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

[ISW]

1 hour ago, ikcdab said:

I have tried, and indeed I am using, some of the megapoints servo mounts.  With my 9mm baseboard plus 3mm cork and the configuration of the mount, I think that they hold the servo too far below the tiebar.

Ian,

 

Interesting as I had the opposite problem. With 9mm plywood and 3mm foam underlay my aluminium channel mounted servos (aka, the old MegaPoints recommended method) the servos were too near the track. I had to insert a ~3mm packer between the baseboard and the aluminium channel.

 

Makes you think that there must be a 'business opportunity' in there somewhere for a cheap-n-simple servo bracket (with integrated microswitch bracket) that's robust and easy to install. Mind you, modellers have thought that for years, and such a design has not appeared! There are plenty of designs that reach 1 to 3 of the requirements, but not all 4 (cheap / simple / robust / easy installation).

 

1 hour ago, ikcdab said:

If you are using points with over centre springs then it is much less of a problem.

Indeed. You can be less accurate with your servo lateral alignment when over-centre springs are fitted. Myself, I'm glad I removed the spring on the majority of my Peco turnouts. The 'click' of movement starts to get on ones nerves after a while.

 

Ian

 

[ikcdab]

4 minutes ago, ISW said:

Ian,

 

Interesting as I had the opposite problem. With 9mm plywood and 3mm foam underlay my aluminium channel mounted servos (aka, the old MegaPoints recommended method) the servos were too near the track. I had to insert a ~3mm packer between the baseboard and the aluminium channel.

 

Makes you think that there must be a 'business opportunity' in there somewhere for a cheap-n-simple servo bracket (with integrated microswitch bracket) that's robust and easy to install. Mind you, modellers have thought that for years, and such a design has not appeared! There are plenty of designs that reach 1 to 3 of the requirements, but not all 4 (cheap / simple / robust / easy installation).

 

Indeed. You can be less accurate with your servo lateral alignment when over-centre springs are fitted. Myself, I'm glad I removed the spring on the majority of my Peco turnouts. The 'click' of movement starts to get on ones nerves after a while.

 

Ian

 

Hi Ian, maybe.  I guess it also depends on which hole you use on the servo horn, the more distant ones giving more movement. 

I also gave up on microswitches partly for the reason you gave...I got annoyed with the clicking as well as the need for adjustment.  I now use miniature relays instead which I find far superior in every way.

Ian

[ISW]

3 minutes ago, ikcdab said:

I also gave up on microswitches partly for the reason you gave...I got annoyed with the clicking as well as the need for adjustment. 

Ian,

 

I guess you have good hearing, or the location(s) of my servos / microswitches are far enough under the baseboards, as I can't hear them at all. Mind you, they were as cheap-as-chips (~80p) so are probably not the best! Maybe my aluminium bracketry is so rigid that it dampens the 'click' from the microswitch and prevents it using the baseboard as a 'speaker'?

 

7 minutes ago, ikcdab said:

I now use miniature relays instead which I find far superior in every way.

Do you have a photo of such an installation. I'm curious to know/see how that works both physically and electrically (maybe outside of @young37215 layout postings ...).

 

Ian

[BoD]

On 28/12/2022 at 07:58, CameronL said:

The atmosphere of Scotland is spot on. If you could make it misty  it would be perfect.

 

Kathy Millat did a YouTube video on different ways of creating a misty scene but I think that was only for a diorama.  Perhaps on something this size it would be easier if you knew a few pipe or cigar smokers and invited them round.

[ikcdab]

9 hours ago, ISW said:

Do you have a photo of such an installation. I'm curious to know/see how that works both physically and electrically (maybe outside of @young37215 layout postings ...).

Ian

I have now added it to my layout thread, see link below.

Ian

Edited December 29, 2022 by ikcdab

[young37215]

4 hours ago, ISW said:

Ian,

 

I guess you have good hearing, or the location(s) of my servos / microswitches are far enough under the baseboards, as I can't hear them at all. Mind you, they were as cheap-as-chips (~80p) so are probably not the best! Maybe my aluminium bracketry is so rigid that it dampens the 'click' from the microswitch and prevents it using the baseboard as a 'speaker'?

 

Do you have a photo of such an installation. I'm curious to know/see how that works both physically and electrically (maybe outside of @young37215 layout postings ...).

 

Ian

 

I yearn for the Alurailtech aluminium brackets which although they fail ISW's cheap test (I paid around £2.50 a bracket) are fantastic. I have not had any issues with servos or microswitches where these have been used, they were well worth the expense as far as I am concerned. The picture below is an old one, I now put the actuating wire through the second from bottom hole on the lower arm of the servo. On the basis my baseboard is 12mm, total length of the actuating wire from hole to servo is around 50mm which I find works nicely with the servo movement well within its 90 degree range. 

 

 

 

A loco that I have had on restricted movements of late is 37039 because I found that the hoop coupling that replaced the tension lock to be too tight and prone to causing derailments. My plan is to replace the hoop with a wider version and, on the assumption the wider version works, I will role out something similar for the rest of the fleet freeing up space for bufferbeam detail and snowploughs. On this occassion 039 was well behaved and performed in an exemplary fashion on 7B13, 1250 Mossend to Corpach seen departing Garelochead

 

 

 

 

 

[BoD]

That’s a nice bit of weathering on 37039

[ISW]

3 hours ago, young37215 said:

I yearn for the Alurailtech aluminium brackets which although they fail ISW's cheap test (I paid around £2.50 a bracket) are fantastic. I have not had any issues with servos or microswitches where these have been used, they were well worth the expense as far as I am concerned. The picture below is an old one,

Rob,

 

Those are nice brackets, so I can see why they work out a tad expensive. One might also say that they are 'vertically challenging' as they do seem to need a lot of vertical space, something I didn't have on my multi-level layout. The other issue would be installation on a 3-way turnout, where you need to install 2 of them very close together. I guess you just have to hack off some metal? As for a single/double slip, it looks like that would be possible to install both brackets, just.

 

Nice microswitches, by the way, with long actuator arms.

 

Ian

[Marcus-Jay]

Have you looked at the Dingo Servo Mounts?

 

I've used a great many of these units, across several layouts. They are servo driven but provide a linear motion for the point motion so distance between the mount and the servo is relatively irrelevant.

 

[young37215]

On 29/12/2022 at 15:24, BoD said:

 

Kathy Millat did a YouTube video on different ways of creating a misty scene but I think that was only for a diorama.  Perhaps on something this size it would be easier if you knew a few pipe or cigar smokers and invited them round.

 

I have long wanted to create the evocative view of steam heat shrouding a train but have always felt that steam and electrics are not compatable! 

 

 

21 hours ago, BoD said:

That’s a nice bit of weathering on 37039

 

I agree, 039 was one of my better Ebay purchases. The previous owner did a nice job with the headlight and weathering, I have hardly touched the loco since acquiring it several years ago. My latest Ebay purchase arrived yesterday from France, Module00 having decided it was surplus to his requirements. 114 spent time during 1981/82 based at Eastfield when first transferred to the SCR appearing in a number of pictures during this period on Flickr at locations along the WHL prior to transfer to Inverness in 1982 and repainting into large logo in 1984. I shall work on the basis that Eastfield have temporarily 'borrowed' the loco for a return to WHL operations. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Marcus-Jay said:

Have you looked at the Dingo Servo Mounts?

 

I've used a great many of these units, across several layouts. They are servo driven but provide a linear motion for the point motion so distance between the mount and the servo is relatively irrelevant.

 

 

I have several Dingo brackets installed at Mallaig which perform perfectly well but I prefer the Alurailtech style.

 

 

Progress with 37104 is slow but I am moving forward. After several extended spells in the freezer the nose ends are off undamaged and half of the windows have been prised free. The most challenging bit so far has been the windscreen wipers where 3 refuse to budge and are so delicate that I dare not put pressure on them for fear of breaking them. I am already missing a wiper from another loco and have been unable to source replacements which makes me ultra cautious. Loco is back in the freezer in the hope the glue continues to weaken so that the remaining bits can be winkled out undamaged. 

 

 

 

 

A happy new year to one and all. 

 

Edited December 31, 2022 by young37215

[billywhizz]

Hi Rob. It is unusual for Bachmann 37 glazing to be so stubborn. I do have a spare set of glazing pieces from a previous Class 37 project if you do end up damaging any. 
Another option would be to replace the factory glazing with Shawplan / Extreme Etchings Laser glaze, makes a big difference. He also does etched wipers. 
Happy new year. 
Bill. 

Edited December 31, 2022 by billywhizz
Typo

[ISW]

3 hours ago, young37215 said:

Progress with 37104 is slow but I am moving forward. After several extended spells in the freezer the nose ends are off undamaged and half of the windows have been prised free. The most challenging bit so far has been the windscreen wipers where 3 refuse to budge and are so delicate that I dare not put pressure on them for fear of breaking them.

Rob,

 

Thanks for documenting such problems. Who'd have thought that the wipers would be glued in! It's these little 'insights' into the trials & tribulations of model railways (and hopefully, the solutions?) that keeps me reading your postings.

 

Ian

[young37215]

37104 spent another night in the freezer in the hope that the remaining windows can be persuaded to come loose. The EE windscreen wipers look like a solution to that particular headache, I'll be investigating what these look like as a priority. 

 

It was a foul end to the year yesterday with heavy rain for most of the day meaning I spent time in the loft operating trains. 37114 with its Inverness styled headlight perched on top of its nose inevitably got an early run and is seen arriving at Garelochead with 8B05, 1415 Mossend to Oban. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by young37215

[meanach]

On 15/12/2022 at 06:37, young37215 said:

There is more going on than just viaducts at present, yesterday the bodyshell of 37104 in railfreight grey arrived from Bachmann Spares. My intention is to respray this in BR blue and renumber it as 37111 in the condition it ran during 1982 and 1983. This was post its brief appearance in psuedo large logo where it appears that the extended yellow ends were simply painted over back into corporate BR blue. My conclusion reflects the fact that the loco retained the bodyside mounted  numbers with pictures showing no signs of an overall repaint. 111 was still in largely as built condition during this period with nose end valances still intact (the headcode panels were plated in 1981) until it was sent to Crewe for overhaul in the summer of 1983. 

 

The loco nose ends need swapping, I have several candidates available and the railfreight paint will be stripped back to the plastic although I am not sure how best to achieve this as yet. The roof boiler port needs drilling out as 111's boiler remained operational until the mid 80's. Prior to repainting I hope to remove the glazing and nose ends to make the respray as simple as possible; again this is new territory and depends on how easy it is to remove the Bachmann fitted glue. 

 

All in all the research has been an interesting exercise and has highlighted the variety of liveries 37111 went through during the first half of the 1980's. Hopefully the outcome of the repraying will be just as enjoyable...

 

 

Researching from Flickr provides plenty of pictures to use as a template, this Eastfield 1982 shot will be mine

 

 

I was tempted by the psuedo large logo as worn in 1981 but having done 37112 in this livery, I decided that all over corporate blue was more appropriate

 

 

 

 

Hi Rob . I’ve enjoyed catching up with the layout, looks cracking!  As usual I’ve had a summer hiatus and you’ve been busy!

 

If you’re still after a boiler port then I may well have an old spare etched class 40 boiler port I used for one of my conversions . 

[young37215]

4 hours ago, meanach said:

Hi Rob . I’ve enjoyed catching up with the layout, looks cracking!  As usual I’ve had a summer hiatus and you’ve been busy!

 

If you’re still after a boiler port then I may well have an old spare etched class 40 boiler port I used for one of my conversions . 

 

Hi Ian. Hope all is now well at your end. Slowly I am moving forward, I need to get focused and sort out my priorities for 2023 if I am to get WHL4 where I want this year. Thanks for the offer on boiler ports but I have not previously found the need to fit anything. A simple 5mm hole drilled through the plated port on the roof creates the opening and a small piece of plasticard glued to the underside of the bodyshell closes it off. I have done this with a number of Bachmann 37's previously, once painted it all blends in quite nicely as can be seen below, loco to the right is factory fitted boiler port, on the left is one I created. I know valves could also be added but it is such a small detail I have never got around to bothering.

 

 

I managed to get most of the remaining glazing out of 37104 and it is now in a bath of IPA. I am intrigued to see how this turns out.

 

 

I managed to clear a few detailing tasks that have been outstanding for too long. Several walls have needed coping stones adding for some time, on the viaduct I used the 5mm wide ones from Scale Model Scenery but I felt these were too wide for the tasks I had in mind. Whilst looking in my Auhagen box of bits I came across several strips of 3mm wide coping stones from the viaduct kit which fitted what I wanted perfectly. It only took a few minutes to fit them at Crianlarich and Mallaig where their impact is very noticeable. They will get a wash of weathering once the glue holding them in place has hardened off.

 

 

 

 

[meanach]

Ah yes , those boiler port looks fine. The etch is a perfect fit on the Bachmann mk2 37s. About the only difference is that it has a tiny raised lip around the port. I also may have a spare windscreen wiper lurking (although I’m not sure I didn’t raid it for a 37 I sold on ) . If you haven’t sorted that out by now ? 
 

You probably know this but don’t leave 104 in too long or the plastic goes brittle. An old tooth brush will remove most and a rinse with slightly warm , soapy liquid clears the chemical off. 
 

How many Accurascale 37s are coming your way ? 😂. I succumbed to Bachmann’s new 37423 as it’s a perfect match for Meanach and I’d sold my old version. I held off but then saw the all singing, all dancing version with £75 off ! Too good an offer to refuse. First inspection, it’s a very big improvement and I’m sure the Accurascale 37s will be a bit better again but I’m not sure I can wait another 3 years for the 1980s 37/4s! 

[young37215]

4 hours ago, meanach said:

Ah yes , those boiler port looks fine. The etch is a perfect fit on the Bachmann mk2 37s. About the only difference is that it has a tiny raised lip around the port. I also may have a spare windscreen wiper lurking (although I’m not sure I didn’t raid it for a 37 I sold on ) . If you haven’t sorted that out by now ? 
 

You probably know this but don’t leave 104 in too long or the plastic goes brittle. An old tooth brush will remove most and a rinse with slightly warm , soapy liquid clears the chemical off. 
 

How many Accurascale 37s are coming your way ? 😂. I succumbed to Bachmann’s new 37423 as it’s a perfect match for Meanach and I’d sold my old version. I held off but then saw the all singing, all dancing version with £75 off ! Too good an offer to refuse. First inspection, it’s a very big improvement and I’m sure the Accurascale 37s will be a bit better again but I’m not sure I can wait another 3 years for the 1980s 37/4s! 

 

Judging by the colour of the IPA which overnight turned from a nice clean, clear colour to something that looks like it should be poured down a drain, 37104 is sheding paint. The loco will only be in the IPA for just over 24 hours which others have suggested and fingers crossed, is unlikely to cause damage to the plastic. Tomorrow I will get the toothbrush on the bodyshell and find out how much paint has been removed.

 

I have ordered Accurascale's 37027 which will be interesting to contrast against my Bachmann fleet. That said I am quite comfortable with Bachmann's old 37 offering despite its shortcomings and hope that the new models do not end up making me think about upgrading.  

 

37039 is seen again heading north with 7B13, the first of 3 northbound freights in the space of 90 minutes. The viaduct ends need some more attention to finish them off, the 3rd picture shows this visually and I want to complete the ends before the section of scenery from the viaduct up to Ardlui that I keep threatening to work on. There is logic to this, the southern end of the viaduct is not yet finished and really requires the ends completing before I add the Sculptamold that is required.  Sounds simple; note to self. 'Pull finger out!' 

 

 

 

 

[young37215]

 

Progress on the paint stripping front yesterday with 37104 'naked' by the end of the day. Now I am waiting on a delivery of Railmatch primer to start the respraying process. 

 

Out and about 20045 continued to be required for passenger traffic and did a second round trip between Fort William and Mallaig on the tea time train which is pictured departing Fort William. The outward trip included 2 BRA's loaded with steel girder required for 03060's much loved A830 extension. I also cut to size the various bits of viaduct wing wall extension and as the first step in their fitting, glued in place the grey painted extensions x 4 to the walkway. 

 

 

 

 

 

[mallaig1983]

You’re having more luck with your body stripping than I am Rob. I am trying to remove the awful EWS livery though. 
 

Viaduct pieces look very nice.

Good to see the 20 on the Mallaig service 😀

[young37215]

99% IPA worked after a couple of attempts although I had to give the paint a good working over with an old toothbrush to get it to come off. Others report a much faster response from IPA, mine is several years old and I wonder if it has degraded over time. If I am successful with my respray efforts and decide to do more, I will invest in some new IPA.

 

Early afternoon in 1983 saw freight departures from Mossend at 12.50, 13.50 and 14.15 heading up the WHL,  the first 2 to Corpach, the last to Oban. Heading south at around the same time were the 12.30 from Corpach and 14.55 from Oban both to Mossend. This all meant that a couple of hours in the right location south of Crianlarich would allow the photographer to capture 5 different 37's. I spent my afternoon between Arrochar and Ardlui where amongst the locos seen and photographed was 37114 heading to Oban.
 

 

 

 

 

[6990WitherslackHall]

9 hours ago, young37215 said:

 

What is that light on the nose?

[03060]

3 hours ago, 6990WitherslackHall said:

What is that light on the nose?

 

An early car headlight addition by Inverness depot to assist drivers in the dark, as depicted in this Simon Flower photo from 1988.

 

 

Edited January 5, 2023 by 03060
Date added.

[young37215]

50 minutes ago, 6990WitherslackHall said:

What is that light on the nose?

 

The Inverness fitted headlight was moved to the bonnet around the time of 114 being repainted in large logo. An original headlight fitted in 1982 was placed in the more usual position on the nose. Hopefully the forthcoming SDEG book on Scottish class 37's will shed more light on the change of headlight. 

 

 

1982 view of original headlight

 

 

Back on the WHL I am pondering and experimenting as to how to make the best use of the various lights that have been installed. 37081 is seen in early evening twilight heading north with the Eastfield breakdown coach.  A rake of Mk1's fitted with internal lighting is high on my list of 'wants'.

 

 

 

[ISW]

2 hours ago, young37215 said:

A rake of Mk1's fitted with internal lighting is high on my list of 'wants'.

Rob,

 

Sounds like a great idea. Would like to do something similar myself 'in due course', so I'll be watching with interest.

 

Ian

[meanach]

On 05/01/2023 at 16:30, 6990WitherslackHall said:

What is that light on the nose?

Inverness depot began fitting car spot lights from the local Halfords , firstly to class 26s then to their 37 replacements. The head box lights on 37s were about the power of a dim candle! The ‘spots’ were fitted due to the large number of open crossings on the Kyle line. It helped in the dark , damp winter months for the train to be seen… although you’d think a 37 on full bore would be warning enough!