It is Pete, bits of three bodyshells are going into this one! Kev.

Rat update time! The marathon grill swap is complete with the radiator one’s done, so I’ve leapt straight onto the chassis. After stripping it down, I filed away as much of the fictitious ‘’frames’’ as I dared, while leaving a lot of the Bachmann details and pipe runs. I started at the ends and worked towards the center before chopping away the tanks last. This leaves a very fragile plastic molding which was quickly screwed back to the metal block before I broke it! Once attached and square again I added the cross members from plastic section along with the angled frames under the cabs – Just to make sure it still works, I reassembled it back to running order to test it on the club test track tonight – A 20 x 40 bass-enhanced speaker is hanging underneath which will mean the tank reconstruction is going to be interesting! The extra black plasticard alongside the cabs is to strengthen up the ends and cannot be seen with the body on. And this is progress so far with the body on – Thanks for looking, kev. Website - http://lochdour.webs.com/

Hi Pete, I too did the same conversion to a Lima one, many moons ago now it seems! As for the speaker, the ''footprint'' is the same as the Bachmann/ESU rectanguler one, but it is a little deeper. Which in the case of the 20 means some work on the chassis and speaker to squeeze it in. HTH, kev.

Those that know me will have known already that I would be unable to leave the 20 alone, but more on that later! I’ve found the filing out of 25 grills more and more depressing the more I’ve done, so I started to do less and less in a ‘’sitting’’ but all the small ones are now done - But for some reason cutting out and filing to shape the slats from the Hornby body to fit I’ve quite enjoyed, go figure! - This is the ‘’air braked’’ side, so lots of hinges have been added as well as plating over the handholds, which I missed last time. Whilst filing away it occurred to me that 059 was the first loco that I bought for Loch Dour, and it’s now on its third decoder! Next job, cutting out the 24 style radiator ‘’slats’’ and replace them with the Hornby ‘’mesh’’. As for 20 020, the chassis has been modified to accept a 20 x 40 bass-enhanced speaker, the pick-ups have been adjusted, and I’ve removed as much of Bachmann’s excess grease as I could without a full strip down! – As for the body, the fact that the cab had been glued on caused lots of harsh words! But it finally shifted with only three of the four locating lugs broken! Two have been re-fixed, but the fourth is still firmly glued into the body shell! On the other hand all the handrails came out no problem as did the cab windows for a change. The headcode boxes have been removed so it’s time for some filler and sanding - After the F1! Thanks for looking. Kev. Website - http://lochdour.webs.com/

I wish I hadn't started from here Ozzy! The b*****ds have glued the b*****y cab on!!!!

I'm still traumatized Mark!!!! Mind you, I did purge my Set100's stack of all those type of things before Newcastle! Kev.

Indeed Ozzy, a trap for the unwary. And yes I have fallen for it in the past, 20 121 still needs it's cabside windows ''enlarging''. I'm waiting for someone to do a window frame etch! kev.

But it's for the mid 70's period! 208 & 121 already cover the 80's so it's to be a partner for 119. One of my team also purchased an early 37 with buffer cowls, which will be visiting for decoder/speaker fitting before becoming one of the 70's Eastfield allocation, which a lot of the time seemed to be so filthy you could find it hard to see the yellow! Kev.

Ha, well done Carl. Top of the class! Getting a green disc one without the tablet catcher recess is pretty hard these days. Plus it would work out more expensive and would need the chassis rebuilding to get a decent speaker in. So more plastic chopping is in order, once I get the 25 done that is! Kev.

Cheers Jamie and Andy, but these might not be the kind of pictures you were expecting. So ok, some people may have a valid point when saying I’m nuts, but I plod on anyway! Here is my once perfectly serviceable Bachmann 25 after having been attacked with a cordless drill – And again after a couple of hours filing – Yes, well done if you have spotted that it’s the other side! The main radiator slats have not gone yet as I felt it would be better to replace the plastic that has already been removed before weakening the body further. The extra triangular grill on an air braked 25 can be seen ready to be fitted in front. This is from a now very sorry looking donor bodyshell and was the test piece, and is fitted with the slats from a Hornby body as will the rest of the holes! The latest toy – To become Eastfield’s 20 020 in green with full yellow ends and will receive a bass-enhanced speaker and my latest 20 program. Can you spot the catch in this project? More soon, Kev. website - http://lochdour.webs.com/

I do tend to get ''stuck in'' to things Mark. Speaking of which, my 25 is now full of holes, let the filing commence! A photo to follow at the weekend, along with one of my latest ''toy'', which was run in at the clubrooms last night. Any guesses? Kev.