crunchie48
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Posts posted by crunchie48
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I would like to bring the Invernevis story up to date.
I purchased the layout from David in January of last year after he had advertised in on Facebook. I'd followed this thread from the start and had the article from the Railway Modeller. I'd admired the layout greatly and think I'd bought it within minutes of it being advertised.
I've had a long interest in the West Highland and around 20 years of being involved with rail services on the line.
My plan for the layout was to take it from the period David had modelled back to the mid 1950s to mid 1960s. This allows me to run my fleet of steam and early diesels.
To this end I've made a few modifications. I approached Pop Up Designs who had just completed work on a 4mm Fort William Station and Canopy for commission. I asked if Iain could scale them down to N gauge. I had no plans for replacing the station building as David's slightly smaller building works extremely well. I have replaced the Ratio canopies with P.U.D.'s. These have been built using 1.5mm ply for the structure and 0.8mm ply for the glazing elements. I have decided not to glaze the canopies and the comments from those who have seen it have been extremely favourable. Some more work is needed on the cross girders as I had to narrow the overall width to allow them to fit. The ply ones will be replaced by etches.
The hi viz shunter has gone and been replaced by a suitable member of staff from the period. The Brutes have also disappeared.
I have added an extension to the fiddle yard to give a bit of operational flexibility.
The layout made its Scottish debut at the Rainbow Railways N Gauge exhibition in Linlithgow in April. It ran like a dream, save for the points for platform 3 which didn't want to change when operated directly but did when operating platform 2 then 3. Some investigation work to be done before the Falkirk and Paisley shows which it has been invited to.
I am planning to extend the platforms at the station end to allow full length West Highland steam services but retaining the character of the original layout.
Fort William had a very distinct bracket signal controlling the departure of trains. Mark Seward was commissioned to build this and the associated post and this will be fitted soon replacing the Ratio round post signals.
Rolling stock is a challenge for the West Highland in that period, there being no K1s, K2/2s or K4s available in any form and some very specific coaching stock too. 3D printing has been my go to. The genius that is Rudi Newman of Newman Miniatures was approach a few years ago to design advanced scratch aids and we have been working to fill that gap. To that end the K1, K2/2 and K4s are now available on Shapeways on his site. These fit the superb Farish N Class chassis. On top of that the J37 has been produced (for the C Class) and the D34 Glen in both wingplate and shorn guises for a modified Farish 2P chassis. The chassis needed to be remotored to lower the profile. One of Sven's kits at Tramfabriek doing the trick. Tiny Underground have done a beautiful J36 for the C Class chassis and I have 2 that will be done as 65300 and 65313. The rest of the steam stock is provided by either Farish Black 5s and B1s or Dapol B1s, all renumbered to locos that were regulars on the line. One, 61140 will be sporting the Self Weighing Tender. Rudi has just completed a little commission to allow a Dapol B1 to be modified. Renumbering and weathering was carried out by Rob Elliot and he's made a superb job. Especially of the unique to the line 76001 which is a weathering masterpiece.
I've been assisting Will Jayne at Beacon Models on a little labour of love. The class 29. Last year he did its wee brother, the 22 and I prevailed on him to stretch the body and do the bigger loco. This runs on a modified Tomytec chassis and made an appearance at Linlithgow. It walked away with 10 coaches on the Renfrewshire club layout and could have easily handled more. Its not available to buy (yet).
Coaching stock is a mix of Farish and Dapol. Most of which has now been weathered by Rob Elliot. As I mentioned the West Highland had an interesting range of coaching stock. The Beavertails in both forms are from 3D prints from Recreation21 as was the ex GCR Inspection saloon SC970113. I have a wish to get the Gresley brake composite sleeper and buffets that ran on the line done but drawings are extremely difficult to find. There were only 3 of each built after all. There is also a 3rd class Met Camm Pullman with the number painted out. This represents the one used on the line during possessions in the mid 60s onwards alongside a 12 wheel ex LMS sleeper.
Operations and formations have been gleaned from a variety of sources. Thanks go to Jim Archibald who used to work in the station box and he sent me a very detailed set of movements. The formations are from the rolling stock diagrams for the line. They make for interesting reading. A friend of mine/s late father was the District Manager for the area and his notes have been invaluable as has bouncing various things off John McGregor, Graham Maxtone (now retired from Banavie) and John McNab, who used to work in the the coaching stock department at Cowlairs.
After this the next plan coming together in mind is to build Garelochhead. I had thought about Bridge of Orchy but the excellent Gary Hinson is doing that.
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On 08/02/2013 at 13:02, JeremyC said:
Firstly I can't help in answering your actual question, but many years ago some members of the Model Railway Club I'm a member of built a model of Corrour. As part of this project a visit was made to Corrour and the signal box was measured up and sketches / drawings made up. I still have copies of them if they'd be of any help. They would [iIRC] represent the building as it appeared in the 1980s.
Jeremy
Hello Jeremy, do you still have these drawings? I understand that the top of the box was the same as Fort William Station, Glen Douglas and Fort William Junction. Many thanks in advance Tom
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On 14/11/2013 at 21:39, will5210 said:
Hi all,
A brief update from the West Highland bench.
The 3500 gallon tender had the sides shaped & the beading added from microstrip
all trimmed up & ready for a dust of primer & then sanding/filling the inevitable imperfections
I made a start on the K4 mk3 running plate from brass/nickel silver.
It's not perfect but I'm quite pleased with it for a first attempt.
And 2 J39s ended the shop for painting & numbering. I picked numbers I'd seen pictures in my West Highland books & found they were both Eastfield engines from 1932 until 1943, and were also J39/2s with the 4200 gallon tender which makes life a bit easier as they're available RTR.
I need to find another tender (the low fronted version - can anyone help?), then I'm ready to weather them together.
Thanks for looking in.
I have had a bash at doing the same cut and shut with a Dapol N gauge Group standard chassis and had an ok result. I made a boob with the body though and cut it in the middle to shorten in. Next time I'll use the same method you have with doing it from the rear.
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On 24/06/2018 at 23:21, David41283 said:
Hi everyone,
Just a couple of phone pics from the Plymouth show on Saturday. We had a great day at the exhibition and the layout performed well.
The next exhibition for Invernevis (and now the only confirmed booking in the diary) is a small show just outside Plymouth at Yealmpton on 13th October.
Cheers
David
It’s a fantastic layout David. If it ever wants rehoming I’d happily export it North of the Border.
All the best.
Tom
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On 22/09/2020 at 07:46, Richard Hall said:
Couple more photos for Iain Mac:
Unusual motive power for a Kingmoor-Millerhill freight: a "Crab" clanks over the viaduct towards Hawick.
BRCW Type 2 on a Carlisle-Hawick local passes a typical North British platelayers hut.
Banking to Whitrope: a J36 gives a sturdy shove to a southbound freight.
Is the J36 from a kit?
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Hi,
Have been following this thread with interest. 2 comments for you. I'm fairly certain its the September issue of Rail Express which has general arrangement drawings of the Drax Biomass wagons. Someone told me that the bogies are already available and under another type of wagon (the carkind escapes me).
Also I may have some info for the Ecofret which you may find useful. I've got a contact there who I think could be willing to assist too.
Cheers
TC
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the comments on the FEA-B.
I take on board that Dapol will be producing future batches but I'm not sure when they intend to go to production with them. If they appear in the next few years I dare say I will buy some of them. Now that I've started the FEA-B though, I will finish it, it's still a useful test bed for other things I might work on and it's practise if nothing else
Here's how it looks now. I've lowered the headstocks and actually removed the lip altogether on the ends. I've added the brake cylinders and air reservoirs so it's ready for a test print.
I've also designed these bogies for the FEA-B to be printed in WSF. Although they aren't too detailed, they should be accurate enough for normal viewing distances.
I've been looking at various other Intermodal Wagons, the FSA / FTA, KFA and EcoFret. As I have some rough dimensional drawings for the EcoFret, I'll probably move onto that first. But if anybody does have any dimensional drawings for the other types or know where they can be obtained that would be appreciated.
I've also started having a look at the new Biomass hoppers which are being used for Drax Power Station. I've only done the tops of the wagons so far and need to add some detail, but the overall shape is there as far as I can see.
Cheers, Mark.
Invernevis based on Fort William in N Gauge
in Layout topics
Posted
Aye that would have been Will. A very clever guy. His Timber Ps will also be very worth waiting for. I'll post some photos of the moguls when they're ready. My biggest problem is lining. I am no use at it.