Will's West Highland Workbench - K4s, J39s, D34, K2/2

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will5210
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Will's West Highland Workbench - K4s, J39s, D34, K2/2

Post by will5210 »

Hi all,

This will be the workbench for stuff I'm bodging together for my Ardlui layout set in the late 1930s.

Don't expect to much in the way of 'showcase' modelling, but I enjoy myself & isn't that all that matters? :D

Anyway, here's what I've cobbled together so far:

K4 'Lord of the Isles'
Bachmann K3 chassis, Hornby L1 wheels, Scratchbuilt boiler with Alexander fittings, Shortened Bachmann B1 tender.
Still needs a few bits & pieces tidying up & finishing (tender needs varnishing)
Image
DSC01768 by will5210, on Flickr

K4 'Loch Long'
As above but with an Alexander models tender this time. Its on Gibson wheels atm but these will come off & be used on a J39 (probably)
Image
DSC01769 by will5210, on Flickr

Station Building
Scratchbuilt around a clear plastic shell. About 80% finished, still needs flashing, gutters & a few other bits here & there.
Image
West Highland Station building - Work in progress! by will5210, on Flickr

Signal Box (Cruel close up!)
Finished, but I''m not completely happy with the downpipes so I may redo them at some point.
Image
DSC01772 by will5210, on Flickr

In the 'to-do' pile are a Gem D34 (which I've tentatively started), Nucast K2 & maybe a J38, J39, J36 + J37 or 2 along with various wagon kits.

Thanks for looking in.
Last edited by will5210 on Mon Mar 25, 2019 1:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Will

My LNER 1930s West Highland Workbench
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9293

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http://westhighlandmodelling.wordpress.com/
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Atlantic 3279
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by Atlantic 3279 »

Glad to see them making an appearance on here Will.

Don't knock those locos off the roof trusses now, will you?
Most subjects, models and techniques covered in this thread are now listed in various categories on page1

Dec. 2018: Almost all images that disappeared from my own thread following loss of free remote hosting are now restored.
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Tom F
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by Tom F »

Hi Will

The Apple Green K4 looks very nice.
Pushing things a bit to have one on Leaman Road.
Tom Foster
Modelling the North Eastern Area of the LNER - 1935-1939
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will5210
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by will5210 »

Thanks chaps.

Graeme - don't worry, they were just there for the photos. The wood is actually just blocks of 3"x2" i use to rest models on for painting.

Tom - I'm sure you could justify a brand new K4 working its way north for Summer Season in '38! (Maybe a bit far fetched :) )
Will

My LNER 1930s West Highland Workbench
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My Blog
http://westhighlandmodelling.wordpress.com/
jwealleans
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

Like that station building, very tidy indeed.
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will5210
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by will5210 »

jwealleans wrote:Like that station building, very tidy indeed.

Thank you very much!

On the subject of the Station building, am I right in saying LNER buildings in the late '30s would be green & cream rather than green & white? Bit of a boob on my part, but I'll leave it for now & change it when I can be bothered
Will

My LNER 1930s West Highland Workbench
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9293

My Blog
http://westhighlandmodelling.wordpress.com/
jwealleans
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

AFAIR they were always '... and cream', the change being from brown and cream to green and cream. There was a link to the station colours website posted on here within the last couple of days. I know the green is 'Buckingham Green' as it happens (now) to be the colour of the ironwork on my house.
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will5210
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by will5210 »

Hmmm I suspected as much.

I've seen this early 30s photo which seems to show the two tone green North British colour scheme:
Image
Ardlui 096. More Workers by will5210, on Flickr
but I think they changed in the late 30s to cream as you say.
Will

My LNER 1930s West Highland Workbench
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9293

My Blog
http://westhighlandmodelling.wordpress.com/
earlswood nob
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by earlswood nob »

Good morning all
I like the K4's, I shall build one at some time.
I think the D34 were lovely locos and a pair of them would look great.
I think the K4's were produced to reduce the amount of double heading.
The "Northern Belle" tour train was hauled by a pair of Glens on the West Highland. What a model that would make.
Earlswood nob
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will5210
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by will5210 »

earlswood nob wrote:Good morning all
I like the K4's, I shall build one at some time.
I think the D34 were lovely locos and a pair of them would look great.
I think the K4's were produced to reduce the amount of double heading.
The "Northern Belle" tour train was hauled by a pair of Glens on the West Highland. What a model that would make.
Earlswood nob
Hi & thanks,

yes K4s weren't permitted to double head on the West Highland & could handle 9 coaches unaided.

I plan to have a variety of K2/D34, K2/K2 & D34/D34 double headed combinations in the future including the Northern Belle.

On the subject of D34s, can anyone identify the fish vans in this photo? Are they the 6 wheeled NBR version?
Image
rlypier by will5210, on Flickr

cheers
Will

My LNER 1930s West Highland Workbench
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9293

My Blog
http://westhighlandmodelling.wordpress.com/
jwealleans
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by jwealleans »

The leading ones look like it, Will - I can't really make it out past the first three.
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will5210
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by will5210 »

jwealleans wrote:The leading ones look like it, Will - I can't really make it out past the first three.
Excellent - Many thanks. It's a shame it's such a small picture isn't it? I'd love to do a model of Mallaig pier.

Yes they were the ones I was thinking of. The one to the left of the loading platform seems to be the same type also.

I have an unbuilt etched kit for 1 of these to tackle at some stage.

cheers
Will

My LNER 1930s West Highland Workbench
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9293

My Blog
http://westhighlandmodelling.wordpress.com/
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60800
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by 60800 »

Will, you have a PM
36C - Based out of 50H and 36F
John Palmer
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by John Palmer »

Will, you sell yourself short – that is the best model I have yet seen of the standard West Highland station building!

Another possibility is that the thirties photo of Ardlui shows the early LNER scheme of dark brown with cream or stone. If it is the North British two-tone green scheme then it reveals some differences from the British Rail scheme of the (?)nineteen-eighties. The Station Colours site suggests that the BR scheme represented a return to that of the North British whilst acknowledging that no documentary confirmation of this had come to light – it would be interesting to know whether this is, in fact, the case. The BR scheme involves the application of white paint to such items as glazing bars, whereas your picture of Ardlui seems to show these in a dark(ish) colour.

Larger versions of the picture of Glen Croe appear in John McGregor’s ‘100 Years of the West Highland Railway’ and Vol 3 of Peter Tatlow’ ‘LNER Wagons’ From these it is apparent that there at least five of the NBR Dia.C35B fish vans visible, together with 3 or perhaps 4 LNER Dia.23 fish vans.

These 6-wheel fish vans were clearly frequent visitors at Mallaig. I have another picture showing No. 4700 Loch Lomond ready to depart with two fish vans at the head of a passenger service. The second van is probably a North Eastern van to Dia.F6, the first a NBR six-wheeler, whilst another such North British van can be seen on the incline leading to the coal stage.

In his writings on the subject John McGregor used to say that K4’s never worked over the WHR as part of a double heading combination, I believe due to axle loading considerations. More recently I think he or another author has suggested that any prohibition on such an arrangement there may have been was disregarded if operating exigencies warranted it.

Anyhow, great topic; please keep posts with West Highland content coming.
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will5210
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Re: Will's West Highland Workbench

Post by will5210 »

Hi John, thanks for looking in & for your kind words re the Station Building. Unfortunately it's not quite so perfect close up! :lol:

Yes it seems I'll be needing a few more 6 wheel fish vans at some point in the future & I'll look into the Diagram 23 van too.
I have a book on LNER/NBR wagons by John Hooper on order which should hopefully help with the freight stock. I think I'll ask for volume 3 of the Tatlow books for Christmas too.

cheers
Will

My LNER 1930s West Highland Workbench
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9293

My Blog
http://westhighlandmodelling.wordpress.com/
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