West Highland Line V4, a 1980's West Highland Line layout

[Alcanman]

Interesting to see the model of 37027 in the livery with full yellow surround. Here is a photo I took of 37027 near Fort William on my first visit 16th September 1981.

 

Looking forward to seeing 37112.

[BoD]

First time I've noticed  that 37s have a chimney at the front.

May need to add detail to some of mine.

[young37215]

Researching the various colour schemes worn by 37112 during the early 1980's is quite a lengthy activity. It seems there were several variants of large logo applied with the loco flipping between standard corporate BR blue, large logo and BR blue with numbers left in the non standard position when in large logo. Throw in a white stripe for a few months in 1984, removal of buffer beam cowls some time in 1983 and it becomes clear that 112 ran in virtually every guise that was seen in the time window except for the chimney fitting.  

 

The template I will be using for 112, Fort William in early 1982

 

 

June 1981 view shortly after painting of the extended yellow paint. It appears that the blue was not done at the same time.

 

 

 Summer 1981 in its first iteration of large logo 

 

 

[mallaig1983]

More great photos of 37112. My phone is full of them. It’s good to see you have finally submitted to her charms. 
Yes it seems that there were almost continuous changes going on on this loco. My own version has the bufferbeam cowels but I discovered that these were removed very early in 1983 so a new version is being prepared. In fact it’s been away for a respray for almost a year now which is very disappointing.

Ill look forward to your version appearing in photos of WHL4 soon.

[young37215]

A little progress with converting 37027 to 37112 yesterday. I changed 112's nose ends to a set of 'as built' ones with the bufferbeam cowls and round buffers together with the chassis both from 37085 to create the version of 112 that I want. This meant that 085 had a quick works visit and emerged minus bufferbeam cowls with plated headcodes and oval buffers using the chassis from 37027 and a spare set of nose ends. At the same time a second driver was fitted to the empty cab and a Loksound V5 with Coastal sounds was added. A service and wheel clean was completed enabling 085 to return to service although she still needs a new speaker fitting; fortunately I was able to get a couple of double dumbos from Coastal so that should not take long to complete. 

 

The body shell of 112 was cleaned with IPA and left to dry; depending on how it looks I am hoping that I can simply remove the glazing, mask up the yellow ends and re-spray the body in blue. I am hoping that any colour differences will be unnoticeable once lightly weathered which is how 112 appeared throughout 1982. Fingers crossed!!

 

37085 before her works visit

 

 

Ex works 37085 on test 

 

 

 

With transfers and old weathering removed and revised nose ends in place, 37112 dries out

 

 

  

 

[young37215]

I am struggling to get the glazing out of 37112, it looks like it was re-glued when resprayed and only 1 of the panels has come out despite much prodding and a spell in the freezer. Looks like I will have to use liquid masking instead, a pain but not insurmountable, just a further delay whilst I buy some and wait for it to arrive.

 

With no progress on 37112 I finally got around to a few outstanding tasks. First up was to add a second driver to 37043 whilst fitting a Zimo double dumbo speaker. Second up was an attempt to add another Dumbo to 37085 but here the fit was difficult being an older style chassis. The speaker is a big improvment but unless I can find a way to make it fit, it wont being staying. Finally I changed the headcode panels on 37039 where the old style domino ones were replaced by plated panels creating the version of 039 that ran in 1983/4. A little weathering of the new panels is required to blend them in although what I noticed on Flickr is that there are a lot more pictures of 039 with the black painted plated panel than there were of 37085. Maybe I will swap the plated panels between the 2 locos when I have few spare minutes. 

 

 

 

 

 

[thegreenhowards]

I love the weathering on 39. Very convincing.

[young37215]

8 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

I love the weathering on 39. Very convincing.

 

Not me Guv, I bought 039 in this condition with working headlight on Ebay several years ago. As the greenhowards says, it is a nice weathering job with the faded blue done really well. 

 

My weathering skills are not as well developed as I would like but I have the chance to refine them on some newly acquired rolling stock intended for use in engineers trains. I had hoped that the new Key Publications Departmental Coaches and Track Machines would provide further reference material for engineering trains north of the border but despite being an excellent piece of work, it is light on Scottish departmental stock. I will be attempting to distress and weather the new stock in the coming weeks except for the Turbot which will retain its ex-works condition reflecting its introduction mid way through my early 80's time window in 1982. The Dutch liveried Turbot is the first piece of 'modern' liveried rolling stock to make an appearance on WHL4, whether it survives is still under consideration. 

 

All looking far too clean for engineering trains, 1 x Bachmann's new VEA and 3 x Bachmann ZGV await attention. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[03060]

On 05/04/2022 at 07:17, young37215 said:

 

Not me Guv, I bought 039 in this condition with working headlight on Ebay several years ago. As the greenhowards says, it is a nice weathering job with the faded blue done really well. 

 

My weathering skills are not as well developed as I would like but I have the chance to refine them on some newly acquired rolling stock intended for use in engineers trains. I had hoped that the new Key Publications Departmental Coaches and Track Machines would provide further reference material for engineering trains north of the border but despite being an excellent piece of work, it is light on Scottish departmental stock. I will be attempting to distress and weather the new stock in the coming weeks except for the Turbot which will retain its ex-works condition reflecting its introduction mid way through my early 80's time window in 1982. The Dutch liveried Turbot is the first piece of 'modern' liveried rolling stock to make an appearance on WHL4, whether it survives is still under consideration. 

 

All looking far too clean for engineering trains, 1 x Bachmann's new VEA and 3 x Bachmann ZGV await attention. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Rob,

 

Games Workshop Typhus Corrosion paint is a product that I'm seeing being used by a few people on RM Web as a means of creating rust effects, @sb67 has a 4mm workbench thread which springs to mind (although a lot of his photos have disappeared.) I believe that there is powder mixed into the paint which leaves a textured finish, it may be a bit too coarse for my N gauge stock but looks effective in 4mm and I will be getting some to try on my 3mm  and 7mm mineral wagons when I can (spending currently on hold.) It could be worth looking at for distressing the ZGVs.

 

He's just finished a couple of sheeted OAA wagons that could almost be ready to set off for Corpach !

I'm sure that you will be already aware of @meanachs great recent work on his Turbots.

 

Regards,

Ian.

Edited April 6, 2022 by 03060
Extra info added.

[ISW]

3 hours ago, 03060 said:

I believe that there is powder mixed into the paint which leaves a textured finish, it may be a bit too coarse for my N gauge stock but looks effective in 4mm

Ian / Rob,

 

There is also Citadel 'Technical" paint, from Games Workshop, that comes ready mixed with 'gravel' to make it textured. I have a 24ml bottle of "Stirland Battlemere" and one of "Stirland Mud", both of which are basically dirt / mud coloured. I bought them as a test, but being 'gravelled' I can't use them in an airbrush. However, they do look useful for fields etc. As to their use on rolling stock, only a test would prove one way or the other.

 

Ian

[young37215]

Interesting suggestions on weathering, traditionally I have settled for a mix of Railmatch acyrilics heavily thinned and mixed together to create shades. Of course my colour blindness means I dont really have a clue as to what colours I end up with. Still no one has fallen about laughing when they have seen my handiwork so far. Creating a coarser finish is challenging, I have had reasonable success in using some aincent weathering powders on previous weathering jobs which seals nicely with varnish, it is the rust that I am less sure about. As a first step I will try the remains of a Railmatch enamel dark rust pot duly thinned into a wash with some weathering powder and see what I can make of that. The great thing about weathering is you can usually paint over your mistakes. 

 

I have masked up 37112 for painting and mixed some Railmatch enamel rail blue with thinners. I am out all day today but with a little luck I will get a coat of paint on to 112 in the next few days. In the meantime I managed to get the double dumbo into 37085 by milling out an unnecessary ridged piece of the chassis using a multi tool. Removing the ridge which is just to the left of the masking tape in the first picture below, created 2mm of additional headroom and a little fettling of the speaker chamber meant that I could seat the speaker neatly in to the rebated area of the chassis. The bodyshell then fitted without any resistance; job done. 37085 then had a little run just to test that all was well, the improvment in both sound quality and the volume from the double dumbo over the standard sugar cube is considerable. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2022 by young37215

[meanach]

MIg enamel washes are good , particularly the dark wash . James Makin regularly shows you ‘a how to’ on his pages . The wipe on / wipe off method works well for a start. ‘Streaking grime’ by AK is also good . Less so is the ‘winter streaking grime ‘,  as for some reason it seems to have a slight green hue. 
As for rust , Everard junction weathered some sea cow wagons and he showed a handy tip using foam to apply semi dried track dirt . It offers an older stippled rust effect . Ak again do a nice rust wash as well as rust powders. 

Edited April 6, 2022 by meanach
Typing error

[young37215]

It appears that the lockdowns have created the time for people to scan and post their old photos on Flickr which is great news for modellers. I spent far too much time looking at what was new material for me yesterday evening. Back in the day the early morning haulage move was the down sleeper to Tyndrum Upper for the walk to Lower via the Little Chef and breakfast for the first train from Oban back south. I did'nt do it that often but from the number of pictures on Flickr similar to 37112 below, it is evident that it was a common move for haulage bashers and their cameras

 

 

Another new picture from Flickr of Ardlui is of a really useful angle for me in planning how to extend the backscene.

 

 

 

the same photographer with another great angle to assist in developing Ardlui

 

Edited April 7, 2022 by young37215

[BoD]

That is looking really good, Rob.  Did you know that MSE/Wizard models do the signal pulley posts?  
 

https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/shop/signals/ls008/
 

 

[young37215]

10 hours ago, BoD said:

Did you know that MSE/Wizard models do the signal pulley posts?

 

I did but thank you nevertheless for the advice. I view pulley posts in much the same way I do fence posts; you can rarely see them in WHL pictures and you need to look very hard in most cases where they are visible. My conclusion is that they are nice to have rather than essential. Contrast these with point rodding which in the instances I have modelled it is much more visible. Not all point rodding is modelled on WHL4, just the most prominent. As with most of what we do there are compromises to be made and for me, something that my eyes struggle to notice fall into to the 'don't bother, too much effort' category.

 

I am awaiting delivery of some Humbrol Maskol to mask some of the glazing on 37112 before painting. I am keen to find out how my approach to painting will turn out, so much so that paint is mixed and ready to spray. Whilst twiddling my fingers and checking the masking tape I picked up on the rather crude, molded cab hand rails which contrast poorly compared against the more modern Bachmann 37's. I can do better than that I thought and before I had time to think twice I had cut the molded parts off and filed down the door surface. My hope is that with a coat of paint the butchery will not be visible and once the paint has hardened off I will use some 0.35 piano wire to craft new hand rails. Surely it cannot be that difficult......

 

masked up loco awaits painting

 

 

the molded cab door handrails are unsightly and unrealistic

 

 

handrails no more

 

 

Bachmann later style cab handrails

 

 

 

  

[03060]

Morning Rob,

 

Your comment in an earlier post regarding the new Key Publishing Departmental Coaches and Track Machines bookazine hastened me to order a copy (now have another job !) and whilst I agree that there are no direct links to WHL in the text one or two sections have so far caught my eye.

 

Firstly would be the section regarding the Weed Killing trains which you've discussed here before, but the one that really caught my eye and answered a photo query for me, was the Tunnel Inspection section.

 

See this 1977 photo taken by Peter James at Tom-na-faire.

 

 

I had been wondering about these vehicles a few weeks ago having come across it; obvious really when you think of all the tunnels on the Mallaig line and the 2 on the WHL (+snow shed.) The main wagon being either a Sturgeon or possibly a Dolphin containing the workframe and generator (?), I think that coach has also appeared before somewhere in this thread.

 

This also begs the question as to what vehicles were used for Viaduct Inspections in the West Highlands, also a chapter in the bookazine ??

 

Regards,

Ian.

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by 03060
Extra question posed.

[BoD]

Look at the old signs just dumped there  (next to the caravan).
What price now?

[SHerr]

Is that a Coil A on the left? If so was that a regular visitor for something like Alcan traffic or other use?

[03060]

4 hours ago, 03060 said:

This also begs the question as to what vehicles were used for Viaduct Inspections in the West Highlands, also a chapter in the bookazine ??

 

Maybe none !

 

http://spanengineering.com/mm/inspection-bridge.jpg

 

See part way down the page ....gulp !

[03060]

18 minutes ago, SHerr said:

Is that a Coil A on the left? If so was that a regular visitor for something like Alcan traffic or other use?

 

It certainly looks like it, having consulted Paul Bartlett's wonderful website, it's the only one that I've ever noticed on the line, thanks for the ID ....and to keep it on track with Rob's thread(although 1977 is maybe too early) Accurascale do one in 4mm scale I believe.

[young37215]

4 hours ago, 03060 said:

Morning Rob,

 

Your comment in an earlier post regarding the new Key Publishing Departmental Coaches and Track Machines bookazine hastened me to order a copy (now have another job !) and whilst I agree that there are no direct links to WHL in the text one or two sections have so far caught my eye.

 

Firstly would be the section regarding the Weed Killing trains which you've discussed here before, but the one that really caught my eye and answered a photo query for me, was the Tunnel Inspection section.

 

See this 1977 photo taken by Peter James at Tom-na-faire.

 

 

I had been wondering about these vehicles a few weeks ago having come across it; obvious really when you think of all the tunnels on the Mallaig line and the 2 on the WHL (+snow shed.) The main wagon being either a Sturgeon or possibly a Dolphin containing the workframe and generator (?), I think that coach has also appeared before somewhere in this thread. 

 

This also begs the question as to what vehicles were used for Viaduct Inspections in the West Highlands, also a chapter in the bookazine ??

 

Regards,

Ian.

 

 

Hi Ian

 

Delighted to hear that you have found a new job, it is always a stressful time when looking for work and the uncertainty does nothing for ones well being. 

 

Your post is interesting, the coach in front of the tunnel inspection vehicle is not coupled up and is, I am pretty certain, the steam heating van that lived at Fort William during the late 70's. If you look closely there is an exhaust port on the roof for the boiler; as you mentioned, there was a picture of this somewhere in this thread although I am not sure when I posted it or if it survived the recent meltdown. Given that inspections would only have been infrequent, I can't see the WHL having its own tunnel or viaduct inspection equipment and I guess that general SCR kit was used. I can't identify the wagon but based on the material in Key's bookazine, it clearly is for tunnel inspection. 

 

Progress today with 37112 where the Maskol arrived yesterday and was duly applied to the driver door windows. Paint was poured and air brushed onto the roof and the surrounds of the cab. First impressions are positive, the colour is not a perfect match to that used on the body sides but it is close enough and the coverage seems good. Colour differences will not matter because on removing the body side masking tape several areas of blue paint came away on the tape much to my annoyance. I will allow the roof to dry and then intend spraying all of the blue areas again which should give me a uniform colour as well as covering the patches created by the tape removal. What will happen to the yellow paint when the masking tape that protects this is removed I shudder to think.

 

First coat of paint applied

 

 

 

 

Masking tape removal also pulled away some of the existing blue paint, several patches will need repair

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SHerr]

24 minutes ago, 03060 said:

 

It certainly looks like it, having consulted Paul Bartlett's wonderful website, it's the only one that I've ever noticed on the line, thanks for the ID ....and to keep it on track with Rob's thread(although 1977 is maybe too early) Accurascale do one in 4mm scale I believe.

Thanks, it’s the Accurascale one that prompted the question as my layout is based in the Highlands with access to an Aluminium smelter but thought I’d never be able to justify one.

[thegreenhowards]

Rob,

 

That paint removal happens to me all the time when masking. It’s very frustrating. I’ve now got to the stage where the only thing which I will mask is a factory finish. Anything else, I know it’s not going to work and generally either hand paint - if there’s a clear line to paint up to - or leave well alone.

 

If anyone has the solution, I’m all ears!

 

Andy

[young37215]

Having allowed the paint to dry on 37112 I tried to sand down the patches of removed paint and the joins where the paint had built up against the edge of the masking tape. I re-loaded the airbrush and added another layer of blue all over the body. I removed the remaining masking tape as gently as I could, even so a few small patches of yellow will need touching up as will the black around the windows. My first impression is that it would not pass muster for a professional piece of work but I think I can get comfortable with it. I shall leave 112 for another 24 hours to dry before further work where I intend some weathering on the roof and to add the numbers and other detail. If all goes well I will add a layer of matt varnish and hope that it all blends together. 

 

Masking tape removed

 

 

re-united with nose ends

 

 

Drying paint

 

 

I could not resist mounting the bodyshell onto its chassis just to get a feel for what I have 

 

[Signaller69]

Interested to see you are doing 37112. Here are a couple of rather poor photos I took c.1983 at Mallaig on my first trip on the line (photo of photos sorry).

 

Martyn.