class26

Haven`t thought that far ahead yet. All depends on how time pans out. I think I need to do the central section "in situ" really though.

The next job is to lay the track for the central section , make sure it is all electrically up to scratch etc which I think will take me up to the spring of 22. Once the temperature drops I tend to spend less time out in the shed, maybe a few running sessions but the scenic work needs lots of time. I might do some scratch building back in the house though.

A few more of the Flow Country. Still fairly basic, water to be added to the river etc

Time to report a change to the layout. I am not one who plans in huge detail a layout and then builds it. Rather I have an idea or two , (usually requiring more space than at my disposal) and then try to make it work. With the present layout whilst I always knew I was doing Forsinard I wasn`t sure how I was going to operate it and as previous posts will show decided to add Helmsdale as a second passing station. This turned out to be too much of a compromise scenically as it was being squashed into one corner of the layout in order to keep as much space as possible to depict the Flow Country. I realised that I wasn`t really going to use the sidings at Helmsdale and so a few weeks ago I decided it had to go. I tend to run the layout as a roundy roundy and the central section (yet to be built) will be a terminus / scenic storage area. In the place of Helmsdale I decided to include one of the single track stations on the line, just for scenic interest really and as the backscenes (already in place) are of the magnificent Flow Country so Altnabreac was decided on. Far from complete and the station building definitely not correct (is a Pop Up kit of Golspie station) but will have to suffice until the actual one gets scratch built. The final photo attempts to depict the track leading from Altnabreac station. All the bare space will be given the static treatment , probably next year now. Below are a few photos taken today of the progress so far -

Thanks David, The snow fences are made from Scale Model Scenery sleepers intended for a barrow crossing and are real wood. I will be trying your method as soon as I get hold of the correct powders.

Hi David, Thank you so much for all of this, it is incredibly helpful and very clear. As soon as I get the powders i`ll crack on with my snow fences Thanks again Nigel

Hello David, I know you said above you used various weathering powders on the fence but I would be grateful if you might go into a little more detail about the process as I need to weather the snow fences on my Forsinard layout and your results are very impressive and exactly what I would like to achieve Thanks in advance Nigel (Class 26)

A few images of Forsinard taken earlier this week by Jools1959. Static grass more or less complete although I will add in places some longer grass once I can get it to stand up better. My War World Scenics applicator is ok up to 4 mm but any longer it seems to struggle which is disappointing. Fortunately my eye sight is such that I don`t really notice the longer grass lying flat unless I look very closely and I suppose it could have been flattened in a storm ? I hope to remedy the grass situation over the winter, perhaps with a more powerful applicator and would be grateful if anyone has any tips. I am new to static grass and a little befuddled by it all. Some say voltage doesn`t matter whilst others swear by a higher voltage so if anyone can shed light please do advise.

I would be interested to see the services today that do Brum to London in 59 minutes !

Happy to be corrected but wasn`t there also a sleeper service up the Durham coast ?

A few more photos from last weeks photo session. Again thanks goes to Jools1959 for taking the photos.

Thanks, it took some trial and error to match the grass colour to the backscene, the base grass colour eventually used is War World Scenics Winter grass 2mm (their autumn being way too green for a northern setting such as Forsinard) and then a selection of their 4 mm winter, 6 mm dead grass plus 6 mm & 12 mm meadow but I find it difficult to get the 12 mm to stand up so have largely stayed with the 6 mm. The Forsinard part isn`t finished yet from the static grass aspect, i need to make lots of tufts before tackling the opposite side of the layout.

Thanks Yes, I have looked at Popup. The white cottage in Forsinard is a Popup kit and the goods shed in Helmsdale also is plus the station building at Helmsdale (actually Golspie but I couldnt bring myself to scratch build ! )

Some time since the last update and now static grass has begun to appear at Forsinard so a few photos. Thanks goes to Jools1959 who took them last week with a far better camera than I posses ! There are a couple of major blotches on the backscenes that I will remove (ie get a reprint) later. The two signal boxes at Forsinard are temporary and will be replaced with more correct ones as time allows. The Helmsdale section is less far advanced with much work to yet be done.

since the 800`s came in on the east coast I have (regrettably) abandoned the train for my Jag. The 800 seats are so dreadful they are an insult to the paying passenger and I for one will not pay well over a £100 for a return ticket to London. Of course Covid has blurred everything but I would be interested to know the loss of first class passengers. It might be cheaper in the long run to rip out those seats and offer some new ones with a little more comfort.

.........and to follow a few more from Forsinard.

A further update. I decided to add Helmsdale as can be seen in the photos below (well, I had to find a proper use for the Peco Signal Cabin!). It is a bit of a compromise and the station building is actually the Golspie building from Pop Up Designs as I didn`t fancy scratch building but I hope it will suffice, the roof needs finishing yet. I have also rationalised the goods yard to fit the available space but I hope it is still recognisable as Helmsdale. The backscene is the same as that for the Flow Country but I hope it will pass muster. It is far from finished and there are rough edges, especially the rear of the platform !

Hello Mark, I didn`t` say specifically up thread the source of the backscenes. I had hoped to make a journey up to the far north to take some photos (any excuse) but my patience gave up after a year of lock down so I purchased the two commercial images on line from Alamy. I just searched Google for "Flow Country images , high res" and then there are numerous photos to choose from. I did this in consultation with a printer in Lincoln (not so far from where I live) and he took the images, played around with them by stretching then reversing and then repeating in original form. It is obvious when you are in the train shed how it has been achieved but in photos the sleight of hand is hidden (I hope). The printer is "Lincoln and Copy Centre", Clifton St Lincoln. That`s a few shops from Digi Trains who are also on Clifton St

Time for a progress report. Backscenes now all in place and gearing up for the next step which will be static grass, track painting and ballasting. A little annoyed with myself getting a few bubbles in the backscenes but a few strategically placed trees ought to hide the worst offenders A few photos without further comment

But if people do abandon the railways for electric cars the roads will be totally congested, journey times huge as I don`t see any government building many more roads. There`s only so much space on them

If memory serves me right regional Eurostar never started so how can you deduce this ?. it didn`t start because it clashed with the meteoric rise of low cost airlines (using yield management!) and the time factor between the regions to Brussels / Paris was just too great. (Remember the majority of HS1 wasn`t open at the start so the time factor was greater than it would be now. Also factor this in. Cost on the existing system is high because of maintaining intensively used infrastructure 150 years old and having to do this in the small hours, HS2 will avoid this and costs will be far lower, this is demonstratively so. Fares will not need to be as high as many suppose, The costs are spread over 60 years and even if it reached 100 billion , that`s only 1.6 billion a year, approx 4.5 million a day spread over (at full service) 17 / 18 trains an hour (each way) for let`s say 16 hours and let`s say 17 trains each way . That`s approx £8,200 per train to pay back the cost which , on a 1000 seat train would make each ticket £8.20 each ! A bargain I would say. I acknowledge that not all trains will be 400 mtrs long but even so, ticket prices need not be astronomical Now clearly tickets will be higher than that to cover wages , fuel etc but not eye watering as you suggest and I hope I have demonstrated. As I see it there is no evidence at all to justify your statements

HS2 fares will be determined by "yield management", the same system used by low cost airlines such as Ryan Air. That`s how Ryan Air fill their aircraft with flights to some seemingly obscure destinations. If fares are set too high trains will run with empty seats, the idea is to fill them so fares cannot be set too high. This is just a myth put around by some who think - big cost so high fares , rather too simplistic an argument

I wonder (with tongue firmly in cheek) if whilst the fleet is out of action might this be the perfect time to replace those dreadful seats ?

Hope it is all helpful. Ian Futers did a whole series of articles in the Modeller in the previous decade all on West Highland stations. I have most of them if you ever want any more. Look forward to seeing your layout develop. Good luck !

Apologies, i notice that I sent the first page twice ! Too early in the morning I guess . What you have so far is pages 1, 3 & 4. Here ought to be page 2. Please ignore the previous "Corrour 2" 1521925044_Corrour2.pdf